Investors received an early Christmas gift from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday. The announced decrease in asset purchases was expected, as was a signal that rate hikes are coming next year. Fed Chair Jerome Powell made it clear that inflation expectations are once again a top concern, but the Fed is on top of the issue and will keep its eye on the ball. There’s nothing like a little inflation hawkishness to loosen investors’ wallets.
Crude oil jumped above $72 a barrel overnight but pulled back to $71.10. Bitcoin rose to about $49, 400 Wednesday afternoon but traded at around $47,800 early Thursday. Yields on 10-year Treasuries closed at 1.46% on Wednesday and were up about one basis point Thursday morning, while yields on the two-year notes were up by less than one basis point. The 10-year/two-year spread widened from a closing level of 0.78% Wednesday to around 0.80% Thursday morning.
On the meme stock front, the big news was Wednesday’s announcement by Reddit that it has filed confidentially for an initial public offering. When the company raised capital earlier this year, Reddit was valued at $10 billion. The company did not say how many shares it would sell nor give a proposed price range. After all, that’s what “confidential” means.
Bloomberg published a selection of comments from r/wallstreetbets shortly after the filing was revealed, along with some tweeted commentary.
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Shares of AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AMC) closed up by less than 1% on Wednesday, but premarket action Thursday added more than 5.5% to the stock price. The OG meme stock had no specific news. Trading volume topped 52 million shares Wednesday, about 20% above the daily average.
Electric vehicle maker Canoo Inc. (NASDAQ: GOEV) closed flat on Wednesday but traded up by about 6.4% in Thursday’s premarket. Late Wednesday, the company announced that it will speed up production of its EVs and move production to its Arkansas plant while going ahead with its Pryor, Oklahoma, Mega Micro facility. CEO Tony Aquila went so far as to issue increased production guidance for the next two years and project production for the two years after that:
- 2022: raised from a range of 500 to 1,000 units to a new range of 3,000 to 6,000
- 2023: raised from a prior estimate of 15,000 units to a new range of 14,000 to 17,000
- 2024: targeted 40,000 to 50,000 units
- 2025: targeted 70,000 to 80,000 units
Canoo also ended contract manufacturing discussions with Netherlands-based VDL Nedcar.
Hydrogen fuel cell maker Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG) added about 2.7% to its share price on Wednesday and traded up more than 4% in Thursday’s premarket. After markets closed, the company announced an agreement with Korean EV maker Edison to develop and sell a fuel cell-powered bus for the Korean market.
Cybersecurity firm IronNet Inc. (NASDAQ: IRNT) dropped by about 25% in premarket trading Thursday, after announcing third-quarter results that badly missed revenue estimates and it posted a wider net loss than expected.
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