Good morning. Happy Monday. Hope you had a great weekend.
The Asian/Pacific markets posted big gains. Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, India, Taiwan, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines all participated. Europe, Africa and the Middle East are mostly up. Denmark, Poland, Switzerland, Norway, Hungary, Portugal, Austria and the Czech Republic are up; Turkey and Sweden are down. Futures in the States point to a flat open for the S&P 500 and a positive open for the Nasdaq.
————— Free Online Course: Mini Masterclass in Trading —————
The dollar is up big. Oil is down; copper is up. Gold is down; silver is up. Bonds are down.
Stories/News from Seeking Alpha…
Incoming!
Drones have been all the rage in recent weeks, with sightings reported across New Jersey and the U.S. East Coast. It’s not yet clear where they are coming from and why, but what seems pretty clear is that drones will be playing a big part of life in the foreseeable future. UAVs have been moving fast out of the hobbyist and techie world into the commercial and military sectors, and that trend might be a big one for 2025 and beyond.
The latest: DoorDash (DASH) is partnering with Alphabet-owned Wing (GOOGL) to deliver food orders from two malls in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area, including Hulen and Stonebriar Centre (BN). Orders can be placed from more than 50 merchants, with meals arriving “in as little as 15 minutes.” The delivery drones fly up to 65 mph and reach a cruising height of around 150 feet before lowering their contents to the ground via a winch system.
The service was made possible by the Federal Aviation Administration recently approving Wing (and rival Zipline) to conduct beyond visual line-of-sight (BVLOS) flights over Dallas. Wing has completed over 400,000 commercial deliveries worldwide since its first U.S. pilot began in 2019. Its last partnership with DoorDash in March gave consumers the ability to order flying burgers from Wendy’s (WEN), but Wing is now looking to transform the industry by converting open areas of shopping malls into drone delivery hubs.
“We are proud to be the first landlord to provide drone delivery as another avenue to help our tenants serve our communities,” said Katie Kurtz, Senior Vice President of Business Development at Brookfield Properties. “We’re committed to meeting the changing needs of the ways people shop. Brookfield Properties has a strong track record of evolving our assets and leading ahead of the curve in retail.”
What else to watch: While drone capabilities are expanding in food delivery after successful tests with consumer products (with Walmart) and medicine (with Walgreens), advancements in the military are being eyed as the next big theme. In several controversial posts over the past month, Elon Musk took aim at the costly Lockheed Martin (LMT) F-35 program and “manned fighter jets [that] are becoming obsolete in the era of drones.” According to the DOGE appointee, drones can be networked to fly in swarms, are exponentially cheaper, and will never “get [any] pilots killed.” Take the new WSB survey.
What else is happening…
U.S. government shutdown averted as Senate clears spending bill.
SA Asks: Which Big Pharmas are likely to announce big M&A deals?
Remember MoviePass? It is back again and this time it is profitable.
Labor unrest: Starbucks union workers are now on strike in nine states.
U.K. weighs facial recognition tech to keep kids away from social media.
Palantir (PLTR), Anduril may form consortium to take on defense firms.
Honda (HMC), Nissan confirm merger talks; this carmaker may join too.
Did the White House have undue influence over U.S. Steel (X) review?
Trump threatens to retake Panama Canal, wants U.S. to own Greenland.
Apple (AAPL) rethinks home strategy, said to be working on smart doorbell.
Today’s Economic Calendar
08:30 AM Chicago Fed National Activity Index
10:00 AM Consumer Confidence
01:00 PM Results of $69B, 2-Year Note Auction
—————