A trader works on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, US, December 14, 2022.
Andrew Kelly | Reuters
Here are the most important news investors need to start their trading day:
1. Holiday blues
US stocks are on their first two-week losing streak since September. The December funk is the result of uncertainty about the near-term economy: Will there be a recession or not? – and certainty about the Federal Reserve’s commitment to raising rates in its fight against inflation. “The market has been in a tug-of-war between better than feared economic data juxtaposed with concerns about the potential for the Fed to tighten monetary policy too much and push the economy into recession,” said Art Hogan , strategist for B. Riley. he wrote in a note on Friday. Investors will get more clues about the economy and the state of the consumer this week as Nike and FedEx report earnings on Tuesday. Read live market updates here.
2. SBF is expected to waive extradition
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (2nd L) is led away in handcuffs by officers from the Royal Bahamas Police Force in Nassau, Bahamas on December 13, 2022.
Mario Duncanson | AFP | Getty Images
It looks like disgraced crypto king Sam Bankman-Fried is coming home after all. The founder of bankrupt exchange FTX is expected to drop his fight for extradition to the Bahamas on Monday so he can face federal prosecution and other cases in the United States. Bankman-Fried remained in a Bahamian jail until her next hearing in February. Federal prosecutors have charged him with wire fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and money laundering, meaning he could end up spending decades in prison if convicted.
3. Musk loses his own Twitter poll
If he lives up to his word, Elon Musk’s time as Twitter CEO could soon be over. “Should I resign as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll,” the billionaire tweeted on Sunday. The poll expired Monday morning and showed, by a sizable margin, that Twitter users wanted him to resign. The company has been in turmoil since Musk bought it for $44 billion and took it private in October. Musk’s biggest concern, however, is the negative attention he’s brought to himself and the impact it’s had on his biggest company, Tesla, whose share price has suffered this year .
4. Mystery at sea
Avatar: The Way of Water
Courtesy Disney Co.
Will ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Bring in a Lot of Revenue for Disney? Or will it wash off? Even after James Cameron’s sequel’s first weekend at the box office, it’s hard to say. The three-hour fantasy sci-fi epic took in $134 million domestically in its first frame, which is a lot but still falls short of expectations. However, the public gave it good marks and tended to watch it in more exclusive and expensive formats. In fact, Disney and Cameron have made it clear that this movie looks best in 3D on the biggest possible screen. The week of Christmas and New Years will go a long way in deciding how big “The Waterway” will be. After all, the first “Avatar” (the highest-grossing movie ever) and this year’s “Top Gun: Maverick” (the biggest movie of 2022) proved that a movie doesn’t need have the biggest opening weekend to be box office. monster
Read more: 12 media executives anonymously predict the big stories of 2023
5. The drone nightmare continues
A woman cries in front of the building that was destroyed by a Russian attack in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, Friday, Dec. 16, 2022.
Evgeniy Maloletka | AP
Russian drones struck Kyiv again, targeting critical infrastructure before dawn on Monday. It is the third airstrike in the Ukrainian capital in six days and has left three areas of the region without electricity, according to Governor Oleksiy Kubela. Elsewhere, the Russian ruble fell to a more than six-month low against the dollar, hampered by concerns about the country’s export earnings amid sanctions and falling oil prices. Read live war updates here.
And one more thing…
Argentina captain and striker number 10 Lionel Messi (C) lifts the FIFA World Cup Trophy on stage as he celebrates with his teammates after winning the World Cup final soccer match in Qatar 2022 between Argentina and France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, north of Doha, on December 18, 2022.
Kirill Kudryavtsev | Afp | Getty Images
Now that’s how the world’s biggest sporting event should end. Two of the world’s best teams, superstar Lionel Messi’s Argentina and reigning champions France, put on a spectacular show at the World Cup final in Qatar on Sunday. After two stunning comebacks by France in regulation time and extra time, with the game tied 3-3, Argentina won the title with a 4-2 advantage on penalties.
– CNBC’s Samantha Subin, Rohan Goswami, MacKenzie Sigalos, Lora Kolodny, Ashley Capoot, Sarah Whitten and Karen Gilchrist contributed to this report.
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