Jobless claims rose last week; continuing claims hit their highest level since February
Jobless claims rose last week amid efforts by the Federal Reserve to cool the economy and in particular the labor market.
Initial jobless claims totaled 225,000 for the week ended Dec. 24, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That was an increase of 9,000 from the previous week and slightly above the Dow Jones estimate of 223,000.
Longer-term continuing claims, which are a week behind the overall figure, jumped to 1.71 million, an increase of 41,000 to the highest level since early February.
The numbers at this time of year are always loud due to the holidays. Claims not adjusted for seasonal factors jumped 23,146, an increase of 9.3%.
—Jeff Cox
Stocks make the biggest moves before market
Here are the actions that make the most important moves before the bell:
- Tesla – Tesla rebounded 4.4% pre-market after posting its first rise in eight sessions on Wednesday, mitigating the blow to its stock in what will still be the worst year ever for Tesla shares.
- Cal-Maine Foods – Cal-Maine fell 4.9% in premarket trading after quarterly earnings fell short of Wall Street forecasts. Cal-Maine reported record sales for the quarter.
- Apple – Apple is up 1% in premarket trading after closing Wednesday at a 1.5-year low. Apple is down 29% for 2022.
Check out the full list for more Thursday morning movers.
—Peter Schacknow, Tanaya Macheel
New Active ETF Targets Booming Battery Market
Electric vehicle stocks may have cooled in 2022, but options for investors to play the trend continue to grow with the arrival of the ETF Element EV, Solar & Battery Materials (Lithium, Nickel, Copper, Cobalt ) Futures Strategy.
The fund, which is expected to begin trading on Thursday, carries a management fee of 0.95% and will trade on the NYSE Arca under the symbol “CHRG”. The fund will buy and sell futures contracts and related products on minerals and metals that are vital for electric vehicles.
Element Funds was co-founded by Goldman Sachs veteran Will McDonough, and the portfolio management team will include co-founders John Raymond and John Calvert of Energy & Minerals Group, a $13 billion Houston-based private equity firm. dollars of assets.
The fund’s active strategy sets it apart from the KraneShares Electrification Metals Strategy ETF, which launched in October and tracks the Bloomberg Electrification Metals Index. This fund has performed well so far, but its trading volume is low and its assets under management are less than $30 million.
“It’s not something you can play passively. Battery technology matures daily,” McDonough said, adding that the portfolio will be adjusted on a monthly basis.
In addition to lithium futures, the fund will also trade other metals, with a focus on copper, said McDonough, who is also the CEO of Element Funds.
“The demand for copper in any electric vehicle, whatever it is, is more than twice that of a traditional car. People want to talk about the lithium story – it’s as much a copper story as it is. ‘a lithium story,” McDonough said.
Outside of Goldman Sachs, McDonough’s career includes stints at Marc Lasry’s Avenue Capital as a wealth manager for professional athletes, including Tom Brady, and as a blockchain entrepreneur.
—Jesse Pound
European markets slip as caution abounds to end the year
European markets fell on Thursday as caution returned to global equities, with investors assessing a number of likely headwinds in 2023.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 The index was down 0.5% at the start of trading, with food and beverage stocks shedding 1% to lead the losses as nearly all sectors and major exchanges slipped into the red.
The European blue chip index started Thursday’s session down more than 12% for the year.
-Elliot Smith
CNBC Pro: Tesla or Rivian? Pros predict what 2023 will look like for both stocks
It’s been a tumultuous year for electric vehicle stocks, and two investor favorites, You’re here and Rivianwere no exception.
What will the coming year look like for both stocks? CNBC Pro spoke to analysts and scoured Wall Street research to find out.
CNBC Pro subscribers can learn more here.
—Weizhen Tan
CNBC Pro: Tech is ‘down but by no means exhausted’ — watch these stocks in 2023, fund manager says
It’s been a bad year for tech companies, and many investors are wondering when tech stocks will rebound.
Technology fund manager Jeremy Gleeson of AXA Investment Managers told CNBC Pro Talks last week that he still believes in the sector.
He explains why and names the stocks to buy.
CNBC Pro subscribers can learn more here.
—Weizhen Tan
All 11 S&P 500 sectors are down for the week and month
All 11 sectors of the S&P 500 suffered in regular trading on Wednesday, led by energy companies.
Notable declines in the energy sector include EQT, which fell 7.8%, and APA, which fell around 5.2%. The losses came alongside falling prices for West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude, as well as natural gas.
All eleven sectors limp as the week begins to wind down. They are all down for the week, led by communication services, which fell nearly 2.7%. All sectors are also negative for December, with Consumer Discretionary leading the categories lower and down around 13.3%.
The energy shines however for the fourth quarter and the year. It is up 19.6% for the last three months of the year and around 56.4% for 2022.
–Darla Mercado, Chris Hayes
Latest Cal-Maine Results Show Consumers Pay Nearly Double for a Dozen Eggs
What does inflation look like these days?
According to the latest results of Cal Maine Foodsthe country’s largest egg producer.
The average sale price for each dozen eggs reached $2.71 in the quarter ended November 2022, compared to $1.37 in the same quarter a year earlier. This increase has exceeded that of feed costs, which have increased in recent years.
Supply and demand fuel the price spike.
As avian flu hurt industry supply, Cal-Maine continued to see tremendous demand, especially for premium specialty eggs. Conventional egg volumes were actually down 2% in the quarter, while specialty eggs saw a 24% increase in volumes.
There are several reasons for this. Conventional egg prices have risen so much that they have overtaken specialty egg prices. The average price for conventional eggs at Cal-Maine last quarter was $2.88, more than 21% higher than the list price of $2.37 for specialty eggs.
So why pay for a conventional egg when you can get a cheaper specialty egg? Cal-Maine pointed out that the phenomenon has been a surprising trend of late: “Conventional egg prices outpacing specialty egg prices have occurred over the past three quarters, but are historically atypical.”
Also driving demand for specialty eggs – cage-free egg mandates in California and Massachusetts last January, as well as a trend of “more retailers moving to selling more cage-free products.”
Cal-Maine shares jumped 68% in 2022. Still, the stock was down about 5% in extended trading Wednesday.
–Robert Hum, Sarah Min
Stock futures open higher
U.S. stock futures opened higher on Wednesday night as investors head into the final trading days of 2022.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 38 points, or 0.09%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.12% and 0.15%, respectively.
—Sarah Min
