5 issues to know earlier than the inventory market opens on Monday September 26th

Raphael Bostic in Jackson Hole, Wyoming

David A Grogan | CNBC

Here is the key news investors need to start their trading day:

1. Bad start for stocks

Stocks are still in a funk. The three main indices were down on Monday, suggesting that last week’s troubles would continue. On Friday, the Dow hit a new intraday low for 2022, while the S&P 500 briefly slipped below its June low. Investors are trying to figure out how to implement the Federal Reserve’s aggressive anti-inflation plan by raising interest rates. Right now, the central bank’s policy rate is between 3% and 3.25%, but policymakers said they could raise the rate to as high as 4.6% pretty soon to bring down inflation. Markets are also digesting comments from Atlanta Fed President Rafael Bostic, who told CBS Face the Nation that he expects some job loss pain from the Fed’s anti-rate hike campaign — “less than what we’re getting.” seen in other situations”.

Continue reading: International currencies slide

2. A new tax bill for corporate giants

An Andy Warhol-esque print of Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett hangs in front of a clothing stand during Berkshire Hathaway Inc’s first in-person annual meeting since 2019 in Omaha, Nebraska, the United States, on April 30, 2022.

Scott Morgan | Reuters

According to a study by the University of North Carolina Tax Center, Amazon and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway would likely pay the most under the new corporate minimum tax. Using 2021 corporate earnings as a test case, the researchers found that the tax would affect 78 companies, including Ford and AT&T. The new tax, which President Joe Biden signed into law along with the rest of the anti-inflation bill in August, aims to appeal to companies making over $1 billion in a year. Overall, the UNC investigation shows that the tax would have raised $31.8 billion in 2021. A similar study by the nonpartisan Joint Center for Taxation found the tax would affect 150 companies and generate $34 billion in revenue. Read the UNC study here.

3. Italy’s shift to the right

The political leader of the Brothers of Italy, Giorgia Meloni.

Marco Cantile | Light Rocket | Getty Images

Between Russia’s war in Ukraine and the resulting energy price inflation, Europe is already dealing with a lot of upheaval. Italy’s voters have just added another complication to the list: the rise of the Brothers of Italy, a far-right political party that emerged from the neo-fascist movement that remained after Benito Mussolini’s death in the final months of World War II. The leader of the party, Giorgia Meloni, is also poised to become the country’s first female prime minister under a broader centre-right coalition. She claims the party has rid itself of fascist elements and is striving to make the European Union less bureaucratic. But critics warn that Meloni’s government could become more confrontational with European leadership and end up being relegated to a second tier of leadership within the bloc.

4. “The consequences would be appalling”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during an interview with Reuters amid the Russian attack on Ukraine September 16, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Valentin Ogirenko | Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was not bluffing when he warned last week that he could use nuclear weapons in his war against Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine, also believes him. “He wants to scare the whole world. These are the first steps in his nuclear blackmail. I don’t think he’s bluffing,” Zelenskyy said on CBS’ Face the Nation. Western governments are also taking the threat seriously. “The consequences would be appalling,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CBS. Elsewhere in the war, separatists pushed widely criticized votes for the annexation of parts of Ukraine for Russia, while protests continued in response to Putin’s decision to call up hundreds of thousands of reservists to salvage his failed war. Follow the updates here.

5. Blue Notes

21 million pirated copies Twelve years after the release of Titanic, Oscar-winning director James Cameron returned to cinemas with the sci-fi epic Avatar.

Fox of the twentieth century

“Avatar” changed cinema when it was released in 2009 and showed how important the Chinese and international box office had become for Hollywood. For years, audiences wondered when a sequel would come, and we’re finally getting one this December, The Way of Water. To gauge interest in James Cameron’s next eco-sci-fi epic, Disney – which bought ‘Avatar’ studio 20th Century Fox in between releases – re-bred the original film to theaters this past weekend. It was shown in 3D, which had largely fallen out of favor, in high-priced Imax theaters. The film’s international grossing of about $20 million showed that the franchise is still going strong overseas. But its domestic gross of about $10 million wasn’t all that compelling to box office pundits. “We can’t say with confidence that viewership here provided enough litmus testing for exclusive 3D rollouts given how new releases have generally performed over the past few years,” said Shawn Robbins of BoxOffice.com.

Continue reading: Who is the most powerful person in Hollywood? Bryan Lourd is a good answer.

– CNBC’s Tanaya Macheel, Jack Stebbins, Natasha Turak, Matt Clinch and Sarah Whitten contributed to this report.

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