US stocks are bullish and bearish, with Google and Tesla's earnings reports imminent, and tariffs and the economic outlook becoming concerns.

The futures market is sluggish, and investors are cautiously watching the market before the financial reports.

U.S. stock futures were generally flat on Tuesday, with Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq 100 futures trading almost flat. Although the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices hit new record highs the previous trading day, mainly driven by optimistic earnings from technology stocks, investors are becoming more cautious at this critical juncture of earnings season.

Google's parent company, Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), saw its stock price strengthen ahead of its earnings report, with expectations for better-than-expected results. Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), which will report earnings on the same day as Google, saw its stock price dip slightly on Monday. Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) saw its stock price surge 4% after raising the lower end of its annual profit growth forecast.

The Tariff Cloud and Future Profit Outlook

The Trump administration plans to increase reciprocal tariffs on August 1st, but slow negotiations with major trading partners are casting a shadow over corporate earnings prospects. General Motors (NYSE: GM) has warned that if tariffs escalate, annual profits could be impacted by $4-5 billion.

The market is also closely watching earnings reports from homebuilders DR Horton (NYSE: DHI) and PulteGroup (NYSE: PHM), which are expected to shed light on the true state of the US housing market amid rising mortgage rates. Blue-chip stocks such as Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), Philip Morris (NYSE: PM), RTX (NYSE: RTX), and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) will also release their earnings, as will tech and healthcare stocks such as Texas Instruments (NASDAQ: TXN) and Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG).

OpenAI-SoftBank's AI plan slows down, raising questions about the tech's popularity

According to the Wall Street Journal, OpenAI and SoftBank (TYO: 9984)'s $500 billion "Stargate" AI initiative has stalled, with no data center agreements signed in six months and only considering building a small center in Ohio. Sources familiar with the matter said the two sides have significant disagreements over the terms of the partnership and the location of the data center.

Vital Knowledge analysts pointed out that this may force OpenAI to continue relying on Microsoft's Azure cloud, which is good for Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) in the short term, but it also exposes the bubble and inflated valuation problems in the AI industry. The phenomenon of huge investment figures being "hyped and abused" has once again aroused market vigilance.

Railway industry planning $200 billion merger

Berkshire Hathaway's BNSF has hired Goldman Sachs to explore acquisitions of rival freight railroads, including Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) or CSX Corporation (NASDAQ: CSX). Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) has also been rumored to be exploring a merger with Norfolk Southern, a move that would create a $200 billion transcontinental rail giant. This could be the largest railroad deal since Canadian Pacific's (NYSE: CP) acquisition of Kansas City Southern, but US regulatory scrutiny remains a variable.

Gold pulls back but safe-haven demand remains strong

Gold rose to a near one-month high of $3,400 per ounce on Monday before seeing profit-taking. As of 3:30 a.m. Eastern Time, spot gold fell 0.4% to $3,383.63 per ounce, and gold futures fell 0.3% to $3,395.62 per ounce (data source: Reuters).

The European Union is considering retaliatory measures against Trump's reciprocal tariffs, and the controversy over US interest rates and the independence of the Federal Reserve has also fueled risk aversion. Despite pressure from Trump for a rate cut, the market generally expects the Fed to keep interest rates unchanged next week.

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