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☆ Stocks surge again as Corporate America’s earnings impress
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

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☆ Premarket stocks: The strong dollar has an unexpected victim
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN Business —The strong dollar has been a headwind for blue chip US companies in the Dow and S&P 500 this year. And the Russell 2000, another index of mostly smaller companies, is down 25%, too. Also, the dollar is so strong — the US Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against the euro, pound, yen and several other currencies has soared 18% this year — it’s making foreign imports cheaper. But real estate stocks have been slammed by worries about a housing and office real estate slowdown. And multinational companies and foreign stocks will fare more poorly than smaller companies with little to no international exposure.

☆ Goldman Sachs overhauls banking and trading units
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Dow soars and moves back above 30,000
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Tesla investors try to ignore Musk's many distractions
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

While that’s good news for Twitter’s long-suffering shareholders, Tesla investors hope he still has some time for them. There are big challenges in China as well, with Tesla going up against homegrown EV rivals like Nio (NIO), Xpeng and Li Auto. Too many distractionsGary Black, managing partner at the Future Fund and a Tesla shareholder, has been tweeting for the past few weeks that concerns about Twitter are a headache for Tesla investors. In one tweet, Black said there are several problems for Tesla due to Twitter. The underwhelming deliveries and production numbers also underscore how a slowing global economy (and possible recession) could hurt Tesla.

☆ A weed gummy theory for the Fed’s high-stakes interest rate gamble
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Here’s the thing: The Fed right now is wearing blinders, and it only cares about bringing down inflation, my colleague Paul R. La Monica writes. The Weed Gummy TheoryThere’s an analogy offered by investment analyst Peter Boockvar last month that I can’t stop thinking about. He compared the Fed to an eager but inexperienced consumer of weed gummies, which, notoriously, take longer than anyone expects to kick in. Bankruptcies: Rate hikes make it more expensive for companies to pay down debt, increasing the risk of corporate bankruptcies and defaults. The so-called PPI, which tracks what suppliers charge other businesses for goods and services, showed prices going up 8.5% from a year ago.

☆ The Fed only cares about inflation. That's bad news
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

It seems that Powell wants to atone for his mistake of repeatedly calling inflation “transitory” for much of last year. Keep in mind that the Fed’s series of rate hikes are unprecedented in the “modern” era of central banking, i.e. after Alan Greenspan became Fed chair in 1987 and the Fed became far more transparent. Rate hikes raise the costs for companies to pay down their debt, increasing the possibility of corporate bankruptcies and defaults on commercial loans. As long as inflation remains the bigger issue for the economy, the Fed is going to focus more on getting prices under control.

☆ Don’t worry, there’s still hope for the stock market
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN Business —The back-to-back huge market rallies last week may seem like a distant memory to investors now that stocks have slid for the past four days. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both hit new 52-week lows on Tuesday before turning higher, and the Dow is not far from a 52-week low either. That included three instances from late 2008 when market volatility was at a peak during the Global Financial Crisis. The S&P 500 was up nearly 15% one year following massive back-to-back rallies, compared to normal historical gains of just 9%. But it’s also worth noting that the S&P 500 is still slightly higher than where it closed on September 30, despite the recent losses.

☆ Stocks sink after JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon warns of recession
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Stocks weren’t doing much Monday morning but took a nasty – albeit brief – turn lower in the afternoon following stark comments from JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who warned that the United States is likely to enter a recession within the next six to nine months. “You can’t talk about the economy without talking about stuff in the future…and this is serious stuff,” Dimon said in the CNBC interview. He added that he thinks Europe is in a recession already and that the US is probably next. Shares of JPMorgan Chase (JPM), which is one of the 30 stocks in the Dow, were down nearly 1.5%. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) is one of several big banks that will report earnings on Friday.

☆ Stocks week ahead: Get ready for earnings season
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-09 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

We’ll get a better sense this week when several top financial firms and consumer companies report third-quarter earnings. The robust greenback will hurt sales and profits for these firm’s international operations. “Bank balance sheets and capital positions both remain in solid shape,” said KBW analyst David Konrad in a bank earnings preview report. The US government will report the latest monthly reads on consumer prices and wholesale prices next week. The consumer price index, or CPI, is the one investors will be watching most closely.

☆ Why Wall Street shouldn’t sweat the midterms
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-06 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN Business —The midterm elections are a little more than a month away, and if Wall Street had a vote, it’d be for more gridlock. Just a few months ago, many political observers and Wall Street experts were predicting that the GOP would gain control of the Senate and possibly even the House. The conventional wisdom on Wall Street is that the market prefers when politicians bicker and little actually gets done. Clifton also pointed out that “there were two notable exceptions” to the usual midterm market moves: 1974 and 1978. The Fed’s next scheduled meeting is on November 2, just six days before the midterms.

☆ Premarket stocks: Markets are starting to act super strange
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-06 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

A weakening labor market puts downward pressure on wages and inflation. The labor market is still tight with about 1.7 job openings for every unemployed worker in the US. New private employment data on Wednesday by payroll services firm ADP suggested that the labor market isn’t losing any steam. The rise in oil gave a lift to energy stocks, helping to boost the overall market, reports Paul R. La Monica. Plus: US Department of Labor reports weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m.

☆ Why tomorrow’s big jobs report has global implications
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-06 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Seems counter-intuitive, but the Fed (and much of Wall Street) is actually rooting for that number to go down. Here’s the thing: Before the pandemic and its whiplash-inducing economic rebound, the US economy averaged about 200,000 new jobs each month. In the last jobs report, wages were up 5.2% over the last 12 months. GRIM PROGNOSIS(CNN Business) Peloton announced yet another round of layoffs — its fourth round of cuts this year — as its new CEO attempts to shore up the company’s bottom line. And if it fails, McCarthy told The Wall Street Journal, Peloton likely isn’t viable as a stand-alone company.

☆ Housing is slumping, but this real estate CEO explains why it’s not 2008 all over again
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-05 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN Business —Mortgage rates are soaring. And for many prospective home buyers, especially first-time purchasers, the combination of rising home loan costs and still sky-high real estate prices make the idea of purchasing a home prohibitively expensive…if not impossible. But don’t tell that to the CEO of real estate developer Howard Hughes Corp. In an interview with CNN Business, David O’Reilly said that he’s not too worried about another housing market crash and explains why. apartment buildings) but that they are “running away from retail, offices and hotels.”Weakness in commercial real estate is probably one of the main reasons why Howard Hughes (HHC), like the stocks of other real estate companies, has plunged this year.

☆ Stocks end Wednesday slightly lower following huge two-day surge
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-05 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Stocks were mostly unchanged Wednesday, even as a fresh batch of economic data revealed continued strength in the job market and America’s services sector. That’s led to new worries that the Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate hikes, meant to curb inflation, will eventually lead to a recession. The Dow ended the day with a loss of a little more than 40 points, or 0.1%. The rise in oil gave a lift to energy stocks, helping to prop up the overall market. Chevron (CVX) was one of the top Dow stocks, rising about 1%.

☆ Dow plunges and is back in a bear market
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

The Dow is now back in bear market territory, more than 20% below the all-time high it set in January. The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite sank 3.4% Thursday and has plummeted even more than the Dow and S&P in 2022. The stock market had a promising start to the quarter, soaring in July. But fears about inflation, rate hikes, rising bond yields and recession returned with a vengeance in August and September. But two popular, widely held bond funds, the Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund ETF (BND) and iShares Core U.S.

☆ Is Beyond Meat beyond saving?
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Companies like Beyond Meat, rival Impossible and plant-based milk producer Oatly are still doing big deals with supermarket chains and restaurants to get their products on store shelves and menus. But in the company’s most recent earnings call, Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown conceded that the company (and the industry) faces challenges. Inflation is a problem for plant-based food biz too“We went from a pandemic into record inflation,” Brown said. “After years of growth, plant-based meat sales in the United States are stagnating,” said consulting firm Deloitte in a recent report. So there is nothing fake about Wall Street’s concerns regarding the big drop in demand for “fake” meat and milk.

☆ Key US bond yield tops 4%, highest since 2008
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Toy companies expect grown-ups to shop more for other adults this holiday season
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The toy giants realize that many adults aren’t just looking to buy toys for their children, grandkids, nieces and nephews. Companies like Hasbro (HAS) are increasingly looking to adults (and not just parents) as buyers for nostalgic products, whether its gifts for older loved ones, friends or for themselves. Toy companies and other collectibles makers clearly recognize that grown-up shoppers are still invested in the brands that they played with as kids. Mattel (MAT) is hoping to cash in from more adults buying toys for other grown-ups as well. “The Bear Cave has more lighthearted products for adults,” Price John said, including some bears drinking a glass (or bottle) of wine.

☆ Forget a soft landing. The market’s best hope is a ‘growth’ recession
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

It wants to achieve a soft landing — that Goldilocks ideal of cooling the economy enough to bring down prices but not enough to cause a recession. The new aim appears to be for a so-called growth recession: A prolonged period of meager growth and rising unemployment. The pain is sharper and lasts longer than that of a soft landing, but a “growth” recession doesn’t pull the entire economy into contraction the way a proper recession would. It looks like a recession, and feels like a recession, but it isn’t a recession — at least not officially. A growth recession is still painful.

☆ Walmart enters the metaverse with Roblox experiences
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Walmart (WMT) has entered the metaverse. The retail giant announced Monday it is launching two immersive online experiences with Roblox, a metaverse mega-platform extremely popular with young kids. Its virtual dressing room offers products such as afp4, Halsey’s makeup brand, and YouTubers Brooklyn and Bailey’s skincare line with Walmart. Roblox began trading last March, immediately valuing the company at $45 billion when it debuted on Wall Street. Despite the buzz around the metaverse, Roblox shares have dropped almost 64% year-to-date.

☆ Stocks week ahead: Intel is the Dow's biggest loser
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Shares of Intel (INTC) are down more than 45% this year, making it the biggest dog of the Dow. Intel (INTC) is struggling despite well-publicized plans to build more plants in the United States and hire more at home. To be fair, Intel is not the only chip company that’s having a tough time this year. But longer-term, I think Intel will right the ship,” said Jeff Travis, portfolio manager of Oak Associates Funds. Travis does think that semiconductor stocks are still a good “secular growth industry” and that valuations are now attractive given how sharply the stocks have fallen.

☆ Marc Benioff would buy Twitter if he could
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | Cnn Business | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

New York (CNN Business) Marc Benioff is obsessed with Twitter. Salesforce CRM Benioff, chairman and co-CEO , told CNN's Poppy Harlow in an interview that if it were up to just him, he would "absolutely" buy Twitter. "I will never buy Twitter," Benioff told Harlow. Twitter'sr TWTR His comments come in the middle of legal battle with Elon Musk , who offered to buy the company but then terminated the deal. Benioff added that he still thinks Twitter "is the greatest, most unrealized, most un-monetized brand" in tech and that "it's an amazing company, amazing brand, amazing platform and can do incredible things for the future," adding that "I've always been in love with the product.

☆ Home builders getting hit by rising rates
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Rising mortgage rates hit home builders as buyers pull back
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | Cnn Business | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Mortgage rates have also skyrocketed to their highest level in 14 years. "Sales have clearly been impacted by rising interest rates," Stuart Miller, Lennar's executive chairman, said in the company's earnings release. Miller added that "there remains a significant national shortage of housing, especially workforce housing, and demand remains strong." Lennar also reported that orders for new homes fell 12% from a year ago and that it is trying to "navigate the rebalance between price and interest rates." Mortgage rates are likely to head even higher given the Federal Reserve's series of big interest rate increases and likely plans for even more hikes in the coming months.

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