Market Snapshot
briefing.com
| Dow | 32549.90 | -105.33 | (-0.32%) | | Nasdaq | 10671.07 | -159.63 | (-1.47%) | | SP 500 | 3819.29 | -36.88 | (-0.96%) | | 10-yr Note | 0/32 | 4.06 |
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| | NYSE | Adv 586 | Dec 2355 | Vol 1.0 bln | | Nasdaq | Adv 1173 | Dec 3444 | Vol 5.3 bln |
Industry Watch
| Strong: -- |
| | Weak: Energy, Communication Services, Information Technology, Consumer Discretionary |
Moving the Market
-- FOMC decision and Fed Chair Powell's comments at press conference where he said, "it is very premature to be thinking about pausing."
-- Mixed reaction to slew of earnings news since yesterday's close
-- ADP Employment Change for October showing the labor market remains strong, creating some concerns that the Fed might not soften its rate hike approach following the November meeting
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Closing Summary
02-Nov-22 16:30 ET
Dow -505.44 at 32149.79, Nasdaq -366.05 at 10464.65, S&P -96.41 at 3759.76
[BRIEFING.COM] It shaped up to be a rough session for the stock market, but it wasn't always that way. The market clung to a narrow trading range and modest losses until the FOMC policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET, when stocks took a sharp turn higher. Things quickly deteriorated, however, as Fed Chair Powell gave his press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET. Ultimately, the major averages closed at session lows.
The initial push higher after the policy decision was based on the following line in the directive, which fueled the market's hope of a less aggressive rate-hike approach at future meetings:
"In determining the pace of future increases in the target range, the Committee will take into account the cumulative tightening of monetary policy, the lags with which monetary policy affects economic activity and inflation, and economic and financial developments."
The wind got knocked out of the market's sails, however, after Mr. Powell emphasized that the Fed still has a ways to go to get the policy rate to a restrictive level and added "it is very premature to be thinking about pausing."
Another rough point for the market was Mr. Powell's messaging that incoming data since the last meeting suggests the ultimate level of interest rates will be higher than previously expected and that "there is more ground to cover" before it meets the test of being at a restrictive level.
Sellers stepped up in the Treasury and equity markets during and after the press conference. The 2-yr note yield initially traded down to 4.44% but settled at 4.55% and jumped to 4.62% after the close of the cash session. The 10-yr note yield fell to 3.98% but settled at 4.06% and jumped to 4.11% after the close of the cash session.
Stocks sold off in broad fashion. All 11 S&P 500 sectors closed with a loss ranging from 1.0% (utilities) to 3.8% (consumer discretionary).
Mega cap stocks suffered heavier losses than the broader market. The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (MGK) fell 3.6% today versus a 2.5% loss in the S&P 500.
On an individual basis, a few names were able to buck the downtrend after reporting quarterly results. CVS Corp. (CVS 96.80, +2.18, +2.3%), Match Group (MTCH 45.74, +1.84, +4.2%), and Mondelez Int'l (MDLZ 62.58, +0.71, +1.2%) were among the winning standouts today for the earnings reporters.
Energy complex futures settled the session higher. WTI crude oil futures rose 1.6% to $89.82/bbl and natural gas futures rose 6.9% to $6.55/mmbtu.
Cigna (CI), ConocoPhillips (COP), Cheniere Energy (LNG), Peloton (PTON), Marriott (MAR), Westlake Corporation (WLK), Kellogg (K), Moderna (MRNA), Restaurant Brands Int'l (QSR), AmerisourceBergen (ABC), Royal Caribbean (RCL), Shake Shack (SHAK), Wayfair (W), and Crocs (CROX) are among some of the more notable companies set to report earnings ahead of Thursday's open.
Looking ahead to Thursday:
- 8:30 ET: Weekly Initial Claims (Briefing.com consensus 222,000; prior 217,000), Continuing Claims (prior 1.438 mln), September trade balance (Briefing.com consensus -$71.00 bln; prior -$67.40 bln), preliminary Q3 Productivity (Briefing.com consensus 0.5%; prior -4.1%) and preliminary Q3 Unit Labor Costs (Briefing.com consensus 4.2%; prior 10.2%)
- 10:00 ET: September Factory Orders (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%; prior 0.0%) and October ISM Non-Manufacturing Index (Briefing.com consensus 55.2%; prior 56.7%)
- 10:30 ET: Weekly natural gas inventories (prior +52 bcf)
Dow Jones Industrial Average: -11.5% YTD
S&P Midcap 400: -16.5% YTD
S&P 500: -21.1% YTD
Russell 2000: -20.3% YTD
Nasdaq Composite: -32.7% YTD
Market continues to fall
02-Nov-22 15:35 ET
Dow -414.26 at 32240.97, Nasdaq -315.11 at 10515.59, S&P -82.03 at 3774.14
[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market continues to deteriorate into the close.
After the close, MetLife (MET), Qualcomm (QCOM), Allstate (ALL), Cognizant Tech (CTSH), MGM Resorts (MGM), Lumen Technologies (LUMN), Booking Holdings (BKNG), Qorvo (QRVO), Robinhood Markets (HOOD), Zillow (ZG), Etsy (ETSY), and Roku (ROKU) headline the earnings reports.
Cigna (CI), ConocoPhillips (COP), Cheniere Energy (LNG), Peloton (PTON), Aptiv (APTV), Marriott (MAR), Westlake Corporation (WLK), Kellogg (K), Moderna (MRNA), Bausch Health (BHC), Restaurant Brands Int'l (QSR), Crocs (CROX), Fidelity Nat'l Info (FIS), Teva Pharma (TEVA), Cummins (CMI), and Arrow Electronics (ARW) are set to report earnings ahead of Thursday's open.
Looking ahead to Thursday:
- 8:30 ET: Weekly Initial Claims (Briefing.com consensus 222,000; prior 217,000), Continuing Claims (prior 1.438 mln), September trade balance (Briefing.com consensus -$71.00 bln; prior -$67.40 bln), preliminary Q3 Productivity (Briefing.com consensus 0.5%; prior -4.1%) and preliminary Q3 Unit Labor Costs (Briefing.com consensus 4.2%; prior 10.2%)
- 10:00 ET: September Factory Orders (Briefing.com consensus 0.3%; prior 0.0%) and October ISM Non-Manufacturing Index (Briefing.com consensus 55.2%; prior 56.7%)
- 10:30 ET: Weekly natural gas inventories (prior +52 bcf)
Market hits lows as Fed Chair Powell speaks
02-Nov-22 15:05 ET
Dow -105.33 at 32549.90, Nasdaq -159.63 at 10671.07, S&P -36.88 at 3819.29
[BRIEFING.COM] As Fed Chair Powell continues his press conference, the major averages are falling to new session lows.
This leg lower follows Mr. Powell saying "it is very premature to be thinking about pausing." To be fair, he also said the "time to slow the pace of increases is coming."
Another key comment from Mr. Powell's press conference is, "Financial conditions have tightened significantly in response to our policy actions. We are seeing the effects on demand in the most interest rate sensitive sectors of the economy, such as housing. It will take time for it to be realized, especially on inflation."
Energy complex futures settled the session higher. WTI crude oil futures rose 1.6% to $89.82/bbl and natural gas futures rose 6.9% to $6.55/mmbtu.
FOMC raises rates by 75 basis points, as expected
02-Nov-22 14:25 ET
Dow +234.52 at 32889.75, Nasdaq +25.45 at 10856.15, S&P +15.70 at 3871.87
[BRIEFING.COM] The major averages popped higher initially after the FOMC's rate decision. The benchmark S&P 500 (+0.41%) is firmly entrenched in second place. Shortly, the Fed unanimously voted to raise the target range on the federal funds rate by 75 bps to 3.75% to 4.00%, while adding the caveat that ongoing increases in the target range will be appropriate in order to attain a stance of monetary policy that is sufficiently restrictive to return inflation to 2 percent over time.
Other key excerpts from the FOMC statement included that job gains have been robust in recent months, and the unemployment rate has remained low. Additionally, inflation remains elevated, reflecting supply and demand imbalances related to the pandemic, higher food and energy prices, and broader price pressures.
In determining the pace of future increases in the target range, the Committee will take into account the cumulative tightening of monetary policy, the lags with which monetary policy affects economic activity and inflation, and economic and financial developments.
Yields across the curve dipped following the FOMC decision with the yield on the benchmark 10-yr note now down about 8 bps to 3.991%.
Gold narrowly higher in front of FOMC rate decision
02-Nov-22 13:55 ET
Dow +43.87 at 32699.10, Nasdaq -84.01 at 10746.69, S&P -11.23 at 3844.94
[BRIEFING.COM] The major averages are perking up into the final two hours of trading on Wednesday, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (-0.77%) still lower by about 84 points, though.
Gold futures settled less than $1 higher (flat) to $1,650/oz, firmly off morning highs, in front of the Fed's rate decision.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar Index is down about -0.1% to $111.37.
As a reminder, the FOMC will announce its rate decision at the top of the hour.
DuPont's termination of Rogers Corp acquisition brings a sense of relief to investors (DD)
Exactly one year ago today, chemical giant DuPont (DD) announced that it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Rogers Corp (ROG) for $277/share in cash in a bid to bolster its exposure to the electric vehicle, advanced driver assistance system, and 5G markets. At the time, there was little concern that this deal wouldn't gain regulatory approval, as illustrated by ROG shares trading near that $277 price for several months after the news release. However, as geopolitical tensions heated up with China during the spring and summer, doubts began to creep into investors' minds and ROG began to slide further and further away from DD's acquisition price.
That uncertainty proved to be on point because this morning DD announced that it terminated its agreement to acquire ROG, sending ROG shares plummeting lower by over 40%. In fact, the stock is trading about 38% below its price from November 1, 2021 -- the day prior to DD's acquisition announcement. On the flip side, DD is trading sharply higher today as investors seem more than willing to exchange the $162.5 mln termination fee for an exit out of this deal.
DD's decision to walk away from the acquisition stems from its inability to obtain regulatory clearance in China. The reason why China is involved is because ROG owns and operates a manufacturing facility in Suzhou, China, where it employs about 800 workers.
There are a couple main reasons why DD shares are jumping higher on this development.
- Although the addition of ROG and its engineered materials and components would have bolstered DD's growth, DD was paying a hefty price for ROG. Specifically, the $277/share price tag penciled out to a P/EBITDA of about 28x on a trailing basis. That's quite rich, especially since macroeconomic headwinds are cutting into corporate growth rates and margins.
- On that note, ROG's adjusted EBITDA margin contracted by 580 bps in Q2 to 18.0%. Raw material constraints and lower throughput pressured ROG's margins in Q2.
- With approximately 36% of its total revenue generated in China, the country's zero-COVID policy represents a major risk for ROG. In ROG's Q2 earnings press release, CEO Bruce Hoechner stated, “Supply challenges and COVID-related demand disruptions in China tempered further sales growth and impacted gross margins..." For the quarter, revenue edged higher by just 1.6% from 1Q22.
- Originally, DD planned to use the cash from the sale of its Mobility and Materials segment to finance the ROG acquisition. That sale to Celanese (CE) also closed today, providing DD with $11 bln in cash that can now be used for stock repurchases or to pay down its long-term debt, which totaled $10.6 bln as of June 30, 2022.
There's a sense of relief from DD's investors that its acquisition of ROG fell apart due to regulatory issues in China. As macroeconomic risks in China have increased, partly due to its zero-COVID policy, the price tag that DD paid for ROG was looking even more frothy than it was a year ago.
Cirrus Logic posts "cirrusly" good SepQ, iPhone softness not really impacting CRUS (CRUS)
Cirrus Logic (CRUS +8%) is trading sharply higher following its Q2 (Sep) earnings report last night. It reported huge beats for EPS and revenue and offered in-line revenue guidance for Q3 (Dec). Given its high exposure to Apple (AAPL) at 79% of FY22 revs, we were a little nervous considering that iPhone revenue came in a bit light in Apple's report last week. However, CRUS reported huge upside.
- Revenue rose 16% yr/yr and 37% sequentially to $540.6 mln, pretty much demolishing the $450-490 mln prior guidance. Granted, CRUS is known for being conservative with guidance. However, the analyst consensus was below the mid-point of that guidance, so clearly the analyst community was nervous like we were.
- The revenue upside was driven by higher smartphone unit volumes associated with customers' new product ramps as well as higher ASPs and high performance mixed-signal content gains. Non-GAAP gross margin dipped to 50.2% from 51.3% a year ago and 51.5% in JunQ, but it was roughly in-line with the midpoint of guidance. DecQ gross margin is expected in the 49-51% range.
- Demand remains very high, but the supply chain remains an issue. CRUS still regards its sales and the situation in the supply chain as being supply-constrained, primarily around wafer supply. Unfortunately, CRUS sees this being an issue for a while, certainly for the rest of FY23 and well into calendar 2023.
- Another concern going into this report was CRUS noting last quarter that it saw a slowdown in laptop demand. And with the well-publicized PC slowdown and inventory glut, we had trepidation going into this report. CRUS says PC demand remains soft, but helping to mitigate that is CRUS's view that it sees laptops as an area where it can expand.
- Specifically, there is a greatly increased emphasis from customers and end users to add higher quality audio experiences in laptops. This is being driven by the growth of remote and hybrid working and a transition to thinner and lighter form factors. OEMs are evolving towards more of a smartphone-like audio architecture that leverages multiple boosted amplifiers. CRUS has been engaged with multiple customers in design activity around its first amplifier designed specifically for laptops.
Overall, it is clear that our concerns about Apple's iPhone softness impacting CRUS was misplaced. Given its inclination to guide conservatively, CRUS is known for reporting upside. However, this was very robust upside even for CRUS and the guidance for the holiday DecQ period was solid as well. The stock had been down 23% since mid-August heading into this report, but this result showed that investors were perhaps too pessimistic heading into this report.
Advanced Micro takes hit in PC market, but it keeps advancing against Intel in data center (AMD)
As widely anticipated, the deterioration of the PC and laptop market crushed Advanced Micro's (AMD) Client segment as revenue plunged by 40% in that business. In fact, given that AMD issued Q3 guidance on October 6, about two weeks after the quarter ended, there really weren't many surprises at all in AMD's results. Gross margin of 50% came in as expected, as did the specific revenue growth rates for each of AMD's business segments, including a 45% jump for Data Center and a 14% increase for Gaming. Accordingly, the company's revenue and EPS were generally in line with analysts' forecasts.
With shares down by about 40% since AMD last issued earnings in early August, the stock was poised for a rebound and investors are finding a few reasons to take another look at AMD today. Since the ongoing troubles in the Client segment are well-documented and largely baked into the equation, investors are turning their attention to AMD's other segments and to the company's outlook.
- In recent years, AMD has made significant progress in the data center market, steadily taking share from rival Intel (INTC). That appears to be the case once again in Q3 as AMD's Data Center segment generated revenue of $1.6 bln, up an impressive 45% yr/yr. This was the company's tenth consecutive quarter of record server processor sales. In contrast, INTC's Data Center and AI Group experienced a 27% drop in Q3 revenue to $4.2 bln.
- While some server OEMs slowed the pace of their spending due to macro uncertainties, AMD saw strong demand in the cloud space with revenue more than doubling there. Hyperscalers such as Microsoft (MSFT) Azure, Amazon (AMZN), and Baidu (BIDU) expanded their deployments of AMD's EPYC processors.
- Gaming is holding up pretty well in a very challenging environment. Recall that when NVIDIA (NVDA) reported Q3 results in late August, it disclosed that gaming revenue tumbled by 33% yr/yr to $2.04 bln. Similar to the circumstances surrounding the PC market, gaming has significantly tapered off following a booming period during the pandemic. However, AMD's Gaming segment still registered growth of 14%, despite lapping a difficult yr/yr comp.
- The star of the quarter for AMD was its Embedded segment, which makes processors for telecommunications, networking, security and storage applications. Revenue soared by 1,549% yr/yr to $1.3 bln driven by new 5G wireless installations in North America, and record sales to aerospace, defense, and automotive customers.
- AMD's Q4 revenue guidance of $5.20-$5.80 bln did come in below analysts' estimates, but we would characterize its outlook as better-than-feared. On that note, the midpoint of its guidance range still equates to yr/yr growth of nearly 15%. When stacked up against INTC's Q4 outlook for a yr/yr revenue decline of about 25%, AMD's guidance looks pretty good, relatively speaking.
At this point, there's no light at the end of the tunnel in the PC/laptop end market. AMD CEO Lisa Su stated during the earnings call that the PC market could fall by nearly 20% this year and that she is planning for an even weaker PC environment in Q4. These bearish comments don't come as a surprise, though, as investors have already factored in the plunging PC market. Therefore, the focal point today lands on AMD's other segments and its performance relative to competitor INTC. On both of those accounts, the story is much more positive for AMD.
Airbnb forecasting bookings growth to decelerate in Q4 spurs a sell-the-news reaction today (ABNB)
Airbnb (ABNB -9%) delivered another double-digit earnings beat, solid revenue growth in Q3, and in-line Q4 revenue guidance. Further, the alternative accommodations platform also provided upbeat commentary on the travel industry.
So why is ABNB dropping today? It is helpful to look at ABNB's Q3 report through the lens of a relatively pricey 43x forward earnings valuation. When doing so, its expectation that Nights and Experiences Booked growth will moderate slightly in Q4 compared to Q3, which saw the number jump 25% yr/yr to almost 100 mln, becomes more glaring. On the bright side, ABNB commented that it is not seeing any changes in booking behavior in Q4, adding that the deceleration stems from a challenging comparison versus the year-ago period. Still, the slowdown shows that the post-COVID demand tailwind is continuing to die down.
The decelerating bookings growth comes at a challenging time for ABNB. Even though the company pointed to numerous long-term benefits, including sustained demand, long-term stays continuing to comprise a good chunk of bookings, and an ongoing recovery in urban and cross-border travel, inflationary pressures remain a significant headwind. Fees on the platform continue to increase, mainly cleaning fees, which tend to not be tacked on until a guest is ready to book. This could be spurring travelers to turn back to traditional hotels, which often offer a less expensive alternative.
ABNB addressed these concerns, highlighting its advantages. ABNB noted it boasts a more diverse set of offerings than hotels, enabling additional flexibility for guests. The company also remarked that its offerings tend to command more value. Additionally, Expedia Group (EXPE) noted in mid-September that even if inflationary pressures ease, it believed hotels would keep their average daily rates (ADRs) high even with reduced staffing levels. ABNB stated that this dynamic would allow it to continue to capture additional market share.
ABNB's Q3 results further highlighted its ability to perform well despite these hurdles.
- Earnings jumped 47% yr/yr to $1.79 on top-line growth of 28.9% to $2.88 bln; both metrics were quarterly records for ABNB. Alongside 25% bookings growth in the quarter, Gross Booking Value (GBV) climbed 31% yr/yr to $15.6 bln, accelerating from the 27% posted in Q2.
- Long-term stays (28 days or longer) accounted for 20% of gross nights booked in the quarter, stable with the year-ago period. Meanwhile, ABNB continued to see signs of travelers returning to cities, which historically has been ABNB's bread and butter.
- Bookings strength was also solid overseas, with EMEA growing 20% yr/yr, Latin America soaring 33%, and Asia Pacific exploding by 65%, driven by an easing of COVID-19 restrictions.
Nevertheless, ABNB's high multiple remains a drag on its shares, putting the microscope on minor blemishes each quarter. Conversely, ABNB's competitors Booking Holdings (BKNG) and EXPE, trade at sizeable discounts of ~18x and 11x forward earnings, respectively. With ABNB's Q3 numbers displaying a sustained demand to travel, and BKNG and EXPE not prone to as much nitpicking, there are positive signs ahead of their Q3 reports aftermarket on November 2 and 3, respectively.
Eli Lilly rides its key products for top and bottom-line beat, but FX headwinds hit outlook (LLY)
Bolstered by strong sales from some of its key product franchises, pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly (LLY) edged past 3Q22 EPS and revenue estimates after missing on both measures last quarter. Verzenio, the company's breast cancer treatment, especially stood out in Q3, posting sales growth of 84% to $617.7 mln. Trulicity (diabetes) and Taltz (autoimmune diseases) also performed well with sales up by 16% and 15%, respectively. However, despite the solid growth and LLY's better-than-expected overall results, shares are sliding sharply lower.
LLY's downwardly revised guidance for FY22 and its commentary regarding COVID-19 antibodies is what's holding the stock back. Even though the company topped Q3 expectations, it lowered its FY22 EPS guidance to $7.70-$7.85 from $7.90-$8.05, and cut its revenue forecast to $28.5-$29.0 bln from $28.8-$29.3 bln.
- Like many global enterprises, foreign exchange impacts are taking a major toll on LLY. Previously, the company was estimating a negative FX impact of about $700 mln for FY22. Now, LLY believes the total effect for the year could be near $1.0 bln. For Q4 in particular, LLY shaved $30 mln off its sales forecast due to foreign exchange.
- Meanwhile, IP R&D and development milestone charges are expected to total $670 mln in FY22, representing an additional $0.06/share headwind to LLY's FY22 EPS outlook. Between FX impacts and these tax-related charges, LLY took its non-GAAP EPS forecast down by $0.20/share.
- The stock may be reacting more to LLY's comments regarding Bebtelovimab during the earnings call. Specifically, CFO Anat Ashkenazi stated that while LLY made Bebtelovimab commercially available, the company does not believe that it will neutralize against the new BQ variants.
- For some financial context, LLY supplied an additional 60,000 doses of Bebtelovimab to the U.S. government in Q3 for about $110 mln.
- Ashkenazi added that COVID-19 antibodies will not likely be a major driver for long-term growth for LLY.
Beyond the disappointment regarding the guidance cut, there was still plenty of good news within the earnings press release. Notably, LLY's new Type 2 diabetes drug, Mounjaro, is off to a fast start with sales of $187.3 mln in Q3. In fact, Ashkenazi described Mounjaro's demand as "unprecedented", bolstered by strong efficacy and positive patient outcomes. Overall, it was a solid quarter for LLY and the company is upbeat about its product pipeline that could feature four new launches by the end of 2023. For today, though, LLY's FY22 guidance cut is driving the stock action.
Page One
Last Updated: 02-Nov-22 09:02 ET | Archive
An important Fed day
Today is Fed day and once again it is "the most important Fed decision ever!" We're not so sure about that, but it is an important decision because market participants are anxious to hear if the Fed is inclined to take a less aggressive rate-hike approach after today's meeting.
Today's approach should be full-bore aggressive. The FOMC is widely expected to agree to a fourth, consecutive 75-basis points rate hike in the target range for the fed funds rate to 3.75-4.00%. It's what comes next -- or is expected to come next -- that will matter most to the market.
At the moment, the fed funds futures market indicates it is a toss up as to whether the Fed will move 50 basis points or another 75 basis points at the December 13-14 FOMC meeting. We suspect Fed Chair Powell is pleased with that indication since it provides some optionality for him in terms of the tone he will adopt.
That is, he can have it both ways today. He can hint at the potential for a smaller rate hike in December while also suggesting that nothing is being taken off the table in terms of a potential rate hike, meaning 75 basis points is also still a possibility.
Since it is basically a 50-50 split in the fed funds futures market for the size of the next rate hike, neither position would be a surprise. That doesn't mean, however, that the stock market won't act surprised.
A primary catalyst for the rally seen since mid-October is the idea that the Fed will downshift to a 50-basis point rate hike in December. The stock market wants to hear that between the lines of what the Fed chair says today.
Here again, though, the Fed chair has some additional optionality. He could imply as much while at the same time pointing out that further rate increases will be necessary and that the fed funds rate is likely going to need to stay at a higher and restrictive level for longer than previously thought because inflation is still too high and the labor market is still too strong (or something to that effect).
Low levels of weekly initial jobless claims, yesterday's JOLTS Report for September, and today's ADP Employment Change Report for October have all substantiated that the labor market is still strong all things considered.
Briefly, the ADP Report showed 239,000 jobs were added to private-sector payrolls in October (Briefing.com consensus 198,000) following a downwardly revised 192,000 jobs (from 208,000) in September. It also revealed a median change in annual pay of 7.7% for job-stayers and a 15.2% change for job-changers. That might have moderated some from prior months but it is still beyond the Fed's inflation comfort level.
This report drove some knee-jerk volatility in the stock and bond markets, adding to the hesitant disposition that was already in place in front of that report.
Currently, the S&P 500 futures are down three points and are trading 0.1% below fair value, the Nasdaq 100 futures are up one point and are trading fractionally above fair value, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are down 72 points and are trading 0.2% below fair value.
A large batch of earnings results since yesterday's close has been in play as a trading catalyst, although the response to the earnings news has been generally mixed. For instance, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), CVS Health (CVS), and Mondelez (MDLZ) are up following their results while Airbnb (ABNB), Estee Lauder (EL), and Paramount Global (PARA) are down after their results.
There are plenty of individual stocks moving in pre-market trading but macro considerations have taken precedence over the micro as a market mover. There are none more important today than the Fed decision. Even if it is not the Fed's most important decision ever, it is going to be an important market driver.
-- Patrick J. O'Hare, Briefing.com
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