What Moved The Markets This Week 📈
Biden Cancels $9B Of Student Loans, Tim Cook Dumps $88M In Apple Stock, Job Openings Surge To 9.6M, Tesla Misses Production Targets, Spotify To Launch Audiobooks, and STZ Earnings
Sunday Morning Markets
Trading Week 40, covering Monday, Oct 2 through Friday, Oct 6. Your weekly financial markets update, in less than 5 minutes.
The Week In Review ⏪
Labor Market Data:
Nonfarm Payrolls +336K (vs. estimates 170K)
Job Openings 9.6M (vs. estimates 8.8M)
ADP Payrolls +89K (vs. estimates 153K)
Biden cancels $9B in student debt for 125K borrowers
75K Kaiser Permanente workers go on strike
Tim Cook sells over 500K shares of AAPL
Spotify to add 150K+ audiobooks to premium subs
Chipotle to test automation for digital orders
Earnings from Constellation Brands — see breakdowns below
US Markets 🇺🇸
Nonfarm payrolls soared by 336K in September according to the Labor Department, coming in well ahead of the consensus estimate of 170K. The unemployment rate was 3.8%, compared to the forecast for 3.7%.
Job openings unexpectedly surged to 9.6 million in August, a sign that the labor market remains tight. Openings jumped nearly 700K from the month prior and came in well above the consensus estimate of 8.8 million.
Private payrolls rose only 89K in September, far below estimates of 160K, and down significantly from the 180K adds in August. The job gains came almost exclusively from services, which contributed 81K to the total.
Biden cancels $9B in student debt for 125K borrowers. Roughly half of the aid will go to borrowers who’ve worked in public service for 10 years or more, while the remaining aid will help income-restricted and disabled borrowers.
Tesla misses Q3 production and delivery targets due to planned factory shutdowns. Tesla produced 430K vehicles and delivered 435K, below estimates. However, they reaffirmed their annual production target of 1.8M vehicles.
Rivian announces plans to raise $1.5B in convertible notes, causing shares to plummet over 20% this week. Rivian added that it expects its Q3 revenue to come in between $1.29B and $1.33B, roughly in line with estimates.
General Motors secures a new $6 billion credit line as the automaker braces for additional strikes by the UAW. GM added that the existing strikes have already cost the company $200 million during the third quarter.
Over 75K workers at Kaiser Permanente Health strike at facilities across the country, marking the largest strike of healthcare workers in U.S. history. The strike is expected to last three days.
Tim Cook dumps $88M in Apple shares, his largest sale in the last two years. Cook sold 511K shares, but still owns about 3.3M shares worth roughly $565M. His largest sale was in August of 2021 where he made $355M.
Global Markets 🌏
Eurozone factory activity stuck in a steep downturn as the S&P HCOB manufacturing PMI dipped to 43.4 in September, from August's 43.5 reading. A reading below 50 marks a contraction in activity.
UK PM Rishi Sunak scraps major high-speed rail link and announced a plan to raise the smoking age with the aim of shoring up waning support for his Conservative Party ahead of next year’s general election.
UK to examine Amazon and Microsoft's cloud dominance as the two companies had a staggering combined market share of 70%-80% in 2022. Google was their closest competitor with 5-10% market share.
OPEC+ holds oil policy steady as Saudi and Russia keep cuts until the end of December. Brent crude oil currently trades for over $80/bbl, up over 20% from its low in May of 2023.
Sony gaming chief Jim Ryan to retire with group President Hiroki Totoki to become interim CEO during the search for a successor. Ryan started as CEO in 2019 and oversaw initiatives including the launch of the PlayStation 5.
Canada's economic activity expanded at slower pace in September as the measure of employment climbed to its highest level in six months. The seasonally adjusted Ivey PMI dipped to 53.1, from 53.5 in August.
Tech ⚡
Spotify to add audiobooks to its premium subscription at no extra charge. The first catalog will include a total of 150,000 titles. The service will initially launch in the U.K. and Australia and then in the U.S. later this year.
Uber will now drop your package off at the post office, UPS, or FedEx. They can pick up five packages at a time, as long as they have prepaid labels, are sealed, are under $100 in value, and weigh less than 30 pounds.
Chipotle tests automation for burrito bowls and salads in a partnership with Hyphen technology. Last year, Chipotle invested an undisclosed amount in Hyphen. The new technology would only be used for digital orders.
Meta is considering a $14 per month ad-free subscription to Instagram or Facebook for European users. Meta has told regulators it hopes to roll out its subscription no ads (SNA) plan in the coming months.
Google launches Pixel 8 and a new smartwatch with its beefed-up Tensor G3 processor, allowing AI models to run natively on the device. There are a series of new AI features such as summarizing web pages and blocking out spam calls.
Ethereum futures ETFs hit the market as the SEC continues to delay their decision on spot Bitcoin funds. Some of the new ETFs include VanEck Ethereum Strategy ETF ($EFUT) and ProShares Ether Strategy ETF ($EETH).
Earnings Reports 💰
See other breakdowns on our Twitter page.
Weekly Poll 🗳️
Week Ahead 📅
Monday
UK - Retail Sales (SEP)🇬🇧
DE - Industrial Production (AUG)🇩🇪
Tuesday
Earnings Reports: Pepsi💰
Wednesday
US - PPI Inflation (SEP)🇺🇸
DE - CPI Inflation (SEP)🇩🇪
Earnings Reports: BlackRock💰
Thursday
US - CPI Inflation (SEP)🇺🇸
UK - GDP (AUG)🇬🇧
CN - CPI Inflation (SEP)🇨🇳
Earnings Reports: Delta Airlines, Infosys, Dominoes💰
Friday
US - UMich Consumer Sentiment (OCT)🇺🇸
EU - Industrial Production (AUG)🇪🇺
Earnings Reports: UnitedHealth, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Citigroup💰
Want to partner with Sunday Morning Markets? Click here to inquire.