Stock futures fall slightly ahead of major banks’ earnings
US Stock Futures are slightly lower in early morning trading on Thursday this week. Overall, this could be the result of the latest release from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics on consumer prices. Throughout June 2022, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is now showing a year-over-year gain of 9.1%. In other words, the prices of a wide range of consumer goods continue to inflate as inflation remains at high levels for decades. For comparison, the current increase of 9.1% is higher than the Dow Jones economist’s consensus estimate of 8.8%. This would mark the fastest rate of acceleration for the CPI since November 1981.
Michael Pearce, senior US economist at Capital Economics, comments on the current state of affairs. He begins by saying, Overall, this report confirms that the Fed will need to hike another 75 basis points at the end of July meeting. Drill continues, While some will draw parallels to May’s shockingly bad CPI report, the backdrop is markedly different, commodity prices have fallen sharply and we’ve seen clearer signs of an economic slowdown, both of which will help mitigate future price pressures. While you’re digesting all this mixed data on the economy, here’s how the major US stock indexes are doing right now. As of 5:27 a.m. ET, futures on the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq are trading down 1.11%, 1.21% and 1.09% respectively.
Netflix partners with Microsoft via ad-supported streaming plan
Making headlines in the tech world today would be netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). For the most part, that would be thanks to the latest collaboration between the two. To explain, Netflix is ​​focused on offering a more affordable version of its streaming service to consumers. After all, as inflation rages, this would cater to a wider range of potential subscribers. To do this, Netflix plans to offer a cheaper streaming plan with the integration of advertisements. Namely, the final update on this front would be for Netflix to partner with Microsoft to make this happen.
Netflix COO Greg Peters explains all of this in more detail. He writes, Microsoft has the proven ability to meet all of our needs as we build a new ad-supported offering together. Most importantly, Microsoft has provided the flexibility to innovate over time on both the technology and sales side, as well as strong privacy protections for our members. In a larger scheme, such a move would be timely for Netflix. As the streaming goliath continues to face issues with a dwindling subscriber base, this could be the case. Overall, this could put NFLX and MSFT stocks on investors’ radars ahead of today’s opening bell.
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Novavax Receives FDA Clearance for Covid Vaccine Use in Adults 18+
On the health front, Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX) is a regulatory sensation. Notably, the company’s two-dose coronavirus vaccine now has emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This would make it the first new shot to receive this regulatory green light in over a year. As it stands, the current approval is for use in adults 18 and older. As a result, this update comes just weeks after the FDA’s independent expert panel unanimously recommended the Novavaxs vaccine. Following this, Novavax will now need final approval from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). With this in hand, pharmacies and general healthcare providers can begin distributing Novavaxs shot.
Novavax CEO Stanley Erck explains the importance of this regulatory update. He begins by saying, Today, the FDA’s emergency use authorization for our COVID-19 vaccine provides the United States with access to the first protein-based COVID-19 vaccine. Erck adds, This approval reflects the strength of the efficacy and safety data for our COVID-19 vaccines, and it underscores the critical need to provide another vaccine option to the American population while the pandemic continues. Simply put, Novavax’s vaccine development technology is among the most conventional ways of making vaccines. The likes that were and still are used to create plans for Hepatitis B and HPV.
As U.S. officials push for another round of booster doses, Novavax’s deals could appeal to people who remain skeptical of the latest mRNA shots of Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and Modern (NASDAQ: ARNM). After considering all of this, NVAX stock might be worth watching right now.
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Warren Buffett Increases His Stake in Occidental Petroleum to Nearly 20% Following Latest Investments
In other news, Warren Buffett is staying true to his mission to bet on western oil (NYSE: OXY). Of course, according to the latest SEC filing, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) bought an additional 4.3 million shares of Occidental this week. In detail, this was done through several transactions. Also in the record, the purchase price for Berkshires shares ranges between $56.11 and $59.93. Thanks to its latest round of OXY stock investments, Berkshire now owns 179.4 million shares.
For a sense of scale, they’re worth around $10.4 billion, bringing Buffett’s stake to 19.2%. Not to mention, the Buffett company also owns nearly $10 billion worth of Occidental preferred stock and has warrants to add an additional 83.9 million shares. Notably, OXY stock is now up more than 80% year-to-date, significantly outpacing the broader stock market. As a result, it could once again be the center of attention among its peers in the energy sector in the stock market today.
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Tesla AI and Autopilot chief Andrej Karpathy leaves after sabbatical
Teslas (NASDAQ: TSLA) Andrej Karpathy, Head of Artificial Intelligence (AI), officially leaves the company. Overall, this information comes directly from Karpathy via a statement from yesterday. Karpathy writes, It has been a great pleasure to help Tesla achieve its goals over the past 5 years and a difficult decision to part ways. This would be a huge change for Tesla, as Andrej is also among the pioneers of Tesla’s Autopilot Vision department.
He also talks about it via a Twitter post saying, Around this time, Autopilot transitioned from lane keeping on city streets and I can’t wait to see the exceptionally strong Autopilot team continue that momentum. Additionally, this news follows the revelation of 229 layoffs at Tesla’s Autopilot division after the company’s San Mateo office closed. It remains to be seen whether this could translate into further turbulence ahead for TSLA stocks.
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