Hello friends and Fortune readers.
Wall Street stock futures are higher this morning on a positive lead from Europe and a generally encouraging earnings season (Apple’s mini-meltdown notwithstanding). The dollar is higher after the latest Fed comments hinting at an interest rate rise in September, while crude oil is also bouncing after its recent sell-off.
Today’s must-read story is by Fortune’s Chris Matthew’s who takes to task the long-held wisdom that you should only spend 30% of your income on housing. The rule of thumb is a holdover from years past and not very helpful for today’s policy makers. Read more here.
Here’s what else you need to know today.
1. Motorola Solutions gets $1 billion from Silver Lake
Motorola Solutions has attraced a $1 billion investment from Silver Lake, a private equity group specializing in technology companies, to fund its transition away from radios and walkie talkies, according to The New York Times.
2. Tesla reports.
Electric car maker Tesla (TSLA) will update investors on its quarterly earnings after the market close today. This is the last quarter that the company has to focus only on its Model S before it’s set to start delivering its crossover SUV, dubbed the Model X. Investors will also be looking for updates on from CEO Elon Musk on the status of the 2017 Model 3, the Nevada “gigafactory” that’s in the works and the first application of its “Autopilot”self-driving software in the Model S. Read more about what to look out for in Tesla’s earnings.
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3. An update on the entertainment industry.
It’s a big day for entertainment company earnings today. Overall, cable and television companies have been battling to maintain advertising revenue as digital companies take a bigger chunk of the pie. Twenty-First Century Fox (FOX) reports for the first time since James Murdoch took over as CEO. Time Warner (TWX), CBS Corp. (CBS) and Discovery Communications (DISC) all report today as well.
4. Long-awaited SEC rule near approval.
The Securities and Exchange Commission are set to approve a new rule that would require companies to reveal the pay gap between regular workers and the CEO. Such a provision has been contentious–unions have championed such a move while many companies have fought against it. The rule was initially required by the 2010 Dodd Frank Wall Street reform law and is only now being put into place. The SEC will vote on a final version at their meeting today.
5. Fitbit’s first public earnings.
Fitness-tracker company Fitbit (FIT) debuted on the market in June and is now set to release its first public earnings. Analysts expect Fitbit to report earnings of 9 cents a share on sales of $319 million, according to FactSet. When the company went public, its shares shot up 55% and have continued to gain even more. Fitbit controls about 85% of the U.S. market for fitness trackers and shareholders will be looking to see if it can maintain its momentum.
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Additional reporting contributed by Reuters.
