Reads
- World’s First Comprehensive Crypto Rules
- China’s Recovery Loses Steam, Signaling Trouble for Global Economy
- U.S. Tech Espionage Team Unveils First Cases Involving China and Russia
- UBS Sees $35 Billion Gain on Credit Suisse, Warns of Legal Costs
- ‘Foreign Investors Are Back’: Japan Stocks Surge To Their Highest Since 1990
- Wall Street’s Biggest Banks Face a Harsh Reality Check in China
- Default Fears Rattle Main Street Investors
- JPMorgan Asset Says Markets Are Right to Bet Fed Cuts Are Coming
- Shoppers Boosted Retail Sales in April, Reversing Two Months of Declines
- What Everyone—Except the U.S.—Has Learned About Immigration
- America’s Biggest Source of Jobs Is Cooling Off
- Americans Are Falling Behind on Their Bills
- OpenAI’s Sam Altman Urges A.I. Regulation in Senate Hearing
- The IRS Is Building Its Own Online Tax Filing System. Tax-Prep Companies Aren’t Happy
- Burning Man Becomes Latest Adversary in Geothermal Feud
- Drug Shortages Near an All-Time High, Leading to Rationing
- Elon Musk Says Tesla Will Try Advertising
- Siemens Raises Fiscal 2023 Guidance After 2Q Profit Soared
- Here’s How Much Wealth You Need to Join the Richest 1% Globally
- Taco Bell is Fighting to Cancel the ‘Taco Tuesday’ Trademark
- Betting on China’s Recovery but Avoiding Chinese Shares
- G-7 Leaders Expected to Take Aim at Chinese ‘Economic Coercion’
- The Rent Portion of CPI Is a Reminder of Its Impressive Pointlessness
- Plunging Tax Revenue Accelerates Debt-Ceiling Deadline
- Debt-Limit Default Risk Is Higher Than Ever. How Can You Safeguard Your Wealth?
- The Greatest Wealth Transfer in History Is Here, With Familiar (Rich) Winners
- The CME’s Terry Duffy on the Big Risks He’s Seeing Now
- CEO Pay Packages Fell Sharply in 2022 as the Stock Market Sank
- The UBS Banker Ermotti Is Counting On to Clean Up Credit Suisse
- Korea’s Battery Makers Embrace LFP Cells as China Strides Ahead
- U.S.-Made Technology Is Flowing to Sanctioned Russian Airlines
- Why Some Countries Find It Hard to Move Away From Fossil Fuels
- The World’s Biggest Gold Miner Bets Big on Copper
- Vice, Decayed Digital Colossus, Files for Bankruptcy
- Nuclear Plant $16 Billion Over Budget Arrives for Atomic Revival
- $14 Billion Deal to Create Mega-Pipeline Company
- Drug Companies Are Minting Billions on Unproven Treatments With FDA Shortcut
- Climate Change Brings Warmer, Wetter Weather to Trinidad
- America’s Snacking Binge Shows No Signs of Slowing
- The 28-Year-Old LVMH Heir Turning TAG Heuer Into a Billion-Dollar Brand
- Aging Armada and Mystery Traders Keep Russian Oil Afloat
- ‘Still a Long Way to Go’: UK Finance Minister Warns Inflation Remains Far Too High
- Fed Official Signals Support for Further Rate Increases
- Waller Says Fed Shouldn’t Let Climate Concerns Distract From Overall Stability Risks
- The Debt Ceiling Dispute Raises the Risks for ‘Risk-Free’ U.S. Bonds
- Yellen Says Only Good Outcome Is Congress Raising Debt Ceiling
- Wall Street Loads Up on Doom Hedges as Countdown to X-Day Begins
- Big US Banks to Pay Billions to Replenish Failure Fund
- Jamie Dimon Says Enough Is Enough
- Tales From the Crypto Winter
- Ken Griffin’s Hand-Picked Math Prodigy Runs Market-Making Empire
- Shipping Billionaires Race to Invest Pandemic-Era Fortunes
- Fake Billionaire Hedge Fund Manager Ran Ponzi Scam, US Says
- SoftBank Is Said to Pitch $10 Billion IPO of Chip Designer Arm
- China Orders Tesla to Recall 1.1 Million Vehicles Over Braking Risks
- Disney Stock Tumbles as Streaming Losses Spook Investors
- Adidas Finally Decides What To Do With ‘Millions’ Of Kanye West’s Shoes After Cutting Ties With Rapper
- Back-to-Office Battles Underscore a Change in Workplace Authority
- How a Solo Gig Can Give You a Stronger Retirement
- Persons You Should Tip and How Much
Todays Open Interest Change
PREMIUM
Prepper
Investors are hoping to get a better assessment of the U.S. economy this week amid a flurry of data from the retail sector. Kicking off the festivities was Home Depot (HD), which fell 2% on Tuesday after comparable sales missed estimates and guidance came in light. Shares of Target (TGT) don't appear to be faring any better this morning, with the stock initially dropping 3% premarket as sales barely grew Y/Y, while a soft forecast was issued due to inventory impacts and retail theft.
Spending habits: The macro data may be just as important as individual earnings, and many have an eye out for the figures as well. Data published yesterday showed U.S. April retail sales on their first upswing since January, but the 0.4% monthly expansion was still below the expected figure of 0.7%. In terms of Y/Y numbers, things have been steadily declining since last July, with the latest print coming in at 1.6% (and below the 4.9% inflation rate for the same period). Consumers have also continued to shift away from goods spending like furniture, home appliances and electronics - which was all the rage during the pandemic - into services spending such as restaurants, health and personal care, etc.
The trends will be on the radar of the Federal Reserve, which is closely monitoring services inflation. "Inflation hawks remain fixated on the slower rate of progress for services inflation, which remains elevated primarily due to shelter and transportation costs, but we saw the lowest level of price increase for this basket in nine months from last week’s report," counters SA Investing Group Leader Lawrence Fuller in a new article, A Disaster Of Our Own Making. "Furthermore, significantly lower prices are already in the pipeline, which will result in more improvement."
Coming up: Investors are eyeing more earnings from the consumer sector, with TJX Companies (TJX) reporting Q1 results today and Walmart (WMT) tomorrow. Also keep an eye on smaller players like Bath & Body Works (BBWI), Canada Goose (GOOS), Foot Locker (FL) and Ross Stores (ROST). For a full breakdown of earnings season, check out Seeking Alpha's earnings calendar, which highlights EPS and revenue estimates, as well as analyst revisions and ratings. (19 comments)
UBS (NYSE:UBS) may be voicing some regrets over its rushed deal to acquire Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) during the height of the banking crisis in March. While many of the disclaimers in a new regulatory filing may be worrisome, UBS shares hardly moved on the developments, seemingly due to some fine print at the bottom of the document. Helping it absorb billions of dollars in losses, the Swiss bank currently expects to record a one-off gain - due to so-called "negative goodwill" of $34.8B - by buying Credit Suisse for a fraction of its longtime rival's book value. Elsewhere, Jamie Dimon said it was "unlikely" JPMorgan (JPM) would acquire another troubled lender after buying First Republic Bank (OTCPK:OTCPK:FRCB) in a government-orchestrated deal earlier this month. (8 comments)
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman testified before Congress yesterday, emphasizing the need for regulatory intervention by governments to mitigate the risks of increasingly powerful artificial intelligence models. "As this technology advances, we understand that people are anxious that it could change the way we live," he declared. "We are too, but we believe that we can and must work together to manage the potential downsides, so that we can all enjoy the tremendous upsides." While lawmakers didn't arrive at any specific proposals, several ideas were brought up such as a combination of licensing and testing requirements or other frameworks. During the session on Capitol Hill, AI drama also broke into the open as Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) CEO Satya Nadella replied to an allegation by Elon Musk that the tech giant "has a very strong say, if not directly controls, OpenAI at this point." (1 comment)
Stocks like H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) and TurboTax owner Intuit (NASDAQ:INTU) are in focus after the Internal Revenue Service announced plans to roll out a limited pilot program for a free tax filing system in 2024. Reports of a government-run portal that would compete with private preparation companies already surfaced a session earlier, though a research note by Bank of America argued that paid filing services would not be materially impacted. The IRS also released a cost and feasibility study, required by the Inflation Reduction Act, about creating a direct filing system. It found that most U.S. taxpayers would want to use a free government-provided tool to digitally prepare and file taxes. (32 comments)
Today's Markets
In Asia, Japan +0.8%. Hong Kong -2.1%. China -0.2%. India -0.6%.
In Europe, at midday, London flat. Paris -0.2%. Frankfurt +0.3%.
Futures at 6:30, Dow +0.3%. S&P +0.3%. Nasdaq +0.2%. Crude +0.1% to $70.90. Gold -0.2% to $1989.40. Bitcoin -0.7% to $26,850.
Ten-year Treasury Yield -3 bps to 3.52%
Today's Economic Calendar
7:00 MBA Mortgage Applications
8:30 Housing Starts and Permits
10:30 EIA Petroleum Inventories
1:00 PM Results of $15B, 20-Year Bond Auction
Companies reporting earnings today »
What else is happening...
Biden plans to cut Asia trip short to get back to debt ceiling talks.
FTC files suit to block Amgen (AMGN)-Horizon Therapeutics (HZNP) deal.
Pfizer (PFE) bond offering said to be among the largest on record.
Investors pile into Super Micro Computer (SMCI) on heavy volume.
Report: Manchester United (MANU) shares pop on improved Qatari bid.
Biden vetoes legislation that would block solar tariff pause.
Mountain Valley Pipeline (ETRN) wins key federal permit approval.
AT&T (T) calls managers back in, but shrinks office footprint.
Is it a buy? UPS could have a rocky summer with Teamsters showdown.
Tesla's (TSLA) Musk talks rough economy, advertising and new models.