Musk vs. Zuckerberg; China's VPN crackdown; India's transport chief slams driverless cars

Profitable Moment   Why stocks continue soaring Today the stock market enjoyed a good, strong summer rally. The S&P 500 closed at a record high, as did the Nasdaq. The Dow was a few points shy of a new all-time high of its own. There are solid reasons for why the market is on such as tear. This quarter's earnings numbers from corporate America are good – not brilliant – and certainly justify the rally. Today, Caterpillar, the earthmoving company, knocked the numbers out of the park, providing a strong barometer for the economy. Tech may be the flavor of the decade, but even tech companies need Caterpillar machinery to build their brand new shiny headquarters. So far, 25% of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported results. Out of those companies, 74% have exceeded earnings expectations and 75% have topped revenue targets, according to FactSet. On average, profits were up 8.8% over the same quarter last year. This is impressive stuff for an economy that is in the 8th year of growth and seemingly shows no signs of tiring. In short, today was a day when the market had good justification for the gains we are seeing. -Richard.Quest@cnn.com  What's new... what's next   By Matt Egan and Julia Horowitz of CNNMoney 1. It's Musk vs. Zuckerberg on the future of AI Battle of the tech billionaires? On Tuesday, Tesla boss Elon Musk called out Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg over his perspective on artificial intelligence. "I've talked to Mark about this. His understanding of the subject is limited," Musk said in a tweet. Over the weekend, Zuckerberg said he was tired of fear-mongering over AI in a Facebook Live broadcast. Musk, for his part, has repeatedly warned about dangers of artificial intelligence. Game on. 2. Driverless cars may not be welcomed in India India has more than 20 million unemployed citizens. Will self-driving cars cause that figure to rise? Nitin Gadkari, India's transport minister, thinks so. He declared that India won't "allow driverless cars" because they'll "take away those jobs." The minister was merely expressing his opinion about the technology and India hasn't received any proposals for self-driving cars yet, the ministry said. Still, the comments reflect the very real concern in countries around the world about automation killing jobs. 3. Why China is cracking down on VPNs Scaling China's Great Firewall is getting a lot harder. Beijing said in January that it would restrict virtual private networks (or VPNs), and this month it reportedly told three big telecom companies to block individual access to them by early next year. On Tuesday, China's regulator defended its policy. It said the recent measures are part of an ongoing campaign aimed at "cleaning and standardizing" access to the internet, and that only service providers without licenses or those operating illegally will be affected. 4. Gold miner slapped with $190 BILLION tax bill Tanzania is at "war" with its mining companies, the African country's president John Magufuli has declared. The proof: The government has slapped gold miner Acacia with a $190 billion tax bill for the past 17 years. That's $40 billion in back taxes and $150 billion in penalties and interest. The bill is four times Tanzania's annual GDP. It's part of Tanzania's fight to get miners to pay more in taxes. Magufuli has threatened to shut down mines if they don't pay new fees. 5. Quick Takes: McDonald's comeback kicks into high gear thanks to new sandwiches Trackpad artists, rejoice! Microsoft Paint gets a second chance at life Lyft's new 'Taco Mode' will bring riders to the closest Taco Bell BMW to build new electric Mini in the U.K. despite Brexit worries Michael Kors snaps up luxury shoe brand Jimmy Choo for $1.2 billion 6. What's next: Mega profits from Facebook, Ford & Coke: The busiest week of earnings season rolls on with results due before Wednesday's opening bell from Anthem, Boeing, Coca-Cola, Ford, Hershey, Nasdaq and other big companies. Later, the focus will be on Facebook as the tech giant sporting a 43% stock surge so far this year reports results. Earnings are also due after the bell from Gilead Sciences, Whirlpool and Whole Foods. How fast is Brexit Britain growing? The U.K. will get its first look at second-quarter GDP numbers at 4:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday. Investors are on guard for more signs that the uncertainty surrounding Brexit has slowed the economic powerhouse down. Federal Reserve on hold? The U.S. central bank is set to announce a decision on interest rates at 2 p.m. ET on Wednesday. Wall Street is widely expecting the Fed to hold interest rates steady following last month's rate hike. But look for the Fed to drop more hints about when it will feel confident enough to start shrinking its enormous $4.5 trillion balance sheet. Make this newsletter better. Please send us your feedback to CNNMoneyfeedback@turner.com Share Tweet Forward Sign up for CNN Money's morning markets newsletter: Before the Bell Sign up for CNN Money's closing markets newsletter: Markets Now Copyright © 2017 Cable News Network, LP, LLLP. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved., All rights reserved. You're receiving this newsletter because you opted in at cnn.com or cnnmoney.com. Our mailing address is: Cable News Network, LP, LLLP. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. One CNN Center Atlanta, GA 30303 Add us to your address book unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences