STOCK MARKET NEWS: Dow falls 313 points, bond yields spike as rate hike looms

Home Depot workers in Philadelphia have filed a petition to unionize. If successful, the group calling itself Home Depot Workers United would become the home improvement retailer's first union, according to More Perfect Union.

The petition says the union would cover 274 merchandising, specialty and operations associates, but would exclude MET associates, loss prevention and all other employees.

Bloomberg Law says Home Depot successfully defeated three attempts to organize stores in California, Michigan and New York in the early 2000s. 

Doug Ramsey (Washington County, Arkansas Sheriff's Office via AP)

Beyond Meat has suspended chief operating officer Doug Ramsey, effectively immediately.

Ramsey had been charged with felony battery after a fight outside a college football game in which he was accused of biting a man’s nose.

He was also charged with making a terroristic threat after the attack Saturday in a parking garage outside a University of Arkansas football game in Fayetteville.

Washington County court records show Ramsey was released Sunday on $11,085 bond. A court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 19.

Ramsey joined Beyond Meat as COO in December 2021. Before that, he was Head of Retail Poultry Operations for Tyson Foods.

Jonathan Nelson, Senior Vice President, Manufacturing Operations, will oversee operations on an interim basis.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Stitch Fix is falling in extended trading. The online personal styling service missed Wall Street revenue and profit estimates.

Fiscal fourth quarter net revenue fell 16% to $481.9 million. Analysts were expecting $489.0 million. Active clients fell 9% to 3,795,000.

The net loss for the three months ended July 30 was $96.3 million compared to a year ago net profit of $21.5 million.

On a per share basis, the net loss was 89 cents, larger than the expected 63 cents.

Net revenue for the current quarter is expected to decline 22% to 20% year over year to $455 million - $465 million.

Stitch Fix combines the human touch of expert stylists with the precision of advanced data science to make online personal styling accessible to everyone

CVS Health and Walmart have agreed to an opioid settlement with West Virginia for a minimum of $147.5 million.

“This is once again putting West Virginia in a position to be first in the nation in terms of per capita opioid settlements,” state attorney general Patrick Morrisey said.

CVS settled for $82.5 million and Walmart for $65 million. Rite Aid previously agreed to a $30 million deal.

West Virginia has secured $400 million from wholesalers, $296.5 million from manufacturers and $177.6m from retail pharmacies for a total for &874 million.

Additionally, trials are set against Walgreens Boots Alliance and Kroger for June 2023.“We’re likely to be over a billion dollars when all is said and done,” Morrisey said.

Oxford Industries is higher in Tuesday trading. The parent of Tommy Bahama and Lily Pulitzer acquired Johnny Was, an affordable luxury, modern bohemian lifestyle apparel brand, for $270 million.

Oxford also increased its guidance for the third quarter and full year of fiscal 2022.

Third quarter sales are now expected to be $295 million to $310 million, up from $270 million and $280 million. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) was raised to $1.10 to $1.30 from $0.90 to $1.05.

For the full year, the company expects sales of $1.375 billion to $1.405 billion compared to the previous estimate of $1.300 billion to $1.325 billion. Adjusted EPS is now seen at $10.25 to $10.60 versus $9.85 to $10.10.

Approximately two-thirds of the EPS guidance increase is driven by the anticipated results of Johnny Was, an affordable luxury, modern bohemian lifestyle apparel brand.

Morgan Stanley logo on the trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange in Manhattan, New York City, Aug. 3, 2021. (REUTERS/Andrew Kelly)

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney (MSSB) will pay $35 million to settle government allegations that it failed, over a five-year period, to protect the personal identifying information (PII) of approximately 15 million customers.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said the investment bank failed to properly dispose of devices containing its customers’ PII.

On multiple occasions, MSSB hired a moving and storage company with no experience or expertise in data destruction services to decommission thousands of hard drives and servers containing the PII of millions of its customers, the SEC said.

SEC investigators found the moving company sold to a third party thousands of MSSB devices including servers and hard drives, some of which contained customer PII, and which were eventually resold on an internet auction site without removal of such customer PII.

While MSSB recovered some of the devices, which were shown to contain thousands of pieces of unencrypted customer data, the firm has not recovered the vast majority of the devices.

MARKETS

Twitter to depose Elon Musk on Sept. 26, 27

Twitter is suing billionaire Elon Musk in the Delaware Court of Chancery in an effort to force the world's richest man to follow through on his $44 billion acquisition of the social media giant.

Elon Musk will be deposed next week ahead of the October trial over his decision to walk away from his $44 billion dollar deal to acquire Twitter.

Subpoenas have also been issued for former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and former Intel Corporation CEO Robert Swan.

ECONOMY

Pilots union warns of more flight delays, cancellations

Faster than expected return to travel has left the airlines flat footed, causing flight delays and scheduling conflicts with pilots forced to take up the slack.

Air travelers who endured flight delays and cancellations this summer could be in for more of the same this fall and winter, says the union representing pilots of American Airlines.

“The bottom line is, when the weather hits, the recovery afterward is on us [pilots], out on the front line. And they've not changed the way they're scheduling us," Capt. Dennis Tajer told FOX Business.

BUSINESS-LEADERS

Mark Zuckerberg's fortune sheds $71B as Meta Platforms' stock struggles

Zuckerberg ranks 20th among global billionaires with a net worth of $55 billion – his lowest ranking since 2014, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire's Index.

Billionaire Mark Zuckerberg has lost a fortune since his company Facebook rebranded itself as Meta Platforms in October 2021. That’s dropped him to 20th place on the Bloomberg Billionaire's Index, his lowest spot since 2014.

Digital asset algorithmic market maker Wintermute has been hacked for $160 million in its decentralized finance (DeFi) operations, tweeted founder and CEO Evgeny Gaevoy.

Centralized finance (CeFi) and over the counter operations were not affected.

Gaevoy said customer funds are safe but there may be disruptions Tuesday and potentially for the next few days.

“We are solvent with twice over that amount in equity left,” Gaevoy tweeted. “Out of 90 assets that has been hacked only two have been for notional over $1 million (and none more than $2.5M), so there shouldn’t be a major selloff of any sort. We will communicate with both affected teams asap."

Wintermute is a leading global algorithmic market maker in digital assets. The platform creates liquid and efficient markets on centralized and decentralized trading platforms and off-exchange.

Porsche Taycan at a car show in Oslo, Norway, Nov. 10, 2021. (REUTERS/Victoria Klesty)

The books for Volkswagen's hotly anticipated initial public offering of Porsche AG are covered multiple times on the full size of the deal, a bookrunner involved in the listing said on Tuesday.

Indicated demand for the listing, due to take place on Sept. 29 at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, exceeds the full deal size, the bookrunning said.

The subscription period for private and institutional investors kicked off on Tuesday and will run until Sept. 28, with shares offered to private investors in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy and Spain.

The price range was being well-received on the market with a good global breadth of demand in the United States, Europe and Asia, a source close to the IPO said. It was too early for visibility on retail demand, they added.

Total proceeds from the sale will be 18.1-19.5 billion euros and could help Volkswagen fund its electrification drive.

Peloton Row (Peloton)

Peloton Interactive is entering the rowing business. The exercise equipment and media company unveiled Peloton Row. Pre-orders in the U.S. start immediately, with deliveries anticipated to begin in December 2022. Prices begin at $3,195.

A new product may help Peloton’s sales. The company lost $1.2 billion in the most recent quarter as revenue plunged and the maker of bikes and treadmills warned it would spend more cash than it brings in for several more months.

PELOTON'S QUARTERLY LOSS TOPS $1.2B AS BIKE, TREADMILL SALES PLUNGE

Co-founders John Foley and Hisao Kushi left the company this month.

PELOTON CO-FOUNDERS JOHN FOLEY, HISAO KUSHI RESIGN IN LEADERSHIP SHAKEUP

Ford shares tumbled after the automaker delivered a warning tied to inflation.

MARKETS

Ford expects additional $1B in inflation-related supply chain costs

Ford expects to have about up to 45,000 vehicles – primarily high-margin trucks and SUVs – lacking certain parts in inventory at the end of the third quarter.

ECONOMY

Housing starts unexpectedly jump 12.2% in August but building permits drop

Rising interest rates and expensive building supplies are starting to cool the housing market, but construction of new U.S. homes unexpectedly climbed in August.

Builders broke ground on more homes in August than July, but pulled fewer permits for privately-owned housing units, the Commerce Department reported.

Housing starts rose 12.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,575,000 from July’s revised estimate of 1,404,000. Compared to August last year, housing starts fell 0.1%.

Building permits fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,517,000, down 10% from July and 14.4% below August 2021.

Microsoft Exteriors

Software giant Microsoft declared a quarterly dividend of $0.68 per share or a 10% increase over the previous quarter's dividend.

The dividend is payable Dec. 8, 2022, to shareholders of record on Nov. 17, 2022.

Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin were all trading lower early Tuesday morning. (Getty Images)

Cryptocurrency prices for Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin were all lower early Tuesday. 

At approximately 4:30 a.m. ET, Bitcoin was trading at more than $19,330 (-1.15%), or lower by more than $225. For the week, Bitcoin was trading lower by nearly 12.5%. For the month, the cryptocurrency was down more than 6.25%. 

Ethereum was trading at approximately $1,355 (-1.72%), or lower by nearly $21.25. For the week, Ethereum was trading lower by nearly 19.2%. For the month, it was trading lower by approximately 14.4%. 

Dogecoin was trading at $0.05845 (-0.47%), or lower by approximately $0.000277.  For the week, Dogecoin was lower by nearly 7.85%. For the month, the crypto was lower by nearly 13.2%.

Gas and diesel prices fell again Tuesday morning after hitting an all-time high on June 14. (gasprices.aaa.com)

The average price of a gallon of gasoline dropped to $3.674 early Tuesday morning. On Monday, the nationwide price for a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.677 early. The price on Sunday was $3.678, according to AAA. 

Gas has been on the decline since hitting a high of $5.016 on June 14, about 14 weeks ago.

One week ago, the nationwide average for a gallon of gasoline was $3.707. A month ago, that same gallon of gasoline was $3.908. One year ago, a gallon of gasoline sold for $3.195. 

Diesel's price early Tuesday morning was $4.936. On Monday, the price was $4.95. On Sunday, the price was $4.96 per gallon. 

One week ago, the nationwide average for a gallon of diesel was $5.001. A month ago, that same gallon of diesel was $4.984. One year ago, a gallon of diesel sold for $3.307.

US manufacturers are demanding action from the federal government as midterm elections loom.

U.S. manufacturers, plagued by supply chain issues and near record-high inflation, are demanding action from politicians as the midterm elections rapidly approach. 

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) on Sept. 13 released its "Competing to Win" agenda, calling for action in tax policy, workforce development and other areas to boost U.S. manufacturing competitiveness.

NAM CEO Jay Timmons and board members also discussed the call to action plan in a call Monday afternoon. 

"Solving problems is what manufacturers do, but we need additional solutions from policymakers to ensure we can stay competitive and become more competitive, especially with the potential of a recession looming," Chuck Wetherington, president of BTE Technology, said during the call Monday. 

Gross domestic product fell the first two quarters of 2022. Wholesale Inflation remained high in August, with the annual figure rising 8.7% from a year ago, according to Labor Department data. 

One area in which the NAM has called for elected leaders to take action is workforce development. Labor shortages in the manufacturing sector are a "long-term problem," Wetherington said Monday. Both Wetherington and Greene Tweed Vice President of Operations Fernando Torres said manufacturers have been working to "upskill" existing workers and attract new ones. 

To address sector-wide workforce challenges, the NAM has called for expanding the Pell Grant programs to "include short-term or accelerated education models" and for investing in apprenticeship and "earn-and-learn" programs.

The amount of tax-exempt educational assistance employers can offer workers should be upped to $11,000 annually, the group argued in its plan. The NAM has also said immigration reform can help address workforce challenges, calling for politicians to increase employment-based immigration as a percentage of green cards and to change nonimmigrant visas and temporary worker programs. 

Meanwhile, the association has said new tax incentives and other tax provisions would also help encourage U.S. manufacturing competitiveness and investment. As an example, one board member pointed to provisions in the CHIPS and Science Act, which allocates over $52 billion for domestic semiconductor research, development, manufacturing and workplace development and provides tax credits to encourage investments in chip manufacturing. 

Three areas of tax policy that are important for manufacturers are the research and development (R&D) tax credit, the ability to expense R&D and capital investments and business interest deductions, Timmons said during the call. 

Additionally, the NAM has called for expanding and making permanent the tax deduction for business income earned "through a pass-through entity" and for keeping tax rates for profits "low and competitive."

US stocks were whipsawing as investors await Wednesday's decision by the Federal Reserve on interest rates. (Associated Press)

U.S. stocks were whipsawing overnight despite evidence investors were nervous as expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike would become a reality Wednesday on the second day of the central bank’s monthly meeting. 

On Monday, Wall Street indexes swayed between modest gains and losses for much of the day before a burst of buying in the final hour of trading. The S&P 500 rose 0.7%, climbing back from a 0.9% slide. It closed at 3,899.89. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6% to 31,019.68 and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.8% to 11,535.02. 

Technology stocks, retailers, banks and industrial companies helped lift the market. Apple rose 2.5%, Home Depot gained 1.6%, Bank of America rose 1.7% and United Airlines closed 3.3% higher. Health care and real estate stocks fell, tempering gains elsewhere in the market. Pfizer fell 1.3% and Welltower slid 2.2%. 

The yield on the 2-year Treasury, which tends to follow expectations for Fed action, rose to 3.94% from 3.87% late Friday. The 10-year yield, which influences mortgage rates, rose to 3.49% from 3.45%. 

Smaller company stocks also gained ground.

The Russell 2000 closed 0.8% higher. 

The U.S. market is coming off of its worst week in three months following a surprisingly hot report on inflation and big companies, including FedEx, warning about worsening trends in the economy. 

Investors will get another update on the housing sector Wednesday when the National Association of Realtors releases August figures for sales of previously occupied homes. 

Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates climbed above 6% last week for the first time since the housing crash of 2008. The higher rates could make an already tight housing market even more expensive for American homebuyers. 

Meanwhile, Asian shares were mostly higher Tuesday.

Japan reported that its consumer inflation jumped in August to 3.0%, its highest level since November 1991 but well below the 8% plus readings in the U.S. Core inflation excluding volatile fresh food prices climbed 2.8%.

The Bank of Japan is set to have a two-day monetary policy meeting later this week, although analysts expect the central bank to stick to its easy monetary policy. 

“Expectations are that easy monetary policies are to remain in the upcoming meeting this week. The BOJ Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda previously mentioned that he wanted to see a ‘stable and sustainable rise’ in both wages and prices before considering any policy shift,” Yeap Jun Rong, a market strategist at IG in Singapore, said in a report. 

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.4% to finish at 27,688.42. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 jumped 1.3% to 6,806.40. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.6% to 2,368.52. In China, where the loan prime rate was kept unchanged, the Shanghai Composite added nearly 0.1% to 3,118.36. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 1.0% to 18,753.53.

Oil prices steadied on Tuesday as investors worry further U.S. interest rate hikes this week intended to tame inflation will curb economic growth and fuel demand. (Associated Press)

Oil prices steadied on Tuesday on concerns that further U.S. interest rate hikes this week to tame inflation will curb economic growth and fuel demand in the world's biggest oil consumer. 

Brent crude futures for November settlement fell 7 cents, or 0.1%, to $91.93 a barrel by 0659 GMT. 

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was at $85.60 a barrel, down 13 cents, or 0.2%. The October contract will expire on Tuesday and the more active November contract was at $85.15, down 21 cents, or 0.3%.

The dollar remained firm below a two-decade high versus major peers on Tuesday, ahead of a slew of central bank meetings around the world this week led by the U.S. Federal Reserve, which is likely to raise interest rates by another 75 basis points to rein in inflation.

The stronger greenback makes dollar-denominated oil more expensive for buyers using other currencies and the expected rate increases have increased concerns that the tightening could trigger a global recession.

"Oil prices have been sliding in a downtrend since mid-June, and recession fears and a slowdown in growth in China are still the major bearish factors in general," said Tina Teng, an analyst at CMC Markets. 

While other major economies are tightening, China, the world's second-largest oil user, on Tuesday left its benchmark lending rates unchanged as it tries to balance supporting its sluggish economic growth against the weakening yuan. 

"Oil prices have been sliding in a downtrend since mid-June, and recession fears and a slowdown in growth in China are still the major bearish factors in general," said Tina Teng, an analyst at CMC Markets. 

While other major economies are tightening, China, the world's second-largest oil user, on Tuesday left its benchmark lending rates unchanged as it tries to balance supporting its sluggish economic growth against the weakening yuan. 

The impasse over a revival of the Iran nuclear deal is also continuing to keep that country's exports from fully returning to the market. Russia said on Monday that unresolved issues remained in the negotiations while France's foreign minister said that it was up to Tehran to make a decision as the window to find a solution was closing.

However, they are signs that higher oil prices this year are curbing demand. U.S. vehicle travel in July fell 3.3% from a year earlier, dropping for a second month.