Here are the most important news items that investors need to start their trading day:
1. Powell speech
Stock futures were slightly higher Friday morning as investors await Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 76 points, or 0.2%. Futures tied to the S&P 500 futures rose 0.2%, while Nasdaq-100 futures ticked 0.1% higher. The summit in Jackson Hole brings together central bankers and key financial officials from across the world, and Powell has often used the occasion to push policy agendas for the Fed. This year, with inflation decelerating and a recession looking less likely, many expect Powell to feel less of a need to guide the markets and he may take a more down-the-middle approach. Follow live market updates.
2. Subway’s sale
After a lengthy process, sandwich chain Subway is selling itself to private equity firm Roark Capital, which already has more than a dozen restaurant chains in its portfolio. Through holding company Inspire Brands, Roark owns restaurants such as Dunkin’, Buffalo Wild Wings and Jimmy John’s. Separately, under Focus Brands, it owns Auntie Anne’s, Cinnabon, Moe’s Southwest Grill and Schlotzsky’s, among others. Subway is larger than all those restaurants and has more annual sales than all but Dunkin’. The sale ends more than five decades of family ownership for the chain. Subway and Roark did not announce a transaction price.
3. DOJ sues SpaceX
The U.S. Department of Justice sued SpaceX, alleging unfair employment practices. The lawsuit claims the company discriminated against refugees and asylum recipients in its hiring practices. The DOJ alleges SpaceX “wrongly claimed” that export control laws limited its hiring to U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents. The agency has been investigating Elon Musk’s space company since it received a complaint about the matter in 2020.
4. A tech hug
You could say an AI startup based in New York just got a hug of support from several tech giants. Hugging Face — named after the hugging face emoji showing a smiley face framed by two open hands — has raised $235 million at a $4.5 billion valuation, a sign that the artificial intelligence boom continues. The company said Google, Amazon, Nvidia, Salesforce, AMD, Intel, IBM and Qualcomm all contributed to the round. Hugging Face is a more collaborative AI model than other ventures. Its platform allows developers to share code, models and data sets, and to use the company’s tools to get open-source artificial intelligence models running more easily.
5. Trump arrested
Former President Donald Trump surrendered and was booked at the Fulton County jail in Georgia late Thursday before posting bond and leaving. He was indicted earlier this month with 18 co-defendants on state charges that he and his supporters attempted to interfere with the state’s 2020 presidential election. The Georgia case includes a racketeering charge and several fraud and false statement counts. Trump is facing four separate criminal cases, but this is the first time he has had a mugshot taken and released to the public.
