Trade 'Hard Deadline' Approaches

Author

Tom White
July 21, 2025

U.S. stock futures are slightly higher ahead of the Wall Street open as traders await the ramp up in earnings this week. Stocks are coming off a winning week with the S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 (NDX) settling just below their record highs on Friday. Trade will remain in focus this week with the August 1st deadline approaching.

On Sunday, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick called Aug. 1 the “hard deadline” for countries to start paying tariffs, though he also added that “nothing stops countries from talking to us after Aug. 1.”

Earnings season ramps up this week with results due from Alphabet (GOOGL) and Tesla (TSLA) on Wednesday. So far this earnings season, of the 12% of S&P 500 companies that have reported, the beat rate is at 86% according to FactSet.

Morning Movers

Snapshot (as of 7 AM ET)

  • Oil (/CL) – Oil prices are about flat near $66 a barrel as traders assess the impact of new European sanctions on Russian oil supply while they also worry about tariffs possibly weakening fuel demand as Middle East producers are raising output.

  • Gold (/GC) – Gold prices are up 0.6% near $3380 as investors monitored developments in U.S. trade talks and awaited potential market-moving catalysts, including the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy meeting scheduled for next week.

  • Bitcoin (/BTC) – The Crypto Future is up 1% near 118.5K in the premarket.

  • VIX – The CBOE Volatility Index fell 0.7% on Friday and settled at 16.41 despite slight weakness in stocks.

  • U.S. Dollar (/DX) – The dollar is down 0.4% to 97.8.

Biggest Premarket Movers

Symbol

Product

Mark % Change (as of 7 AM ET)

HES

Hess

+7.58%

VZ

Verizon

+4.60%

ALB

Albemarle

+4.19%

TGT

Target

-1.43%

EQT

EQT

-0.69%

RCL

Royal Caribbean

-0.34%

Economic Data

Time

Event

10:00AM ET

Leading Economic Indicators

11:30AM ET

3-Month Bill Auction

6-Month Bill Auction

Notable Earnings

Premarket

Postmarket

Premarket Tomorrow

Postmarket Tomorrow

CLF, DPZ, ROP, VZ

CCK, NXPI, STLD, WRB, WTFC, ZION

AVY, KO, DHI, DHR, EFX, GM, GPC, HAL, IPG, IVZ, KEY, LMT, NOC, PCAR, PNR, PM, PHM, DGX, RTX, SHW, SPWR, SYF, THC, VMI

BKR, CNI, COF, CB, CSGP, ENPH, EQT, ISRG, MTDR, PEGA, RRC, SAP, TXN

Upgrades/Downgrades

  • Morgan Stanley upgrades Pinterest (PINS) to Overweight from Equal Weight

  • Morgan Stanley upgrades Etsy (ETSY) to Equal Weight from Overweight

  • Seaport Research upgrades Texas Instruments (TXN) to Neutral from Sell

  • DZ Bank downgrades American Express (AXP) to Sell from Hold

  • Barclays downgrades Target (TGT) to Underweight from Equal Weight

  • TD Cowen downgrades Centene (CNC) to Hold from Buy

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This material is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered a personalized recommendation or investment advice. Investors should review investment strategies for their own particular situations before making any decisions.

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Data contained herein is obtained from what are considered reliable sources. However, its accuracy, completeness, or reliability cannot be guaranteed. All events and times listed are subject to change without notice.