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The Fed kicks off its two-day policy meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) today, where they will release their decision on interest rates tomorrow at 2pm ET, followed by a press conference by Fed Chair Jay Powell. Expectations for tomorrow, as illustrated somewhat by yesterday’s strong run-up in the stock market. This morning, a muted version of this bull case continues: the Dow is +2 points, and the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are +6.
The United Auto Workers Union (UAW) won a significant victory for its workforce after a protracted strike brought the “Big 3” Detroit automakers to the negotiating table. Roughly +10% raises over the next 4 1/2 years are what the union has won, with the top tier of autoworker making $84K per year by the end of the contract. The New York Times mentioned that pay increases for people like autoworkers do not add to inflation, but they do take gains away from the companies’ top brass and investor class.
This morning, the Q3 Employment Cost Index gained 10 basis points (bps) over estimates and the previous quarter’s headline, to +1.0%. Wages & Salaries in the quarter grew by +1.2%, while Benefit Costs rose +0.9% from the previous quarter. Compensation costs for civilian workers gained +4.3% during the course of Q3 — generally in-line with other inflation metrics over the quarter.
Pfizer (PFE - Free Report) posted a mixed Q3 report ahead of today’s opening bell, with a better-than-expected loss of -17 cents per share (from -32 cents in the Zacks consensus), though well off the +$1.78 per share reported in the year-ago quarter. Revenues of $13.23 billion missed consensus by -3.9%. Thus, even though the Big Pharma staple has been crushed year to date, -40%, shares are down -2% on the news in today’s pre-market. For more on PFE’s earnings, click here.
Caterpillar (CAT - Free Report) also beat bottom line estimates this morning — earnings of $5.52 per share were ahead of the $4.75 expected — while also outperforming on the top line, with sales of $16.81 billion beating the Zacks consensus by +1.5%. Yet lower-than-anticipated revenues guidance for Q2 is sending shares of the global farming and manufacturing equipment giant down -6% in pre-market activity, bringing shares into the red, year to date. For more on CAT’s earnings, click here.
We’ll get into the August Case-Shiller home price index numbers in this afternoon’s column, along with Consumer Confidence numbers for October later this morning and perhaps even the Chicago Business Barometer. None of these are expected to move the needle on the Fed’s decision, although tomorrow morning’s ADP private-sector payroll and the JOLTS report, if the numbers are surprising enough, may signal a change of thought.
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UAW Wins; CAT & PFE Beat, Fall in Pre-Market
The Fed kicks off its two-day policy meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) today, where they will release their decision on interest rates tomorrow at 2pm ET, followed by a press conference by Fed Chair Jay Powell. Expectations for tomorrow, as illustrated somewhat by yesterday’s strong run-up in the stock market. This morning, a muted version of this bull case continues: the Dow is +2 points, and the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are +6.
The United Auto Workers Union (UAW) won a significant victory for its workforce after a protracted strike brought the “Big 3” Detroit automakers to the negotiating table. Roughly +10% raises over the next 4 1/2 years are what the union has won, with the top tier of autoworker making $84K per year by the end of the contract. The New York Times mentioned that pay increases for people like autoworkers do not add to inflation, but they do take gains away from the companies’ top brass and investor class.
This morning, the Q3 Employment Cost Index gained 10 basis points (bps) over estimates and the previous quarter’s headline, to +1.0%. Wages & Salaries in the quarter grew by +1.2%, while Benefit Costs rose +0.9% from the previous quarter. Compensation costs for civilian workers gained +4.3% during the course of Q3 — generally in-line with other inflation metrics over the quarter.
Pfizer (PFE - Free Report) posted a mixed Q3 report ahead of today’s opening bell, with a better-than-expected loss of -17 cents per share (from -32 cents in the Zacks consensus), though well off the +$1.78 per share reported in the year-ago quarter. Revenues of $13.23 billion missed consensus by -3.9%. Thus, even though the Big Pharma staple has been crushed year to date, -40%, shares are down -2% on the news in today’s pre-market. For more on PFE’s earnings, click here.
Caterpillar (CAT - Free Report) also beat bottom line estimates this morning — earnings of $5.52 per share were ahead of the $4.75 expected — while also outperforming on the top line, with sales of $16.81 billion beating the Zacks consensus by +1.5%. Yet lower-than-anticipated revenues guidance for Q2 is sending shares of the global farming and manufacturing equipment giant down -6% in pre-market activity, bringing shares into the red, year to date. For more on CAT’s earnings, click here.
We’ll get into the August Case-Shiller home price index numbers in this afternoon’s column, along with Consumer Confidence numbers for October later this morning and perhaps even the Chicago Business Barometer. None of these are expected to move the needle on the Fed’s decision, although tomorrow morning’s ADP private-sector payroll and the JOLTS report, if the numbers are surprising enough, may signal a change of thought.
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