Coffee With Greta: Inflation Is Cooling
DJIA Futures: +81 (+0.2%)
SPX Futures: +11 (+0.3%)
NASDAQ Futures: +29 (+0.3%)
Good morning friends!
Futures are up as new data shows inflation continuing to cool.
Let’s get right to it!
CPI Cools In December
U.S. inflation pressures declined as expected at the end of 2022.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ consumer price index fell 0.1% monthly and was up 6.5% year over year.
That was down from the 7.1% annual pace in November and the slowest in 14 months.
The core CPI rose 0.3% monthly and 5.7% annually.
That was also in line with expectations and down from 6% annually in November.
The new data shows the Fed’s rate hikes are working to lower inflation.
CME Group’s FedWatch Tool now shows 88.7% of traders expecting the central bank to pivot to a 0.25% hike on February 1.
Weekly Jobless Claims Dip
Weekly jobless claims fell unexpectedly at the start of the new year.
The Labor Department reported 205,000 Americans filed initial unemployment claims last week.
That was down by 1,000 from the previous week and lower than expectations for an increase to 210,000.
Continuing claims also fell by 70,000 to 1.63 million in the week ending December 31.
American Airlines Hikes Q4 Guidance
American Airlines (AAL) shares are up 4.6% in premarket trade after hiking its Q4 guidance.
The airline said this morning its expects to report adjusted Q4 EPS of $1.12 to $1.17 vs analysts’ estimate of $0.61.
American also expects Q4 revenue growth of 16% to 17% vs its earlier estimate of 11% to 13% growth.
The carrier is scheduled to report full Q4 results on January 26.
The first major airline to report will be Delta Airlines (DAL) tomorrow morning.
Disney Names New Chairman
Disney (DIS) shares are up 2.1% ahead of the open after naming a new chairman late Wednesday.
The company chose Nike’s (NKE) executive chairman Mark Parker to succeed current Chair Susan Arnold after the annual shareholders meeting.
The board will be reduced to 11 members at that time.
Disney also announced it is opposed to activist investor Nelson Peltz’s attempt to join the board.
Alphabet To Cut Staff Of Health Sciences Unit
Alphabet (GOOGL) shares are 0.2% higher in premarket trade after announcing layoffs in its health sciences unit, Verily.
In an email to employees, Verily’s CEO said the unit is cutting 15% of its workforce.
This is part of the unit’s restructuring efforts as it strives for financial independence from Alphabet.
This is the first round of layoffs at the Google parent company amid the recent wave of industry-wide layoffs at other tech companies.
In Case You Missed It
- Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) shares skyrocketed 68.6% on Wednesday while AMC (AMC) rallied 21.2%, and GameStop (GME) rose 7.2% in the latest meme stock surge. The BBBY rally was initially triggered after the company announced a new round of layoffs.
