Jun 15, 2018

Stocks keep climbing, but slower than before tax cuts

When President Trump signed the tax cuts into law last December, there were questions as to whether Wall Street had already baked them into corporate stock prices.

Bottom line: It's been a mixed bag. The Dow and S&P 500 are both up since the tax cuts, but their growth has slowed significantly. Nasdaq, which is dominated by tech stocks, has experienced a slight acceleration.

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Data: MONEY.NET; Chart: Axios Visuals

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has only climbed 1.3% since the tax cuts were signed, despite having climbed 14.75% over the previous five months, and the S&P 500 is only up 3.5% compared to a previous gain of 8.7%.
But the Nasdaq is up 11.3%, compared to nearly 9% for the prior five months.

One big variable introduced since the tax cuts is the prospect of global trade wars.

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Coronavirus hospitalizations keep falling

Data: COVID Tracking Project, Harvard Global Health Institute; Note: Alabama, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska, Tennessee and Puerto Rico have not reported hospitalizations consistently. Chart: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios

The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 continues to decline, particularly in New York and other northeastern states that were among the hardest hit by the virus.

Yes, but: Some states are still recording stagnant or rising amounts of hospitalizations.

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Updates: George Floyd protests continue past curfews

Protesters on Tuesday evening by the metal fence recently erected outside the White House. Photo: Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

Largely peaceful protests over the death of George Floyd and other police-related killings of black people continued Tuesday night across the U.S. for the eighth consecutive day.

The latest: Protesters were out en masse after curfews were in force in areas including Washington, D.C., New York City, Los Angeles and Portland — one of the cities where there was a late-night flash-point between police and protesters.

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Ursula Perano, Zachary Basu

Updated 6 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Primary elections test impact of protests, coronavirus on voting

Election official at a polling place at McKinley Technology High School in Washington, D.C. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

In the midst of a global pandemic and national protests over the death of George Floyd, eight states and the District of Columbia held primary elections on Tuesday.

Why it matters: Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, needs to win 425 of the 479 delegates up for grabs in order to officially clinch the nomination. There are a number of key down-ballot races throughout the country as well, including a primary in Iowa that could determine the fate of Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa).

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