Forget the gains. Smart money looks to the future

Businesses have been particularly circumspect this year due to the inevitable comparisons with 2018, when gangbusters profits were boosted by US tax cuts.

But the imminent slowdown in global growth, exacerbated by trade tensions, is also forcing companies to moderate their prospects.

Others might end up in a similar position. According to Raich, about 40% of S & P 500 company profits are made abroad.

Looking at the stock market, you would not know that profits are about to be low. A Possible Federal Reserve Rate Cut This Month Raises US Stocks to Record Highs, Even as Customs Duties on Hundreds of Billions of US Dollars from the US and China remain in force.

"The positive impact of lowering the cost of borrowing on profits will outweigh the negative impact of rates," said Raich.

But it's a precarious balance.

"The status quo is manageable as long as the Fed eases," Normand said. "What I am not so confident about is how much should be relaxed to compensate for further price increases."

In the immediate future, the main concern of the markets is what are the next steps. If forecasts are particularly bleak, shares could fall by 5%, said Normand.

2. Hearings of the Libra: US lawmakers have a lot of questions about Facebook's crypto-currency Balance. Next week, they will have answers.

The technology company presents Libra as a stable and universally accepted cryptocurrency that will facilitate the online sending of money and promote financial inclusion.

But regulators fear that the massive reach of Facebook will lead to a rapid adoption of digital currency at a time when the sector is largely unregulated. They are also worried about Facebook's reputation for not protecting users' data.

Facebook said they met with regulators and put in place plans to protect users' data and prevent financial crimes from using Libra. The company also pointed out that she would not be the sole manager of Libra, but that she would be run by an independent organization.

Democrats in the House committee questioning Marcus have asked Facebook to stop the development of Libra until lawmakers have the opportunity to consider regulatory action. They may have something in common with President Donald Trump, who criticized Libya last week and claimed that Facebook would need a license if it wants to act as a bank.

This year, the discounted event will last two days. Prime Day will offer more than a million deals worldwide, including what, according to Amazon, will be "the biggest deal of all time" on Amazon Music, Prime Video and Alexa devices.

Amazon, which had sales of $ 232 billion last year, is not meeting Prime Day revenue. But according to Coresight Research, global sales are expected to reach $ 5.8 billion this year. Last year, Amazon generated $ 3.9 billion, according to the research firm.

"There is no doubt that Amazon Prime Day will be another flagship event for Amazon, all the more so as it has grown in duration and it seems to work even harder with suppliers." to secure transactions and volumes, "said Sucharita Kodali, an analyst at Forrester Research.

4. Coming next week:

– Nathaniel Meyersohn and Clare Duffy contributed to the report.