Stocks set to drop; Treasuries rallied after CPI
Asian stocks look set to fall Wednesday after Wall Street slipped on growth concerns, while Treasuries rallied in the wake of an inflation report that suggested the Federal Reserve won’t rush to taper stimulus.
Equity futures slid in Japan, Australia and Hong Kong. U.S. contracts were steady after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 both retreated overnight. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield fell below 1.3%, narrowing the yield gap between short- and longer-maturity U.S. debt. The dollar was steady and gold held a climb.
U.S. consumer price growth cools, smallest gain in seven months
Prices paid by U.S. consumers rose in August by less than forecast, snapping a string of hefty gains and suggesting that some of the upward pressure on inflation is beginning to wane.
The consumer price index increased 0.3% from July, the smallest advance in seven months, according to Labor Department data released Tuesday. Compared with a year ago, the CPI rose 5.3%. Excluding the volatile food and energy components, so-called core inflation climbed 0.1% from the prior month, the smallest gain since February and a reflection of declines in the prices of used cars, airfares and auto insurance.
Video game spending hit record for August, boosted by consoles
Consumer spending on video game hardware, content and accessories hit a record high for the month of August, assuaging concerns that the pandemic boost in gaming would wane with economic re-openings.
Total spending rose 7% last month compared with a year ago to $4.4 billion, according to data from NPD Group released Tuesday. So far this year, spending has increased 13% to $37.9 billion compared with the same period a year earlier. Hardware sales jumped 45% to $329 million in the month. It was the best August tally since 2008.
Microsoft unveils $60 billion buyback; Smith is named Vice Chair
$Microsoft(MSFT.US)$, the world’s largest software maker, appointed President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith as vice chair and unveiled a new stock-repurchase program of as much as $60 billion. Microsoft also increased its quarterly dividend by 6 cents to 62 cents a share.
The repurchase authorization has no expiration date, and may be terminated at any time. The company’s stock has risen 35% in 2021. Microsoft had $130.3 billion in cash and equivalents at the end of June.
Pay for company directors stalled last year, but that is likely to change
Pay for directors at the biggest U.S. companies held steady last year, a first in more than a decade. An analysis of the 100 largest publicly traded U.S. companies by revenue found that median pay for directors in 2020 was $310,000, flat from 2019 and up from $305,000 in 2018.
About 9% of the companies disclosed increases in director pay in 2020, compared with 25% to 33% in recent years. That is likely to change, with the boards of some companies already moving to increase their pay this year, said Compensation Advisory Partners.
New iPhone 13 Pro and Watch series 7 unveiled at Apple event
$Apple(AAPL.US)$ revealed the iPhone 13 and a smartwatch with a new look during its annual September event. The event caps a year in which Apple has seen record profit, largely thanks to last fall’s iPhone 12, while battling opponents unhappy at the power it holds over third-party software on its mobile devices.
Similar to its iPhone 12 lineup, Apple is offering four new models ranging from the $699 iPhone 13 Mini, with a 5.4-inch screen, to the $1,099 Pro Max with a 6.7-inch screen. Starting prices didn't change from a year ago.
Kroger, Instacart aim for 30-minute grocery delivery
$The Kroger(KR.US)$ said it is partnering with Instacart to deliver food and household staples in as little as 30 minutes, bringing the supermarket giant further into a crowded grocery-delivery business.
It will be easier to expand the service with Instacart, Kroger's CEO said, because the grocery-delivery provider has the technology and shoppers in place to pick and deliver grocery staples, household products and prepared meals from Kroger’s more than 2,700 stores.
Alibaba leads $300 million investment into Chinese autonomous driving start-up DeepRoute.ai
The Shenzhen-based start-up makes the self-driving systems for vehicles that involve hardware and software. $Alibaba(BABA.US)$'s involvement in the funding round underscores the ambitions of China’s technology giants to get a foothold in the area of driverless cars.
Alibaba is already an investor in another Chinese autonomous driving car start-up called AutoX and is backing electric vehicle maker $XPeng(XPEV.US)$.
Source: Bloomberg, WSJ, CNBC

$Clover Health(CLOV.US)$  $AMC Entertainment(AMC.US)$ 
Think Clover serves as a good example of lure and FUD from our adversaries.
#AMCStrong Buy and Hodl AMC

$Clover Health(CLOV.US)$ nothing to worries about this stock can go up 25 easily

$AMC Entertainment(AMC.US)$ just bought more 😇

$Clover Health(CLOV.US)$ knn chee bye i buy wat drop wat... ni nia ma

$AMC Entertainment(AMC.US)$ now this price worth to buy more?

$AMC Entertainment(AMC.US)$
Along the line of some moo-ers here, i somewhat agree AMC is overvalued. No doubts about it. But APEs are not here to be cinema owners anyway, we are HODLing for the moon! 😃