A shutdown of the federal government in the United States is imminent. Who is affected by this, and what will happen next? While essential services like Social Security payments will continue, other operations will be significantly reduced. Millions of federal workers, including members of the military, will go without pay and government agencies will cease all but essential operations.
The PCE inflation figure in the United States and flash CPI reports from Europe will once again have markets fixated on inflation developments next week. Updates on the durable goods trade balance, consumer confidence, new home sales, and the advanced goods trade balance are also of relevance.
To lessen the blow of rising prices on families without spending massive sums of money, French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged to encourage the country’s oil sector to sell gasoline and diesel at cost.
Although inflation has slowed compared to the previous year, Americans are still feeling the pinch at the checkout counter and gas station. Therefore, there is a widening chasm between policymakers, who see falling inflation numbers as a positive indication, and the working poor.
The Powerball jackpot is once again very close to all-time highs. After Saturday’s drawing resulted in no jackpot winner, the huge reward increased to an estimated $785 million. The current prize amounts to the fourth greatest ever won in this game. Matching the first five numbers but missing the Powerball has won $1 million for three tickets in California, Florida, and New York. The Power Play option doubled the winnings of a Michigan ticket that matched all five white balls to $2 million.
Micron Technology (analysis), Costco (COST), Nike (preview), and Jefferies Financial Group (JEF) are just some of the companies reporting earnings this week. Both Meta Platforms (META) and Huawei will be holding significant product events in the tech industry. Total Energies (TTE) Investor Day will be watched by the energy industry as oil prices have recently risen.
According to court documents obtained by CNN, the voting technology company Smartmatic is involved in an alleged bribery scheme involving the former top election official in the Philippines. Smartmatic is suing Fox News and former President Donald Trump’s top allies over their false claims that its machines rigged the 2020 election.
UAW strikes against GM and Stellantis were increased, but Ford was excluded. After pay talks with Detroit’s Big Three yielded no results, the auto workers union followed through with threats of a nationwide strike yesterday. Over 18,300 workers are on strike at this time from 38 different sites in 20 different states.
The European Union has fined Intel for antitrust offences that date back decades. In comparison to the more than a billion euro fine slapped against Intel in 2009, the European Union has reimposed a fine of approximately 376 million euros. The regulator at the time concluded that Intel had used its dominant position in the semiconductor industry to unfairly disadvantage its rival AMD by offering financial incentives to PC makers and retailers to postpone, cancel, or stop selling systems with Intel chips.
McDonald‘s franchise payments are feeling the effects of inflation. Royalty payments are being increased by the fast-food giant for the first time in over 30 years for newly franchised locations. Increases in royalty fees from 4% to 5% for newly opened U.S. restaurants have the potential to further strain the company’s tense relationship with U.S. franchisees.
Indian startup PhonePe has released a fee-free software store to compete with Google Play. The Indus AppStore Developer Platform, supported by Walmart, is an attempt to lure Android developers away from Google’s largest market by offering them free platform costs and no compensation on in-app purchases. In comparison to Google’s 15%-30% take rate on in-app purchases, it will not charge developers a listing fee for the first year and will shift to a “nominal” cost thereafter.
The man received a heart from a pig. This is only the second time such a revolutionary operation has been carried out. Two days after receiving his genetically engineered heart, doctors at the University of Maryland reported that a Navy veteran who had been on the verge of death from heart failure was now talking and laughing.
In the streaming industry, Amazon was one of the last major holdouts before finally accepting advertisements. In the past year, both Disney+ and Netflix have introduced more affordable, ad-supported plans, with Netflix finally doing so after years of saying it never would. Apple TV+ is the only major streaming service that does not include any advertisements.
According to an article, the pharmacy chain Rite Aid is currently discussing the parameters of a bankruptcy plan that might result in the permanent closure of many of its more than 2,100 drugstores. According to the Wall Street Journal, sources involved with Rite Aid’s bankruptcy negotiations with creditors said the firm has proposed closing as many as 500 shops and then selling or handing over control of the remaining operations to the creditors.
The cannabis industry has been helped by two recent regulatory changes. First, in late August, the United States Department of Health and Human Services proposed rescheduling marijuana from Schedule I (drugs with no currently acknowledged medicinal use) to Schedule III (drugs with some recognised medical use) of the Controlled Substances Act. Due to Sundial’s (SNDL) starting participation in the burgeoning U.S. cannabis market, which has been aided by the growing number of states that have legalized cannabis for either medical or recreational use, the stock represents a good investment opportunity. SunStream Bancorp, SNDL’s investment arm, guarantees the company’s compliance with federal law when investing in top U.S. cannabis companies like Columbia Care.
According to Goldman Sachs, credit card issuers are experiencing their highest rate of loss accumulation since the Great Financial Crisis about 30 years ago. While the initial rises presumably reflected reversals from stimulus, credit card losses have been steadily increasing since the first quarter of 2022. This trend began after the bottom was reached in September 2021.
This week’s earnings:
THOR Industries (THO) is in the limelight on the earnings front on Monday, September 25.
Earnings reports from Costco (COST), Cintas (CTAS), and United Natural Foods (UNFI) are scheduled for Tuesday, September 26.
Paychex (PAYX), Micron Technology (MU), and Jefferies Financial Group (JEF) will all be in the spotlight on earnings day, Wednesday, September 27.
Thursday, September 28th, earnings reports from Accenture (ACN), Nike (NKE), CarMax (KMX), and Jabil (JBL) will be highlighted.
Focus on Carnival (CCL) earnings for Friday September 29.
Stocks to watch with positive momentum this week and Buy Rating. SNDL, GRPN, MSFT, GOOGL, eBay, AAPL, PYPL, UBS, WMT, AMZN, META,
