Wall Street Today | U.S. GDP Rose 2.9% In the Fourth Quarter, More Than Expected Even As Recession Fears Loom
MACRO
U.S. GDP Rose 2.9% In the Fourth Quarter, More Than Expected Even As Recession Fears Loom
The U.S. economy finished 2022 in solid shape even as questions persist over whether growth will turn negative in the year ahead. The growth rate was slightly slower than the 3.2% pace in the third quarter.
Consumer spending, which accounts for about 68% of GDP, increased 2.1% for the period, down slightly from 2.3% in the previous period but still positive. A sharp slide in housing helped pull down GDP, while boosts in government spending and private investment aided growth.
A New Fed Working Paper Argues That Higher Interest Rates Are Actually Increasing the Wealth Gap
What matters most for building generational wealth in America? It might just be mortgage rates. The work stands in contrast to arguments that lower interest rates tend to benefit the rich more than the poor by pushing up the value of financial assets such as bonds and stocks. Instead, Fed's Economist Daniel Ringo argues that lower interest rates can help low- and moderate-income families purchase homes, and thereby start to accumulate wealth.
SECTORS
US Natural Gas Falls Below $3 for First Time Since May 2021
Gas for February delivery lost as much as 10% to $2.761 per million British thermal units Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The key reasons for the fall: The US and Europe managed to refill their buffer inventories ahead of winter and relatively balmy seasonal temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere have so far damped demand for heating.
COMPANY
Intel Shares Drop on Weak Quarterly Results and Expectations for Another Quarter of Losses
$Intel (INTC.US)$ shares slid by as much as 9% in extended trading on Thursday after the chipmaker issued fourth-quarter results that failed to meet analysts’ estimates and gave a weaker-than-expected forecast.
Intel’s revenue declined 32% year over year in the quarter that ended Dec. 31, according to a statement. It’s the fourth consecutive quarter of falling sales as the market for personal computers retreats from the Covid boom. Intel declined to provide a full-year forecast because of “the uncertainty in the current environment,” CEO Pat Gelsinger said on a conference call with analysts.
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Southwest Airlines Earnings Hit by $220 Million Loss After Holiday Meltdown
$Southwest Airlines (LUV.US)$ reported a fourth-quarter loss after a cascade of cancellations in the final week of the year threw its operation into chaos and stranded thousands of passengers.
The largest carrier of U.S. domestic passengers said Thursday that it expects another loss in the first quarter as customer cancellations rose at the start of the year and bookings decelerated.
Bed Bath & Beyond Says It Received Default Notice From JPMorgan
$Bed Bath & Beyond Inc (BBBY.US)$ edged closer to a bankruptcy filing on Thursday after the retailer said it had received a default notice from $JPMorgan (JPM.US)$, its loan agent, and warned it didn’t have enough funds to make payments.
Creditors are demanding immediate repayment of the company’s debt after it breached the terms of a credit line, according to a regulatory filing Thursday. Bed Bath & Beyond listed around $2.1 billion of obligations it owed as of November. The shares closed down 22%, the biggest drop since Jan. 13.
Visa, Mastercard See Card Spending Slow as Inflation Persists
$Visa (V.US)$ and $MasterCard (MA.US)$ saw purchase volumes on their cards climb less than expected in the final three months of the year, a sign that historic levels of inflation have begun to put a damper on consumer spending.
So far, both companies have said inflation hasn’t weighed on consumers’ overall spending patterns. Instead, card customers have shifted their spending to lower-cost items or generic brands. The two companies have said they continue to get a boost from spending on travel and dining out with pandemic-related restrictions easing globally.
BuzzFeed to Use ChatGPT Creator OpenAI to Help Create Quizzes and Other Content
$Buzzfeed (BZFD.US)$ said it would rely on ChatGPT creator OpenAI to enhance its quizzes and personalize some content for its audiences, becoming the latest digital publisher to embrace artificial intelligence.
In a memo to staff sent Thursday morning, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Chief Executive Jonah Peretti said he intends for AI to play a larger role in the company’s editorial and business operations this year. In one instance, the company said new AI-powered quizzes would produce individual results.
Source: Bloomberg, Dow Jones, CNBC, Yahoo Finance
Disclaimer: Moomoo Technologies Inc. is providing this content for information and educational use only.
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Dr_Stock : There is a lot of evidence to support the economic slow down. The fear, if great enough, of a recession can be enough to ensure that a recession is what we get in the US. The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ and $NASDAQ (200302)$ will see new bottoms under the assumption of a moderate to deep recession, likely to occur within 2023.
RDK79 : Surprised there’s not a new book, ‘The Art of Pushing Fear and Chaos’.
deve Dr_Stock : GDP came out better, the labor market is still hot, liquidity conditions are still easy, I don't believe FED will ease the rates this year, the lag effect will be seen in coming months so yes new bottoms are possible!
Dr_Stock RDK79 : Why not write it?!!
Dr_Stock deve : Well said!
RDK79 Dr_Stock : Like the idea, College English Profs recommended I not go into that field :)
RDK79 deve : Baby steps… first is to see a smaller Fed hike as conditions are improving. Love long term predictions but 11 more months to see how the tide turns
WarEagle84 : Alright Alright Alright