Coffee With Greta: Traders Await Fed Minutes
DJIA Futures: +51 (+0.2%)
SPX Futures: +7 (+0.2%)
NASDAQ Futures: +33 (+0.3%)
Good morning friends!
Futures are higher as traders await the release of the Fed minutes.
Let’s get right to it!
Bullard Calls For Faster Hikes, Traders Await Fed Minutes
St Louis Fed President James Bullard is calling for a more aggressive rate hike at the central bank’s next meeting.
Bullard told CNBC this morning he is still pushing for a 50 basis point hike at the March 22nd meeting.
He said, “It has become popular to say, ‘Let’s slow down and feel our way to where we need to be.’ We still haven’t gotten to the point where the committee put the so-called terminal rate. Get to that level and then feel your way around and see what you need to do. You’ll know when you’re there when the next move could be up or down.”
The comments come ahead of the release of the Fed’s February 1 meeting minutes at 2:00 p.m. ET today.
That readout will give traders more insight into the discussion around rates at the most recent meeting.
Bullard warned the Fed risks the reacceleration of inflation if it does not act aggressively enough now.
CME Group’s FedWatch Tool shows 76% of traders expecting another 25 basis point hike at the next meeting and 24% anticipating a 50 basis point move.
Intel Slashes Dividend
Intel (INTC) shares are falling 0.8% ahead of the open after cutting its dividend this morning.
The chipmaker slashed that dividend by nearly 66% to 12.5 cents from 36.5 cents.
The new dividend will be payable on June 1.
Intel also reiterated its Q1 outlook for a profit loss but did not issue a full-year outlook.
Coinbase Slips On Disappointing Outlook
Coinbase (COIN) shares are slipping 0.5% in premarket trade after beating Q4 expectations but issuing weak guidance.
Here’s how the crypto platform’s results compared to analysts’ expectations:
- Loss per share: $2.46 vs $2.55 expected
- Revenue: $629 million vs $590 million expected
Revenue plunged nearly 75% year over year as the crypto market collapsed.
Coinbase also continued to lose users during the quarter, reporting 8.3 million monthly transacting users down from 8.5 million in Q3.
Transaction revenue dropped 12% from Q3 to $322 million vs $327 million expected.
Coinbase expects subscription and services revenue of $300 million to $325 million in Q1 and restructuring costs of $150 million.
Target Spends Big On E-commerce Hubs
Target (TGT) shares are up 0.8% ahead of the open after announcing plans to build more supply chain hubs for online orders.
The retailer will spend $100 million to build at least 15 of what it is calling sortation centers by the end of January 2026.
Target has already opened nine of the hubs with the goal of speeding up and lowering the cost of delivering online orders.
In Case You Missed It
- Existing home sales fell unexpectedly in January. The National Association of Realtors reported existing sales fell 0.7% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4 million units vs 4.2 million expected. January marked the 12th straight monthly decline in existing sales, which is the longest streak since NAR began tracking sales in 1999. It was the slowest pace of sales since October 2010.