Hassan Ashari
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A record number of union workers will strike on Christmas Eve. (0:16) American Airlines flies all flights briefly. (3:24) Netflix prepares for NFL debut. (4:50) Scrooge & Marley scared investors. (6:08)
This is an abridged transcript of the podcast.
Our top stories so far. Starbucks(NASDAQ: SBUX) could face its biggest ever barista strike on Christmas Eve.
The coffee chain said a total of about 60 stores were temporarily closed over the weekend and Monday as workers’ unions called for action.
The Workers’ Union said its unfair labor practice strikes will reach historic levels on Tuesday, with hundreds of shops across the country preparing to join the strike. The union said the pre-Christmas strike was expected to be the coffee giant’s biggest ever, surpassing 2023’s Red Cup rebellion, with more than 5,000 workers at more than 300 stores across the country expected to strike in the run-up to Christmas.
But the company noted that the vast majority of Starbucks stores across the country have opened as planned and are busy. Some stores that had temporarily closed earlier over the weekend have reopened as partners seek to return to work.
It added: “What the public conversation may lack is the important context that the vast majority of our stores (97-99%) will continue to operate and serve customers, and we expect the impact on our overall operations to be very limited.”
In today’s transaction, Santa Claus came to the town and kicked off the Santa Claus gathering. From the opening to the morning close, the stock market rose steadily.
The Nasdaq Composite Index (COMP.IND) led the gains, rising 1.35%, returning to the 20,000-point market. The S&P (SP500) rose 1.1% and finally regained above 6,000 points. The Dow gained 0.9% to close above 43,000 points.
As Wall Street Brunch points out, Santa Claus gatherings were first documented in 1972 by Wall Street legend Yale Hirsch, founder of the Stock Trader’s Almanac.
“If Santa Claus hadn’t called, the bears might have come to Broad and Wall.”
Although Yale passed away in 2021, the Stock Trader’s Almanac is now produced by his son, Jeff, who notes that Santa Claus gatherings are taken into account as well as the First Five Day Warning System (how a stock performed over the previous five trading days). The importance of scope.
“When all three are positive, the market rises 90.6% of the time, or 29 out of 34 years, with the S&P 500 gaining an average of 17.7%. The reasons for this may be economic or political Systemic issues, or disillusionment in a market-leading company like Mag7, and when the Santa Claus rally fails to materialize, the market is either flat or a bear market, or at least a time of year when the stock is cheaper to buy. when.
Meanwhile, Meta (META), Broadcom (AVGO) and Tesla (TSLA) have rallied sharply this year, causing their weightings to drop in the annual rebalancing of the Nasdaq 100 (NDX) (QQQ). That’s according to annual data compiled by Bloomberg.
Apple ( AAPL ), Nvidia ( NVDA ), Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Alphabet ( GOOG ) ( GOOGL ) are all heavily weighted in the index. It’s the second time the index’s allocations to its largest constituents have been adjusted to ensure they don’t have too much of an impact on the benchmark as they soar on the back of the artificial intelligence craze.
Amid the active stocks today, it wouldn’t be the holidays without some travel scares.
American Airlines (AAL) temporarily suspended all flights in the United States this morning due to a technical issue with the supplier. But the FAA has canceled ground stops and flights are resuming.
American Airlines tweeted: “We have resolved a supplier technical issue that briefly affected flights this morning. We apologize to customers for the inconvenience and have issued a travel alert to provide more information. Much flexibility.
The exact nature of the problem has not been disclosed. But the airline avoided a situation similar to Southwest Airlines’ ( LUV ) holiday debacle in 2022.
Some banks have sued the Fed over annual stress tests that require lenders to keep adequate reserves for potential loan losses while controlling the size of stock buybacks and dividend payments.
“The current opaque system, coupled with the lack of clear standards for global market shocks and operational risk charges, continues to produce inaccurate, volatile and excessive capital requirements, leading to reduced lending and economic growth,” said Greg Bell, Bank Policy Research President and CEO of the firm, which represents major banks such as JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Citigroup (C) and Goldman Sachs (GS).
Not long ago, the Fed said it was considering major changes to its stress testing framework to increase transparency and reduce the volatility of resulting capital buffer requirements, citing the “changing legal environment.”
In other news of note, Netflix (NFLX) will be in the spotlight on Christmas Day when it premieres NFL programming. It will show the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Pittsburgh Steelers at 1 p.m. ET, followed by the Baltimore Ravens vs. Houston Texans at 4:30. Beyoncé will also perform at the Ravens’ halftime show against the Texans.
The list of broadcasters and analysts Netflix acquired from CBS (PARA) for the game includes Ian Eagle, Greg Olsen, Kay Adams, Drew Brees, Mina Kimes and JJ Watt.
The NFL game is one of the biggest festivals of the year, and the company is believed to be in trouble following streaming issues at the Nov. 15 matchup between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul. huge test. Netflix has 282.3 million subscribers in 190 countries.
The company said: “We now know from experience what the key stress points in our infrastructure are and address these issues in a timely manner ahead of NFL games. Certain behaviors of our live broadcast systems could not be replicated in testing and were only available at large scale You can see it in the live broadcast.
For investors, it’s worth noting that the contest will feature commercials and sponsors include FanDuel (FLUT) and Verizon (VZ).
We are no longer a Wall Street Research Corner but have moved to Victoria Square in the City of London.
An unexpected change of direction at boutique brokerage Scrooge & Marley Counting House was at the center of discussions on the trading floor in London today.
The company, whose American depositary receipts trade under the symbol “HMBG,” announced a number of new initiatives ahead of the start of trading today. Scrooge & Marley said the brokerage’s labor costs will increase 100% in the next fiscal year. Investors were taken aback because wages had remained steady for more than a decade.
Analysts who follow the stock said: “The market is actually expecting Scrooge/Marley to do some traditional seasonal layoffs. It’s hard to say how investors will receive this, but without a corresponding plan to increase revenue, earnings per share will be hurt.” Influence.
Arriving at his London residence, CEO Ebenezer Scrooge said only that “Spirit did it overnight” and declined to elaborate on the company’s new direction.
“Must be two whole bottles of spirits,” one City trader quipped this morning. Robert Cratchit, the company’s No. 2 man, was unavailable for comment after seeing him appear happy.
In addition to rising labor costs, Scrooge and Marley decided to invest a significant portion of the vast amount of cash on its books in a private welfare enterprise designed to assist thousands of people “who lack the necessities of common life” and Hundreds of thousands of people “lack the necessities of life.”
“Frankly, we would have preferred to dispose of that cash through a one-time special dividend, or at least a share buyback,” one portfolio manager said.
But others also refused to count Scrooge out, pointing to his longstanding focus on maximizing profits and increasing shareholder value.
One trader said: “Scrooge could be involved in the groundwork of privatizing orphanages, union workhouses and prisons, which could be very profitable.”
Others focus on Scrooge and Marley’s recent purchases, including a trophy turkey and a coal scuttle full of coal.
“They are late to the commodity market, but energy and livestock are hot markets right now,” said one London broker. In early trade, poultry futures gained a shilling, while coal futures rose sixpence.
Analysts say Scrooge may also be considering retirement. Although he has yet to name a successor, he is rumored to be grooming a younger member of the Cratchit family for the top job.
Editor’s Note: This article discusses one or more securities that do not trade on a major U.S. exchange. Please be aware of the risks associated with these stocks.
