Traders Scale Back Bets on Big September Rate Cut

30 minutes ago

Wednesday's inflation report solidified traders' expectations that the Federal Reserve will take a less aggressive approach to monetary policy in its upcoming meeting.

Bets on interest rate cuts have swung wildly in recent weeks, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool, which forecasts rate movements based on fed funds futures trading data.

 The volatility has been caused by market watchers working to predict the Fed officials’ next moves as central bankers rebalance their focus between weakening jobs and falling inflation.

Just before the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation data was released, traders were pricing in a 29% chance that the Federal Reserve would cut rates by half a percentage point at their meeting next week. After the report, that chance fell to 15%. Traders were likely influenced by rising rent costs, which pushed up overall measures of inflation.

Beyond September, the largest group of traders thinks a more aggressive cut is possible. Traders think there will most likely be 50 basis-point (bps) cuts in both November and January, with a smaller quarter-point cut in December.

–Taylor Tompkins

Watch These GameStop Levels as Stock Plunges

1 hr 1 min ago

GameStop (GME) were down 16% Wednesday morning after the video game retailer announced a 20 million share offering and reported a 31% drop in quarterly sales.

Wednesday’s drop opens the door for a potential breakdown below the lower trendline of a symmetrical triangle.

Investors should monitor key post-earnings chart levels at $18.50, $15.25 and $13.25, while also eyeing $30.50 as a bullish target during meme-fueled rallies.

Read the full technical analysis piece here.

–Timothy Smith

Trump Media Shares Slide After Debate

3 hr 40 min ago

Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) tumbled Wednesday morning following the presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.

Trump Media shares were 10% lower in recent premarket trading Wednesday, extending a recent pullback that has sent the stock to its lowest point since before the company merged with Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC) and went public in March.

Trump Media’s meme stock-like peaks and valleys that were common in the months after merging with DWAC and becoming a public company have faded in recent weeks, with the stock trending consistently lower since mid-July.

–Aaron McDade

Major Index Futures Lower Ahead of Inflation Reading

3 hr 58 min ago

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.4%.

S&P 500 futures were down 0.2%.

Nasdaq 100 futures were off 0.3%.

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