Live

Russia's war in Ukraine

Live

Markets today

6 Posts

Sort byLatestOldest

28 min ago

Stock futures rise ahead of the jobs report

US stocks bounced back ahead of a key employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and after two days of losses following America’s credit downgrade.

Dow futures were up 85 points, or 0.2%. S&P 500 futures rose 0.5%. Nasdaq futures were 0.7% higher.

Stocks began to sell off Wednesday after Fitch Ratings downgraded US credit. But momentum slowed late Thursday, as investors began to turn their attention to the latest batch of second-quarter earnings data.

Some Big Tech earnings came in after the bell Thursday, with Apple's revenue slipping 1% to $81.8 billion for its quarter ending July 1, marking the third consecutive year-over-year drop in quarterly revenue for the world’s most valuable company.

Amazon said sales boomed on strong demand in the second quarter, fueling a massive jump in profit from a year ago.

Sales grew 11% to $134.4 billion, an increase from $121.2 billion in the second quarter of 2022. The stock surged 7% in after-hours trading.

28 min ago

Compared to last July, this jobs report will be remarkably tame

One year ago, the July jobs report showed that the US economy added 568,000 jobs — more than double the 250,000 that economists had expected. 

Come Friday, the government's jobs report for this July might not end up being quite so shocking. In fact, it could be relatively humdrum: A slight cooling in job growth, and unemployment holding steady.

"To some extent, our predictions are a little bit boring, which is a good thing," said Daniel Zhao, lead economist at Glassdoor. "There are always the risks of unexpected shocks, but right now, we're on a good glide."

Zhao's predictions echo those of economists polled by Refinitiv, who are projecting US employers added 200,000 jobs last month and that the unemployment rate didn't budge from the 3.6% registered in June. 

28 min ago

Jobless claims remain below pre-pandemic levels

Claims for unemployment insurance have remained below pre-pandemic levels.

On Thursday, the Labor Department reported that Americans made 227,000 first-time filings for jobless benefits during the week ended July 29, an increase of 6,000 claims from the week before. Continuing claims, which are filed by people who have received unemployment benefits for more than one week, were 1.7 million for the week ended July 22. 

Weekly jobless claims, which are volatile and frequently revised, remain below recent levels. In the decade before the pandemic, initial claims averaged 311,000, Labor Department data shows. 

Next week's filings, however, could climb closer to those levels. On July 30, the 99-year-old trucking company Yellow ceased operations and laid off its 30,000-person workforce.

"In the current job market, I think it should be fairly easy for workers who lose their jobs to find employment," Gus Faucher, chief economist of the PNC Financial Services Group, told CNN. "That being said, if we do start to see these jobs losses start to accumulate, then that could be a signal of something more worrisome in the economy." 

While the number of job openings has fallen to its lowest level in two years, they're still nearly 37% higher than they were in February 2020, the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics turnover data shows. Earlier this week, the BLS reported that there were 9.582 million available jobs in the US, amounting to 1.6 open jobs for every person looking for one. 

28 min ago

US employers are axing fewer jobs

The number of job cuts announced in July was the lowest in 11 months, according to data released Thursday morning by Challenger, Gray & Christmas. 

US-based employers announced 23,697 job cuts last month, a 42% drop from the 40,709 announced in June, according to the outplacement and coaching firm's latest monthly report. It's the first time this year that the monthly downsizing activity decreased from the same period in 2022, according to the report. 

"The job market is remaining resilient in the face of rising interest rates, as consumers continue to spend and inflation falls," Andy Challenger, senior vice president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said in a statement. "Companies, weary of letting go of needed workers, are finding other ways to cut costs. Many have slowed hiring, but wages continue to rise, particularly for the lowest-wage earners, for the moment." 

The technology sector, which has been shedding workers after bulking up during the pandemic, continued to lead all industries in layoffs in July, followed by health care product manufacturers. Artificial intelligence was cited as the reason for 60 of the 23,697 cuts, Challenger noted. 

28 min ago

Recession fears are starting to fade

The US economy is currently enjoying a 30-month streak of monthly job gains, consumer confidence remains high, the economy is growing, and inflation and inflationary pressures (including supply chain challenges, energy costs and wages) have eased. 

That's prompted some to pull their long-held recession forecasts off the table, including Bank of America economists, who on Wednesday said In a note to clients that they now expect growth to stay positive over the coming quarters. 

"Our revisions imply we no longer expect a mild recession and, instead, think the economy may be able to skirt one," Bank of America economists led by Michael Gapen wrote in the report.

Business leaders remain wary of a downturn, but confidence is improving among chief executives, according to new survey data published Thursday by the Conference Board.

The business group's Measure of CEO Confidence rose to a reading of 48 in the third quarter of this year, up from 42 the quarter before. About 84% of the CEOs surveyed between July 10-24 said they were preparing for a recession in the next 12 to 18 months. That's down from 93% in the second quarter. 

The number of CEOs expecting no recession jumped to 17% from 2%, the Conference Board noted.

28 min ago

Rampant DC dysfunction made America's credit downgrade inevitable

Analysis from CNN's Allison Morrow

For only the second time in history, America lost its perfect rating on its long-term debt — the exact thing everyone said would happen when lawmakers decided to play chicken with the full faith and credit of the United States. 

Whether Fitch Ratings' downgrade was warranted — the Biden administration and many economists argue it was not — it is nonetheless a direct result of incessant dysfunction in Washington, especially (though not exclusively) the Republican-manufactured debt-ceiling debacle that played out this spring. And it illustrates the real-world consequences that lawmakers' brinkmanship has on regular Americans, who could see their investments lose value and already-high borrowing rates go up. 

See here: Fitch cites "a steady deterioration in standards of governance" in its report, which, perhaps appropriately, came out moments after a grand jury handed up a third round of criminal indictments against former President Donald Trump.  

"The repeated debt-limit political standoffs and last-minute resolutions have eroded confidence in fiscal management," Fitch said in its report. "In addition, the government lacks a medium-term fiscal framework ... and has a complex budgeting process."

In other words: Republicans can't stop cutting taxes and then holding the economy hostage with its debt-ceiling antics, and both parties refuse to make politically sensitive cuts to spending that is adding to America's debt burden. 

The message from Fitch this week, and S&P more than a decade earlier, is that the constant brinkmanship in DC is eroding trust. And eventually, that has to take a toll. 

Read more here.

US stocks bounced back ahead of a key employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and after two days of losses following America’s credit downgrade.

Dow futures were up 85 points, or 0.2%. S&P 500 futures rose 0.5%. Nasdaq futures were 0.7% higher.

Stocks began to sell off Wednesday after Fitch Ratings downgraded US credit. But momentum slowed late Thursday, as investors began to turn their attention to the latest batch of second-quarter earnings data.

Some Big Tech earnings came in after the bell Thursday, with Apple's revenue slipping 1% to $81.8 billion for its quarter ending July 1, marking the third consecutive year-over-year drop in quarterly revenue for the world’s most valuable company.

Amazon said sales boomed on strong demand in the second quarter, fueling a massive jump in profit from a year ago.

Sales grew 11% to $134.4 billion, an increase from $121.2 billion in the second quarter of 2022. The stock surged 7% in after-hours trading.

One year ago, the July jobs report showed that the US economy added 568,000 jobs — more than double the 250,000 that economists had expected. 

Come Friday, the government's jobs report for this July might not end up being quite so shocking. In fact, it could be relatively humdrum: A slight cooling in job growth, and unemployment holding steady.

"To some extent, our predictions are a little bit boring, which is a good thing," said Daniel Zhao, lead economist at Glassdoor. "There are always the risks of unexpected shocks, but right now, we're on a good glide."

Zhao's predictions echo those of economists polled by Refinitiv, who are projecting US employers added 200,000 jobs last month and that the unemployment rate didn't budge from the 3.6% registered in June. 

Claims for unemployment insurance have remained below pre-pandemic levels.

On Thursday, the Labor Department reported that Americans made 227,000 first-time filings for jobless benefits during the week ended July 29, an increase of 6,000 claims from the week before. Continuing claims, which are filed by people who have received unemployment benefits for more than one week, were 1.7 million for the week ended July 22. 

Weekly jobless claims, which are volatile and frequently revised, remain below recent levels. In the decade before the pandemic, initial claims averaged 311,000, Labor Department data shows. 

Next week's filings, however, could climb closer to those levels. On July 30, the 99-year-old trucking company Yellow ceased operations and laid off its 30,000-person workforce.

"In the current job market, I think it should be fairly easy for workers who lose their jobs to find employment," Gus Faucher, chief economist of the PNC Financial Services Group, told CNN. "That being said, if we do start to see these jobs losses start to accumulate, then that could be a signal of something more worrisome in the economy." 

While the number of job openings has fallen to its lowest level in two years, they're still nearly 37% higher than they were in February 2020, the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics turnover data shows. Earlier this week, the BLS reported that there were 9.582 million available jobs in the US, amounting to 1.6 open jobs for every person looking for one. 

The number of job cuts announced in July was the lowest in 11 months, according to data released Thursday morning by Challenger, Gray & Christmas. 

US-based employers announced 23,697 job cuts last month, a 42% drop from the 40,709 announced in June, according to the outplacement and coaching firm's latest monthly report. It's the first time this year that the monthly downsizing activity decreased from the same period in 2022, according to the report. 

"The job market is remaining resilient in the face of rising interest rates, as consumers continue to spend and inflation falls," Andy Challenger, senior vice president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said in a statement. "Companies, weary of letting go of needed workers, are finding other ways to cut costs. Many have slowed hiring, but wages continue to rise, particularly for the lowest-wage earners, for the moment." 

The technology sector, which has been shedding workers after bulking up during the pandemic, continued to lead all industries in layoffs in July, followed by health care product manufacturers. Artificial intelligence was cited as the reason for 60 of the 23,697 cuts, Challenger noted. 

The US economy is currently enjoying a 30-month streak of monthly job gains, consumer confidence remains high, the economy is growing, and inflation and inflationary pressures (including supply chain challenges, energy costs and wages) have eased. 

That's prompted some to pull their long-held recession forecasts off the table, including Bank of America economists, who on Wednesday said In a note to clients that they now expect growth to stay positive over the coming quarters. 

"Our revisions imply we no longer expect a mild recession and, instead, think the economy may be able to skirt one," Bank of America economists led by Michael Gapen wrote in the report.

Business leaders remain wary of a downturn, but confidence is improving among chief executives, according to new survey data published Thursday by the Conference Board.

The business group's Measure of CEO Confidence rose to a reading of 48 in the third quarter of this year, up from 42 the quarter before. About 84% of the CEOs surveyed between July 10-24 said they were preparing for a recession in the next 12 to 18 months. That's down from 93% in the second quarter. 

The number of CEOs expecting no recession jumped to 17% from 2%, the Conference Board noted.

For only the second time in history, America lost its perfect rating on its long-term debt — the exact thing everyone said would happen when lawmakers decided to play chicken with the full faith and credit of the United States. 

Whether Fitch Ratings' downgrade was warranted — the Biden administration and many economists argue it was not — it is nonetheless a direct result of incessant dysfunction in Washington, especially (though not exclusively) the Republican-manufactured debt-ceiling debacle that played out this spring. And it illustrates the real-world consequences that lawmakers' brinkmanship has on regular Americans, who could see their investments lose value and already-high borrowing rates go up. 

See here: Fitch cites "a steady deterioration in standards of governance" in its report, which, perhaps appropriately, came out moments after a grand jury handed up a third round of criminal indictments against former President Donald Trump.  

"The repeated debt-limit political standoffs and last-minute resolutions have eroded confidence in fiscal management," Fitch said in its report. "In addition, the government lacks a medium-term fiscal framework ... and has a complex budgeting process."

In other words: Republicans can't stop cutting taxes and then holding the economy hostage with its debt-ceiling antics, and both parties refuse to make politically sensitive cuts to spending that is adding to America's debt burden. 

The message from Fitch this week, and S&P more than a decade earlier, is that the constant brinkmanship in DC is eroding trust. And eventually, that has to take a toll. 

Read more here.