Stock market news: Opening bell, July 31, 2018

Tim
Cook, Chief Executive Officer of Apple Inc., takes part in an
education-focused event at Lane Technical College Prep High
School in Chicago, Illinois.
Reuters/John Gress

Here is what you need to know. 

Trump is reportedly considering a massive tax cut that would
benefit investors. President Donald Trump is
considering tweaking the tax code to allow investors to index
their capital gains to inflation, the New York Times
reports. 

China’s economy is starting to sputter. China’s
official manufacturing and non-manufacturing PMI data both missed
expectations, but remained above the 50 level — indicating they
are still expanding. 

The Bank of Japan tweaks policy. Japan’s
central bank on Tuesday introduced a forward guidance on
policy rates, more flexibility in bond purchases, and tweaks to
its stock ETF purchases, but none led to any substantial moves in
Japanese markets.

Traders have never been more scared of a meltdown in tech
stocks. A measure called skew, or the premium
options traders are paying to protect against a loss in the
PowerShares QQQ Trust exchange-traded fund over the next month,
relative to wagers on an increase, has spiked to its highest
level on record.

Morgan Stanley says the stock market is heading for its biggest
sell-off of the year. Michael Wilson, the
bank’s chief equity strategist, says the market is trapped in a
“rolling bear market” and offers some tips to protect your
portfolio.

MoviePass holds an all-hands meeting to announce some big
upcoming films wont be available on the
app. After shares cratered below $1 apiece on
Monday, MoviePass CEO Mitch Lowe held an all-hands meeting
to announce the upcoming big releases “Christopher Robin” and
“The Meg” would not be available to subscribers, a source
familiar with the matter told Business Insider.

Netflix tumbles into a bear market. Shares fell
5.7% on Monday and are now down 20.85% from their June
high. 

Stock markets
around the world trade mixed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng
(-0.52%) lagged in Asia and London’s FTSE (+0.18%) leads in
Europe. The S&P 500 is set to open up 0.14% near 2,807.

Apple
reports after the closing bell. The tech giant
is expected to earn $2.16 a share on revenue of $52.31 billion,
according to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Pfizer and Proctor
& Gamble are among the other names reporting on Tuesday.

US
economic keeps coming. Personal income and
spending and PCE core prices will all be released at 8:30 a.m. ET
before S&P home prices, Chicago PMI, and consumer confidence
cross the wires at 9 a.m. ET, 9:45 a.m. ET, and 10 a.m. ET,
respectively. The US 10-year yield is down 3 basis points at
2.95%.