September 17
Good afternoon. It’s D-Day in Washington, D.C. The voting members of the Federal Reserve’s policy-making committee will announce whether they will stand pat on interest rates or raise them. For the past week, virtually every move in the market has been ascribed to traders waiting for this moment. There’s plenty of data to support a hike as well as data to support continued allegiance to Zirp — zero interest rate policy. What’s your thought? Is the U.S. economy robust enough to handle a 25 basis point rate hike? Job formation is solid but consumer prices fell in August. FedEx had surprisingly weak earnings and China has a cold that is infecting the economy globally. What say you? Policy announcement lands at 2 p.m. ET; presser with Fed Chair Janet Yellen at 2:30 p.m. ET. In the mean time, stocks are tentatively looking up. Ish. The Dow gained 0.14% Thursday morning, the Nasdaq was up 0.37%, and the S&P 500 climbed 0.21%.
Here’s what else you need to know:
The military in Burkina Faso has staged a coup. Just days before the general elections, the military has seized the President and Prime Minister and declared military rule. An official called out the leaders of the West African nation as a “deviant transitional regime.” Ex-general and former presidential advisor Gilbert Diendere has been declared the new leader. CNN
Housing starts edge lower in August; stocks edge higher. Starts fell to 1.126 million, 3% below the July level which were revised downward along with June. Housing is recovering, but is still well below the norm. Stocks climbed after the report — could there be some traders hoping the disappointing numbers will thwart a rate hike?
Carly Fiorina shines in raucus Republican debate. The former Hewlett-Packard CEO appeared to rattle the usually unflappable Donald Trump, the frontrunner. The other nine Republican challengers chipped away at Trump, chastising him for his personal insults and questioning his ability to stand on the world stage. CNBC
Altice to buy Cablevision in $17.7 billion deal. The European telecoms group has been growing rapidly through acquisition, led by Patrick Dahi, the French-Israeli billionaire. Drahi has been negotiating with the fourth largest cable operator to expand Altice’s presence in the U.S. Reuters
Swiss central bank leaves rates at -0.75%. The economy is still struggling and the Swiss franc remains stubbornly strong vs the Euro — even though the central bank removed the trading cap on the currency earlier in the year.
Don’t even bother showing up in the morning. The mainland markets in China wiped out most gains in the last hour of trading. The Shanghai Composite slid 2.1% following its best trading session in weeks. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index retraced gains, ending the day 0.53% lower. The Nikkei 225 bucked the trend rising 1.43% despite
Japan upper house OKs defence bills amid chaos. A panel in Japan’s upper house on Thursday approved legislation for a security policy shift that would allow troops to fight abroad for the first time since World War Two, a ruling party lawmaker said. Opposition lawmakers tried to physically prevent the vote in a chaotic scene carried live on national television. The legislation has sparked huge protests from ordinary voters. Channel News Asia
Chile coast rocked by 8.3 magnitude quake. At least five people were killed and 1 million evacuated from affected areas, when a powerful 8.3-magnitude earthquake struck Chile Wednesday. CNN
Desperate migrants clash with police in Hungary. Hungarian riot police responded to one of the worst bursts of violence that this tense refugee summer has seen. Agitated migrants at the border crossing were pelted with water cannons, head-cracking batons and both tear gas and pepper spray. New York Times (paywall)
Hungary seals borders. Migrants, mostly from Syria, were redirected to Croatia on their trek to northern Europe. Croatia is promising assistance to the refugees to reach their final destinations. BBC
You won’t believe this:
Hot debate guy really wins Republican debate. Around the country people turned their attention from the Republican presidential candidates to the attractive man sitting behind Jake Tapper. #HotDebateGuy started trending and the Internet started stalking. The man happens to be Greg Caruso, son of real estate development king Rick Caruso, and he’ll be changing the hearts of voters everywhere. BuzzFeed
Comedian lied about escaping during 9/11. Steve Rannazzisi, known for his role in “The League,” has admitted that he lied about narrowly escaping the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Rannazzisi had said that he moved with his wife to Los Angeles in reaction to the close call. Rannazzisi was working in New York City that day, but no where near the WTC, nor was he working for Merrill Lynch, as he had claimed. New York Times (paywall)
Photo: New Jersey National Guard