SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – Winner: Stocks Rising as Earnings Roll In
The major stock indexes were drifting higher, as earnings season kicked into high gear.
About a tenth of the S&P 500’s market capitalization has reported earnings so far, and results are beating expectations by just over 8%.
The IMF cut global growth forecasts to 3.6% due to the Russia-Ukraine war and says the risks to economy have risen sharply.
The U.S. Secret Service has seized more than $102 million in illicit digital currencies since 2015.
Uber dropped the mask mandate for drivers and customers.
Wingstop is selling chicken wings it calls “blazed & glazed” that it says “taste like 4/20.”
The flavor is made from hemp seeds, terpenes, strawberry, and cayenne pepper. Wingstop said the wings “won’t actually get you high.”
Winner: U.S. housing starts to unexpectedly rise in March
The rent versus buy debate could soon take another turn.
U.S. homebuilding unexpectedly rose in March, but starts for single-family housing tumbled amid rising mortgage rates.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.0% during the week, the highest since February 2011.
Rising borrowing costs are combining with higher home prices to reduce housing affordability for first-time buyers.
Still, record low housing supply should continue to underpin homebuilding this year. There is a record backlog of houses approved for construction that are yet to be started.
Single-family housing starts, which account for the biggest share of homebuilding, dropped 1.7% to a rate of 1.200 million units in March.
Loser: Subscription Fatigue as New Subscriptions Launch
Netflix reports earnings today after the market closes, and we might learn a bit more about subscription fatigue.
I have not cut Netflix and won’t until Ozarks ends or Squid Game 2, but I did cut $5.99 per month subscription to PBS Masterpiece.
Thirty-five percent of Americans have canceled a monthly subscription in the past six months due to inflation.
As subscription fatigue sets in, some new entrants are learning that you can’t just slap a + on your name and cash your chips in.
CNN+, CNN’s new streaming service, is reportedly getting below 10,000 viewers a day despite its launch budget of $250 million.
Companies including Taco Bell, Alaska Airlines, and Sweetgreen are jumping on the subscription bandwagon this year.
Alaska Airlines offers two dozen roundtrip flights a year to destinations in California, Arizona and Nevada, including Las Vegas, Reno, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego.
The cheapest version of Flight Pass costs $49 a month and allows for six roundtrip flights a year.
