Coffee With Greta: Wake Me Up, When September Ends
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DJIA Futures: -62 (-0.2%)
SPX Futures: -10 (-0.2%)
NASDAQ Futures: -32 (-0.2%)
Good morning friends!
Futures are lower as markets enter the final week of September.
Let’s get right to it!
New Week
Stocks are slipping and yields are rising as the last week of September begins on Wall Street.
So far this month, the S&P 500 is down 4.2%, on pace for its second straight monthly drop and worst month since December.
The Nasdaq is down 5.9% in September so far, also its biggest monthly loss since December.
And the Dow is down 2.2% this month.
While stocks have been dropping throughout the month, Treasury yields have hit the highest levels since 2007.
The 2-year yield is up 3 basis points this morning at 5.12% while the 10-year yield is up 7 basis points at 4.51%.
The spike in yields comes after the Fed signaled it plans to hike rates one more time this year and only cut twice in 2024.
Government Shutdown Looms
Congress is facing an October 1 deadline to avoid a government shutdown and things are looking grim.
In order to avoid a shutdown, Congress must pass a funding bill and the President must sign it into law by 12:00 a.m. ET on October 1.
But no progress has been made toward a deal that both the Republican-controlled House and the Democrat-controlled Senate would pass.
If a shutdown occurs, millions of federal workers will be impacted and without pay including roughly 2 million military personnel and more than 2 million civilian workers.
Goldman Sachs estimates a shutdown would reduce economic growth by 0.2% every week it lasted.
Media Stocks Rise On Potential Deal With Writers
Paramount Global (PARA) shares are up 1.3% with Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) shares rising 1.8% ahead of the open amid news Hollywood writers and studios have reached a preliminary labor agreement.
Talks resumed between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) last week.
The two groups are reportedly still drafting the final language of the counteract.
In a letter to members, the WGA’s negotiation committee wrote, “What we have won in this contract — most particularly, everything we have gained since May 2nd — is due to the willingness of this membership to exercise its power, to demonstrate its solidarity, to walk side-by-side, to endure the pain and uncertainty of the past 146 days. It is the leverage generated by your strike, in concert with the extraordinary support of our union siblings, that finally brought the companies back to the table to make a deal.”
The WGA did not layout details of the deal but said it “is exceptional — with meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership.”
Actors remain on strike as the AMPTP still needs to resume negotiations with SAG-AFTRA.
Oil Prices Steady
Oil prices are down slightly to start the new week after Russia relaxed some of its fuel ban.
West Texas Intermediate crude futures are down 0.3% at under $90 bbl while Brent crude futures are down 0.2% at just over $93 bbl.
Government documents show Russia lifted restrictions for fuel used as bunkering for some vessels and diesel with high sulfur content.
But the export ban on all types of gasoline and high-quality diesel remains in place.
