Pedestrians pass a Starbucks in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, Tuesday, June 13, 2023, in New York. Starbucks is denying union organizers' claims that it banned LGBTQ+ Pride displays in its U.S. stores after Target and other brands experienced backlash. The Seattle coffee giant says there has been no change to its policy and it encourages store leaders to celebrate Pride in June. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
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.
LOGITECH ON TITAN
As we followed the tragedy unfolding in the North Atlantic this week, there was an unexpected response on Wall Street. News reports revealed the Titan submersible that went missing was controlled by a Logitech game controller. The tech company's stock dropped 11 percent on Wednesday, but gained some of that back by the end of the week; it ended the week down about 3 percent on the news. Last week, investors also saw a downturn after CEO Bracken Darrell announced his resignation.
FEDEX FALLS
FedEx stock hit the skids after the latest earnings snapshot revealed trouble ahead. The company said it can't provide a forecast for the fiscal year ahead, but it is not expecting huge revenue gains. CFO Michael Lenz will retire next month and the company is trying to figure out who will replace him as the delivery giant heads into choppy waters. The stock clawed back some gains by the end of the week, ending down just about 1 percent.
STARBUCKS STRIKE
The Starbucks union announced a strike in the coming days over how LGBTQ+ decorations have - or have not - been displayed in stores during Pride Month. Starbucks Workers Union says 3,500 workers in 150 stores across the U.S. will be walking out over the next week. Workers claim store managers have removed or prevented putting up Pride displays, but the coffee chain's HQ denied this and says the union is trying to spread misinformation as they work on contract negotiations. The stock was down about 3 percent on Friday.
BRACE YOURSELF
Fed Chair Jerome Powell wasn't doing Wall Street any favors, at least in the short-term, when he reiterated in front of a Senate committee that there could be more interest rate hikes before the end of the year. We all got a reprieve last week when the body declined to raise rates for the first time in more than a year, but inflation isn't well enough under control to declare the problem over.
CARMAX REVS UP
Used car retailer Carmax caught some air this week after its earnings report showed Wall Street what's what. Between cost-cutting measures and dings to revenue coming in much better than expected, the company showed a strong position. Used car sales were strong throughout the pandemic, as the number of buyers outpaced supply of both new and used cars. Now that industries and supply chains are stabilizing, CarMax says it has made deliberate business moves to stay strong. The stock was up about 10 percent on Friday.
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.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
