D♒ow Drops to End the Week, Month, and Quarter in the Red

Following data showing the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:inflation rate rose in August, the Dow Jones﷽ Industrial Average fell nearl🦄y 0.5%, or about 158 points, in the final session of a losing week, month, and quarter for the index.

The Dow f🦩inished the week down 1.3%, ✃ended September lower by 3.5%, and closed the third quarter down about 2.6%.

Nike (NKE) shares soared 7% after it reported 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:better-than-expected earnings and a decline in inventory, showing that 𝔉its sales are still strong around the globe.

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA🔴) jumped more than 5% after reports♏ that it was considering former Cigna executive Tim Wentworth to fill its open CEO position, providing relief to a stock that has lost about 40% of its value year-to-date. 

Walt Disney Company (DIS) shares gained 1.1%, moving higher for the second straight day following an agreement to 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:end the Hollywood writers’ strike.

Apple (AAPL) shares moved up by 0.2%, but September was still its worst month since December 2022. The tech giant shed nearly 9% this month as the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:launch of its iPhone 15 failed to lift the stock. 

Travelers Companies (TRV) shares fell 2.6% to lead the Dow 30 lower. Shares of JPMorgan Chase (JPM) dropped 1.7%, followed by Walmart (WMT), which fell 1.6%. 

Shares of Chevron (CVX) lost 1.2% as the energy sector, the sess🧜ion's worst-performing sector, declined 2%.

-Terry Lane

SEC Fines Interactive Brokers, Baird Among Other Waꦕll Street Firms in Texting Probe

Texting brokers and investment advisors have landed their employers in trouble yet again as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) fined ten financial firms over long-standing recordkeeping violations.

After its investigation found "widespread and longstanding failures to maintain and preserve electronic communications," the SEC handed out the following fines:

• Interactive Brokers Corp. (IBKR): $35 million.
• Robert W. Baird & Co.: $15 million.
• William Blair & Company LLC: $10 million.
• Nuveen Securities LLC: $8.5 million penalty.
• Fifth Third Securities Inc. (FITB): $8 million.
• Perella Weinberg Partners LP: $2.5 million.

The latest SEC enforcement follows a similar action against 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:eleven Wall Street firms in August, which brought cಞoll💮ective fines of $549 million.

-Kevin George

Blue Ap🥂ron Shares Skyrocket as the Meal Kit Provider Is Purchased by Wonder Group

Shares of Blue Apron Holdings (APRN) more than doubled in early trading on Friday after Wonder Group 🐭agreed to purchase the meal kit provid💫er for $103 million.

The all-cash agreement will have Wonder Group pay Blue Apron investors $13 per share, a 137% premium to Blue Apron’s closing price Thursday. Privately-held Wonder offers meals designed by celebrity chefs such as Bobby Flay and Michael Symon for home delivery, as well as pick-up and in-house dining at its locations.

With Friday’s over 133% 🐼spike as of noon ET, shares of Blue Apron were in positive territory for th﷽e year.

-Bill McColl

Midday Market Movers

Blue Apron Holdings Inc. (APRN): The meal-kit🔯 maker’s shares jumped more than 133% after food delivery startup Wonder Group said it would buy the company for $13 a share, a 137% premium on Thursday’s close.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (WBA): Shares of the pharmacy chain rose 6% on reports its considering tapping former Cigna Group executive Tim Wentworth to become its new CEO, replacing Rosalind Brewer, whose shoꦰrt tenure as CEO ended abruptly last month.

Zions Bancorp (ZION): Shares of the regional bank rose more than 4% after Citigroup initiated coverage of the stock with a buy rating and a $42 price target. Citi also gave Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) a buy rating, adding, “the best time to buy bank stocks is the transition from late-cycle to early-cycle, when we believe credit will fare better than market concerns.”

Carnival Corp (CCL): Shares of the cruise operator fell more than 7% after it beat earnings and revenue expectations last quarter, but forecast a 🎃larger-than-expected loss for the current quarter.

Vail Resorts Inc. (MTN): The resort operator’s shares fell more than 6% after the company said in its quarterly earnings report that labor costs, inclement weather, and flagging demand at its North American resort🅺s had affected profits and would continue to do so. 

UAꦇW Expands🧸 Strike Against GM and Ford, Sparing Stellantis After Last-Minute Progress

The 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:United Auto W💖orkers (UAW) expande🐲d its strike against General Motors (GM) and Ford (F), but not Stellantis (STLA), citing progress in negotiations right before Friday's deadline.

The UAW said it would extend its ongoing strike to 7,000 more workers at GM and Ford facilities at noon on Friday. Around 25,000 union members had been called on to stop working in the UAW 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:stand up strike as of Friday.

While the total cost of the UAW's ongoing strike to the Big Three's operations has yet to be determined, Anderson Economic Group estimates economic losses from the strike totaling over $1.6 billion in the first week alone.

Shares of Ford and GM were little changed in intraday🦹 trading on Friday, up 0.1% and 0.3%, respectively, as of 12:15, while shares of Stellantis were 0.2% lower.

Nike Shar♎es Catch Some Air on Leaner Inventory, Recovering Chinese Sales

Nike (NKE) 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:shares were up 7% Friday morning after the shoe maker’s quarterly earnings beat Wall Street’s estimates as sales in China picked u♈p and inventories shrank.

Revenue grew 2% year-over-year to $12.9 billion, slightly less than the $13 billion analysts were expecting. 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Net income of $1.5 billion, or 94 cents a share, was 1% lower than the same quarter last year, but considerably higher than the 75 cents per share analysts were expecting. 

Inventories declined 10% from last year, a welcome change for a company that’s been 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:dealing with excess inventory for over a year amid a🐠 pullback in consumer spending. And revenue in China, where analysts had worried an economic slowdown would hurt sales, grew 12% on a currency-neutral basis. 

Even with Friday's gains, Nike shares are down more than 18% year-to-date.

Eur🅰ozone Inflation Falls to Two-Year🀅 Low With ECB Rates at Record Level

The 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:eurozone's annual rate of 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:inflation fell to 4.3% in September, the lowest since October 2021, according to the latest flash figures released on Friday.

澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy pricesꦰ, declined to 4.5% year-over-year, down from 5.3% in August.

The slowdown comes after the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:European Central Bank (ECB) announced its 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:10th consecutive hike in its main interest rate earlier this month, pegging it at a record level of 4% to curb rising prices.

-Fatima Attarwala

Stocks Making the Biggest Moves Premarket

Gains:

• Nike Inc. (NKE): Shares jumped 10% after the shoe maker reported better-than-expected earnings. Inventories, which became bloated last year as demand slowed, dwindled, and sales in China, where an economic slowdown threatened Nike’s earnings, grew 5%. Competitors ON Holding AG (ONON) and Under Armor Inc. (UA) rose 5% and 3%, respectively. 
• Anheuser-Busch InBev S.A. (BUD): Shares of the brewer gained more than 4% after Bank of America analysts upgraded the stock to buy from hold, citing improving margins and the fading of its Bud Light Pride campaign controversy.
• Chinese tech: Shares of Baudi (BIDU), Alibaba (BABA), and (JD) rose more than 2% each after China’s tech regulator proposed waiving reviews of cross-border data transfers, an easing of restrictions on the country’s largest tech companies. 
  

Losses:

• Fisker Inc. (FSR): Shares of the electric vehicle maker fell more than 4% after it said it had raised $150 million—and could raise more than $550 million more—from an institutional investor through the sale of convertible bonds.
• VinFast Auto Ltd. (VFS): The EV maker’s shares slipped more than 1% after jumping 12% yesterday. The company’s small float makes it a particularly volatile stock. It gained more than 800% in a matter of days after going public via SPAC merger in August.

5 Things to Know Before Markets Open

Here's 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:what investors need to know to start their day:

1. Nike (NKE) shares soared 8% in premarket trading after the shoe maker reported stronger-than-expected earnings of 94 cents a share, well above the 76 cents a share that analysts had forecasted.
2. The core Per🧔sonal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) Price Index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, eased to an annual rate of 3.9% in August, down from 4.2% the prior month.
3. The United Auto Workers said that it will announce at 10 a.m. ET today new facilities where workers could go on strike if progress isn’t made in talks with the Detroit “澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Big Three” automakers.
4. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit against Tesla (TSLA) charging the company with subjecting Black employees to racial harassment and creating a hostile work environment.
5. Shares of Apple (AAPL) were 0.9% higher premarket following reports that staff met with Chinese officials recently to discuss worries over new rules that restrict the company from offering many foreign apps that are currently on the iPhone app store in China.

-Terry Lane

Stock Futures Gain to Start Last Day of Losing Quart🐬er

Futures contracts connected to the Dow Jones🌠 Industrial Average were up 0.5% in premarket trading Friday.

S&P 500 futures also gained 0.5%.

Nasdaq 100 contracts were up almost 0.7%.