The Week's Top Stories is a guided tour through the biggest market stories of the week, from winning stocks to brutal dips to the facts and forecasts generating buzz on Wall Street.
RECESSION OUTLOOK
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) started the week off on a downbeat with a prediction that global growth will stick to around 3 percent, which would make the weakest medium term growth projection since 1990. It would also come in well below the 3.8 percent average of the past few decades. “With rising geopolitical tensions and still-high inflation, a robust recovery remains elusive,” said IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva.
CINEWORLD CRASHES
Regal parent company Cineworld saw its stock plunge 36 percent earlier this week following the announcement of a reorganization plan that would not benefit shareholders. The movie theater chain previously said shareholders would take the hit from the bankruptcy process, but its latest announcement snuffed out any remaining hopes of being made whole through some kind of sales process. “The proposed restructuring does not provide for any recovery for holders of Cineworld’s existing equity interests,” Cineworld said in a statement.
WARNER BROS. DISCOVERY DROPS
Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery fell nearly 9 percent this week after the entertainment giant announced that it was renaming its streaming service from HBO Max to simply "Max." The new super-streamer will reshuffle the company's offerings under a single umbrella, bringing together programming from Warner Brothers, HBO, Discovery, Food Network, and HGTV. In addition to some misgivings about the rebranding, investors remain skeptical about the prospects for the conglomerate, which formed out of a merger completed in 2021.
BITCOIN RALLIES
Bitcoin is regaining some of its losses from the past year, as much of the crypto economy collapsed due to a combination of fraud, financial mismanagement, and regulatory pressure. The world's biggest cryptocurrency went above $30,000 for the first time in 10 months, a threshold it last crossed in June 2022. Short sellers have lost millions in the run up.
Nvidia on Wednesday became the first public company to reach a market capitalization of $5 trillion. The ravenous appetite for the Silicon Valley company’s chips is the main reason that the company’s stock price has increased so rapidly since early 2023.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global, breaks down September’s CPI print and inflation trends, explaining what it means for markets.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
