Morning Reads
- Pakistan Cuts Rates To Revive Economy as Inflation Cools
- Hawkish BOJ Board Member Says Rates Should Be Raised to at Least 1%
- Bank of England Eyes Growth with Lighter Bank Capital Reforms for UK Lenders
- ECB Cuts Interest Rates for Second Time in Three Months
- Germany Lobbies EU to Help More Industries With Power Bills
- Broken Blades, Angry Fishermen and Rising Costs Slow Offshore Wind
- Wall Street Quietly Turns Tail on Its Sustainability Commitments
- From Fed to Elections, FX Turbulence Buffets Dollar Investors
- JPMorgan to Cap Junior Banker Hours, BofA Monitors Workloads
- Mastercard to Acquire Insight Partners’ Recorded Future for $2.65 Billion
- Inflation Numbers Resolve What the Debate Couldn’t
- Layoffs Are Low. That Doesn’t Mean the Labor Market Is Strong.
- Young Chinese Émigrés Confront America’s Brutal Visa Lottery
- How America Became a Republic of Distrust
- Homebuyers Hit by Price Surge, Supply Crunch Rock 2024 Election
- Madison Realty Capital Closes $2 Billion Property Debt Fund
- What US and EU Crackdowns on Big Tech Mean for Apple, Google, X
- OpenAI Aims for a $150 Billion Valuation
- Intel Has Only Tough Options After Its Long and Stinging Fall From Grace
- How the Election Is Sinking a $15 Billion Business Deal
- Stellantis to Suspend e-Fiat 500 Output on Poor Europe Demand
- G.M. and Hyundai Plan to Work Together on New Vehicles
- Boeing Workers Cast Crucial Strike Vote Amid Contract Backlash
- SpaceX Astronauts Conduct Spacewalk, Putting New Spacesuits to Test
- Norfolk Southern’s CEO Survived an Activist Attack. Then Came Talk of an Affair
- General Mills to Sell North American Yogurt Business for $2.1 Billion
- Ozempic Is Selling So Well an Insurer Wants $1 Million in Payments Back
Options
Whats Moving
PREMIUM
Prepper
As most people began waking from their beds, there were a couple of individuals who were making history by walking around. The first-ever private spacewalk was conducted by civilian astronauts Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis, two members of the four-person Polaris Dawn mission that launched to Earth orbit earlier this week. It was once again made possible by SpaceX (SPACE), which has clearly become the front-runner in the burgeoning commercial space industry following the latest debacle by Boeing (BA).
Back to the 1960s: Since the Crew Dragon spacecraft has no airlock, the only way to conduct a spacewalk is to let all the air out of the spacecraft and open the front hatch. That exposed the entire interior to the vacuum of space (a.k.a. vented), requiring all four astronauts aboard to don spacesuits. The extravehicular activity (EVA) was made possible by new handrails that SpaceX named Skywalker, and took place 870 miles above Earth, which is 3x higher than the International Space Station (or the deepest point ventured into space by humans without going to the moon).
The key objective of the spacewalk was to test SpaceX's new suits, which were developed in-house to prepare for further missions to the final frontier. "It's not lost on us that, you know, it might be 10 iterations from now and a bunch of evolutions of the suit, but that, someday, someone could be wearing a version of [it] that might be walking on Mars," Isaacman declared. "And it feels like, again, a huge honor to have that opportunity to test it out on this flight."
Space race: Tech entrepreneur and billionaire Jared Isaacman is an accomplished pilot and CEO of Shift4 Payments (FOUR), but he's not the only one interested in space. The industry has been growing at an exponential rate, although many new entrants have struggled in the public markets. Others have blasted above the exosphere in 2024, including AST SpaceMobile (ASTS), EchoStar (SATS) and Intuitive Machines (LUNR), which are looking to capitalize on satellite and exploration technologies.
New valuation
Microsoft-backed OpenAI is in discussions for a $6.5B funding round from investors, according to fresh reports. It would value the world's biggest artificial intelligence startup at around $150B, which is nearly double OpenAI's valuation of $86B earlier this year. The round will be led by Thrive Capital, with participation from Microsoft (MSFT), while Apple (AAPL) and Nvidia (NVDA) have also been in talks about investing in the startup. OpenAI is additionally weighing a $5B revolving credit facility as it continues to invest heavily to maintain its edge in the AI race. (28 comments)
Rate cut odds
Traders on Wednesday strengthened bets that the Fed will cut interest rates by a quarter point next week instead of a jumbo 50 bps move. While the headline CPI figure was in line with expectations, core inflation data came in slightly hotter than expected. Markets initially fell on the news, but later ended the volatile session higher, which "appeared to be in response to the market favoring the prospect of a rate cut at all," according to SA Investing Group Leader Daniel Jones. The producer price index will also be released this morning, while the ECB is expected to cut rates again today, beating the Fed to the party. (17 comments)
Trading trouble
Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic broke the central bank's trading restrictions, its internal watchdog revealed in a report, but noted there was no evidence that he made trades based on insider information. Bostic created an "appearance of acting on confidential" information from the FOMC following the execution of 154 trades on his behalf since 2018 during the committee's so-called blackout periods. This, in turn, created an "appearance of a conflict of interest," with the scale and timing of his trades nonetheless raising concerns. (9 comments)
Today's Markets
In Asia, Japan +3.4%. Hong Kong +0.8%. China -0.2%. India +1.8%.
In Europe, at midday, London +0.8%. Paris +0.8%. Frankfurt +1.2%.
Futures at 7:00, Dow +0.2%. S&P +0.2%. Nasdaq +0.1%. Crude +1.6% to $68.37. Gold flat at $2,542.20. Bitcoin +2.4% to $57,938.
Ten-year Treasury Yield +1 bp to 3.68%.
Today's Economic Calendar
08:30 AM Jobless Claims
08:30 AM Producer Price Index
10:30 AM EIA Natural Gas Report
01:00 PM Results of $22B, 30-Year Bond Auction
02:00 PM Treasury Statement
02:00 PM Treasury Buyback Results
04:30 PM Fed Balance Sheet
Companies reporting earnings today »
What else is happening...
Boeing (BA) could face strike as workers push back on contract.
Norfolk Southern (NSC) fires CEO over relationship with legal chief.
Nvidia (NVDA) CEO sees $1T opportunity in accelerated computing.
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) sheds more of Bank of America (BAC).
Stellantis (STLA) dealers in U.S. blame CEO for 'degradation' of brands.
Report: Couche-Tard (ATD:CA) weighs raising bid for 7-Eleven owner.
BurgerFi International (BFI) files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
FOX could shake up sports betting sector by activating FanDuel stake.
Rivian (RIVN) execs detail growing pains as manufacturing ramps up.
23andMe (ME) CEO Wojcicki open to considering other takeover bids.