1) The result of the Iranian missile attack on gas prices is expected to be minimal. Oil prices did briefly surge on Tuesday on news of the attacks fueling fears of a Middle East war between Iran and America, spiking 4% to top oil prices of $65 a barrel, but slipped down to 1.3% early next day. Some are expecting gas prices across the nation to rise five to ten cents per gallon over the next several days.
2) Data for the fourth quarter indicated 2019 will show strong growth, which will most likely lead into a strong growth for 2020. The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth for the fourth quarter is estimated to be 2.3%, better than the 2.1% growth for the third quarter. This would close out the GDP growth for 2019 at 2.4%, down from the 2.9% growth of 2018, but still enough to put fears of a recession to rest.
3) Walmart has unveiled its latest technology to counter Amazon and Kroger in the grocery battle- a grocery picking robot. The automated grocery system is called Alphabot and is designed to pick and pack orders as much as ten times faster than a human. The robot will allow Walmart to rapidly expand its capacity to fill orders for ‘demand on online’ grocery shopping. The Alphabot is a 20,000 square foot facility built onto present stores consisting of about 30 small cubic robots inside a giant shelving system, which can pick and pack products from a selection of 4,500 items.
4) Stock market closings for – 8 JAN 20:
Dow 28,745.09 up 161.41
Nasdaq 9,129.24 up 60.66
S&P 500 3,253.05 up 15.87
10 Year Yield: up at 1.87%
Oil: down at $59.98