Trader on the floor of the NYSE, September 20, 2022.
Source: NYSE
Here are the key news items investors need to start their trading day:
1. Decision Day
Investors are bracing for the Federal Reserve’s interest rate announcement Wednesday. A three-quarter-point hike in benchmark rates is ingrained, but markets are looking for more clarity on what the Fed will do for the rest of the year and beyond if high inflation continues. The Fed will reveal its decision at 2 p.m. ET, while Chairman Jerome Powell will discuss the central bank’s rationale at 2:30 p.m. You can stream it live here on CNBC.com. US stocks, meanwhile, appeared to be heading for a higher open on Wednesday. All three major indices fell Tuesday, while yields on 2- and 10-year government bonds rose to their highest level in more than 10 years.
2. Putin escalates
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech at a ceremony to receive credentials from newly appointed foreign ambassadors at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, September 20, 2022.
Pavel Bednyakov| Sputnik | Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he will call up some of the country’s reserves as his invasion of Ukraine faces setback after setback. Putin’s announcement of a mobilization was vague in other respects, but it effectively puts the Russian people and businesses in a position to contribute more to the Kremlin’s operation in its former Soviet neighbor. Ukraine, backed by Western money and weapons, has reclaimed territory through an aggressive counter-offensive that displaced Russian troops in the south and east of the country. Putin’s speech, in which he claimed the West was trying to destroy Russia and apparently threatened nuclear retaliation, is a major escalation that sends a harsh message to world leaders meeting this week in New York for the United Nations General Assembly.
3. Mortgage Demand Is Rising Somehow
Property Listings
Adam Jeffery | CNBC
Another week, another crazy turn in the housing market. In fact, demand for mortgages grew even though interest rates exceeded 6%, in fact doubling from the start of the year. Refinancing requests, which are typically more sensitive to large currency movements than purchase requests, rose 10% this week, although they still fell more than 80% than a year ago. While the data may come as a surprise, don’t count on a larger trend being indicated. Homes are still expensive, even if sellers negotiate more and some homebuilders have lower prices.
4. YouTube offers a bigger slice of the pie
A YouTube logo seen at the YouTube Space LA in Playa Del Rey, Los Angeles, California, United States October 21, 2015.
Lucy Nicholson | Reuters
TikTok continues to disrupt the former disruptors. YouTube, owned by Alphabet’s Google, said Tuesday it will share revenue with the creators of the platform’s Shorts videos as it competes with TikTok for the short viral video audience. In the second quarter, YouTube posted its slowest revenue growth since 2019, as Alphabet began to break out of unit sales. The move comes as older social media platforms, including Meta’s Facebook, have suffered the loss of users to TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance.
5. Beyond Meat director suspended for nose biting arrest
Douglas Ramsey
Source: Washington County, Arkansas
Doug Ramsey, operations director of Beyond Meat, reportedly bit a man in the nose and slammed through the rear window of a Subaru during a traffic accident Saturday in an Arkansas parking garage. Now he has been suspended from his job at the vegan food manufacturer as he awaits his trial in October. Ramsey, who joined Beyond Meat months ago after three decades at Tyson Foods, was also accused of murdering the man. The alleged altercation, arrest and suspension come at a difficult time for Beyond Meat. As the company’s sales have fallen, so has its stock price, which has fallen by about 75% so far this year. Three years ago, the company was valued at $13.4 billion. Now the market cap is just over $1 billion.
– Patti Domm, Carmen Reinicke, Holly Ellyatt, Jennifer Elias, Diana Olick and Amelia Lucas of CNBC contributed to this report.
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