how are you? (October 2-8)
Twitter deals are back on the table
Elon Musk changed course again just days before he was due to be dismissed in court over his bid to buy Twitter. This time, it was to go back to his original suggestion. That was Twitter he bought for $54.20 a share. He has been trying to back out of a $44 billion deal for months, accusing Twitter of misleading him about the number of spam his accounts on the platform. The dispute, set to go to Court in Chancery, Delaware this month, promised to be a sticky one for both sides, with more than 100 subpoenas dragging Silicon Valley elites into the lawsuit. Text messages sent between Mr. Musk and his friends and business associates surfaced earlier this month, revealing clashes between the billionaire and Twitter’s leadership. The judge overseeing the case acknowledged requesting from Musk’s attorneys to postpone the trial in Delaware, giving him three weeks to complete the purchase.
A resilient but slowing job market
Like the August jobs report, last week’s numbers contained two seemingly contradictory ideas. On the one hand, his 263,000 jobs added by employers in September show that the labor market remains strong despite rising borrowing costs. At the same time, the number is down from his 315,000 jobs added the previous month, suggesting there has been some cooling. The Federal Reserve, which is trying to curb job growth to keep inflation in check, may be taking the view that the job market is slowing, but not enough. His September wage growth, which saw his average hourly wage rise by 5%, could also prompt the Fed to continue raising rates.
reduction in oil production
A group of oil producers including Russia and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday announced plans to cut production by 2 million barrels per day. The cut, worth about 2% of global oil production, comes in response to moves by the United States and Europe to punish Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, including capping Russian oil prices. rice field. Analysts say the heavy cuts by OPEC+ will push up oil prices and help offset the steep price cuts Russia needed to sell its oil. In response, the Biden administration, which has been pushing production increases to ease gasoline prices, said the president would direct the Department of Energy to release an additional 10 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Oil Reserve in November. President Biden said on Thursday that he would “also consider alternatives” to oil from OPEC+ producers.
what’s next? (October 9-15)
boost for retirees
The Social Security Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) was released on Thursday and is expected to be the largest inflation adjustment in 40 years. If we closely track government figures for inflation, the jump could be around 8.7%. Her more than 70 million Americans on Social Security will benefit from this increase. This is intended to mitigate the impact of rapid price increases. However, not all recipients feel the effects of her COLA equally. Inflation rates vary depending on where you live. It may also affect retirees as a group differently, as retirees tend to spend more on health care and housing and less on food and transportation. This has sparked some criticism for using inflation data in her COLA that affects workers rather than retirees.