The Market In 5 Minutes

IN THE NEWS

Benzinga

Foot Locker, Inc. FL dramatic post-second quarter marks a turning point in the athletic footwear market. The stock’s crash dominated headlines as an industry that gained lots of media attention over the past few years finally came to a head: Link

FIS Astec Analytics has released its latest weekly list of the most popular stocks among short sellers. This week’s list contains several familiar names, including a top pick that has been one of the most talked-about stocks of 2017: Link

Wall Street Journal

President Donald Trump, in his first rally after the violent white supremacist protest in Charlottesville, Va., earlier this month, attacked the news media and his fellow Republicans who were critical of his response to the protest: Link

After years of waiting for interest rates to rise, some banks are lending as if that day will never come, loading up on a record amount of loans and securities that carry low rates for long periods: Link

Reuters

Wal-Mart Stores Inc WMT is teaming up with Alphabet Inc's GOOGL Google to enter the nascent voice-shopping market, currently dominated by Amazon.com Inc AMZN, adding another front to Wal-Mart's battle with the online megastore: Link

Congressional Republicans, seeking to address the complaints of small businesses, are floating changes to their controversial proposal to eliminate business tax deductions for debt interest payments, business lobbyists said on Tuesday: Link

Bloomberg

The former FBI director leading the probe into the Trump campaign’s possible ties to Russia is taking a page from the playbook federal prosecutors have used for decades in criminal investigations, from white-collar fraud to mob racketeering: Link

The deregulation winds blowing through Washington could add $27 billion of gross profit at the six largest U.S. banks, lifting their annual pretax income by about 20 percent: Link

ECONOMIC DATA

• MBA Mortgage Applications Down 0.5%
• The flash Composite Purchasing Managers' Index for August will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET.
• Data on new home sales for July will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.
• The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories in the U.S. is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.
• Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan is set to speak in Midland, Texas at 1:05 p.m. ET.

ANALYST RATINGS

• Mizuho upgraded Viper Energy Partners VNOM from Neutral to Buy
• Jefferies upgraded Valero Energy Partners VLP from Hold to Buy
• KBW upgraded Essent Group Ltd ESNT from Market Perform to Outperform
• Standpoint downgraded DSW DSW from Buy to Hold
• Morgan Stanley downgraded Tintri TNTR from Overweight to Equal-Weight

This is a tool used by the Benzinga News Desk each trading day — it's a look at everything happening in the market, in five minutes. To get the full version of this note every morning, click here.