So now Ford Motor F, -1.93% Chairman Bill Ford and JPMorgan Chase JPM, -1.09% boss Jaime Dimon have both opted to drop out of that Saudi conference following the country’s suspected role in the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The high-profile pair is following the lead of Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, Viacom VIA, -1.04% CEO Bob Bakish and AOL co-founder Steve Case, as well as media organizations like CNN, the New York Times NYT, +0.60% and the Financial Times.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, however, is said to still be planning to attend. That flow of Saudi cash is apparently pretty hard to resist.
Nevertheless, mounting threats from around the world to punish Saudi Arabia, including the possibility of U.S. sanctions, are rattling the oil-soaked nation and drawing sharp words in response.
“The Kingdom affirms its total rejection of any threats and attempts to undermine it, whether by threatening to impose economic sanctions, using political pressures, or repeating false accusation,” a government source reportedly told the official Saudi Press Agency. “The Kingdom also affirms that if it receives any action, it will respond with greater action.”
Hence, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya channel’s general manager Turki Aldakhil, in our call of the day, warned we could see an explosive move in oil prices.
“If U.S. sanctions are imposed on Saudi Arabia, we will be facing an economic disaster that would rock the entire world,” he wrote in an op-ed. “If the price of oil reaching $80 angered President Trump, no one should rule out the price jumping to $100, or $200, or even double that figure.”
This mess could ultimately throw the entire Muslim world “into the arms of Iran, which will become closer to Riyadh than Washington,” Aldakhil said. “The truth is that if Washington imposes sanctions on Riyadh, it will stab its own economy to death, even though it thinks that it is stabbing only Riyadh.”
The deteriorating international relations have triggered a selling spree in the Saudi stock market, as you can see from the chart of the day below.
The U.S. market enjoyed a rebound on Friday after a beatdown earlier in the week, but it looks like sellers have the upper hand again.
The market
Losses are building for futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average YMZ8, -0.33% , S&P 500 ESZ8, -0.38% and Nasdaq Composite NQZ8, -0.70% . Oil CLZ8, +0.80% , which will be closely eyed this week, is up about 0.6% at $71.92. Gold GCZ8, +0.99% is edging slightly higher.
Overseas, Asia markets ADOW, -1.20% continued bleeding, with the Nikkei NIK, -1.87% firmly in the red. Europe SXXP, -0.15% is looking at a sluggish start as well.
Meanwhile, cryptocurrencies are all awash in red. Bitcoin BTCUSD, +4.16% is holding steady near $6,311, while Ripple XRPUSD, +5.64% and Ethereum ETHUSD, +4.49% are down more than 2% each.
The chart
It’s been a rough stretch for investors in Saudi’s stock market. At one point Sunday, the main index in Riyadh dropped as much as 7% with billions of dollars in market cap wiped away from leading companies in the region. The index recovered but was still down 3.5% by close as you can see:
The buzz
The search continues through the rubble of Mexico Beach, with crews looking for the dozens of people still unaccounted for after one of the worst storms to ever hit the U.S. As of midday Sunday, an estimated 79 people were unaccounted for in the coastal town, said Capt. Iggy Carroll,
There’s a lot to unpack in that Trump interview last night. For starters, he predicted climate change would fix itself, said he knows more about NATO than Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis (more on that in “the quote” below), and claimed the EU was formed to take advantage of the U.S. But go ahead and watch for yourself.
Earnings season gets underway this week, starting with Bank of America BAC, -0.04% and Charles Schwab SCHW, +1.83% this morning, then Morgan Stanley MS, -0.14% , Goldman Sachs GS, +0.42% and Netflix NFLX, -1.06% for Tuesday. It’s plenty busy for the rest of the week.
The quote
“I think he’s sort of a Democrat, if you want to know the truth. But General Mattis is a good guy. We get along very well. He may leave. I mean, at some point, everybody leaves. Everybody. People leave. That’s Washington” — President Trump said of Defense Secretary James Mattis on “60 Minutes” on Sunday night.
The stat
33% — That’s the percent of people polled in a CNN survey who said Joe Biden is their preferred presidential nominee among 16 possible Democrats. Bernie Sanders was runner-up with just 13% of the vote, followed by Kamala Harris at 9%.
The economy
The numbers to watch most this week likely come from the housing sectors, where we’ll get September housing starts and existing home sales. But those don’t hit for a few days. As for Monday, retail sales for September are released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, the same time that the New York Fed Empire State manufacturing survey is posted.
