✂️ Are Interest Rates About To Get Slashed?

Good morning. US stock futures rose in Friday morning trading as investors continue to monitor earnings reports from financial institutions.

⬇️ Fed exec: Rates cuts on deck in 2024

📝 Our report: In a recent speech, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic revealed his interest rate-cutting calendar – don't expect any rate cuts until the third quarter. Bostic said in his speech delivered before the Atlanta Business Chronicle that if the Fed waited too long to cut rates, it runs the risk of “overtightening” the economy.  

 🔑 Key points:

• Bostic, a voting member of the Fed's Federal Open Market Committee this year, is encouraged by the faster-than-expected progress in bringing inflation down.

• He cited the latest reading on the Personal Consumption Expenditures index of 2.6% for the 12 months through November, compared with his forecast of 2.9% at that point.

• The Fed last raised rates in July to a 22-year high as part of an aggressive campaign to cool inflation.

💡 So what: Managing interest rates is crucial for the Federal Reserve as it plays a key role in influencing economic conditions. Interest rate decisions impact borrowing costs, spending, investment, and inflation. By strategically cutting interest rates, the Fed aims to stimulate economic activity during periods of economic slowdown or recession. However, it's a delicate balance, as too much stimulus can lead to inflation, while too little can result in economic stagnation.

 Friday - Consumer Sentiment (prelim), San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly Speaks

📈 What’s an investment portfolio anyway?

🏡 Is it a good time to buy a house now?

🏷️ Is it better to shop online? These are the pros and cons

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💌 EU sends info request to tech giants

WHAT: The European Commission has fired off information requests, EU-style love letters, to 17 tech giants it deems as very large online platforms (VLOP) and search engines under the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA). Among the 17 named were Amazon's Amazon Store, Apple's AppStore, Booking.com, Meta's Facebook and Instagram, Alphabet's Google Search, Google Play, Google Maps and Google Shopping.

WHY: The DSA came into force in November last year and requires very large online platforms and search engines to do more to tackle illegal content and risks to public security. The Commission opened its first probe under the DSA in December 2023 into social media company X over suspected breaches of its obligations.

📈 Reddit signals interest in IPO

WHAT: Reddit, the social media maven, has crafted meticulous plans for its upcoming IPO in March, finally taking the plunge into a stock market debut it has been eyeing for over three years according to people familiar with the process. It would be the first IPO of a major social media company since Pinterest's debut in 2019.

WHY: Reddit, which filed confidentially for its IPO in December 2021, is planning to make its public filing in late February, launch its roadshow in early March, and complete the IPO by the end of March, two of the sources said. The San Francisco-based company, which was valued at about $10 billion in a funding round in 2021, is seeking to sell about 10% of its shares in the IPO, the sources added.

👶🏾 It’s like buying beanie babies crypto company says…

WHAT: Coinbase Global humorously likened buying cryptocurrency on an exchange to collecting Beanie Babies, highlighting the distinctive and sometimes whimsical nature of the crypto market compared to traditional stocks or bonds. The biggest US crypto exchange made the comparison in a New York federal court hearing. Coinbase was arguing for the dismissal of a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit accusing it of selling unregistered securities.

WHY: The SEC sued Coinbase in June, alleging that the exchange skirted its rules for years by allowing users to trade numerous crypto tokens that were actually unregistered securities.

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