TheStreet's J.D. Durkin brings the latest business headlines from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as markets open for trading Wednesday, November 8.
Full Video Transcript Below:
J.D. DURKIN: I'm J.D. Durkin - reporting from the New York Stock Exchange. Here's what we're watching on TheStreet today.
Stocks are looking to keep up the rally after seven straight days of gains, marking Wall Street's longest winning streak in two years. These gains come amid a strong third-quarter earnings season. Over 80 percent of companies in the S&P 500 have delivered better than expected results, which is considered better than average.
Separately, investors are watching for comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell as they look for clues into the future of interest rate hikes.
Meanwhile, as Americans continue to deal with rising costs on just about everything, more and more are turning to their 401(k)'s for emergency cash. Bank of America alone saw a 13 percent spike in the number of clients taking hardship distributions between Q2 and Q3.
The I-R-S identifies a hardship distribution as "a withdrawal from a participant's elective deferral account made because of an immediate and heavy financial need, and limited to the amount necessary to satisfy that financial need."
One of the key drivers in the decision to dip into nest eggs? Credit card balances rose to a record $1.08 trillion in the third quarter - a $48 billion increase from Q2 and a $154 billion jump from this time last year. And not only is the debt climbing, Americans are constantly struggling to pay it down, as the rate at which households are becoming delinquent is at its highest point since 2011.
However, despite having to pull money from retirement plans, Bank of America says 401(k) contribution rates in Q3 held steady at 6.5 percent.
That'll do it for your daily briefing. From the New York Stock Exchange, I'm J.D. Durkin with TheStreet.
