1. Dollar slump: The U.S. dollar is losing ground against major currencies in the wake of President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
“President Trump’s inaugural address has been interpreted as a retreat from America’s global leadership role,” said Paul Donovan, global chief economist at UBS Wealth Management. “The vehemence in his address is causing markets to reassess other parts of the campaign rhetoric as it seems candidate Trump is occupying the Oval Office with little moderation of tone.”
Global stock markets are all taking a step back on Monday.
U.S. stock futures are declining.
Investors are putting their money into safe haven sovereign bonds, causing yields to fall across the board.
Markets had been rallying since Trump’s election in November. All the main U.S. indexes hit all-time highs earlier this year.
2. Samsung blames the batteries: Samsung is blaming poorly designed and manufactured batteries for the overheating problems that caused some of its Galaxy Note 7 phones to catch fire.
This is Samsung’s second attempt at explaining what went wrong with the flagship phone. The first time around, Samsung blamed the problem on one of its battery suppliers — but the fires didn’t stop.
The fiasco over the phone tarnished Samsung’s brand, caused it to kill off the product and resulted in billions of dollars of lost profits.
Shares in Samsung jumped 2.3% on Monday.
3. In pursuit of profits: McDonald’s and Halliburton are the two key firms reporting quarterly results on Monday before the opening bell.
Yahoo will report earnings after the close.
4. Coming this week:
Monday – Tax filing season begins, McDonald’s earnings
Tuesday – Samsung earnings; Senate hearing to review Mick Mulvaney’s nomination to be director of the Office of Management and Budget
Wednesday – Boeing and AT&T earnings
Thursday – Microsoft, Alphabet, Ford, and Starbucks earnings
Friday – First reading of fourth-quarter U.S. GDP
