🌅 Today's Morning Call
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Data as of 8:17 AM ET
Good morning! It is Wednesday, July 29, and the pre-market tape is telling two very different stories depending on whether you are holding tech or not. Nasdaq futures are up more than one percent while the Dow is quietly slipping, which tells you exactly where the energy is this morning. Apple, Microsoft, and a Taco Bell health scare are all competing for your attention before the opening bell. Here is what's moving.
👀 What to Watch Today
The headliner today is Apple's (AAPL) earnings call, and it carries extra weight because it will be Tim Cook's final one as CEO. Apple has been on a tear lately, briefly crossing the $5 trillion market cap threshold, and analysts expect the company to report its strongest June-quarter sales growth in five years. The decision to hold iPhone prices steady appears to be paying off, and investors will be listening closely for any signal on how long that pricing discipline can hold.Microsoft (MSFT) is also reporting today, and options traders are pricing in a roughly $190 billion swing in market value post-earnings. That is an unusually large implied move, reflecting just how much is riding on whether the company can show meaningful returns from its massive AI infrastructure spending. Yum Brands (YUM) rounds out the earnings calendar before the bell, though the spotlight there is less about quarterly numbers and more about a Cyclospora outbreak tied to Taco Bell locations, which could complicate the narrative regardless of what the financials say.
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Text Me the Alerts🌏 Overnight Recap
Overnight, the macro backdrop shifted slightly in the bulls' favor. Treasury yields pulled back across the curve, with the 10-year dropping to 4.60 percent and the 30-year settling at 5.10 percent. That modest relief on the rates front is helping fuel the tech bid in Nasdaq futures this morning. The dollar index (DXY) is holding near 101.44, essentially flat, which is not creating any meaningful headwinds for multinationals heading into earnings season.On the corporate side, Biogen (BIIB) posted a strong second-quarter beat overnight, driven by its rare-disease drug portfolio while older MS drugs continued their slow fade. Cognizant (CTSH) delivered a disappointment, forecasting quarterly revenue below estimates as enterprise clients keep a tight grip on discretionary IT budgets. And BMW (BMWYY) announced plans to cut thousands of jobs in Germany through a voluntary redundancy program, a reminder that the global auto sector is still working through a painful reset.
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📊 Pre-Market Movers
AAPL is drawing early attention in pre-market after the stock recently touched a record high and pushed Apple's market cap briefly above $5 trillion. Sentiment is constructive heading into the call, with analysts pointing to strong iPhone demand and disciplined pricing strategy as the key drivers of what could be the company's best June-quarter sales growth in half a decade.TSLA is the opposite story. Shares have now fallen five consecutive sessions following a weaker-than-expected second-quarter earnings report, and the trillion-dollar market cap is looking increasingly fragile. There is no clear near-term catalyst to reverse the slide, so traders will be watching whether any support level holds or if selling continues into today's session.
CTSH is another one to flag on the downside after its cautious revenue outlook landed overnight. Enterprise IT spending remains soft, and Cognizant's warning adds to a pattern of managed services firms struggling to get clients to open their wallets on discretionary projects.
🔍 Today's Watchlist
- AAPL earnings call: Tim Cook's final act as CEO, with $5 trillion market cap and record stock price as the backdrop.
- MSFT post-earnings reaction: options markets expect a $190 billion swing, making this one of the biggest single-stock events of the week.
- TSLA share price: five straight sessions of losses are threatening its trillion-dollar market cap status, watch for any stabilization or further breakdown.
- Treasury yields: the 10-year at 4.60 percent is providing some breathing room for growth stocks, any reversal higher could pressure the Nasdaq rally.
- YUM Brands: Cyclospora outbreak headlines tied to Taco Bell could overshadow the earnings print, watch for consumer sentiment and legal exposure commentary.
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🎯 The Morning Playbook
Today is essentially a two-ticker day for most active traders: AAPL and MSFT. Both reports will set the tone not just for those individual stocks but for the broader mega-cap tech narrative that has been driving the Nasdaq's outperformance. If Cook delivers a clean final performance and Microsoft shows AI is moving the needle on revenue, the bulls have a real case for extending recent gains.On the defensive side, PG's pattern of beating on profit but missing on sales is a useful reminder that consumers are still being selective, and that beat-and-fall dynamic is worth watching across other consumer staples names. The Yum Brands situation is a wildcard, because food safety headlines have a way of sticking around longer than one earnings cycle.
Go into today with clear levels in mind on AAPL and MSFT, because the options market is telling you to expect big moves in both. Preparation beats reaction every time.
📰 Further Reading
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