Good morning. US stock futures ticked higher in Wednesday morning trading as investors awaited the latest earnings reports from major players in the artificial intelligence space.

"Most millionaires are hardworking, but every billionaire is lucky"

Nick Maggiulli

Top News

White House calls out China on data transparency

WHAT: The US has some strong words for China when it comes to its economic data transparency. According to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, China’s reporting on basic economic data in recent months, and its crack down on firms that provide such data is “irresponsible”.

WHY: China has been struggling to counter a host of economic challenges since the start of the year including a property sector slowdown and rising youth unemployment.

Fed exec: US “reacceleration” a likely scenario

WHAT: Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin is serving up a twist to the usual forecast by suggesting that the US economy might surprise everyone with some turbocharged moves instead of slowing down. “A reacceleration scenario has come onto the table in a way that it really wasn’t three or four months ago” Barkin said in an interview.

WHY: US inflation has declined in recent months — though it remains well above the Fed’s 2% target — largely in part as a result of the aggressive interest rate hikes by the Fed.

UPS, union ratify labor contract

WHAT: Thing are looking up for UPS drivers! The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the union representing UPS workers, announced that a massive five-year labor deal that includes big wage increases and other improvements to work rules has been ratified between UPS and the union. UPS drivers will average $170,000 in pay and benefits at the end of the deal, company CEO Carol Tome said.

WHY: The union is the latest labor organization to push a major US company for better pay, schedules and other work rules in the aftermath of the pandemic and decades-high inflation.

In Other News

Meta ramps up speech translation with AI

 WHAT: Meta Platforms just dropped an AI language translation magician on the digital stage! The company announced the release of “SeamlessM4T”, an artificial intelligence model capable of translating and transcribing speech in dozens of languages.

WHY: The world’s biggest social media company has released a flurry of mostly free AI models this year, including a large language model called Llama that’s a competitor to OpenAI and Google.

Starting price? $80K…

WHAT: The latest New York Federal Reserve employment survey just dropped a juicy nugget on worker compensation! According to the survey, the average “reservation wage” — or the minimum acceptable salary offer a worker will accept — rose to a record high of $78,645 in the second quarter of 2023. This represents an increase of roughly 8% from 2022 levels.

WHY: Buoyed by tight labor markets and increased union negotiating power, US workers have grown more aggressive in their compensation demands in the post-pandemic era.

Report: Cryptoassets a risky proposition in developing countries

WHAT: Cryptoassets, touted as the future in the world of finance, might not be all they’re cracked up to be according to a report from the Bank of International Settlements (BIS). In a recently released paper the BIS said crypto assets “have so far not reduced but rather amplified the financial risks in less developed economies”

WHY: About two dozen central banks across emerging and advanced economies are expected to have digital currencies in circulation by the end of the decade according to a BIS survey published in July.

Key Economic Events

• Wednesday - No Major Economic News

• Thursday - Initial Jobless Claims (wk end 19-Aug)

• Friday - U. Of. Mich. Sentiment

Notable Briefs

• If you pick stocks, do you know how many you should own?

• These 3 habits might be causing you to overspend

• Follow these 11 tips to become a better boss!

• Was this forwarded to you? Sign up here.

• Want to advertise in Daily Market Briefs? Go here.