5 Things To Know Before The Stock Market Opens Thursday - Free Websites, Share News And Posts Publicly

THU, OCT 05, 2023

MORNING SQUAWK

1. Taking a breath

Investors took a small sigh of relief after a series of bad days on Wall Street. The Dow broke a three-day losing streak, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite also took a more positive note after the release of new jobs data. ADP reported Wednesday that private payrolls rose 89,000 in September, far below the 160,000 economists had been expecting. Investors are hoping that means a historically tight labor market might finally be loosening, which could give the Federal Reserve a reason to stop hiking rates. But the ADP numbers can differ significantly from the official government numbers, which are due out Friday, so the relief might be short-lived. Follow live market updates.

2. Striking out

There’s a new strike in town. More than 75,000 healthcare workers walked off the job Wednesday at Kaiser Permanente, the nation’s largest healthcare nonprofit organization. The union — which says this is the largest strike of healthcare workers in U.S. history — is seeking a long-term solution to staffing shortages that have left employees burnt out. Its members also say they want better pay and benefits. Negotiations between the two sides are ongoing. Kaiser said it has contingency plans in place to ensure patients receive care during the strike, which is expected to last three days.

3. Smartphone wars

Google unveiled two new Pixel phones Wednesday as it continues to try to take smartphone market share away from Apple. The Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro have new AI-powered editing tools built into the camera app, among other features. The new Best Take tool allows users to take a series of photos and then pick the best takes from each image and combine them into one picture where everyone is looking at the camera and smiling. Meanwhile, Apple released a software update that it said will fix a bug that’s led to overheating iPhones. Some consumers who bought the new titanium iPhone 15 models complained online that they were (literally) too hot to handle.

4. More forgiveness

President Joe Biden canceled another $9 billion of student loan debt on Wednesday. The relief comes from his administration’s fixes to a number of programs, including income-driven repayment plans and Public Service Loan Forgiveness. About 125,000 Americans will benefit from the new round of forgiveness. The move comes after the Supreme Court struck down Biden’s plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student loan debt for tens of millions of Americans. That means many people had to start repaying their student loans, beginning on Oct. 1, for the first time in three years after a stretch of time when payments were paused amid the pandemic.

5. Disney discounts

Maybe dreams do come true. Disney is offering discounts on children’s tickets at its domestic theme parks. The deal, which is good for a limited time, comes as park attendance is lagging. Disney and others in the business have seen a slowdown in attendance and hotel room occupancy as consumers deal with inflation. Nonetheless, parks remain profitable for the company and it’s planning to double down on its parks. For the discounts, children’s tickets (valid for kids aged 3 to 9) for the California-based Disneyland resort will be available for as low as $50, while the Florida-based Disney World will offer half-off children’s tickets and dining plans for four-night stays.

— CNBC’s Michele Luhn wrote this newsletter. Hakyung Kim, Jeff Cox, Spencer Kimball, Sofia Blum, Kif Leswing, Annie Nova and Sarah Whitten contributed.

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