Tag Archives: Wall Street

Business

Stock futures fall ahead of busy week of earnings, Fed meeting

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Stock futures traded lower on Monday morning as investors geared up for a week of key corporate earnings and a possible interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 178 points, or about 0.52%. S&P 500 futures ticked down 0.76%, and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped by 1.1%.

Wall Street is coming off a winning week as the stock market’s January rally continued. The Nasdaq Composite gained 4.3% for the week, while the S&P 500 and Dow added 2.5% and 1.8%, respectively.

There are several tests this week for this 2023 rally. A busy stretch of corporate earnings season includes reports from McDonald’s and General Motors on Tuesday followed by tech giants Apple, Meta Platforms, Amazon and Alphabet later in the week.

The Federal Open Market Committee meets on Tuesday and Wednesday, when the Fed is expected to hike rates by one-quarter of a percentage point. Investors will be looking for clues about how much higher the central bank will take rates in the fight against inflation.

“Inflation has shocked the Fed to the upside; they need to be cautious not to inadvertently lower rates too early. Don’t buy into this gobbledygook about a couple of rate cuts being priced into December. For now, the Fed is only around to help in the very unlikely event of a crash landing,” David Zervos, chief market strategist at Jefferies, said in a note to clients.

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Business

NYSE says trading issue that led to dozens of stocks being halted has been resolved

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Trading in dozens of stocks on the New York Stock Exchange was briefly halted shortly after the market opened Tuesday due to an apparent technical issue.

The major stocks impacted included Morgan Stanley, Verizon, AT&T, Nike and McDonald’s, according to the NYSE’s website. Many stocks were shown to have abnormally large moves when the market opened, which may have triggered volatility halts.

CNBC’s Bob Pisani said on “Squawk on the Street” that the issue appears to be a technical one and not something that happened on the trading floor.

Many of the companies impacted resumed trading before 9:45 a.m. ET. The NYSE said at roughly 9:50 a.m. that all of its systems were operational. CNBC has reached out to the NYSE for more details about the issue.

The exchange said in a statement at 10:21 a.m. ET that it is still investigating the issue with the opening auction.

The NYSE, like some other exchanges, has automatic halts in place for stocks that move dramatically in one direction or another. On a normal trading day, few if any stocks are halted for volatility on the NYSE.

The other major U.S. stock exchange, the Nasdaq, did not appear to be impacted by the technical issue.

Correction: The NYSE technical issue took place Tuesday. A previous version misstated the day of the week.

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Business

Stock futures trade lower as earnings season rolls on

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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

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Stock futures traded lower Tuesday as investors attempted to keep building on early 2023 momentum and weighed the latest earnings results.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 81 points, or 0.2%. S&P 500 futures dropped 0.1%, while Nasdaq-100 futures slid 0.2%.

Goldman Sachs reported a smaller-than-expected profit for the fourth quarter, sending the stock down more than 2% in the premarket. The bank’s results were pressured by declines in investment banking and asset management revenues. Meanwhile, rival Morgan Stanley posted better-than-expected numbers thank in part to record wealth management revenue.

Those results come after other major banks such as JPMorgan and Citigroup reported mixed quarterly results.

Wall Street is coming off positive back-to-back weeks to start the new year. The Nasdaq Composite is leading the way up 5.9%, as investors bought beat-up technology shares amid rising hopes of an improving landscape for growth stocks. The S&P 500 and Dow have advanced 4.2% and 3.5%, respectively, since the start of the year.

Gains have come on the back of the first crop of inflation-related data that investors saw as indicating a contracting economy, with hopes that will give the Federal Reserve justification to slow interest rate hikes once again. Last week, the consumer price index for December showed prices cooled 0.1% from the prior month, but prices were still 6.5% higher than the same month a year ago.

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Business

Stock futures tick lower as investors look to corporate earnings

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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Getty Images

Stock futures were down slightly Monday night as investors attempted to keep building on early 2023 momentum and looked ahead to more corporate earnings.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 15 points, near flat. S&P 500 futures dropped 0.1%, while Nasdaq-100 futures slid 0.2%.

All three of the major indexes are up coming off a positive first two weeks of trading in the new year. The Nasdaq Composite is leading the way up 5.9%, as investors bought beat-up technology shares amid rising hopes of an improving landscape for growth stocks. The S&P 500 and Dow have advanced 4.2% and 3.5%, respectively, since the start of the year.

Gains have come on the back of the first crop of inflation-related data that investors saw as indicating a contracting economy, with hopes that will give the Federal Reserve justification to slow interest rate hikes once again. Last week, the consumer price index for December showed prices cooled 0.1% from the prior month, but prices were still 6.5% higher than the same month a year ago.

Investor focus now turns to corporate financials as earnings season kicks off. Banks took center stage Friday as investors digested comments about the likelihood of a recession. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are set to report before the bell Tuesday, followed by United Airlines after the market close.

“The economic data has been kind, to say the least, which is not something we were afforded for the vast majority of the year just gone,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA. “The question now is whether earnings season will enhance that new sense of hope or spoil the party before it really gets going.”

Investors will also be closely watching for news out of the World Economic Forum’s summit in Davos taking place this week.

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Business

Bed Bath & Beyond jumps 50% to lead ‘nonsense’ rally in meme stocks; AMC gains 15%

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A “Store Closing” banner on a Bed Bath & Beyond store in Farmingdale, New York, on Friday, Jan. 6, 2023.

Johnny Milano | Bloomberg | Getty Images

A group of highly speculative stocks rallied double digits on Wednesday as retail investors pushed meme names up again in the new year following a dismal 2022.

Bed Bath & Beyond rallied a whopping 50% to trigger the trend in morning trading Wednesday. Shares of GameStop, the original star of 2021’s meme stock mania, climbed more than 10%. AMC Entertainment soared 18%.

Meme stocks rallying one more time

Stock Short interest % float Wed. Gain % off 52W high
Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) 48.9% 60% -89%
AMC (AMC) 21% 15% -78%
GameStop (GME) 21% 8% -62%

Source: FactSet

The rally in Bed Bath & Beyond was initially triggered by news that it would lay off more employees in an attempt to reduce costs and stay in business.

The home goods retailer told employees that it is eliminating the chief transformation officer role, which is held by Anu Gupta, on the same day it reported disappointing fiscal third-quarter results. Bed Bath & Beyond is approaching a potential bankruptcy, as its sales decline and losses grow. 

“We don’t love the strength in nonsense stocks like AMC, CVNA, GME, BBBY, PRTY, etc.,” said Adam Crisafulli, founder of Vital Knowledge. “This just means people are blindly chasing.”

During early 2021, a band of retail traders joined forces on social media to bid up a slew of heavily shorted stocks, creating massive short squeezes that inflicted high pain on short sellers. These meme stocks experienced big pullbacks last year when risk sentiment shifted amid aggressive rate hikes. GameStop fell 50% in 2022, while AMC tumbled 75% and Bed Bath & Beyond plunged 82%.

While the short interest in these names has come down from its peak after the jaw-dropping episode, it still remains much higher than average.

About 48% of Bed Bath & Beyond’s float shares are sold short, compared with an average of 5% short interest in a typical U.S. stock, according to S3 Partners. For GameStop, the short interest stands at 21%, down from more than 100% at the height of the meme stock mania in 2021, according to FactSet. AMC has also 21% of shares sold short.

A short squeeze happens when a stock jumps sharply higher, it forces short sellers to buy back shares in order to limit their losses. The short covering tends to fuel the stock’s rally further.

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Business

Stock futures are little changed after Nasdaq’s third-straight winning day

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Stock futures were slightly higher early Wednesday as Wall Street looked to build on what has been a positive start to 2023 so far.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked up 30 points, or 0.09%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures were little changed.

The moves come after the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.01% on Tuesday to clinch its first three-day winning streak since November. The S&P 500 and Dow rose 0.70% and 0.56%, respectively, and all three averages are positive for the young year.

The moves have featured a relief rally for more risky areas of the market, such as tech, but many investors are still cautious ahead of earnings season and further expected rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.

“I think it is going to be a challenge to try to time when the Fed will ultimately start to cut rates. There is some evidence that when rates start to decline from the Federal Reserve, better markets are ahead. But whether that ends up being in 2024 or late 2023, at least at this point in time, sitting the middle of January, it’s just too difficult a situation,” said Matthew Palazzolo, senior investment strategist at Bernstein Private Wealth Management.

Wednesday features a light schedule for economic data, but investors will be gearing up for a key inflation report on Thursday and major bank earnings on Friday.

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Business

Stock futures are little changed after Nasdaq’s third-straight winning day

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Stock futures were quiet on Tuesday evening as Wall Street looked to build on what has been a positive start to 2023 so far.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked up 19 points, or less than 0.1%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures were little changed.

The moves come after the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.01% on Tuesday to clinch its first three-day winning streak since November. The S&P 500 and Dow rose 0.70% and 0.56%, respectively, and all three averages are positive for the young year.

The moves have featured a relief rally for more risky areas of the market, such as tech, but many investors are still cautious ahead of earnings season and further expected rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.

“I think it is going to be a challenge to try to time when the Fed will ultimately start to cut rates. There is some evidence that when rates start to decline from the Federal Reserve, better markets are ahead. But whether that ends up being in 2024 or late 2023, at least at this point in time, sitting the middle of January, it’s just too difficult a situation,” said Matthew Palazzolo, senior investment strategist at Bernstein Private Wealth Management.

Wednesday features a light schedule for economic data, but investors will be gearing up for a key inflation report on Thursday and major bank earnings on Friday.

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Business

Europe markets open to close

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LONDON — European markets were higher in morning trade, as investors assessed China’s reopening and awaited key European inflation figures.

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 rose 2.1%, while Germany’s DAX index was up 1.4% and France’s CAC 40 was up 1.2%.

Overall, the pan-European Stoxx 600 gained 1.6%, led by travel stocks, up 2.7%.

German preliminary inflation figures for December are due Tuesday afternoon, and are expected to show a fall on the previous month.

They will be followed by inflation figures from France on Wednesday, Italy on Thursday, and a flash estimate for the whole euro area on Friday.

U.K. markets were closed Monday, but shares across the rest of the continent rose as euro zone manufacturing data indicated that the worst may have passed for the 20-member currency bloc.

The figures offered hope of a light at the end of the tunnel, after a year beset by recession fears as central banks around the world hiked interest rates aggressively to rein in soaring inflation.

Meanwhile, markets in Asia-Pacific were mixed overnight as investors weighed the short-term implications of the rise in coronavirus infections in China against the potential longer-term boost from the full reopening of the world’s second-largest economy.

The Caixin purchasing managers’ index showed further declines in factory activity on surging Covid infections, but the survey also put business confidence around the 12-month outlook for output at its highest level since February 2022.

Global investors will also be watching for minutes from the Fed’s December policy meeting, due to be published Wednesday.

The central bank hiked rates by 50 basis points in December following four consecutive 75 basis point increases, and markets will be keen to gauge the likely trajectory of monetary policy in 2023.

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World

Zelenskyy, BlackRock CEO Fink agree to coordinate Ukraine investment

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Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine’s president, meets with US President Joe Biden in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022.

Oliver Contreras | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and BlackRock CEO Larry Fink agreed to coordinate investment in rebuilding Ukraine, Kyiv announced on Wednesday following a meeting between the two men.

A readout from the Ukrainian president’s official website said Zelenskyy and Fink had “agreed to focus in the near term on coordinating the efforts of all potential investors and participants in the reconstruction of our country, channelling investment into the most relevant and impactful sectors of the Ukrainian economy.”

BlackRock Financial Markets Advisory and the Ukrainian Ministry of Economy signed a memorandum of understanding in November, after Fink and Zelenskyy met in September to discuss driving public and private investments into Ukraine to rebuild the country after Russia’s highly destructive invasion.

BlackRock, one of the world’s largest investment managers, has been providing “advisory support for designing an investment framework, with a goal of creating opportunities for both public and private investors to participate in the future reconstruction and recovery of the Ukrainian economy,” the company said in a statement last month. BlackRock had no further statement at this stage.

Zelenskyy last week visited Washington D.C. to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden and deliver an address to Congress, as the U.S. House of Representatives gave final approval on Friday to a $45 billion aid package for Ukraine.

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Business

General Mills, Steelcase, Lucid and more

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Take a look at some of the biggest movers in the premarket:

General Mills (GIS) – General Mills reported better-than-expected profit and revenue for its latest quarter, and it raised its full-year forecast. The food producer was helped by higher prices which were only partially offset by increased input costs. The stock slid 1.3% in premarket action.

Steelcase (SCS) – Steelcase gained 3% in the premarket after the office furniture maker reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and issued an upbeat profit forecast. Steelcase’s quarterly revenue fell short of Wall Street forecasts as did its revenue forecast, however, but its backlog of orders is 3% higher than it was a year ago.

Lucid (LCID) – Lucid rallied 5.% in premarket trading after the electric vehicle maker raised more than $1.5 billion in a series of stock sales.

Rocket Lab (RKLB) – Rocket Lab fell 1.3% in premarket action after announcing a delay in its first rocket launch from the United States. Rocket Lab cited both poor weather conditions as well as regulatory delays stemming from the processing of documentation by NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration. As a result, Rocket Lab cut its revenue forecast for the fourth quarter.

The Trade Desk (TTD) – The Trade Desk rose 1.7% in premarket trading after the digital advertising firm’s stock was rated “overweight” in new coverage at Piper Sandler.

Generac (GNRC) – The power equipment maker’s stock slid 1.5% in the premarket after Baird downgraded it to “neutral” from “outperform,” saying Generac’s end markets have not yet reached a bottom and inventory levels are still in the process of returning to normal.

Stitch Fix (SFIX) – The stock was downgraded to “neutral” from “underweight” at J.P. Morgan Securities, even after an 82% year-to-date decline. The firm says the online clothing styler is struggling with its transition to “Fix + Freestyle” business model. Stitch Fix shares lost 1.6% in premarket trading.

Beam Therapeutics (BEAM) – The biotech company’s shares rose 2.2% in the premarket after Beam was upgraded to “outperform” from “market perform” at BMO Capital. BMO expects positive announcements from Beam’s partner Verve Therapeutics (VERV) to help drive the stock higher.

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