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Here are the most important information investors need to start their trading day:
1. Overcome a busy week
The markets don’t look much clearer now that we’ve passed the milestone of a busy earnings week. All three major indices had a mixed Wednesday. The Dow posted a fourth straight winning streak, just barely, while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 snapped their three-day winning streaks. Thursday morning futures didn’t look so clear cut either. Investors are largely ruminating on the outlook for several Big Tech earnings that have already been released this week, including Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta (more on that below). Two more biggies also arrive on Thursday, with Apple and Amazon expected to report after the bell. There is also another Fed meeting next week, which means another big rate hike is on the way (see below). Read live market updates here.
2. If a stock falls into the metaverse…
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg shows off an Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) headset and Oculus Touch controllers at the Oculus Connect 3 event in San Jose, California, United States, Thursday, October 6, 2016.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
…can you still lose money on it? You bet. Wall Street had low expectations for Meta’s quarterly earnings, and Meta overtook them, on the wrong side, sending the stock down 20% in after-hours trading. Facebook’s parent company has missed out on profit, as has its average revenue per user, and revenue has fallen for two straight quarters. Worse still, Meta expects revenue to decline further in the current quarter, issuing forecasts generally lower than analysts expected. The advertising environment is tough, as we’ve seen before with Alphabet and Snap, and Meta is feeling the pinch too. Beyond that, CEO Mark Zuckerberg plans to continue spending big in the metaverse despite that part of the business, Reality Labs, which has already lost $9.4 billion this year, with more losses to come. – as his income declines.
3. Missiles hit Kyiv
This photograph shows Independence Square in Kyiv during a power outage in parts of the Ukrainian capital’s neighborhoods following rocket attacks over the past two weeks against critical infrastructure, October 24, 2022 , in the midst of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Sergei Supinsky | AFP | Getty Images
Russian missiles have again struck the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, as Vladimir Putin continues his offensive from the sky while his forces try to regroup on the ground. The Russians also shelled the Zaporizhzhia region, which is home to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. Meanwhile, a senior Russian official has warned that Kremlin forces could target US commercial satellites, which have previously provided images of Russian troops and formations. Read Live War Updates here.
4. Powell under pressure
U.S. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell leaves after holding a news conference after the Federal Reserve raised its target interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point in Washington, September 21, 2022.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
There are just under two weeks until Election Day, when Americans decide the balance of power in Congress. The economy is once again the top concern for voters as Covid worries waned and prices rose to levels not seen in four decades. The Federal Reserve has had little luck so far in curbing inflation with its steep interest rate hikes, even as critics warn that the central bank’s actions threaten a recession. And now one of the top Democrats in the Senate, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, is warning Fed Chairman Jerome Powell that the Fed’s actions could lead to job losses. “It is your job to fight inflation, but at the same time you must not lose sight of your responsibility to ensure that we have full employment,” Brown wrote to Powell. The Fed is expected to announce another three-quarter point rate hike at next week’s meeting, days before the election.
5. Sink or swim
Elon Musk’s Twitter profile is seen on a smartphone atop printed Twitter logos in this illustration taken April 28, 2022.
Dado Ruvic | Reuters
Elon Musk showed up on Wednesday at Twitter headquarters with a sink in his hands, pretty much just so he can do a “let it flow” pun on, you guessed it, Twitter. All signs point to Tesla’s billionaire CEO closing his $44 billion deal to take the social media company private just in time for a court-set deadline on Friday. Musk’s takeover will conclude a month-long saga in which he made the deal for $54.20 a share, walked away, and Twitter sued him to complete the deal. Now the question becomes, what will Musk actually do with Twitter? We’ll just have to see what the self-proclaimed “Chief Twit” has in store for us.
– CNBC’s Samantha Subin, Jonathan Vanian, Natasha Turak, Jeff Cox and Lauren Feiner contributed to this report.
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