Home Depot reported a rise in earnings that beat analysts’ expectations in the first quarter -- The Atlanta-based company said net earnings rose to $2.5bn in the first quarter of fiscal 2019, beating expectations and up from $2.4bn the previous year.  The company reported revenue of $26.4bn, a 5.7 per cent increase from the first quarter of 2018.  (WSJ)
 
The sell-off in chipmakers is going from bad to worse.  Semiconductor stocks are facing their biggest monthly drop since the financial crisis as the Trump administration’s crackdown on Chinese technology group Huawei and the continued trade spat between Washington and Beijing heap pressure on the sector.  All 30 members of the Philadelphia semiconductor index, which tracks companies that design, distribute and manufacture semiconductors, were in the red on Monday, dragging the index 3.1 per cent lower this morning and leaving it down by 13 per cent so far this month. That puts the gauge, which trades under the ticker Sox, on track for its worst month since November 2008, when it shed 17.2 per cent.  (FT)
 
Chinese officials continue to warn that the country will retaliate to the U.S. blacklisting of Huawei Technologies Co., while also refusing to be drawn on what form that response might take.  The rhetoric has ramped up, with Chinese state TV playing a steady procession of anti-American movies from the Korean War era, and Tencent was prevented from broadcasting the season finale of Game of Thrones.  (WSJ) 
  
With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Josh Fenili.