Good morning. US stock futures rose in Thursday morning trading as investors assessed the latest comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

"Buybacks are divisive. They divide people who understand finance from those that don't"

Ken French

Top News

No recession likely says Biden

• US President Joe Biden said he is confident the US economy will not enter a recession in the next two years, despite ongoing concerns about a potential downturn.

• Economists for months have been warning of a possible recession in the US as the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates in order to tame decades-high inflation.

Economist: China likely to cut interest rates soon

• A top Chinese economist says China's central bank may be able to cut interest rates further in the second quarter due to potential Covid-19 resurgence and the US Federal Reserve slowing the pace of its interest rate hikes.

• The People's Bank of China could face less strain on easing policy in the next quarter, according to economist Zhong Zhengseng, adding that Chinese domestic inflation is likely to stay weak.

Air travel likely to take in 2023

• The United Nations aviation agency predicts global air passenger demand will quickly return to pre-pandemic levels on most routes by Q1 2023, and will reach 3% growth compared to 2019 levels by the end of 2023.

• In December, airlines association IATA predicted a full global recovery to 2019 levels by 2024.

In Other News

No more sharing

• Netflix unveiled plans to curb password sharing on its streaming platform with changes that include verifying the primary account location and having subscribers pay a small fee to add an additional member.

• Netflix lost subscribers in the first half of 2022, prompting the streaming giant to look more seriously into password sharing and launching an ad-supported plan.

Another day, another crypto firm under scrutiny...

• The US Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating cryptocurrency exchange Kraken for selling unregistered securities, according to a report from Bloomberg.

• SEC Chair Gary Gensler had previously said that companies that help facilitate transactions in the crypto market should register with the SEC just like other market intermediaries.

We'd like that back, thank you

• Stock trading platform Robinhood said it plans to buyback shares previously held by Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

• An entity controlled by Bankman-Fried acquired a stake of more than 7% in Robinhood last year, and the brokerage's board authorized the firm to "pursue purchasing most or all", of those shares according to the statement.

Key Economic Events

• Thursday - No Major Economic News

• Friday - Fed's Walker Speaks At Crypto Conference, U. Of. Mich. Sentiment

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