10 things you need to know before the opening bell (spy, spx, qqq, dia, gs, aapl, amzn, lnkd)
Reuters/Goran Tomasevic
Here is what you need to know.
Friday is jobs day in America. The US economy is expected to have added 180,000 nonfarm jobs in July as the unemployment rate slipped to 4.8%, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The report will cross the wires at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Support for Angela Merkel is cratering. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is plunging in the polls in the wake of the recent terrorist attacks in Germany. Reuters reports that a survey conducted by the public broadcaster ARD shows that support for Merkel has fallen 12 points since July to 47%. This is the second-lowest reading since Merkel's reelection in 2013.
Goldman Sachs might have to make some changes in the UK. According to a US regulatory filing, the investment bank says the Brexit could "adversely affect" certain parts of its business, and it might be forced to restructure some of its business. The filing comes a little more than a month after Richard Gnodde, the cohead of the Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs, suggested the company could move workers out of the UK and into other countries within the European Union because of the vote for a British exit from the EU.
Apple is changing its approach to TV. The tech giant is building a TV guide that will allow it to connect to services like Netflix, HBO, and ESPN, a source told Recode's Peter Kafka.
Amazon is leasing airplanes. Amazon One, a converted Boeing 767 that is operated by Atlas Air and that is the first plane to bear the company's name, was unveiled Thursday. The company says it is leasing 40 planes, 11 of which are dedicated to bringing packages around the world.
Jeff Bezos is selling Amazon stock. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos sold a million shares of stock this week, bringing in more than $755 million. Just last month, he moved ahead of Warren Buffett as the third-richest person in the world. Bezos is an investor in Business Insider.
LinkedIn crushes estimates. The business networking site earned $1.13 a share as revenue spiked 31% to $712 million. "We achieved record levels of operating cash flow, while continuing to invest heavily across our core member and customer value propositions," CFO Steve Sordello said. Back in July, Microsoft agreed to acquire LinkedIn for about $26 billion.
Stock markets around the world are higher. Hong Kong's Hang Seng (+1.4%) led the gains in Asia, and Spain's IBEX (+0.8%) paces the advance in Europe. S&P 500 futures are up 4.75 points at 2,164.00.
Earnings reporting is light. Liberty Media and Virgin America will report ahead of the opening bell, while Berkshire Hathaway releases its quarterly results after markets close.
US economic data flows. Aside from the jobs report, the trade balance will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET and consumer credit will cross the wires at 3 p.m. ET. The Baker Hughes rig count is due out at 1 p.m. ET. The US 10-year yield is down 1 basis point at 1.49%.