Focus will be on October retail sales data due to be released within an hour or two of earnings from Walmart (NYSE: WMT). Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies fell as the Infrastructure Bill included some restrictions on cryptocurrencies. Elon Musk continues to sell shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), but at least Michael Burry has stopped doing the same.
1. Retail Sales Data
At 8:30 a.m. ET (1330 GMT), retail sales data for October will be reported. Analysts expect a 1.2 percent increase from September, which would be the biggest monthly gain since March, when the United States lifted most restrictions on store closures.
There's an implicit tension between that forecast and the University of Michigan's consumer index, which fell to a 10-year low earlier this month. That can be partly explained by the fact that much of the increase in retail sales is due to rising prices (Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN) on Monday became the latest company to announce higher input price transfers to client).
Both Walmart and Home Depot, reported early results.
2. Elon Musk Keeps Selling Stocks But Michael Burry Has Stopped
Elon Musk continued to sell Tesla stock on Monday, according to filings released later in the day. CEO Musk sold 934,091 shares, worth about $930 million, after exercising call options on 2.1 million shares previously granted at $6.24 per share.
He must pay income tax on the difference between the strike price and the market value.
Tesla shares fell 1.2% in the pre-market session. However, Michael Burry, the famous investor from the movie 'The Big Short', whose hedge fund Scion Capital closed a short position on Tesla and Cathie Wood's ARK Investment.
3. Stocks are expected to open flat after the US-China leaders meeting
US stocks are expected to open little changed. The lengthy phone call between President Joe Biden and Xi Jinping generated some positive sentiment, but didn't really affect the market much.
At 6:15 a.m. ET, Dow Jones futures were down 3 points, while S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures were both down less than 0.1%.
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