MARKET WRAPS
Watch For:
GDP for 3Q, second estimate; EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report;
Beige Book
Today's Top Headlines/Must Reads:
- Tech's New Normal: Microcuts Over Growth at All Costs
- Binance Begins Again With U.S. Oversight. Will It Survive?
- Welcome to COP28, the U.N. Climate Conference Hosted by an Oil
Giant
Opening Call:
Stock futures gained ground on Wednesday as Treasury yields
continued to fall on increased hopes the Federal Reserve will start
cutting interest rates next year.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury slid close to 4.25% at one
point in early trading as investors boosted bets that easing
inflation will encourage the Fed to begin trimming rates within
several months.
The chances of the central bank cutting rates in March by at
least 25 basis points is priced at 42%, up from just 21% early
Tuesday, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
The shift follows comments on Tuesday from the Fed's Waller, in
which he suggested current policy is well-positioned to slow the
economy and bring inflation back to 2%, SPI Asset Management
said.
"His remarks...were seen by the market as confirmation that the
Federal Reserve is done raising interest rates, which aligns with
the market sentiment as additional hikes had already been largely
priced out earlier in the month," SPI added.
Investors will be keen to see if Waller's supposedly more dovish
stance is replicated by Jerome Powell when he speaks on Friday.
Premarket Movers
Berkshire Hathaway's class B shares were up slightly after
Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett's right-hand man and vice chairman
of the investment conglomerate, died at 99 years old.
CrowdStrike Holdings third-quarter earnings and revenue beat
analysts' expectations and the cybersecurity company boosted its
fiscal-year forecast. CrowdStrike said it expects adjusted profit
of $2.95 to $2.96 a share in the fiscal year on revenue of about
$3.05 billion. The stock was up 1.1%.
Fluence Energy was rising 19% after the company reported a
surprise profit in its fiscal fourth quarter.
Intuit posted better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter profit
and revenue but the company issued an earnings forecast for the
second quarter below expectations. The stock was up 0.3%.
GameStop rose more than 14% premarket. Bullish GameStop call
options in particular are seeing renewed volume, according to Cboe
Global Markets data, as traders look ahead to the retailer's
quarterly results next week.
Jabil lowered its guidance for the fiscal first quarter and year
as a whole due to softer demand for its products. Shares declined
5.1%.
Las Vegas Sands declined 5.6% after disclosing that Miriam
Adelson sold $2 billion of stock and plans to use the proceeds to
"fund the purchase of a majority interest in a professional sports
franchise."
Leslie's fell 15% premarket after reporting another quarter of
sliding sales. Shares are already down 52% this year.
Workday raised its outlook for the year after posting
higher-than-expected revenue in the fiscal third quarter. The stock
rose 7.6%.
Forex:
The dollar was falling as the market reverses a trend of
"excessive" optimism towards the currency amid growing evidence
that the Fed has likely finished raising interest rates,
Commerzbank said.
"What we are seeing is typical for the greenback at the end of a
Fed rate hike cycle: Excessive dollar optimism on the part of
market participants who had seen the dollar as a one-way street has
to be priced out," it said.
Standard Chartered said the unemployment rate has begun rising
from a cyclical trough, marking a turning point which is
"associated with dollar weakness."
"Confirmation that the labor market is softening while inflation
is on a steady downtrend could encourage policy rate cuts and
weaken the dollar."
Typically after a point when unemployment keeps rising, the
dollar tends to rebound, it said.
Energy:
Crude futures weakened slightly as the market awaits OPEC+'s
crucial decision to extend or deepen supply cuts.
"The outlook for the oil market in 2024 will largely depend on
OPEC+ policy," ING said.
DNB Markets said OPEC's core members could be motivated by
geopolitical tensions in the Middle East to take on deeper output
cutsbut a quota rollover is still seen as the easiest way
forward.
"Any deeper cut has primarily to be shouldered by Saudi, Russia,
UAE and Kuwait," DNB said. "However, a pressure for deeper cuts
could result in a non-deal."
Reaching consensus among the group's members will be challenging
amid disputes over production targets and Brent crude above $80 a
barrel. Therefore, it is more likely that the meeting will result
in Saudi Arabia extending its unilateral production cut into
2024.
Further support to prices on Wednesday likely stemmed from
disruptions to oil loadings in the Black Sea, with Kazakhstan's
energy ministry indicating that output at its largest fields has
been cut by 56%, ING added.
Metals:
Base metals were mixed, with gold continuing to strengthen,
helped by a weakening dollar and buoyed by the Fed's Waller,
according to CBA.
"Given his typically hawkish bias in the past, the comments
suggest that the FOMC are done raising rates and may be on track to
cut rates next year," CBA said.
TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES
Cybersecurity Firm BlueVoyant Buys Conquest Cyber, Discloses
$140 Million Funding Round
Cybersecurity company BlueVoyant has bought Conquest Cyber, a
startup focused on the government and defense sectors, its fifth
acquisition since 2020.
BlueVoyant Chief Executive James Rosenthal said his company also
closed a Series E funding round of more than $140 million, which
facilitated the acquisition. Private-equity firm Liberty Strategic
Capital and cybersecurity investor Istari led the round.
Hawaiian Electric Refocuses Grid Plan on Wildfire Risk
Hawaiian Electric said it wasn't sufficiently focused on
wildfire risk before August's deadly blaze on Maui and proposed
nearly tripling the money it would now spend on the effort.
The utility, in regulatory filings this week, said it had been
more concerned with hurricanes than with wildfire risk before the
Aug. 8 fire that killed 100 people and leveled the town of Lahaina.
The company said it now wants to revise a plan to improve its power
grid to focus more on wildfires.
Mark Cuban Is Set to Sell Majority Stake in Dallas Mavericks to
Adelson Family
One week before the NBA touches down in Las Vegas for the final
of its inaugural In-Season Tournament, Sin City has forged another
link to the hardwood. The family of the late casino mogul Sheldon
Adelson has agreed to buy a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks
from entrepreneur Mark Cuban, a source familiar with the deal said
Tuesday.
Las Vegas Sands disclosed plans by Miriam Adelson, Sheldon
Adelson's widow, to sell an estimated $2 billion in stock in the
company, which a regulatory filing said would be "used to fund the
purchase of a majority interest in a professional sports
franchise...subject to customary league approvals." NBA reporter
Marc Stein first reported that the franchise in question would be
the Mavericks.
SEC's Year-End Rule Blitz Continues. What It Means for Financial
Stocks.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is showing no signs of
letting up on its flurry of rule-making in the waning weeks of
2023, and the potential costs for big banks and other financial
firms impacted by them is starting to add up.
The latest salvo came Monday, when the SEC finalized a rule
meant to prevent conflicts of interest in the asset-backed
securitization market. The provision is supposed to put a stop to
firms shorting or otherwise betting against asset-backed securities
that they had a hand in creating.
Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett's Partner and 'Abominable
No-Man,' Dies at 99
No equal business partner has ever played second fiddle better
than Charlie Munger.
Warren Buffett's closest friend and consigliere for six decades,
the billionaire vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway died Tuesday at
age 99 in a California hospital. A news release from Berkshire
confirmed his death.
Senate Races to Finish Border Talks, Pass Ukraine, Israel
Aid
WASHINGTON-Senate Republicans and Democrats are headed for a
showdown over the government's power to admit immigrants into the
U.S. on humanitarian grounds, one element of tougher border
restrictions GOP lawmakers are demanding to win their support for
President Biden's aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
While bipartisan talks have made progress on tightening the
initial screening process for migrants seeking asylum-a central
demand of Republicans-a separate policy known as humanitarian
parole has now emerged as a sticking point in negotiations,
lawmakers said.
Write to ina.kreutz@wsj.com
TODAY IN CANADA
Earnings:
VersaBank 4Q
Economic Calendar (ET):
0830 Q3 Balance of Payments
Stocks to Watch:
Star Diamond to Buy Rio Tinto's 75% Interest in Fort a la Corne
Diamond Project
Expected Major Events for Wednesday
00:01/UK: CBI Service Sector Survey
00:30/JPN: Oct Detailed Import & Export Statistics
06:30/GER: Nov North Rhine Westphalia CPI
06:30/FRA: 3Q Job creation
07:00/GER: Oct Foreign trade price indices
09:00/ITA: Nov Consumer Confidence Survey
09:00/ITA: Nov Business Confidence Survey
09:00/GER: Nov Saxony CPI
09:00/GER: Nov Hesse CPI
09:00/GER: Nov Baden-Wuerttemberg CPI
09:00/GER: Nov Brandenburg CPI
09:30/UK: Oct Money and Credit - Lending to Individuals, Lending
to Businesses, Broad Money and Credit
09:30/UK: Oct Monetary & Financial Statistics
09:30/UK: Oct Bank of England effective interest rates
10:00/ITA: Oct PPI
11:00/ITA: Sep Industrial turnover
12:00/US: 11/24 MBA Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey
13:00/GER: Nov Provisional CPI
13:30/CAN: 3Q Balance of Payments
13:30/US: 3Q 2nd estimate GDP
13:30/US: Oct Advance Economic Indicators Report
13:30/US: 3Q Preliminary Corporate Profits
15:30/US: 11/24 EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report
17:59/UK: REC JobsOutlook survey
19:00/US: U.S. Federal Reserve Beige Book
23:50/JPN: Oct Preliminary Retail Sales
23:50/JPN: Oct Preliminary Industrial Production
All times in GMT. Powered by Kantar Media and Dow Jones.
Expected Earnings for Wednesday
Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc (ARWR) is expected to report
$-0.80 for 4Q.
Construction Partners Inc (ROAD) is expected to report $0.52 for
4Q.
Costco Wholesale Corp (COST) is expected to report.
Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd (CRDO) is expected to report
for 2Q.
Donaldson Co (DCI) is expected to report $0.72 for 1Q.
Essential Energy Services Ltd (EEYUF,ESN-T) is expected to
report $0.02 for 3Q.
Exco Technologies (XTC.T) is expected to report $0.29 for
4Q.
Farfetch Ltd (FTCH) is expected to report $-0.39 for 3Q.
Five Below (FIVE) is expected to report $0.22 for 3Q.
Foot Locker Inc (FL) is expected to report $0.20 for 3Q.
General Motors (GM,GMM.U-T) is expected to report.
Hormel Foods Corp (HRL) is expected to report $0.45 for 4Q.
Ingles Markets Inc (IMKTA) is expected to report for 4Q.
Inspired Entertainment (INSE) is expected to report $-0.12 for
3Q.
La-Z-Boy Inc (LZB) is expected to report $0.62 for 2Q.
Near Intelligence Inc (NIR) is expected to report for 3Q.
Nutanix Inc (NTNX) is expected to report $-0.13 for 1Q.
Ocean Biomedical Inc (OCEA) is expected to report for 3Q.
Okta Inc (OKTA) is expected to report $-0.80 for 3Q.
PVH Corp (PVH) is expected to report $2.71 for 3Q.
Patterson Companies (PDCO) is expected to report $0.51 for
2Q.
Petco Health & Wellness Co Inc (WOOF) is expected to report
for 3Q.
Pure Storage Inc (PSTG) is expected to report $0.11 for 3Q.
Quantum Corp (QMCO) is expected to report $-0.11 for 2Q.
Rogers Sugar Inc (RSGUF,RSI.T) is expected to report for 4Q.
Scully Royalty Ltd (SRL) is expected to report for Interim.
Snowflake Inc (SNOW) is expected to report for 3Q.
Synopsys Inc (SNPS) is expected to report $2.20 for 4Q.
TRX Gold Corp (TNX.T,TRX) is expected to report for 4Q.
Victoria's Secret & Co (VSCO) is expected to report for
3Q.
Yellow Corp (YELLQ) is expected to report for 3Q.
Zuora Inc (ZUO) is expected to report $-0.13 for 3Q.
nCino Inc (NCNO) is expected to report for 3Q.
Powered by Kantar Media and Dow Jones.
ANALYST RATINGS ACTIONS
Affirm Holdings Raised to Hold From Underperform by
Jefferies
American Axle Cut to Underperform From Neutral by B of A
Securities
Boeing Raised to Outperform From Sector Perform by RBC
Capital
Booz Allen Hamilton Cut to Equal-Weight From Overweight by Wells
Fargo
ChargePoint Cut to Neutral From Buy by UBS
Crocs Raised to Strong Buy From Outperform by Raymond James
Edwards Lifesciences Cut to Underperform From Peer Perform by
Wolfe Research
EQT Raised to Overweight From Equalweight by Morgan Stanley
Intl Flavors & Fragrances Raised to Buy From Hold by Argus
Research
Mid-America Apartment Raised to Buy From Neutral by Colliers
Securities
Mondelez Raised to Buy From Hold by Argus Research
Morgan Stanley Cut to Hold From Buy by Societe Generale
nLIGHT Raised to Speculative Buy From Hold by Benchmark
RLJ Lodging Trust Raised to Outperform From Perform by
Oppenheimer
Welltower Cut to Sector Perform From Outperform by RBC
Capital
This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal
newsletter published earlier today.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 29, 2023 06:15 ET (11:15 GMT)
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