While adjustable-rate mortgage rates declined last week, the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage reached its highest level since 2000. A panicked rush to secure one of these adjustable-rate mortgages led to a 0.6% increase in the volume of mortgage applications submitted, as measured by the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index.
The IMF lowered its growth forecasts for both China and the Eurozone. The international financial organization maintained its previous projection of 3.0% for global real GDP growth in 2023 but reduced it to 2.9% for 2024. The agency attributes the delayed and uneven recovery in China and the Eurozone to offsetting strength in the U.S., resulting in a decrease from last year’s growth of 3.5%.
Natural gas exports through a key underwater pipeline between Israel and Egypt have been blocked by Chevron (CVX.N), the firm announced on Tuesday. Instead, gas is being supplied through a pipeline in Jordan. East Mediterranean Gas (EMG) pipeline supplies were halted as conflict escalated between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Birkenstock (BIRK) is preparing to go public with roughly 32 million shares, pricing the IPO at $46 per share. The shoe manufacturer will be valued at just under $9 billion after raising roughly $1.5 billion. About 83% of Birkenstock is owned by L Catterton, a private equity business funded by Bernard Arnault’s LVMH (LVMHF), and L Catterton will maintain its holding following the IPO. Birkenstock’s IPO comes as consumers’ discretionary spending, which includes footwear, has come under increased scrutiny.
According to yesterday’s announcement by the Israeli police’s cyber division, Israel has frozen a number of accounts on the cryptocurrency exchange Binance that it suspects Hamas was using to generate funds. The present conflict between Israel and Hamas began with an attack on Israeli citizens last weekend, however it is unclear if the closed accounts actually funded this attack.
Michelle Bowman, a governor at the Federal Reserve, has said that interest rates may need to rise more and remain higher for longer than projected in order to bring inflation down to the central bank’s target.
Candy additives are set to be banned in California. A bill banning the use of red color no. 3, potassium bromates, brominated vegetable oil, and propylparaben in food production and sale was signed into law by California’s governor over the weekend. Some investigations have revealed the compounds to be harmful, despite their widespread use in over 12,000 food products.
The outcome of Google’s case against Sonos has reignited discussions of patent reform. Google’s protracted legal battle with Sonos has finally come to an end after a federal judge overturned a $32.5 million decision against the company. In response to the patent case, it has decided to bring back all of the speaker grouping features it had to disable and is also utilizing this occasion to advocate for broader patent reform.
Now is the time to take advantage of significant savings on pet supplies during Amazon’s latest sale event, Prime Big Deal Days. Save a ton of money on dog beds, air purifiers, and other top-notch equipment for your furry friend.
Charges of identity theft against Representative George Santos. Ten fresh federal accusations, including identity theft and using campaign donors’ credit cards, were filed Wednesday against the stylish fresh York Republican congressman. Already in May, he was accused of multiple wrongdoings, including lying to Congress and stealing from his own campaign.
On Tuesday, Utah joined a growing list of states suing TikTok over claims the app encourages young users to engage in risky and harmful social media behavior. Utah argues in its lawsuit that TikTok encourages underage users to spend excessive amounts of time on social media by making false claims about the app’s safety and falsely portraying itself as separate from its Chinese parent firm, ByteDance.
As the Republican Party battles to unite around a candidate for speaker of the House of Representatives, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan will make their cases to Republican lawmakers on Tuesday evening.
When asked to review a challenge to the FDA’s authority to regulate flavored electronic cigarettes, the Supreme Court declined. Despite the government’s crackdown on flavored nicotine vapes, the market has grown to almost $8 billion.
On Tuesday, Walmart (WMT) announced it will provide its employees in 28 states with access to primary care services via the internet as part of the company’s health insurance plan. According to a filing with regulators, the store employs more people than any other private sector business in the United States.
On Tuesday, Microsoft introduced new data and artificial intelligence technologies with the intention of facilitating easier access to and analysis of the vast amounts of health-related data generated by doctors and hospitals.
U.S. consumer price index for September is due out Thursday. Revenue projections for Walgreens, Domino’s, and Delta
On Friday, BlackRock, Citigroup, PNC Financial, and Wells Fargo are scheduled to release their quarterly earnings.
Stocks to watch with positive momentum and Buy Rating:
SNDL Group (SNDL), Tesla (TSLA), Groupon (GRPN), Chase Bank (JPM), Microsoft (MSFT), GOOGL, Apple (AAPL), Pay Pal (PYPL), Walmart (WMT), Amazon (AMZN), Facebook (META), Carnival Corporation (CCL), PepsiCo (PEP)
CWEB News Summarized Business and Stock Newsletter October 10, 2023
