Another day, another Brexit poll. Big names like George Soros and former soccer star David Beckham have come out against the Brexit this morning as the latest poll shows a rise in the “leave” vote.
As a result, the British currency, the sterling, began sliding and the dollar began gaining strength. Thursday’s vote in the U.K. is, at the end of the day, a nonbinding referendum. It’s just the people telling Parliament how it feels. Parliament can then act on it or not. In the meantime, the market drama livens things up for normally slow summer trading.
Here in the U.S., oil pulled back again and has dropped to $48.38 a barrel. The S&P 500 is up by 2 points to 2,085, the Dow Jones Industrial average is up by 13 points to 17,818 and the Nasdaq is gaining by 10 points to trade at 4,848. The S&P Retail ETF is losing 28 cents to trade at $41.69.
The TJX Cos. Inc. is flat at $76.61 following a filing on Monday by the Securities and Exchange Commission against a former mid-level manager for insider trading. James S. Hannon was the northeast regional vice president for TJ Maxx from 2011 to 2014. He purchased and sold stock around the press releases and ultimately made $26,679 in profits from the trading.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Sports Direct International plc and Modell’s Sporting Goods are potentially discussing a joint bid for bankrupt Sports Authority. Supposedly the deal would be to buy 200 of the stores. Bids for the store’s leases are due on Thursday. Neither company has confirmed the story.
Later this morning, Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen will be facing members of Congress as she gives her semiannual testimony. As usual, Ms. Yellen will be grilled as to when she think that interest rates will rise. No doubt, she’ll be asked about the Brexit situation and the health of our own economy.