1) Managing Director Christine Lagarde of the IMF (International Monetary Fund) announced her resignation to become the next head of the European Central Bank. Her resignation from the global lender will be effective the twelfth of September. Lagarde’s second five year term as Managing Director of the IMF was not due to end until July 2021.
2) The pizza giant Domino’s Pizza is seeing its business eroded by food-delivery startups. Second quarter financial reports shows Domino’s sales fell short of analyst estimates causing its stock to drop as much as 7%. Services like GrubHub, DorrDash and EuberEats are cutting into Domino’s food-delivery business in recent years, a result of aggressive promotions and discounts, with Domino’s countering by speeding up its delivery time and expanding number of locations.
3) The electronic news magazine ‘60 Minutes’ had an interview this last Sunday with venture capitalist Kai-Fu Lee about the future of artificial intelligence and China’s efforts to dominate the emerging AI markets. Mr. Lee estimates that in the next fifteen to twenty-five years about 40% of the jobs will disappear from technology displacement. This is in keeping with the recent Osborne Report forecasting that as much as 47% of the jobs will disappear in the next 20 years. An example is the Navy has mandated that new ship designs must use automation to reduce crew sizes by 20%.
4) Stock market closings for – 16 JUL 19:
Dow 27,335.63 down 23.53
Nasdaq 8,222.80 down 35.39
S&P 500 3,004.04 down 10.26
10 Year Yield: up at 2.12%
Oil: down at $57.48