Nasdaq heads off to rough start to September as Nvidia sell-off continues

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• Tue, Sep 3, 2024 at 8:45am MST

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  Construction spending falls more than expected

  While the August jobs report due out Friday is the week’s biggest economic news, Tuesday provided a preview of construction activity, which could have implications for the housing market.

  The Commerce Department reported Tuesday that construction spending fell 0.3% in July, compared with no change in the previous month. Forecasts had shown spending figures falling just 0.1%

  The slightly stronger decline in spending than expected is the result of higher mortgage rates and greater supply.

  Weaker demand has caused builders to slow down on new construction, with single-family home starts falling to a 16-month low in July.

  Mortgage rates continued to fall in August, however, as expectations of a rate cut by the Federal Reserve at its upcoming policy meeting in September grow. Rates are expected to fall further as potential homebuyers wait for better interest rates.

  Affordability remains an issue, even though borrowing costs are likely to fall.

  Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index, which measures consumer sentiment about the housing market, fell in July, underscoring how the lack of affordability is dampening housing activity.

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  Tue, Sep 3, 2024 at 8:00am MST

  Why We’re Not Ready for the First Presidential Election of the AI ​​Era

  With the election just months away and generative AI detection technologies still not always successful, experts expect we’ll see more generative AI-based content designed to divide voters, reports Yahoo Finance’s Dan Howley.

  The 2024 election will be the first U.S. presidential election in the age of generative AI, and we are already seeing examples of how the technology is being used to influence the way Americans cast their votes.

  On August 18, former President Donald Trump shared a series of AI-generated images of Taylor Swift fans wearing pro-Trump shirts, despite the fact that the images originally appeared in a post marked as satire on X (formerly Twitter). In January, deepfake phone calls were sent to some New Hampshire residents in an attempt to discourage them from participating in the state’s Democratic primary.

  “The danger is that if there is some kind of AI disinformation … like the images of Taylor Swift … if millions of people are exposed to it and only 10% or 15% are unaware that it’s fake, that could change a substantial number of people’s minds about elections,” said Lance Hunter, a political science professor at Augusta University.

  “[In] “Swing states, sometimes the margin of victory is less than 1%. So … a small number of people who are exposed to this disinformation and don’t realize it’s disinformation can affect election outcomes,” Hunter added.

  Read more here.

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  Tue, Sep 3, 2024 at 7:15am MST

  Stock Trends in Morning Trading

  Here are some of the stocks topping Yahoo Finance’s trending tickers page during morning trading on Tuesday:

  Boeing (BA): Shares of the planemaker fell 6% on Tuesday morning after Wells Fargo cut its price target, highlighting the strain on the company’s cash flow as it works to develop new planes. The company also faces a major potential strike, with workers in Washington state set to go on strike if a deal isn’t reached later this month.

  American steel (X): The steelmaker fell nearly 4% after Democratic candidate Kamala Harris said the company should remain American-owned and run in light of a proposed takeover by Japan’s Nippon Steel. Republican candidate Donald Trump has also opposed the proposed sale.

  Nvidia (NVDA): Shares of the AI ​​chip designer fell 5% in morning trading Tuesday, extending a slide that accelerated after the company’s earnings report last week failed to impress Wall Street. The stock has fallen more than 10% over the past five days, marking a challenging moment for AI and chip companies that have been on the ropes as questions grow louder about returns on their customers’ investments.

  Unity (I): The video game software developer rose more than 7% on Tuesday after Morgan Stanley analysts upgraded the stock to Overweight from Equal Weight, citing the strength of its game engine division and Unity’s position as a market share leader.

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  Tue, Sep 3, 2024 at 6:32am MST

  Stocks fall in morning trading

  U.S. stocks fell Tuesday to kick off September. September has been a historically tough month for markets as attention turned to a week of labor data, highlighted by a key monthly jobs report.

  The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell about 0.5% after a winning session that came before the Labor Day break. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell 0.6% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell 0.8%.