Movers & Shakers: Aug. 23, 2019
Countdown to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole speech. The Fed head will deliver his keynote speech, which is expected to pave the way for another rate cut, at 10 a.m. ET. Already the futures market is pricing in a 94 percent chance of a September rate cut, this as other central banks around the globe continue to cut interest rates. U.S. Futures are pointing to small gains ahead of the opening bell.
Tax cuts 2.0 may be coming during Trump’s 2020 campaign. Earlier this week, President Trump said he “wasn’t looking at a tax cut now,” but White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow says don’t rule one out just yet. “You might even see tax cuts 2.0, which would drive additional tax relief and create additional tax incentives for middle-class folks, for blue-collar workers for small businesses…you might see that during the campaign,” he told FOX Business on Thursday.
Hong Kong’s protests could rock the global economy. Ongoing Hong Kong pro-democracy protests, which have closed the airport several times in recent days, against what is viewed as overreach from mainland China have stretched into their 11th week. Now, Harvard University economist Carmen Reinhart told Bloomberg they could be a “tipping point that could trigger a very significant global slowdown or even recession.”
Overstock's big reveal as Patrick Byrne calls Warren Buffett his “rabbi.” Patrick Byrne resigned as CEO of Overstock Thursday amid his ties to a government investigation into the 2016 election and his romantic link to a Russian spy. He told FOX Business that he went to Warren Buffett, who he has known since he was 13, for advice and that calling him his “rabbi” is “probably the right way to describe our relationship, although neither of us (are) Jewish.” Overstock shares rose 8 percent on Byrne's departure.
MLB is blocking its players from the Venezuelan winter league. Major League Baseball confirmed Thursday that its players won’t be allowed to participate in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League this winter due to the Trump administration’s sanctions on President Nicolas Maduro’s country. “MLB will suspend its involvement in that league until it receives direction from the relevant agencies that participation by affiliated players is consistent with the Executive Order,” an MLB spokesperson said in a statement.