ECONOMIC SILUET: 5 things to know before the stock market opens Tuesday

Selasa, 27 September 2022

5 things to know before the stock market opens Tuesday

Sept. 27, 2022

MORNING SQUAWK

1. Stocks try to shake it off, again

U.S. stock futures were headed for a higher open Tuesday following yet another rout a day earlier. Stocks are on a five-day losing streak, and the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average is in a bear market, having fallen more than 20% from its record high. The Cboe Volatility Index, also known as the VIX or the "fear gauge," on Monday hit its highest level since the middle of June, the last time markets were in the pits this year. In Fed world, where policy makers are keen to squelch price increases with rate hikes, Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said inflation was still "unacceptably high." Chicago Fed President Charles Evans, meanwhile, said he's a little nervous about how fast and boldly the Fed is moving, but noted he's "cautiously optimistic" the U.S. can avoid a recession.

2. What's going on in the UK?

It's a mess, for one, and it may well become something worse. New UK Prime Minister Liz Truss's government rolled out a debt-funded "trickle down" economic package that features historically massive tax cuts. The Bank of England, meanwhile, has been reluctant to raise rates to battle surging inflation, even as it plans to scale back its balance sheet. Lenders are pulling some mortgage deals, as well. The economic plan, which became known Friday, triggered a steep market selloff, while the pound tanked against the dollar. Analysts and experts have said there's no evidence the package would boost the economy. Some have warned of a potential crisis. Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, who warned that inflation would surge during recent stimulus pushes, was especially harsh. "A currency crisis in a reserve currency could well have global consequences. I am surprised that we have heard nothing from the IMF," he said.

3. Suspicious votes in Ukraine

Tuesday is the last day of voting in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, where people are reportedly being coerced and forced to vote to join Russia. Western officials and political analysts have slammed the votes as illegitimate as the Russian government aims to say it has annexed more of its former Soviet neighbor. Elsewhere, Russian President Vladimir Putin's push to call up 300,000 reservists is being met with resistance. Men are fleeing, protests have erupted, and a man was arrested for shooting up a draft office. Read more updates about the war in Ukraine here.

4. Biden's bid to boost competition

President Joe Biden on Monday unveiled his plan to beef up competition in key industries. Part of that, Biden said, involves cracking down on fees charged to customers by banks, hotels and cell phone providers, among other businesses. "Families shouldn't have to pay these fees," he said. "It's all taking money out of the pockets of average Americans." Biden is also looking to improve competition in the meat industry – one of his administration's favorite targets in the inflation blame game – whose prices are generally set by a few huge producers.

5. A song of vice and rye

"The pastrami must be amazing." With those words in a letter to investors last year, hedge fund honcho David Einhorn kicked off a period of public fascination with the so-called $100 million New Jersey deli and the publicly traded shell company that owned it. The saga, which CNBC chronicled over the months after Einhorn's letter, took its most drastic turn yet Monday. Federal prosecutors said they had charged three men with a stock manipulation and fraud scam, dating back to 2014, which centered around the shop, the now-closed Your Hometown Deli in Paulsboro. The SEC also sued the men over the alleged scheme. After the news about the indictments broke, Einhorn weighed in again. "I guess the pastrami wasn't so great," he tweeted. "I never really got a chance to try it."

– CNBC's Jesse Pound, Elliot Smith, Holly Ellyatt, Chelsey Cox and Dan Mangan contributed to this report.

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