Gold and stocks rise as Wall Street remains hopeful: August 5, 2020

We have two more days until the US government releases its July jobs report, but President Donald Trump is already talking it up.

Trump has spoken about previous monthly jobs reports in similarly vague terms before their release before, breaking with years of presidential protocol.

In the "last two months we set a record on the job numbers. Now we will have another big job number on Friday, so it will be interesting to see what that is," he said in the interview.

Economists expect 1.6 million jobs were added to the US economy in July, markedly fewer than the 4.8 million added June, which set a record for most new jobs in one month.

But even if the July predictions hold true, the US economy will still be down some 13 million jobs since February. The unemployment rate is expected to fall to 10.5% in July, still above the Great Recession peak.

But considering the ADP employment report this morning, we could be in for an ugly surprise Friday morning: Only 167,000 new private sector jobs were added last month, according to ADP, dramatically missing the expectations of 1.5 million from economists polled by Refinitiv.

It's jobs week and that means that the private sector's jobs report comes out before the government's report on Friday. But, boy, did the ADP employment report disappoint expectations this morning.

Only 167,000 new private sector jobs were added last month, according to ADP, while economists polled by Refinitiv expected a whopping 1.5 million.

It's another month of job gains, making it three in a row -- 3.3 million in May and 4.3 million in June. But the low number doesn't bode well for Friday's government jobs report, for which economists predict 1.6 million new jobs.

Economists glance at the ADP number to get an indication for the official numbers, but because the reports are based on different surveys, it's not an apples-to-apples comparison.

As per ADP, both small and large businesses added jobs, but mid-sized companies shed 25,000 positions. Natural resources, construction, financial services and IT were among the sectors that lost jobs, while the professional and business segment added the most positions with 58,000.

Ahead of a bunch of economic data on jobs and the service sector, stock futures are on the rise. Even as coronavirus cases continue to rise in the United States, markets have continued to surge.

Here's where things stand this morning:

Gold continues to soar, rising nearly 2% to $2,055 an ounce. Gold has surged as bond yields continue to plummet below inflation. Although gold doesn't mature in value on its own, investors are parking money there in hope that it will at least keep up with rising prices.

Stocks eked out a gain on Tuesday after starting the trading session in the red. The Nasdaq Composite again hit a closing record, exceeding the all-time high it hit Monday.

Virgin Atlantic has filed for bankruptcy in the United States as the global airline industry reels from the coronavirus pandemic.

The United Kingdon-based company filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in New York on Tuesday.

Delta (DAL) owns 49% of Virgin Atlantic.

Virgin Atlantic hasn't been immune from the airline industry's pandemic problems. In July, the company received a £1.2 billion ($1.5 billion) rescue deal to keep the airline solvent just days before it was due to resume passenger flights.

Read more here.

Disney's "Mulan" has been delayed multiple times this year because of the coronavirus outbreak, but audiences will finally be able to see the blockbuster soon.

It just may not be in the theaters.

Disney (DIS) announced Tuesday that the remake of the 1998 animated classic will be heading to Disney+, the company's new streaming service, for an additional fee of $29.99. The film will be available on September 4.

CEO Bob Chapek said the pandemic has forced the company to think of "different approaches" to better serve consumers.

Disney shares were up 6.5% in premarket trading.

Read more here.

Apple (AAPL) has lapped Saudi Aramco to become the most valuable public company on Earth — and don't expect the rankings to flip again any time soon.

Apple shares jumped more than 10% on Friday after the company reported earnings, reaching an all-time high.

The company is now valued roughly $1.88 trillion as of Tuesday's close.

Saudi Aramco, which had been top of the pile since going public late last year, is worth $1.76 trillion. Before oil prices crashed, it was worth more than $2 trillion.

The company's eye-popping run has been powered by its blockbuster results for the April-to-June period. Despite the pandemic, the company posted revenue of $59.7 billion, an 11% increase from the same period last year. It also announced a four-for-one stock split that could help make shares look more affordable.

Read more here.