“I buy fear and sell greed.” Then he was queried, “How do you determine when there is fear or greed?” He responded, “I wait until prices start gapping in the charts!” –Jim Roger

1. U.K.Chancellor Osborne Floats 15% Corporate Tax Rate — U.K. Chancellor George Osborne has proposed slashing the corporate tax to less than 15% (down from 20% now) in an effort to woo businesses deterred from investing in a post-Brexit Britain. Such a sharp cut in business taxes would also take Britain close to the 12.5% tax rate in Ireland.
2. FBI Won’t Recommend Criminal Charges Against Hillary Clinton — the FBI recommended last week that no criminal charges be filed over Hillary Clinton’s use of private email servers while she was secretary of state, but rebuked the Democratic presidential candidate for “extremely careless” handling of classified information. FBI Director James Comey told reporters that “Although the DOJ makes final decisions on matters like this, we are expressing to Justice our view that no charges are appropriate in this case,”.
3. FOMC May Minutes “Weak May Jobs Report” — according to the the minutes of the FOMC’s June meeting, “Almost all participants judged that the surprisingly weak May employment report increased their uncertainty about the outlook for the labor market,” even before the Brexit vote. The outlook continues what has become a familiar pattern at the Fed: The central bank enters the year predicting stronger growth and a gradual return to higher interest rates, but then pares its forecasts as data disappoints.
4. Seventh U.K. Property Fund Freezes Redemptions — four more U.K. property funds have frozen withdrawals as investors look to dump real estate holdings in the aftermath of the Brexit vote. Columbia Threadneedle, Henderson and Canada Life have suspended trading in the investment vehicles, while Aberdeen Fund Managers cut the value of its U.K. Property Fund by 17% and halted redemptions for 24 hours. The development leaves £18B frozen in the biggest seizing up of funds since the 2008 financial crisis.
5. Gap Sales Higher At Old Navy Pick Up — Gap reported sales in June rose 2% year over year to $1.57B. Comparable store sales were up during the month by the same rate. The company cited improved traffic trends during the month, led by the Old Navy chain which recorded a +5% comp. The strong month from Gap (NYSE:GPS) stood out after several other mall retailers posted weak sales reports.

The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com:

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