CNN News: Central Bank Rate Increases and the Unexpected Growth of the Eurozone and the Emerging Energy Cost of a New Mortgage Loan Origin

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When will central banks stop raising interest rates? Wall Street analysts are forced to wear wrist braces when shaking their Magic 8 Balls because of the multi-trillion dollar question.

What is happening? The European Central Bank hiked interest rates by 75% last week, the most in the history of the euro currency. This week, the Federal Reserve is expected to increase rates by 75 basis points for the fourth time in a row. The Bank of England can join on Thursday.

The central bank doesn’t think inflation will go down until next year. That will require more interest rate hikes in the coming months, warned policymakers.

Central bankers around the world are trying to cool the economy by raising overnight borrowing rates to make it more expensive to borrow money. The impact has not been very strong.

The year-on-year inflation rate in the Eurozone went up from 9.1% in August to a record 9.9% in September. Inflation accelerated to 10.7% in a flash estimate released Monday.

The “unexpected and extraordinary” rise in inflation surprised policymakers, ECB President Christine Lagarde told reporters on Thursday. She said that increases in retail energy prices could push inflation even higher in the medium term.

The US economy, meanwhile, grew by 2.6% last quarter, which indicates that the economy isn’t softening yet (though there are signs that a slowdown could be coming). The Federal Reserve uses new personal consumption expenditures data on Friday to measure inflation, and it showed that Americans are still dealing with high prices. Europe continues to grow, too.

It would not be appropriate to move rates up until inflation is back down to 2%, as it is likely that we have not seen the full effects of the latest rate increases. She said that based on the Fed communications, financial conditions began to tighten prior to the first rate increase in March and those effects were passing through to the economy. Yet high inflation persists, an indication that we need to increase rates further.”

Because of a lag in data, central bankers don’t know if they have done enough. They risk inflation becoming more entrenched in the economy if they ease up on rate hikes too soon. They risk sinking their countries into a recession if they over-correct.

A possible answer: Wall Street tends to favor big events, but the future of central bank policy may be more nuanced. The tightening will not end with a bang but a whimper.

Twitter is not The sole director of Twitter: Musk weighed in on the controversy about the attack on Paul Pelosi in 2008-2009 (CNN/PRWEB/Facebook)

The company filing states that all previous members of Twitter’s board, including recently ousted CEO Parag Agrawal and chairman Bret Taylor, are no longer directors “in accordance with the terms of the merger agreement.” That makes Musk, according to the filing, “the sole director of Twitter.”

Musk said under his leadership, there would be more lenience in content moderation policies. “If in doubt, let the speech exist,” Musk said in one on-stage interview in April. “If it’s a gray area, I would say, let the tweet exist. In the case where there’s a lot of controversy, you would not want to promote it.

An owner with an erratic and controversial history on the platform: Musk has a mixed reputation in the tech industry. He is undoubtedly one of the most ambitious and successful innovators and entrepreneurs of this era. He has courted controversy from his own profile, where he has more than 100 million followers.

Over the years, he made false claims about Covid-19 and claimed that a man who helped rescue children from a cave in Thailand was a sexual predator. He has also tweeted a (since deleted) photo comparing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Adolf Hitler and has compared the now-ousted Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal to Joseph Stalin.

On Sunday, he gave credence to a conspiracy theory about the attack on Paul Pelosi by tweeting a link to an article full of baseless claims. He later deleted the tweet, but not before racking up 28,000 retweets and 100,000 likes.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/31/investing/premarket-trading-stocks/index.html

What Do The Fed and Central Banks Really Know About Saudi-Arabian Correlations in the Middle East, and What Can They Tell Us About Saudi Arabia?

The relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States is very important. And lately, it’s also been one of the most awkward, reports my colleague Matt Egan.

Angry officials in Washington vowed “consequences” after Saudi-led OPEC sharply cut oil production earlier this month, driving up pump prices just weeks before the midterm elections.

The Justice Department may file a lawsuit against Saudi Arabia and other countries for being part of a conspiracy if Congress follows through with threats of banning weapons Sales to Saudi Arabia.

If this decades-old relationship devolves into a full-blown break-up, there could be enormous consequences for the world economy, not to mention international security.

At its December meeting, what will the Federal Reserve do? The Federal Reserve will be using hard economic data to make their next decision.

Key housing, labor, and inflation reports will have an impact on the market as investors speculate about what might mean for interest rates.

What’s happening: No one can move markets like Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell — with just a few words on Wednesday he crushed investors’ hopes of an interest rate pivot and sent stocks plunging. Powell mentioned that the Fed had a ways to go in fighting inflation. It is too early to think about pausing, in my opinion.

U.S. Employment and Product Costs in the Three-Year December and January Reports of the Federal Economic Job Outlook and Core Core CPI

The report is expected to show the economy added another 200,000 positions in October, but it is still a very solid number as demand for employment continues to outpace the supply of labor.

That means more inflation. Businesses have to pay higher wages to attract employees and are able to charge more for their goods and services. The Fed will be looking closely at hourly wage growth in the report. In September, wages rose by 5% from a year ago.

A jobs report in December is expected to have an upside. If the reports show that employment is decreasing, it will satisfy Fed officials since the unemployment rate is historically low.

Core CPI, which is also being released, strips out volatile energy and food prices, and is more closely watched by the Federal Reserve. It is expected to remain stable between December and January and to decline throughout the year.

PCE reflects changes in the prices of goods and services purchased by consumers in the United States. The Fed believes the measure is more accurate than CPI because it accounts for a wider range of purchases from a broader range of buyers.

Housing, Mortgage Rates, and the Inflationary Era: Why Twitter Employees are LOOKING: A Class Action Claim Against Wall Street Employees

Housing: The housing market has been deeply impacted by the Fed’s efforts to fight inflation, and is one of the first areas of the economy to show signs of cooling.

Demand for home loans has fallen because of elevated borrowing costs and last week the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.90%, up from 3:1 a year ago.

“The housing market was very overheated for the couple of years after the pandemic as demand increased and rates were low,” said Powell on Wednesday. That is the place where the most big effect of our policies is.

The Bank of England raised its interest rates on Thursday to try to tame inflation, which is at a 33-year high.

A two-year recession would be longer than the one that followed the 2008 global financial crisis, though the Bank of England said that any declines in GDP heading into 2024 would likely be relatively small.

Musk has been at the forefront of the communication revolution. He has talked about implementing some big changes after his $44 billion acquisition. Here’s what’s happened so far:

Several Twitter employees have already filed a class action lawsuit claiming that the layoffs violate the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.

The email added that “to help ensure the safety” of employees and Twitter’s systems, the company’s offices “will be temporarily closed and all badge access will be suspended.”

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/04/investing/premarket-stocks-trading/index.html

Elon Musk, Twitter Blue: Cashing Blue Checks’ Checks with the Founders of the C-Suite (II)

The WARN Act requires any company with over 100 employees to give 60 days’ written notice if it intends to cut 50 jobs or more at a “single site of employment.”

There isConsolidating strength Within less than a week since Musk bought the company, the C-suite appears to have been cleared out by firings and resignations.

Cashing blue checks’ checks: Musk on Tuesday said he planned to charge $8 a month for Twitter’s subscription service, called “Twitter Blue,” with the promise to let anyone pay to receive a coveted blue check mark to verify their account. That’s a steep haircut from his original plan to charge users $19.99 a month to get or keep a verified account.

In a tweet, the world’s richest man used an expletive to describe his assessment of “Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark.” He said that he would like power to the people. Blue for $8/month.”

Advertisers hit pause: Elon Musk wrote an open letter to advertisers just hours before cementing his acquisition of Twitter, explaining that he didn’t want the platform to become a “free-for-all hellscape.” The advertising industry, which makes up the vast majority of the business, does not appear to be reassured by that attempt.

Premarket Stocks Trading: What Could Happen if the Consumer Price Index Comes to an End and Markets Get Stopped, Or Will It Happen To Wall Street?

A Valentine’s Day surprise doesn’t usually include egg and gas prices, but the heart wants what the heart wants, and Wall Street is entranced by January’s Consumer Price Index.

It isn’t just about the Fed, it is likely that it will affect markets more than it will future Fed policy. Frederick said that volatility could lead to a roller coaster ride on Wall Street.

According to Randy Frederick the managing director at Charles Schwab expect a bit of volatility. Market swings have been significant during the past few months.

Markets closed higher on Monday ahead of the report as investors expressed optimism — but they might be getting ahead of themselves. “It wouldn’t shock me in the least,” if the CPI report surprises on the downside and markets give up all of their gains on Tuesday, said Frederick.

The report could exemplify the long and “bumpy” path of disinflation that Fed Chair Jerome Powell referenced last week in an interview with the Economic Club of Washington DC.

What could go wrong: The price of goods has come down over the past few months as supply chain pressures have eased — core goods inflation has declined from 12.3% in February 2022 to just 2% last month — but there are signs that the largest contributors to a drop in inflation have already tapered out, said Gargi Chaudhuri, head of iShares Investment Strategy, Americas.

According to Chaudhuri, the decline in new and used car prices may be ending, with new car sales hitting their most brisk pace since May 2021. The prices of imported goods could go up as a result of the depreciation of the US dollar.

Monthly headline numbers are likely to be higher because of an increase in energy prices. Data from AAA shows that gas prices rose by 4.4% in January.

Even beyond housing, the services sector has seen year-over-year inflation higher than 3.9% every month since March 2021, said Chaudhuri. The greatest concern for Powell is the stickiness of core services inflation.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/14/investing/premarket-stocks-trading/index.html

Electronic Mechanics, Entertainment and Business: The Year 2020 Roadmap to Electric Vehicle Production in the United States and the Prospects for the Future

▸ Pickups are going electric. Ram revealed the production version of its electric pickup on Sunday. The Ram 1500 Rev, due out in late 2024, will join the ranks of Ford’s F-150 Lightning, Chevy’s Silverado EV and GMC’s Sierra EV.

Ford has said it plans to be able to produce 2 million electric vehicles globally by late 2026. The company wants to have 600,000 electric vehicles built by the end of the year.

The big purple dinosaur from the 1990s will make a triumphant return to the small screen next year according to the toy company.

A huge array of merchandising, which includes toys, clothing, books and music, will be part of the new franchise. And yes, that includes apparel for adult fans too.

Nothing says romance like putting on your finest jewelry (Signet

            (SIG)), popping a bottle of bubbly (Constellation), indulging in some chocolate (Hershey’s) and … scrolling through Tinder (Match Group

            (MTCH)).

The National Retail Federation predicts that consumers will spend a record $25.9 billion on Love’s day in three years, even if the economy is wobbly at the moment.

There is chocolate. The NRF says that candy is the top VDay gift. But Hershey, Nestlé, or Mondelez International shares can provide satisfaction without all of that extra sugar.

The Hershey Company’s stock rose in early February after beating fourth quarter earnings expectations and forecasting strong growth through 2023. Mondelez International, which makes chocolate, delivered a better-than-expected quarter.

Some people prefer to stay liquid while others prefer to have a diamond in their hand. Those people may want to invest in jewelry companies. Pandora and Signet Jewelers (Kay Jewelers, Zales, Blue Nile) are some of the largest brands on the market. Tiffanys is owned by Louis Vuitton and is more high-end for those looking to spend more money.

Dating Apps: Match Group stock is up more than 1% so far this year. Bumble, meanwhile, is up 19% and Grindr has gained 22%.