Finance

A US and a Chinese flag wave outside a commercial building in Beijing, 09 July 2007.Teh Eng Koon | AFP | Getty ImagesBEIJING — China’s purchases of U.S. goods are still falling short of trade agreement levels, even as overall Chinese imports from the U.S. have surged.That’s according to analysis out Monday from the U.S.-based Peterson Institute for International Economics.In January 2020, before the coronavirus pandemic and under former U.S. President Donald Trump, China agreed to buy at least $200 billion more in U.S. goods and services over the next two years, relative to the 2017 level. Known as the phase one trade deal, the purchase agreement included specific agriculture, energy and manufactured products.However, as of June, both Chinese and U.S. government data indicated that China had bought less than 70% of the year-to-date target, according to estimates from Peterson Institute senior fellow Chad P. Bown.Agriculture purchases again came the closest to meeting agreement levels, at 90% of the target, according to U.S. data that Bown cited.The shortfall comes as trade between the two countries has grown, according to Chinese customs data.China’s imports from the U.S. in the first half of the year rose to $87.94 billion, up 55.5% from the same period in 2020 and up nearly 49.3% from the first six months of 2019.Meanwhile, China exported $252.86 billion worth of goods to the U.S. in the first half of 2021 — up 42.6% from the same period in 2020 and a rise of 26.8% from the first half of 2019.As a result, the U.S. remains China’s largest trading partner on a single-country basis, despite trade tensions that escalated under the Trump administration.U.S.-China trade talks at a standstillIn the last few years, under the Trump administration, the U.S. has imposed tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of Chinese goods in an effort to address long-standing complaints about issues such as lack of market access and intellectual property protection. Beijing responded with its own duties on U.S. goods.Since taking office in January, President Joe Biden has retained Trump-era tariffs and sanctions on major Chinese technology companies such as Huawei, while announcing additional sanctions on Chinese entities.But Biden has “not yet articulated a trade strategy or another approach that would really be effective in countering China’s economic strength,” Michael Hirson, practice head for China and Northeast Asia at Eurasia Group, said Monday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.”During a high-level meeting between the two countries’ officials on Monday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the U.S. should remove tariffs, as part of three broader requests from China, the ministry said.Senior U.S. administration officials did not mention tariffs in a call with reporters about the Chinese officials’ meeting with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman. Rather, the U.S. officials said Sherman noted concerns about unfair trade and economic practices.Read more about China from CNBC ProGoldman Sachs downgrades Chinese education stocks on prediction market will ‘shrink significantly’Chinese stocks tumble in U.S. trading, and investors should remain wary for nowBernstein picks 5 high-yielding China stocks to buy while the regulatory crackdown hits techThe phase one trade agreement called for a review of the deal, but that meeting has yet to take place in part due to the coronavirus pandemic and a change in White House leadership.During the first year of the phase one trade agreement, in 2020, Chinese purchases were less than 60% of the target, based on both countries’ data, the Peterson Institute said.China’s trade surplus with the U.S., which Trump tried to reduce, remained near historic highs at $32.58 billion in June, customs data showed.At a press conference in mid-July, Ministry of Commerce Spokesman Gao Feng declined to confirm whether the phase one agreement was still being implemented.Instead, he said China has always encouraged both sides to “work together to create an atmosphere and the conditions for implementing the agreement,” according to a CNBC translation of his Mandarin-language remarks.— CNBC’s Yen Nee Lee contributed to this report. More

Stock futures were flat in overnight trading Monday ahead of quarterly earnings reports from several mega-cap technology companies.Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 7 points, or 0.02%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures traded near the flatline.Shares of Tesla rose after hours Monday following a better-than-expected second-quarter earnings report. The electric vehicle maker passed $1 billion in quarterly net income for the first time.The major U.S. stock averages closed Monday’s regular session at record highs to each notch five-day win streaks. The Dow gained 82.76 points, or 0.24%. The S&P 500 also added 0.24% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed 0.03% higher.Second-quarter earnings season continues with Google-parent Alphabet, Microsoft and Apple set to report after the bell Tuesday.”It appears that we’re going to get really solid earnings from these companies and that should give a little bit of a boost to the market. Some of these names have already run so much this year that perhaps we don’t get a large bounce,” said Victoria Fernandez, Crossmark Global Investments chief market strategist.”Apple may be your best opportunity to see some movement because they’ve been in more of a consolidation phase over the last few months,” Fernandez added.JetBlue, UPS, General Electric and Starbucks are also scheduled to post earnings Tuesday.The Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting is also set to begin Tuesday. Investors are awaiting insights into the central bank’s monetary policy.The Federal Open Market Committee and the Board of Governors are scheduled to release a statement after the meeting ends Wednesday. More

Longtime market bull Phil Orlando is bracing for a rough stretch because Wall Street has reached a critical “inflection point.”The Federated Hermes chief equity market strategist is blaming the risk dynamic. Not only does Orlando see hotter-than-expected inflation and the Covid-19 delta variant as glaring issues, he’s also worried about uncertainty surrounding monetary and fiscal policy.”We’re entering what is historically a seasonally choppy period of time, and we’ve got a bunch of things that are coming together at the same time,” he told CNBC’s “Trading Nation” on Monday. “We’ve got this surging inflation. We’ve got questions about what the Federal Reserve is going to do in terms of policy. We’ve got this debt ceiling issue that’s coming up the end of this week.”It appears Wall Street isn’t sharing his concern. On Monday, the S&P 500, Nasdaq and Dow closed at all-time highs. The record activity comes a day before the Federal Reserve gets ready to convene for its policy meeting.Orlando, who oversees $625 billion in assets under management, suggests investors will soon get a wake-up call.”The stock market has done incredibly well. It’s quite literally doubled since the bottom of the pandemic low — March a year ago,” noted Orlando, who warns valuations are frothy.The S&P 500 is up 18% so far this year. According to Orlando, the index is noticeably vulnerable to a 5% to 8% pullback over the next two months. His S&P 500 year-end target is 4,500. The index closed at 4,422.30 on Monday.”We’re less than 100 points away from our full-year objective,” he said. “Our view is that there could be some volatility or some chop as the market sort of consolidates around all of these concerns and issues.”Since Orlando calls underlying economic and market fundamentals quite strong, he would use weakness as a buying opportunity. His favorite market group is domestic large-cap value, with an emphasis on financials, energy and consumer discretionary stocks.”It was those cyclical stocks that we left for dead back in the spring of 2020,” Orlando said. “It [the recession] ended in April of last year, and now the market has got to play catch-up to price in these very powerful revenue and earnings gains that we’re seeing.”Disclaimer More

In this articleCOINAMPFFIVTSLAThe logo of Tesla seen at one of its showroom. Tesla announced its Q1 2021 earnings today.Toby Scott | LightRocket | Getty ImagesCheck out the companies making headlines after the bell: Tesla — Shares of Tesla edged more than 2% higher in extended trading after the electric vehicle maker’s second-quarter earnings beat Wall Street expectations on both top and bottom lines. Tesla reported quarterly adjusted earnings of $1.45 per share on revenues of $11.96 billion. Analysts estimated earnings of 98 cents per share on revenues of $11.3 billion, according to Refinitiv. Tesla reported more than $1 billion in quarterly net income and noted a $23 million impairment related to bitcoin.F5 Networks — F5 Networks shares jumped more than 5% after hours following a third-quarter earnings beat. The technology company reported adjusted earnings of $2.76 per share, compared with analysts’ $2.46 per share estimate, according to Refinitiv. F5 Networks also posted revenue of $652 million versus Wall Street’s $638 million projection.Ameriprise Financial — Shares of Ameriprise Financial fell about 1% in extended trading even after the company’s second-quarter earnings beat analyst expectations. Ameriprise Financial reported adjusted earnings of $5.27 per share on revenues of $3.42 billion, versus analysts’ estimates of $5.21 earnings per share on revenues of $3.38 billion, according to StreetAccount.Coinbase — Coinbase shares retreated more than 1% in extended trading after closing 9% higher in the regular session. The cryptocurrency exchange saw its stock jump as bitcoin rallied above the $40,000 level, but the token’s price has since fallen from its highs. Amazon denied an earlier report that it would start accepting bitcoin for payments this year. More

In this articleTSLAZMTALCHKPHASZoom founder Eric Yuan speaks before the Nasdaq opening bell ceremony on April 18, 2019 in New York City.Kena Betancur | Getty ImagesCheck out the companies making headlines in midday trading.Hasbro — Shares of the toymaker soared 12.2% after beating on the top and bottom lines of its quarterly results. Hasbro reported earnings of $1.05 per share, topping estimates by 58 cents, according to Refinitiv. Revenue came in at $1.32 billion, compared to the $1.16 billion forecast by the Street.Tesla — Tesla shares gained 2.2% ahead of the electric vehicle maker’s second-quarter earnings report after the bell. Analysts are expecting key insights into the company’s business in China, bitcoin holdings, full self-driving capability and new manufacturing facilities in Germany and Texas.Lockheed Martin —  The defense contractor saw its shares fall 3.4% after it reported quarterly earnings of $6.52 per share, missing analysts’ estimate by one cent, though revenue beat estimates. The earnings report also included a 61 cent charge related to performance issues at a classified program.Zoom Video — Shares of the video conferencing company jumped 3.9% on Monday after Bank of American named Zoom Video a top pick. The firm said in a note to clients that Zoom’s acquisition of Five9 was a “game-changer” in the corporate communications space.Lowe’s —  The home improvement company’s stock fell 1.5% after Wedbush downgraded it to neutral from outperform, saying tailwinds are slowing. “Supported by commentary from large suppliers, we expect to see a leading indicator of a downturn emerge more clearly this quarter” in Lowe’s results, the Wedbush analyst said.Six Flags – Six Flags shares rose about 5.4% after Wedbush upgraded the stock to an outperform rating from a neutral rating. The firm called Six Flags a “compelling” reopening play. “SIX represents an intriguing combination of massive underperformance over the course of the pandemic, manageable reopening headwinds, and a significant-yet-realistic post-pandemic margin-enhancement story,” the firm said.Gap – Shares of the retailer edged about 3% higher after Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to a buy rating. The firm said Gap is “making a comeback with improving profitability.” Deutsche Bank has a $42 target on the stock, which is 44% above where shares closed on Friday.PerkinElmer – Shares of PerkinElmer gained 4.7% after the life sciences company announced it would acquire BioLegend, an antibodies and reagents provider. The deal is worth about $5.25 billion in a combination of cash and stock. PerkinElmer said in a press release that the transaction will be the largest in the company’s history.Philips – Philips shares dropped 3.8% after despite the company reporting better-than-expected earnings for the second quarter. The Dutch health technology added 250 million euros to a prior provision in relation to the recall of breathing devices and ventilators.Check Point — Shares of the software company ticked 3.8% lower despite reporting better-than-expected earnings and revenue before the bell. Check Point reported earnings of $1.61 per share on revenue of $526 million. Wall Street estimated earnings of $1.56 on revenue of $524 million, according to Refinitiv.Didi Global — Shares of the Chinese ride-hailing firm stabilized on Monday and dipped 0.3%. The stock fell more than 20% on Thursday and Friday, as China crackdowns on tech companies. On Monday, Atlantic Equities downgraded the stock to neutral, saying that shares would likely remain volatile for the rest of the year.TAL Education — TAL Education shares continued to fall after Friday’s reports of a Chinese government crackdown on education training institutions that included bans on foreign investment. The stock dropped 26.7% on Monday. Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to a neutral rating and Bank of America double-downgraded the stock to an underperform rating. Both firms cited regulatory uncertainty for the Chinese education company.Tencent Music Entertainment –Shares of the China-based music platform fell roughly 3% after Chinese regulators ordered the company to end its exclusive music licensing deals with global record labels within 30 days. Tencent Music has also been fined more than $77,000 by China’s antitrust authorities. The stock has tumbled more than 30% this month.— CNBC’s Maggie Fitzgerald, Pippa Stevens, Jesse Pound, Tanaya Macheel and Yun Li contributed reportingBecome a smarter investor with CNBC Pro. Get stock picks, analyst calls, exclusive interviews and access to CNBC TV. Sign up to start a free trial today More

simonlong | Moment | Getty ImagesConsumer losses due to Covid-related fraud have topped $500 million, as criminals rip off the unwary in a variety of schemes ranging from online shopping to travel, according to data from the Federal Trade Commission.The agency has received more than 558,000 complaints from consumers related to the pandemic since the start of 2020.About 60% of the complaints were associated with fraud, citing an aggregate loss of $501 million through July 22. The typical person lost about $370, according to the agency.More from Personal Finance:More than half of adults have unused gift cardsOpting out of monthly child tax credit pay may make sense for someWhat to know before adding cryptocurrency to your retirement portfolio”Scammers always take advantage of disasters, manmade or natural,” said Susan Grant, director of consumer protection and privacy at the Consumer Federation of America, an advocacy group.Criminals have used multiple avenues to steal money from unsuspecting Americans, including fraud related to online shopping, travel and government stimulus funds during the pandemic, according to federal data.Covid consumer complaintsMeanwhile, price-gouging was the most commonly reported pandemic-related issue in 2020, according to state and local consumer agencies polled for a Consumer Federation report issued Monday. Consumers complained of being charged exorbitant prices for sought-after products such as hand sanitizer, toilet paper and masks.Agencies also received Covid-associated complaints in a wide range of other categories, such as evictions, canceled events and travel, schools and childcare, the report said.The true scope of consumer complaints and losses is likely much higher than official statistics, since the data is self-reported by consumers, Grant said.”The complaints they receive are only the tip of the iceberg,” she said. “I think it’s safe to say it’s an awful lot of people.”Online shopping accounted for the largest number of reported scams to the FTC — more than 53,000 complaints, or about 16% of the total that reported fraud.Americans increased their online orders during the pandemic as they spent more time indoors. But many were victims of “opportunistic websites” claiming to sell popular items — anything from hand sanitizer to gloves, electronics, clothing and even puppies, according to the FTC. Customers order the item but then never receive it.Victims lost the largest amount of total money ($77 million) to vacation and travel scams, say FTC officials. Most fraud relates to refunds and cancellations, the agency said.Travel has rebounded as Covid vaccinations increase — and fraudsters have responded by creating fake airline ticket booking sites or customer service numbers, according to the Better Business Bureau. More

Jeff Bezos holds the aviation glasses that belonged to Amelia Earhart as he speaks during a press conference about his flight on Blue Origin’s New Shepard into space on July 20, 2021 in Van Horn, Texas.Joe Raedle | Getty ImagesBlue Origin founder Jeff Bezos on Monday offered to cover billions of dollars of NASA costs in exchange for a contract to build a lunar lander to land astronauts on the moon.Bezos said Blue Origin would waive all payments up to $2 billion from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the current and next two government fiscal years. Blue Origin would also fund its own pathfinder mission to low-Earth orbit, according to Bezos. In return, the company requested a fixed-priced contract from the government agency.”This offer is not a deferral, but is an outright and permanent waiver of those payments. This offer provides time for government appropriation actions to catch up,” Bezos said in an open letter to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.NASA in April awarded Elon Musk’s SpaceX with a sole $2.89 billion contract to build the next crewed lunar lander under its Human Landing Systems program. Before selecting the winner of the contest, NASA gave 10-month study contracts to SpaceX, Blue Origin and Dynetics to begin work on lunar landers.”Instead of this single source approach, NASA should embrace its original strategy of competition,” Bezos said. “Without competition, a short time into the contract, NASA will find itself with limited options as it attempts to negotiate missed deadlines, design changes, and cost overruns.”Bezos, the founder and executive chair of Amazon, launched into space earlier this month with a ride on the first crewed New Shepard rocket flight, a project of his Blue Origin company.He and his fellow passengers floated in microgravity for a couple of minutes before their capsule returned and landed after 10 minutes and 10 seconds.Right now, Bezos and fellow billionaire Richard Branson are the only two major entrepreneurs in the market of launching tourists to the edge of space. Branson’s Virgin Galactic, which also recently completed a crewed flight, has historically sold seats on its flights between $200,000 and $250,000 per ticket.The tourism market is just one component of a space economy valued no less than $420 billion. Yet its high profile means it has a powerful and widespread influence over the space industry, with investors often pointing to astronaut flights as driving excitement about the broader consequences of the extraterrestrial marketplace.Blue Origin has sold nearly $100 million worth of tickets for future passenger flights to the edge of space, Bezos said last week. The company is actively working on building more rocket boosters to fly more frequently at the “very high” rate Bezos hopes for.— CNBC’s Michael Sheetz contributed reporting.Enjoyed this article?For exclusive stock picks, investment ideas and CNBC global livestreamSign up for CNBC ProStart your free trial now More

Omar Marques | LightRocket | Getty ImagesIn typical Robinhood fashion, the stock trading app hosted an unconventional virtual roadshow on Saturday. Rather than holding the event behind doors among investment bankers and hedge funds, as is typical, the event was democratized as Robinhood management fielded questions from everyday investors.Robinhood is seeking a market valuation of as much as $35 billion in its upcoming initial public offering, which is expected as soon as this week. The company — which plans to trade under ticker HOOD on the Nasdaq — is offering 55 million shares, which it will try to sell at a range of $38 to $42 apiece.During the live roadshow, Robinhood co-founders — CEO Vlad Tenev, chief creative officer Baiju Bhatt and chief financial officer Jason Warnick — pitched the company’s long-term value and juggled questions from a pool of 2,000 about retail investing, payment for order flow, revenue diversification and more. Tenev even took a question about his favorite planet, which is Venus.Despite warning of a potential slowdown in the retail trading boom, Robinhood — which expects to have 22.5 million accounts as of the second quarter — is bullish on the future of individual investing.”We think retail investing is a trend that’s here to stay. If you look at the data, the growth in retail actually started years before we launched. Our contribution has really been to accelerate the process,” Warnick said.Robinhood was founded in 2013 by Tenev and Bhatt and offers equity, cryptocurrency and options trading, as well as cash management accounts. Executives said more than 80% of Robinhood’s clients come by word of mouth of the firm’s referral program. The firm said it expects assets under custody to balloon to more than $100 billion as of the second quarter.Executives fielded several questions about Robinhood’s source of revenues, which is about 75% from the money brokerage firms receive for directing clients’ trades to market makers, or payment for order flow. Warnick said Robinhood receives an average of 2.5 cents for every $100 traded. Tenev also added that clients traded an average of 7 times per day in 2020.”We think payment for order flow is a better deal for our customers, vs. the old commission structure. It allows investors to invest smaller amounts without having to worry about the cost of commissions,” Warnick said.However, Warnick said Robinhood wants to be fully engaged in the regulatory and political discussion about PFOF. He said that if the PFOF model changed, Robinhood and the industry would be able to adapt.In the meantime, the millennial-favored stock trading app is making efforts to diversify its revenue streams by adopting a securities lending business, adding a debit card, enhancing Robinhood Gold and expanding internationally.Robinhood is also looking — because of customer demand — at adding IRA and Roth IRA accounts.”We want to make first-time investors into long-term investors,” Tenev said. He added that more than 50% of Robinhood clients are first-time investors.The stock trading app is also reserving 20% to 35% of its IPO shares for its own clients, which Tenev said he expects will be one of the largest retail allocations ever.Robinhood has no plans to pay a dividend when it hits the public markets, which management believes is common for fast-growing companies. More