Sept. 15th 2018 Week In Review: How Trump's Policies Moved Stocks

Catch up on the top industries and stocks that were impacted, or were predicted to be impacted, by the comments, actions and policies of President Trump and his administration with this weekly recap compiled by The Fly:

1. JPMORGAN'S DIMON: Following JPMorgan (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon's remarks Wednesday that he could beat Donald Trump in an election because he's "smarter," comments that he quickly walked back, the president issued his response via Twitter on Thursday. Trump tweeted that, "The problem with banker Jamie Dimon running for President is that he doesn't have the aptitude or "smarts" & is a poor public speaker & nervous mess - otherwise he is wonderful. I've made a lot of bankers, and others, look much smarter than they are with my great economic policy!"

2. CHINA TRADE: U.S. officials, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, recently invited Chinese counterparts to another meeting to talk about bilateral trade, according to a report on Wednesday by The Wall Street Journal. The U.S. aims to give China another opportunity to address concerns over trade issues before implementing additional tariffs on Chinese imports, the report added, citing people briefed on the matter. In a separate report, the publication also said that Chinese leaders were ramping up a charm offensive with U.S. multinationals and retreating from previous threats of retaliations as Beijing changes strategy to keep the trade war with Washington from scaring off foreign investors.

Exxon Mobil's (XOM) plans for a $10B project in southern China earned CEO Darren Woods an audience with Premier Li Keqiang and VP Wang Qishan is expected to meet with a group of senior Wall Street executives from JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup (C), and Blackstone (BX) this coming weekend to reaffirm that business is as usual. Meanwhile, President Trump tweeted: "The Wall Street Journal has it wrong, we are under no pressure to make a deal with China, they are under pressure to make a deal with us. Our markets are surging, theirs are collapsing. We will soon be taking in Billions in Tariffs & making products at home. If we meet, we meet?"

3. NAFTA NEGOTIATIONS: Canadian foreign minister Chrystia Freeland returned to Washington this week for negotiations aimed at saving the North America Free Trade Agreement as time runs short ahead of an October 1 deadline, Reuters reported. Freeland said that talks between the U.S. and Canada over the weekend were "constructive and productive," so she went back to Washington for what may be just one day of discussions with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, the report noted. Publicly traded companies in the auto space, which could be particularly impacted by a new NAFTA deal, include Daimler AG (DDAIF), Fiat Chrysler (FCAU), Ford (F), General Motors (GM), Honda (HMC), Nissan (NSANY), Toyota (TM) and Volkswagen (VLKAY).

4. US-KOREAS TALKS: U.S. President Donald Trump and the leaders of North and South Korea are looking to October for a second summit, according to the Nikkei Asian Review, citing a source affiliated with South Korean diplomacy. Trump would like to use the event as a boost for Republicans ahead of November's midterm elections, while North Korea's Kim Jong Un would seek a guarantee for his regime via a declaration of the end of the Korean War, the Nikkei added.

5. U.S. ELECTIONS: On Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order mandating certain sanctions on foreign entities accused of meddling in U.S. elections. "Although there has been no evidence of a foreign power altering the outcome or vote tabulation in any United States election, foreign powers have historically sought to exploit America's free and open political system. In recent years, the proliferation of digital devices and internet-based communications has created significant vulnerabilities and magnified the scope and intensity of the threat of foreign interference, as illustrated in the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment. I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with this threat," the order reads.

6. METHANE REQUIREMENTS: The Trump administration is making it significantly easier for energy companies to release methane in the atmosphere in its third major step this year to roll back federal efforts to fight climate change, the New York Times reported on Tuesday. The Environmental Protection Agency expects to make public a proposal to ease an Obama-era rule that companies monitor and repair methane leaks and in a related move, the Interior Department is expected to release a final version of a draft rule that essentially repeals a restriction on the intentional venting and "flaring", or burning", of methane from drilling operations. Public companies in the space include Nabors Industries (NBR), Helmerich & Payne (HP), Patterson-UTI (PTEN), Precision Drilling (PDS) and Pioneer Energy (PES).

Disclaimer: TheFly's news is intended for informational purposes only and does not claim to be actionable for investment decisions. Read more at  more

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