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☆ JPMorgan's trading desk says the S&P 500 could be in for a wild ride after Tuesday's consumer price index report
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

ET, the consumer price index gauges inflation by tracking price changes within a broad basket of items. If that consensus estimate is correct, JPMorgan's sales and trading desk expects the S & P 500 to add between 1.5% and 2% in Tuesday's session before seeing the rally fade. (The JPMorgan sales and trading desk is a different entity than its research team.) The JPMorgan trading desk has made bold predictions in the past and at one point last year word of their expectations spread on Wall Street and moved the market. The S & P 500 and Nasdaq Composite each gained more than 1%.

World markets this week will be dominated by U.S. inflation figures on Tuesday, leaving Monday free for investors in Asia to digest the previous session's action on Wall Street and adjust positioning ahead of the numbers. Indian consumer price inflation for January tops Monday's Asian economic calendar. Revised figures on Friday showed that inflation in December was a little stronger than originally reported, and a closely-watched consumer inflation expectations survey showed a notable spike in the short-term outlook. Tough talking on inflation from Fed officials was matched last week by their peers in Australia, India and Sweden, so the push is global. Sources have told Reuters that 71-year old academic Kazuo Ueda, a former Bank of Japan policy board member has been lined up to replace Haruhiko Kuroda as BOJ governor.

☆ How Salvador Dalí Built His Brand
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( Peter Saenger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

“The Image Disappears,” a new exhibition opening on Feb. 18 at the Art Institute of Chicago, explores the clashing impulses that made Salvador Dalí tick. Through much of the 20th century, the public knew Dalí as a kind of surrealist court jester. But behind the showmanship lay a serious artist, with formidable technique and dark, shape-shifting meanings. Viewed one way, “The Image Disappears” (1938) looks like the profile of a man’s face, with a beard and mustache that make him resemble the 17th-century Spanish painter Diego Velázquez. Was Dalí simply comparing two favorite artists who worked at the same time?

☆ Asia stocks head for second weekly loss as Fed rate worries flare
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Kevin Buckland | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

TOKYO, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Asia-Pacific stocks fell on Friday, slumping toward a second weekly loss as investors fretted about the potential for further Federal Reserve tightening and the effect on the U.S. economy. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares (.MIAP00000PUS) sank 0.54% and was on course for a 1% weekly decline, after losing 1.16% in the previous week. "If rates go past that five, five-and-a-quarter percent range that the Fed has previously indicated, markets are definitely not priced for that - absolutely not." The 10-year yield edged down to around 3.67% after bumping around 3.96% mid-week, also the highest since Jan. 6. Brent crude futures fell 28 cents, or 0.3%, to $84.22 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 35 cents, or 0.5%, to $77.71.

☆ 2023 Alpine A110 South Beach Edition: A Rally Racer Revived
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Dan Neil | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

PINK MARTINI The Alpine A110 is a two-seat coupe with aluminum chassis and body weighing only 2,430 pounds. Powered by a mid-mounted 1.8-liter turbocharged engine (252 hp) and seven-speed dual-clutch automatic, the rear-drive A110 can hit 62 mph in 4.5 seconds. I STOOD in the parking lot of my hotel near Heathrow, in falling snow, amazed by the Alpine A110 South Beach Edition that had been left for me. Then it dawned on me: “The South Beach Edition.” Oof! The halo car for Renault ’s premium-performance Alpine brand, the two-seat, mid-engine A110 went on sale in 2017 and is often favorably compared to Porsche ’s fabulous 718 Cayman.

☆ Fact Check-Press Secretary did not say White House sent information to reporters 'via TikTok’
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Social media users confused the phrase “tick tock” for the social media application TikTok, claiming that the White House was using the China-based app to communicate with reporters. The text in the posts read, “Karine Jean-Pierre the White House Press Secretary just said ‘A Tick-Tock was sent out to all reporters.’ Are you kidding me?? The White House uses Chinese media to communicate?”, “It is fitting that this administration would use Chinese spyware. “The White House does not use the Tik Tok application.”VERDICTMissing context. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre did not say that the White House sent information to reporters via the TikTok app.

☆ Paying Twitter subscribers made up less than 0.2% of monthly users in the US 2 months after Elon Musk introduced Blue, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

US Twitter subscribers made up less than 0.2% of monthly users in January, per The Information. This was two months after Elon Musk launched Twitter Blue, the platform's $8 blue tick feature. The publication cited documentation that implied Twitter has 290,000 global subscribers. The 180,000 Twitter subscribers in the US made up 62% of the platform's global subscriber count, indicating there were 290,000 subscribers around the world, per the report. Amid the chaos, Musk revamped Blue, Twitter's blue tick verification feature but the rollout came with various complications, including people impersonating notable accounts.

Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, will suspend U.S. dollar deposits and withdrawals, the company said Monday, without providing a reason for the decision. "We are temporarily suspending USD bank transfers as of February 8th," a Binance spokesperson told CNBC. The company said "0.01% of our monthly active users leverage USD bank transfers," and added that "we are working hard to restart service as soon as possible." Binance's net U.S. dollar outflow was over $172 million for the day, based on data from DefiLlama. That represents a tiny amount of money for a company that has $42.2 billion worth of crypto assets, according to Arkham.

☆ It's time to chill with al the recession talk
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

New York CNN —In 2021, a bunch of economists and policy makers underestimated the inflation that was taking root around the world. In 2022, as inflation hit 40-year-highs and the Fed ramped up interest rates, many of those commentators went full-on gloomy — predicting a recession was all but inevitable. And that makes it hard, if not impossible, to imagine a recession anytime soon. “Any concern the economy is in recession or close to a recession should be completely dashed by these numbers,” Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi told CNN on Friday. “The economy is further away from recession than ever,” wrote Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at Fwdbonds.

☆ Larry Summers says he's encouraged the Fed can pull off a soft landing, but not to get hopes up
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —After a shocking jobs report, Larry Summers, treasury secretary under Bill Clinton, said he is more encouraged the Fed can pull off a soft landing, but cautioned it is a “big mistake” to think the economy is “out of the woods” on Fareed Zakaria GPS Sunday. Friday’s job’s report saw an astonishing 517,000 jobs added in January and unemployment tick down to 3.4%, the lowest since 1969. Economists had predicted 185,000 jobs, expecting a slower jobs market after almost a year of aggressive rate hikes from the Federal Reserve. It brings up the question: Can the United States pull off a soft landing, bringing down inflation without triggering a recession? “That some in the Republican Party may bow to the demands of the extremists does not mean that the President of the United States should do that.”

☆ Argentina likely to see inflation tick up this year -analysts
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The bank's latest REM survey compares to a December forecast of a 98.4% inflation rate by the end of this year. The government of embattled President Alberto Fernandez sees creeping annual inflation for 2023 significantly lower, at just 60%, according to a budget projection. The survey's inflation forecast sees some relief by 2024, however, with prices rising by 79.6%, but up from its previous estimate of 75%. The analysts surveyed expect January's inflation rate to come in at 5.6%. The monthly rise in prices last December stood at 5.1%, according to the official IPC price index.

☆ Dow and S&P 500 updates: Stock market news today
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

A week that has been chock-full of economic data will be capped off Friday with the first US jobs report of 2023. That would be a considerable drop from the 504,000 jobs added in January 2022 and the 520,000 added in January 2021. It also would nearly match the 183,000 monthly average between 2010 and 2019, Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows. America’s unemployment rate dipped back down in December to 3.5%, once again matching a 50-year low. Layoff announcements — led by large tech firms — are picking up steam: The 43,651 job cuts announced in December jumped to 102,943 in January, according to a new data released Thursday morning by Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

☆ Futures fall as megacaps slide on downbeat earnings
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Shares of Wall Street heavyweights Apple (AAPL.O), Amazon Inc (AMZN.O) and Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) declined between 3.5% and 6% in premarket trading. The economy is expected to have added 185,000 jobs, fewer than the 223,000 additions in December. The unemployment rate is expected to tick higher to 3.6% in January, from 3.5% in December. The unemployment rate is expected to tick higher to 3.6% in Janaury, from 3.5% in December. ET, Dow e-minis were down 81 points, or 0.24%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 29.25 points, or 0.7%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 181.5 points, or 1.41%.

☆ Black women are gaining ground in the labor market but still face unique barriers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

January's drop in Black unemployment was propelled by gains made by Black women, whose unemployment rate excluding teenagers dropped to 4.7% in January from 5.5% in December. The last time the Black unemployment rate was below 5.5% was in September 2019, while Black women last had a sub-5% unemployment rate in November 2021. She pointed to the discrimination Black people face in hiring and the increased likelihood of layoffs Black workers experience as two examples. While Black men saw a 0.2 percentage point gain between December and January, Black women added 1.1 percentage points. She said the gains in employment could be attributed at least in part to the tightness of the overall labor market.

☆ Take Five: The Bottom Line
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Australia and India's central banks are navigating the shifting sands of data and markets are digesting what the world's top central banks have to offer. The question is what impact this will have on bonds and stocks markets after a stellar January? Reuters Graphics4/ RUN RALLY, RUNIt was a stellar start to 2023 for markets - stocks and government bonds enjoyed one of the best Januaries on record, fuelled by optimism that the worst is over. That's not good for a central bank, nor is the idea that their communication is ineffective. Policy rate hikes and cuts by central banks overseeing the 10 most traded currencies.

☆ 3 key takeaways from the jaw-dropping January jobs report
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Earlier this week, the consensus estimate among economists was that the US economy likely added about 185,000 jobs in January. But the economy had other ideas, adding more than half a million jobs in January. Here are three key things to take away from Friday’s jobs report. The report shocked Wall Street economistsThe headlines that came at 8:30 am ET Friday left economists stunned: America added 517,000 jobs last month. Much of that speculation centered on the Federal Reserve’s monetary tightening, which aimed to wring inflation from the economy.

☆ Homebuyers, rejoice! You can afford to bid on a more expensive home now that mortgage rates have fallen below 6%
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Robert Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The US housing market is warming back up because of declining mortgage rates. The average for 30-year mortgage rates have just dipped below 6% for the first time in months. Mortgage rates dipped below 6% on February 2, according to Mortgage Daily News, marking their lowest reading since September 2022. The declining mortgage rates have helped to bring buyers back to the market and bolster purchasing power. "We went from sellers controlling everything, to now being more of a neutral, and even almost a buyer's market."

☆ Drought threatens U.S. wheat production despite acreage bump
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Julie Ingwersen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] Mark Nelson, a scout on the Wheat Quality Council's Kansas wheat tour, checks a winter wheat field north of Minneapolis, Kansas, U.S., May 17, 2022. 3 winter wheat producer last year. Winter wheat typically represents about two-thirds of U.S. production, with the remainder planted in the spring, and the U.S. has lost market share to other wheat exporters, including Russia, in recent years. U.S. soft red wheat acres rose by 20% year-on-year and planting jumped by 45% in Illinois, the No. 8 U.S. winter wheat state by acreage.

LONDON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Oil prices ticked up as the market is looking towards a meeting of OPEC and its allies as well as a Federal Reserve rate decision and U.S. government data on crude and fuel stockpiles on Wednesday. Brent crude futures rose 45 cents, or 0.5%, to $85.91 a barrel at 1215 GMT. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) U.S. crude futures rose 62 cents, or 0.8%, to $79.49 a barrel. Tamer U.S. rate hike expectations helped lower the dollar index , which supported oil prices as a weaker greenback makes the commodity cheaper for buyers holding other currencies, according to Stephen Brennock, analyst at PVM. OPEC's oil output fell in January, as Iraqi exports dropped and Nigeria's output did not recover, with the 10 OPEC members pumping 920,000 barrels per day (bpd) below their targeted volumes under the OPEC+ agreement, a Reuters survey found.

☆ South Korea Jan inflation ticks up, leaves policy outlook steady
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Jihoon Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The annual rate of price rises was the highest since October, when it was 5.7%. Temporary effects that had pushed up inflation included a lift in electricity charges, unfavourable weather for vegetables and a strong round of regular annual price rises, the Finance Ministry said in a statement. A breakdown of the data showed January public utility costs had risen 4.6% from the previous month while agricultural products had jumped 6.2%, leading the index higher. The Bank of Korea said in a separate statement that the tick-up in the inflation rate was in line with its expectations. The annual rate would be just as high in February, around 5%, it said.

☆ Meta set to report fourth-quarter earnings after the bell
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc., left, arrives at federal court in San Jose, California, US, on Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022. Meta reports fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday as the company tries to reverse a slide that pushed the stock down by 64% last year. The company also said its "internal forecast" assumes a revenue drop in the first quarter of between 2% and 10%. Alphabet and Amazon will wrap up earnings reports from the major online ad platforms on Thursday, followed by Pinterest next week. Meta said last quarter that "Reality Labs operating losses in 2023 will grow significantly year-over-year."

☆ Stock futures tick lower as traders await the Federal Reserve's latest rate hike decision
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Carmen Reinicke | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Traders on the floor of the NYSEStock futures slipped Tuesday evening as investors looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's Wednesday meeting. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq Composite futures were down 0.20% and 0.37%, respectively. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve will announce how much it is increasing interest rates in its latest effort to tame high inflation. "With a 25bps hike already discounted by markets, Powell's task is to unambiguously signal the Fed's commitment to tame inflation." The Federal Reserve will announce its decision Wednesday afternoon, followed by Chairman Jerome Powell's comments.

☆ 3 key things to know before opening a home equity line of credit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Sarah O'Brien | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Westend61HELOC use rose as cash-out refis droppedLast year, as mortgage rates climbed higher, accessing home equity by taking cash against it during refinancing — a so-called cash-out refi — became less appealing. That compares with personal loan rates of above 10%, for consumers with high credit scores, and about 20% for credit cards, according to CreditCards.com. I would not use a HELOC to buy frivolous things or things you can't afford. "I would not use a HELOC to buy frivolous things or things you can't afford," said certified financial planner David Demming, president of Demming Financial Services in Aurora, Ohio. Here are three key things to consider before signing on the dotted line.

☆ Sen. Marco Rubio says it's 'absurd' that the media has details on the classified documents found at Biden's and Trump's residences but the intelligence committee still doesn't have clear information
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Sarah Al-Arshani | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Senate Intelligence Committee members said they don't have a timeline as to when they'll obtain Biden's and Trump's classified documents. Classified documents were found at both Trump and Biden's private residences over the past several months. Sen. Marco Rubio told CBS it is "absurd" that the press had more info on the vague contents of the documents. In August of 2022, the FBI raided Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate and seized 11 sets of classified information, including some that were marked top secret. In November, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to investigate Trump's handling of classified documents.

☆ People buying homes today are paying $200/month less for the same home than those with bad timing who purchased at peak rates
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | Robert Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The current average interest rate for a 30-year mortgage is 6.13%, according to Freddie Mac data. Rapid home price growth and soaring mortgage rates led to a dramatic downturn in housing demand throughout the fall and winter months of 2022. Home shopper Jason Wilson, 32, is looking to take advantage of lower interest rates to finally close on that dream home. "We want to be in this home for the next five, seven, or maybe even 10 years, and obviously interest rates will change over that time. "We're ready for a bigger home and interest rates are starting to fall.

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