Five things you must know before the market opens Monday, Feb. 13, 2023.
1. -- Stock Futures Mixed Ahead of Inflation Reading
Stock market futures were gently higher following a tough week on Wall Street and ahead of Tuesday’s consumer inflation report for January.
For last week, the Dow was down 0.2% and the S&P 500 lost 1.1%. Inflation prospects continue to be the subject of intense debate ahead of the CPI reading on Tuesday.
Last week's red-hot January jobs report is still reverberating through the markets as well.
Economists have been concerned about the prospect of a recession, with – as TheStreet’s Martin Baccardax reports, “corporate layoffs running at their fastest pace since 2008 over the three months ending in January and broader economic indicators suggesting the chances of a near-term contraction are gathering pace.”
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 52 points, or 0.15% to 33, 947, while the S&P 500 gained 0.31% and the tech-focused Nasdaq advanced 0.56%.
2. -- Paxos Ordered to Stop Mining New BUSD Coins
The New York Department of Financial Services ordered Paxos Trust Co., which issues and lists Binance’s dollar-pegged cryptocurrency, to stop creating more of its BUSD token, Binance said in a statement.
"Paxos continues to maintain strong regulatory capital to protect customers, as well as a strong corporate balance sheet to support our long-term business goals," the company said. "This action does not impact our ability to continue serving new or existing customers, our continued dedication to grow our staff or fund our business objectives.
The announcement comes after the Wall Street Journal reported on Feb. 12 that the Securities and Exchange Commission told Paxos that it plans to sue the company for violating investor protection laws.
3. -- U.S. Shoots Down Fourth UFO
The U.S. on Sunday shot down a fourth unidentified object, this time over Michigan.
The series of shoot-downs, which started Feb. 4 with the downing of what China called a weather-research balloon offshore South Carolina, has sharpened tensions between the U.S. and China.
The People’s Republic has hit back at the U.S., saying America has sent surveillance balloons over its territory several times since the start of 2022.
A National Security Council spokeswoman was quoted by Bloomberg as calling that accusation false and said, “This is the latest example of China scrambling to do damage control.”
4. -- Facebook Parent Reportedly Plans More Layoffs
Facebook parent Meta (META) rose after the Financial Times reported the social media giant is planning a fresh round of layoffs, the Financial Times reported.
Meta, which let go of 11,000 employees in November, is likely to announce the restructuring after it has completed staff performance reviews sometime in March.
Meta has delayed finalizing multiple teams’ budgets while it prepares a fresh round of job cuts as CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s plan to contain costs in his “year of efficiency” causes disruption at the social media company, the Financial Times said.
5. -- Kansas City Chiefs Beat Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 in Super Bowl LVII
The Kansas City Chiefs won their second Super Bowl in four years, beating the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 on a field goal with eight seconds left in the game.
Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes was the game’s most valuable player, passing for 182 yards three touchdowns, according to SI.com. reports, and rushing for 44 yards, which included, including a 26-yard sprint with just over two minutes left in a 35-all game as Kansas City was driving for the winning score.
The Chiefs came back from a 24-14 deficit at halftime.
