Coffee With Greta: Will Trump’s SPAC Deal Get Hosed?
DJIA Futures: -35 (-0.1%)
SPX Futures: -10 (-0.3%)
NASDAQ Futures: -53 (-0.4%)
Good morning friends!
Futures are slipping after Wednesday’s rebound rally as focus turns back to the Fed and interest rates.
Let’s get right to it!
Trump’s SPAC Deal At-Risk
Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC) shares are down 2.4% in premarket trade as the SPAC is up against the clock to extend its deadline to merge with Trump Media and Technology Group.
Today is the original deadline for that deal to go through, but the companies need more time.
DWAC has reportedly spent the past week working to gain enough shareholder support for an extension of that deadline.
The results of the shareholder vote will be announced at noon ET today.
Reuters reported earlier this week the company did not have the votes needed.
The CEO later adjourned Tuesday’s shareholder meeting to allow more time for voting.
DWAC has previously warned that a failure to approve the extension could result in liquidation, which would pay shareholders out at the original price of $10 per share.
GameStop Rallies on Smaller Q2 Loss Than Expected
GameStop (GME) shares are up 5.2% ahead of the open after reporting a smaller Q2 loss than expected.
The video game retailer reported an adjusted loss of $0.35 per share on $1.136 billion in revenue.
That was better than analysts’ expectations for an adjusted loss of $0.42 per share but fell short of estimates for $1.27 billion in revenue.
It was the company’s sixth consecutive quarterly loss.
GameStop separately announced it has entered a partnership with crypto exchange FTX US.
That partnership aims to “introduce more GameStop customers to FTX’s community and its marketplaces for digital assets.”
GameStop said the companies will collaborate on “new e-commerce and online marketing initiatives,” and it will be FTX’s “preferred retail partner” in the U.S.
ECB Approves 75 Basis Point Rate Hike
The European Central Bank hiked interest rates by 75 basis points today and said more rate hikes are to come as inflation remains “far too high”.
The bank predicted inflation is “likely to stay above target for an extended period.”
The decision comes less than two weeks ahead of the Federal Reserve’s next meeting.
CME Group’s FedWatch Tool shows the market pricing in an 82% chance of another 0.75% rate hike at that meeting.
The market will get a better read on how the bank is feeling about inflation when Fed Chair Jerome Powell speaks at 9:10 a.m. ET today.
Weekly Jobless Claims Fall to Lowest Level Since May
U.S. weekly jobless claims fell to the lowest level since May last week.
The Labor Department reported 222,000 Americans filed initial unemployment claims.
That was down 6,000 from the previous week’s revised level and better than expectations for an increase to 235,000.
Continuing claims rose by 10,000 to 1.45 million in the week ending August 27.
The data shows no increase in layoffs as the Fed works to tackle inflation.
Oil Prices Fall Flat as Supply Concerns Rise
Oil prices are flat today as the market weighs supply concerns.
West Texas Intermediate crude futures are up 0.1% at $82 bbl while Brent crude futures are down 0.1% at $88 bbl.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to halt his country’s oil and gas exports if Europe imposes price caps.
And the EU proposed those caps just hours later.
Meanwhile, the American Petroleum Institute reported Wednesday that U.S. crude inventories rose by 3.6 million barrels last week while gasoline stockpiles fell by 800,000 barrels.
The Energy Information Administration reports official supply levels later today.
In Case You Missed It
- Apple (AAPL) hosted its fall launch event on Wednesday. The tech giant unveiled 4 new iPhones: the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max. The new phones will be available to order Friday and Apple did not increase prices. The company also revealed a new Apple Watch Ultra, Apple Watch Series 8, and a new Apple Watch SE which are available to order immediately. And the new AirPods Pro will launch on September 23.