Trump's net approval hits lowest point of second term in DDHQ average
Trump's net approval rating reached 9.2 points underwater on Monday, the lowest it's been since DDHQ started tracking his approval numbers during his second term. The average found that 53.4 percent of respondents disapproved of his job performance, the highest number recorded since he returned to the White House in January. His net approval slightly improved on Tuesday, but his approval rating fell to its second-lowest level of his term at 44 percent.
The declines are part of a broader rough week of polling for Trump, who has seen some weakening on multiple questions evaluating his standing with the public.
A drop in the percentage of independents who approve of his job performance could be one explanation for the change, as it dropped almost 3 points over the past week.
His net favorability rating also dropped by a larger margin of 2 points over the past week, with 52.6 percent viewing him unfavorably and 44.9 percent viewing him favorably as of Tuesday. The last time that his unfavorable percentage was at this level was early May.
Vice President Vance's net unfavorability rating also rose, though he overall remains slightly more popular than Trump, only underwater by 6 points, compared to just under 5 points last week.
The percentage of people who say the country is on the wrong track has remained roughly static for weeks, but almost 54 percent believe it's going in the wrong direction while 39 percent say it's going in the right direction, according to the average. Slightly less than a majority said the country was on the wrong track briefly as recently as early last month.
The news could be a positive sign for Democrats, who have taken more of a lead in the generic congressional ballot, which could be an indicator for the parties' performances in the midterms next year. Democrats lead 46.5 percent to 43.2 percent as of Sunday, a shift of more than 2 points in their favor over the past week.
Democrats have led in the average on this question throughout much of Trump's term but by much smaller margins of less than 1 point typically. The midterms are still more than a year away, and much can change, but Democrats leading the generic ballot by at least a few points is a decent target for them to be positioned to win back a majority in the House.
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Yahoo
6 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures edge up as Trump-EU trade deal kicks off huge week in markets
US stock futures ticked up on Monday after the US and European Union struck a trade pact to lead off a packed week of Big Tech earnings, a Federal Reserve meeting, inflation data, the July jobs report, and President Trump's Aug. 1 deadline to lock in key trade deals. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) were up about 0.1%, while S&P 500 futures (ES=F) gained 0.2%, but both were coming off earlier premarket highs. Nasdaq 100 futures (NQ=F) put on roughly 0.4%, after the three major indexes closed Friday with gains. The US and EU have agreed on a framework deal to set Trump's tariffs on Europe's goods at a baseline 15%, compared with the 30% threatened. Trump called the pact 'the biggest of them all,' while von der Leyen said that "15% is not to be underestimated, but it is the best we could get." The news eased fears of a harmful trade war and boosted market sentiment, putting stocks on track to resume a rally that saw the S&P 500 (^GSPC) notch its fifth all-time high in a row on Friday. Read more: The latest on Trump's tariffs At the same time, hopes are rising for a US-China deal. Officials are meeting for talks in Stockholm on Monday to tackle roadblocks and to extend the existing tariff truce by three months, media reports said. Beijing currently faces an Aug, 12 due date for higher US levies, while other countries race to beat Friday's deadline. Meanwhile, Trump has frozen US tech export curbs to help the talks and efforts to set up an in-person meeting with President Xi, per the Financial Times. Investor eyes are now turning to a jam-packed week on Wall Street. Heavyweight earnings highlight the most intense stretch of the season, with more than 150 S&P 500 companies set to report. Meta Platforms (META) and Microsoft (MSFT) lead off Wednesday, followed by Amazon (AMZN) and Apple (AAPL) on Thursday. Read more: Full earnings coverage in our live blog Beyond earnings, the Fed begins its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday, with an interest-rate decision expected Wednesday afternoon. While the central bank is expected to keep rates at 4.25%-4.50%, the watch is on for signs that policymakers are warming to a rate cut in September. It all comes alongside legal battles to open up the Fed's meetings to investor eyes, as well as Trump's general pressure on the central bank and Chair Jerome Powell. On the data front, inflation and labor will be in the spotlight. The July reading of the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, is forecast to show a modest monthly and annual uptick on its release on Thursday. Also on deck: a flurry of jobs data. Tuesday's JOLTS update and Wednesday's ADP private payrolls print will set the stage for the crucial July jobs report on Friday. Fed meeting, jobs report, Big Tech earnings — and Trump's deadline: What to watch this week The impact of President Trump's policies on the economy is about to get a lot clearer. Yahoo Finance's Josh Schafer takes a look at what to expect this week and why it matters: Read more here. Trending tickers: Nike, Samsung Electronics and US liquefied natural gas stocks Here are some top stocks trending on Yahoo Finance in premarket trading: Nike (NKE) shares were up over 3% before the bell on Monday after receiving an upgrade from JPMorgan (JPM), moving its rating from neutral to overweight and setting a new price target of $93, up from the previous $64. Samsung Electronics ( stock rose 6% after announcing that it had secured a 16.5 billion deal to make Tesla's next-generation AI chip. Shares in US liquefied natural gas developers surged in premarket trading on Monday, after the European Union pledged to purchase $750 billion worth of the super-cooled fuel over the next three years as part of a sweeping trade pact. NextDecade (NEXT), Venture Global (VG), and Cheniere Energy (LNG)jumped between 7% and 8.8%. Samsung to make AI chips for Tesla under $16.5 billion deal Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF) has landed a $16.5 billion deal to make Tesla's (TSLA) next-generation AI chip. The agreement, which runs through the end of 2033, will see the South Korean company produce the AI6 semiconductor at an upcoming plant in Texas. Shares of Tesla stepped up 1.5% in premarket trading, after its CEO Elon Musk confirmed on X that the EV maker had struck the multibillion-dollar deal. Meanwhile, Samsung's Seoul-traded stock rose almost 7% to its highest level since September. 'The strategic importance of this is hard to overstate,' Musk wrote. "The $16.5B number is just the bare minimum. Actual output is likely to be several times higher." Bloomberg reports: Read more here. Oil rises with EU-US trade deal locked in Oil prices eked out gains as the US and the EU finalized details of a trade deal ahead of Trump's Aug. 1 deadline. Bloomberg reports: Read more here. European stock futures rise on US-EU trade deal announcement Futures in European stock indexes saw positive bumps early morning Monday as the markets reacted to the announcement of a tariff deal between the US and the EU Interest in individual stocks in carmakers, luxury goods makers, and alcohol conglomerates is rising ahead of the market open Monday with those industries the most impacted by the deal. Bloomberg reports: Read more here. Fed meeting, jobs report, Big Tech earnings — and Trump's deadline: What to watch this week The impact of President Trump's policies on the economy is about to get a lot clearer. Yahoo Finance's Josh Schafer takes a look at what to expect this week and why it matters: Read more here. The impact of President Trump's policies on the economy is about to get a lot clearer. Yahoo Finance's Josh Schafer takes a look at what to expect this week and why it matters: Read more here. Trending tickers: Nike, Samsung Electronics and US liquefied natural gas stocks Here are some top stocks trending on Yahoo Finance in premarket trading: Nike (NKE) shares were up over 3% before the bell on Monday after receiving an upgrade from JPMorgan (JPM), moving its rating from neutral to overweight and setting a new price target of $93, up from the previous $64. Samsung Electronics ( stock rose 6% after announcing that it had secured a 16.5 billion deal to make Tesla's next-generation AI chip. Shares in US liquefied natural gas developers surged in premarket trading on Monday, after the European Union pledged to purchase $750 billion worth of the super-cooled fuel over the next three years as part of a sweeping trade pact. NextDecade (NEXT), Venture Global (VG), and Cheniere Energy (LNG)jumped between 7% and 8.8%. Here are some top stocks trending on Yahoo Finance in premarket trading: Nike (NKE) shares were up over 3% before the bell on Monday after receiving an upgrade from JPMorgan (JPM), moving its rating from neutral to overweight and setting a new price target of $93, up from the previous $64. Samsung Electronics ( stock rose 6% after announcing that it had secured a 16.5 billion deal to make Tesla's next-generation AI chip. Shares in US liquefied natural gas developers surged in premarket trading on Monday, after the European Union pledged to purchase $750 billion worth of the super-cooled fuel over the next three years as part of a sweeping trade pact. NextDecade (NEXT), Venture Global (VG), and Cheniere Energy (LNG)jumped between 7% and 8.8%. Samsung to make AI chips for Tesla under $16.5 billion deal Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF) has landed a $16.5 billion deal to make Tesla's (TSLA) next-generation AI chip. The agreement, which runs through the end of 2033, will see the South Korean company produce the AI6 semiconductor at an upcoming plant in Texas. Shares of Tesla stepped up 1.5% in premarket trading, after its CEO Elon Musk confirmed on X that the EV maker had struck the multibillion-dollar deal. Meanwhile, Samsung's Seoul-traded stock rose almost 7% to its highest level since September. 'The strategic importance of this is hard to overstate,' Musk wrote. "The $16.5B number is just the bare minimum. Actual output is likely to be several times higher." Bloomberg reports: Read more here. Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF) has landed a $16.5 billion deal to make Tesla's (TSLA) next-generation AI chip. The agreement, which runs through the end of 2033, will see the South Korean company produce the AI6 semiconductor at an upcoming plant in Texas. Shares of Tesla stepped up 1.5% in premarket trading, after its CEO Elon Musk confirmed on X that the EV maker had struck the multibillion-dollar deal. Meanwhile, Samsung's Seoul-traded stock rose almost 7% to its highest level since September. 'The strategic importance of this is hard to overstate,' Musk wrote. "The $16.5B number is just the bare minimum. Actual output is likely to be several times higher." Bloomberg reports: Read more here. Oil rises with EU-US trade deal locked in Oil prices eked out gains as the US and the EU finalized details of a trade deal ahead of Trump's Aug. 1 deadline. Bloomberg reports: Read more here. Oil prices eked out gains as the US and the EU finalized details of a trade deal ahead of Trump's Aug. 1 deadline. Bloomberg reports: Read more here. European stock futures rise on US-EU trade deal announcement Futures in European stock indexes saw positive bumps early morning Monday as the markets reacted to the announcement of a tariff deal between the US and the EU Interest in individual stocks in carmakers, luxury goods makers, and alcohol conglomerates is rising ahead of the market open Monday with those industries the most impacted by the deal. Bloomberg reports: Read more here. Futures in European stock indexes saw positive bumps early morning Monday as the markets reacted to the announcement of a tariff deal between the US and the EU Interest in individual stocks in carmakers, luxury goods makers, and alcohol conglomerates is rising ahead of the market open Monday with those industries the most impacted by the deal. Bloomberg reports: Read more here. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
6 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Traders Hedging Record Rally Dabble in Exotic Options
(Bloomberg) -- Investors looking to protect against a pullback with stocks at peaks are venturing beyond plain-vanilla options. The High Costs of Trump's 'Big Beautiful' New Car Loan Deduction Can This Bridge Ease the Troubled US-Canadian Relationship? Budapest's Most Historic Site Gets a Controversial Rebuild Trump Administration Sues NYC Over Sanctuary City Policy The steady grind higher in the S&P 500 Index has pushed most gauges of implied and realized volatility to the lowest levels in months — in some cases years. The collapse in volatility after the April tariff shock has surprised many investors, given the geopolitical tensions and uncertainty around the impact of levies on corporate earnings. With a whiff of complacency in the market and a resurgence of meme-stock mania signaling euphoria among investors, strategists across Wall Street are talking more about picking up some protection against a retreat from the highs. Hedging is likely to gain traction both in the context of upcoming earnings and tariff deadlines, and the seasonal trend for the Cboe Volatility Index to rise through the third quarter from July lows. But simple strategies can be tricky in a rising market, where the few, small dips are seen as buying opportunities. Vanilla put options quickly fall out of the money as the index rises, forcing investors to keep shifting positions higher to maintain their desired level of downside protection. So strategists are pitching over-the-counter alternatives. At UBS Group AG and JPMorgan Chase & Co., they have recently recommended so-called lookback or re-settable put options, where the strike follows the market higher and — in the case of lookback puts — is set at the highest closing print during the life of the trade. Those are currently trading at a historically narrow premium to vanilla puts, JPMorgan strategists including Bram Kaplan wrote in a note earlier this month. 'Hedging is very much in focus,' said Antoine Porcheret, head of institutional structuring for the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa at Citigroup Inc. 'We have seen decent buying flows in the lookback put as it is cheap by historical standards since the value of the lookback feature is a function of implied volatility, which is low.' UBS strategist Kieran Diamond wrote in note last week that historically, a market on the highs is more likely to go higher than reverse, thus increasing the chance of a vanilla put struck today becoming deeper out of the money. A lookback put implemented from a market high would have shifted the strike of a two-month put at 95% of the spot level 3.4% higher on average over the past 10 years, and the lookback feature costs only 0.4% more than the vanilla put, he said. The best scenario to buy a lookback put is when the market rallies and then collapses. In such cases, the additional payoff versus the vanilla version can be significant. 'There was a wave of interest in the lookback hedge payoff earlier in the year, when spot was near highs and vols had dropped towards lows,' said Pete Clarke, UBS's global head of volatility strategy. 'Following the latest rally and vol reset, we've seen them actively quoted once again.' S&P 500 futures were 0.2% higher as of 6:40 a.m. New York time on Monday. Markets get another test in the coming week with the Federal Reserve rate decision, US employment and gross domestic product data, and the tariff deadline — plus a slew of big tech earnings. Meanwhile, the re-emergence this month of wild swings in meme stocks will also likely have institutional investors reaching for protection trades, rather than chasing further gains. In 2021, retail-frenzied gains marked a spurt of euphoria for stocks, with moves that quickly faded. The interest in lookback puts 'is mostly from accounts other than hedge funds, such as long-only asset managers and private banks,' Porcheret said. 'Hedge funds and especially volatility-arbitrage accounts tend to opt for cheapened downside structures as opposed to a lookback which carries additional cost.' Volatility on technology stocks has been hit especially hard, with Asym 500 founder Rocky Fishman pointing out in a note last week that 10-day realized volatility on the Nasdaq 100 Index had fallen to the lowest level since 2021. 'Nasdaq and generally Tech has been a popular underlying as the volatility there has been especially crushed,' Porcheret said. (Updates with S&P 500 futures in 11th paragraph. An earlier version corrected spelling of firm name in penultimate paragraph.) Burning Man Is Burning Through Cash It's Not Just Tokyo and Kyoto: Tourists Descend on Rural Japan Elon Musk's Empire Is Creaking Under the Strain of Elon Musk Confessions of a Laptop Farmer: How an American Helped North Korea's Wild Remote Worker Scheme Scottish Wind Farms Show How to Counter Nimby Opposition ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Chicago Tribune
8 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
As President Donald Trump shows off his golf courses for Britain's leader, crisis in Gaza looms
EDINBURGH, Scotland — President Donald Trump once suggested his golf course in Scotland 'furthers' the U.S.-U.K. relationship. Now he's getting the chance to prove it. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is meeting Monday with Trump at a golf property owned by the president's family near Turnberry in southwestern Scotland — then later traveling to Abderdeen, on the country's northeast coast, where there's another Trump golf course and a third is opening soon. During his first term in 2019, Trump posted of his Turnberry property, 'Very proud of perhaps the greatest golf course anywhere in the world. Also, furthers U.K. relationship!' Starmer is not a golfer, but toggling between Trump's Scottish courses shows the outsized influence the president puts on properties bearing his name — and on golf's ability to shape geopolitics. However, even as Trump may want to focus on showing off his golf properties, Starmer will try to center the conversation on more urgent global matters. He plans to urge Trump to press Israel to allow more aid into Gaza and attempt to end what Downing St. called 'the unspeakable suffering and starvation' in the territory, while pushing for a ceasefire in Israel's war with Hamas. Britain, along with France and Germany, has criticized Israel for 'withholding essential humanitarian assistance' as hunger spread in Gaza. Over the weekend, Starmer said Britain will take part in efforts led by Jordan to airdrop aid after Israel temporarily eased restrictions. But British Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds acknowledged Monday that only the U.S. has 'the leverage' to make a real difference in the conflict. Still, asked about the crisis in Gaza on Sunday night, Trump was largely dismissive — focused more on how he's not personally gotten credit for previous attempts to provide food aid. 'It's terrible. You really at least want to have somebody say, 'Thank you,'' Trump said. The president added, 'It makes you feel a little bad when you do that' without what he considered proper acknowledgement. Starmer is under pressure from his Labour Party lawmakers to follow France in recognizing a Palestinian state, a move both Israel and the U.S. have condemned. The British leader says the U.K. supports statehood for the Palestinians but that it must be 'part of a wider plan' for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Israeli strikes kill at least 36 people in Gaza, officials say, as some aid restrictions are easedAlso on Monday's agenda, according to Starmer's office, are efforts to promote a possible peace deal to end fighting in Russia's war with Ukraine — particularly efforts at forcing Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table in the next 50 days. Trump in the past sharply criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for also failing to express enough public gratitude toward U.S. support for his country, taking a similar tack he's now adopting when it comes to aid for Gaza. The president, though, has shifted away from that tone and more sharply criticized Putin and Russia in recent weeks. On Tuesday, Trump will be at the site of his new course near Aberdeen for an official ribbon-cutting. It opens to the public on Aug. 13 and tee times are already for sale — with the course betting that a presidential visit can help boost sales. What to expect, and what not to, at the UN meeting on an Israel-Palestinian two-state solutionProtesters have planned a demonstration in Balmedie, near Trump's existing Aberdeen golf course, after demonstrators took to the streets across Scotland on Saturday to decry the president's visit while he was golfing. Starmer and Trump are likely to find more common ground on trade issues. While China initially responded to Trump's tariff threats by retaliating with high import taxes of its own on U.S. goods, it has since begun negotiating to ease trade tensions. Starmer and his country have taken a far softer approach. He's gone out of his way to work with Trump, flattering the president repeatedly during a February visit to the White House, and teaming up to announce a joint trade framework on tariffs for some key products in May. Starmer and Trump then signed a trade agreement during the G7 summit in Canada that freed the U.K.'s aerospace sector from U.S. tariffs and used quotas to reduce them on auto-related industries from 25% to 10% while increasing the amount of U.S. beef it pledged to import. Discussions with Starmer follow a Trump meeting Sunday with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen at his Turnberry course. They announced a trade framework that will put 15% tariffs on most goods from both countries, though many major details remain pending. The president has for months railed against yawning U.S. trade deficits around the globe and sees tariffs as a way to try and close them in a hurry. But the U.S. ran an $11.4 billion trade surplus with Britain last year, meaning it exported more to the U.K. than it imported. Census Bureau figures this year indicate that the surplus could grow. There are still lingering U.S.-Britain trade issues that need fine-tuning. The deal framework from May said British steel would enter the U.S. duty-free, but it continues to face a 25% levy. U.K. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said Monday that 'negotiations have been going on on a daily basis' and 'there's a few issues to push a little bit further today,' though he downplayed expectations of a resolution. The leader of Scotland, meanwhile, said he will urge Trump to lift the current 10% tariff on Scotch whisky. First Minister John Swinney said the spirit's 'uniqueness' justified an exemption. Even as some trade details linger and both leaders grapple with increasingly difficult choices in Gaza and Ukraine, however, Starmer's staying on Trump's good side appears to be working — at least so far. 'The U.K. is very well-protected. You know why? Because I like them — that's their ultimate protection,' Trump said during the G7.
