Stock market news today July 31

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The stock market is heading for its biggest sell-off of
the year — here’s how to protect yourself

A stock market sell-off worse than the February correction is
coming,
Morgan Stanley’s equity strategists forecast.

Earlier in July, they advised clients to turn defensive on the
market in preparation for a rotation to sectors like utilities.
They also downgraded
the tech sector , making two decisions that
even they acknowledged many clients weren’t excited about.

But the team led by Michael Wilson showed no sign of backing down
on its views in its weekly note on Monday. In fact, the recent
sell-off in tech, which led stocks lower Monday, only confirmed
that the rotation to more-defensive sectors was gaining traction,
Wilson said.

Credit Suisse second quarter profit
doubles 

Shares of Credit Suisse Group AG were
gaining around 2 percent in the morning trading after the Swiss
banking giant reported Tuesday that its second-quarter profit
more than doubled from last year, with improved revenues.

Looking ahead, the company said the outlook for global economic
growth in second half remains positive. However, geopolitical
developments and growing tensions surrounding global trade, as
well as the impact of monetary policy changes by central banks,
are likely to trigger periods of heightened uncertainty through
the remainder of 2018.

The company said it is on track to achieve 10-11% Group RoTE 2019
target.

Tidjane Thiam, Chief Executive Officer of Credit Suisse, said,
“For the remainder of 2018, we will continue to focus on growing
our wealth management franchise and completing the last two
quarters of our restructuring successfully. Looking to 2019 and
beyond, we will continue to deliver improved profitability,
higher returns and growing shareholder value.”

A top JPMorgan strategist shares the one word investors
need to know to get ahead in the ‘extreme’ market

“The only thing I know is that I know nothing,” goes the famous
saying, often known as the Socratic paradox.

The expression could well be applied to what’s going on in
financial markets right now. With
the US economy going gangbusters and
earnings following suit, investors have a lot to be positive
about. At the same time, however, the spectre of US President
Donald Trump’s trade war looms large.

“For investors at the moment, the trickiest thing is working out
whether to pay any attention to the current data or current
earnings,”
Karen Ward told Business Insider in an interview last week.

Ward is the chief market strategist for the UK and Europe at
JPMorgan Asset Management, which manages around $1.7 trillion of
clients’ money.

The founder of a restructuring firm accused McKinsey of
racketeering — now the consulting giant is fighting back

The founder of a rival to McKinsey & Co. accused the firm and
its senior executives of running a “criminal enterprise” and
hiding conflicts of interests to win client business.

Now the consulting firm giant is fighting back.

Jay Alix, the founder of the restructuring firm AlixPartners,
sued McKinsey in May, claiming that the consulting firm didn’t
disclose conflicts so it could win valuable assignments advising
clients on bankruptcy matters. Alix no longer holds a majority
stake in AlixPartners, and his lawsuit was filed in an individual
capacity.

On Monday, McKinsey
filed a motion to dismiss Alix’s charges, arguing that “there
is not a single fact alleged in the 150-page complaint and
accompanying appendix that supports its incendiary headline
accusation that McKinsey ‘has unlawfully schemed to harm
AlixPartners.'”

JPMorgan’s US M&A chief shares how the role of
investment bankers is changing

Halfway through the year, 2018 has been the hottest for mergers
and acquisitions on record.

Global economic expansion, a friendlier corporate tax regime,
cheap lending, boardroom confidence, and a sense of urgency
thanks to the looming threat of industry-upending tech giants has
led to $2.5
trillion in announced deals
worldwide through the first two quarters,
according to Thomson Reuters data. That’s a 61% increase from
2017.

But despite the frothy environment, companies aren’t getting a
free pass to spend frivolously. The market continues to greet
deals with scrutiny, and M&A that seems too expensive or
doesn’t make enough strategic sense has flopped when it crosses
the finish line.

“The market is much more discerning in terms of evaluating
M&A deals — not every deal gets a positive reaction,” Anu
Aiyengar, the head of M&A in North America for JPMorgan
Chase,
told Business Insider in a recent interview at the bank’s midtown
headquarters. “If investors like a deal, the acquirers’ stock
goes up; if investors don’t like the deal terms or don’t
understand the rationale, the reaction is negative.”

In markets news