1. Wall Street about to end a strong August and start historically challenging September
The Dow on Monday reflects changes in the 30 stocks that make up the average and a stock split in one of its most influential components. At the open, Salesforce, Amgen and Honeywell will be included in the Dow, replacing longtime components Exxon Mobil, Pfizer and Raytheon. Dow stock Apple rose in premarket trading as its 4-for-1 split took effect. Tesla, not a Dow stock but a favorite on Wall Street, saw its shares more higher after the electric auto maker’s 5-for-1 split.
2. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway buys stakes in Japan’s five leading trading companies
Warren Buffett during an interview with CNBC’s Becky Quick on February 24, 2020.
Gerry Miller | CNBC
Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway acquired stakes in each of the five leading Japanese trading companies. The Berkshire Hathaway chairman and CEO said Sunday, his 90th birthday, that his company bought slightly more than 5% positions in Itochu Corp., Marubeni Corp., Mitsubishi Corp., Mitsui & Co., and Sumitomo Corp. The Japanese trading companies, known as sogo shosha, are conglomerates that import everything from energy and metals to food and textiles into resource-scarce Japan. They also provide services to manufacturers. The trading houses have helped grow the Japanese economy and contributed to the globalization of its business.
3. TikTok’s Beijing-based parent says it will follow China’s newly amended rules on exporting technology
Sheldon Cooper | LightRocket | Getty Images
Beijing-based ByteDance, owner of TikTok, said it will follow China’s newly amended rules on exporting technology, which could make any sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations more complicated. The export list, updated Friday, had not been changed since 2008. Companies wishing to export technologies on the list must get a license from the Chinese government. Earlier this month, citing national security concerns, President Donald Trump signed an executive order requiring ByteDance to sell or spin off its U.S. TikTok business. TikTok is expected to choose between a Microsoft and Walmart offer and a bid from Oracle as soon as Tuesday, according to people familiar with the situation.
4. FDA chief says agency prepared to bypass full federal approval process on Covid-19 vaccine
Commissioner of U.S. Food and Drug Administration Dr. Stephen M. Hahn speaks during a news conference about the latest coronavirus disease (COVID-19) developments, in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, U.S. August 23, 2020.
Erin Scott | Reuters
The Food and Drug Administration chief is prepared to bypass the full federal approval process in order to make a Covid-19 vaccine available as soon as possible, according to an interview in The Financial Times. Insisting that any move would not be due to pressure from the White House, FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn told the FT an emergency authorization could be appropriate before phase three clinical trials are completed if the benefits outweigh the risks.
Total U.S. coronavirus cases approached 6 million, according to Johns Hopkins University data on Monday morning, with over 183,000 deaths. Cumulative infections globally topped 25.2 million, with more than 846,800 fatalities. Daily new cases in the U.S. have been trending lower after spiking earlier in the summer. Daily new infections globally have been up and down since late July.
5. Trump and Democrats clash over rhetoric after violent weekend of protests
About two hundred people protesting police brutality spray graffiti and start fires at the Portland Police Union building, in Portland, Oregon, United States on August 28, 2020, the 93rd day of consecutive protests. Police declared a riot and arrested many people.
John Rudoff | Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Democrats accused Trump of trying to inflame racial tensions and incite violence to benefit his reelection campaign after the president praised supporters who clashed with Black Lives Matter protesters in Portland, Oregon. Trump unleashed a flurry of tweets and retweets Sunday, the day after a right-wing group member was shot and killed in Portland. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden charged that Trump of “fanning the flames of hate and division.” Trump also announced he will travel on Tuesday to Kenosha, Wisconsin, where the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, sparked protests.
— The Associated Press contributed to this report.