CPI Report Shows Slowing Inflation, Boosts Markets

Wednesday’s CPI Report delivered welcome news to U.S. consumers and affirmed consumer sentiment that the price hikes that have marked so much of 2022 are easing. Officially, “only a monthly basis, prices barely moved” from last month, as “falling prices for gas, airfares, used cars and hotel rooms . . . canceled out increases in critical areas like food and rent” - NYTimes and Bloomberg and WSJ

Markets welcomed the news, with all three indices rising “sharply” and the S&P500 in particular hitting its highest mark since May. Traders are banking on slowing inflation as an indication that the Fed “may need to be less aggressive in their rate hiking cycle” - NYTimes and Bloomberg and WSJ and MarketWatch

Speaking of Powell and friends, here’s what the report (and last Friday’s robust jobs figures) may mean for the central bank and its inflation-taming plans - NYTimes and Bloomberg and WSJ

Some thoughts on the twilight of the “boy boss” era in Silicon Valley amid a wave of resignations at unicorns like Pinterest, Airbnb, and Instacart - NYTimes

Solid Q2 earnings news from Disney boosted the Big Mouse’s stock in after-hours trading on Wednesday thanks to banner park performance and strong Disney+ demand. Disney announced that it increased subscriber figures by more than 14 million and will raise the price of its Disney+ service by 38% “to generate more revenue for its money-losing online businesses.” Disney will also “introduce an ad-supported version” of its service in December - Bloomberg and NYTimes and WSJ and MarketWatch and Mashable and TechCrunch

Another day, another area of the financial sector to get Genslered. This time, its hedge funds who “would have to start giving the government significantly more information about their investment strategies” under a newly proposed rule from Gensler’s SEC aimed at helping the Commission “better keep tabs on risks to the financial system” – Bloomberg and WSJ and Law360

The SEC also has an eye on Coinbase over the company’s “staking programs, which allow users to earn rewards for holding certain cryptocurrencies,” and serve as a means for the exchange to “diversify revenue from trading” - Bloomberg and Law360

Jurors in a Chicago-based federal criminal case against former JPMorgan precious-metals traders have found the duo guilty of fraud for years of alleged spoofing-driven market manipulation - Bloomberg and WSJ and Law360

Another strong entry from Lyz Lenz on a topic that hits close to home: making daily time for word puzzling even “as the world burns” - MenYellAtMe

Stay safe,
MDR

The Robins Kaplan Financial Daily Dose features top stories and latest news headlines in financial markets, banking, securities and technology topics.