Federal Reserve, PLUG, Uber, St. Patrick’s: 5 Things You Must Know

Equity futures fell moderately as investors awaited a Federal Reserve Board evaluation of the US economy slowly recovering from the coronavirus pandemic.

Contracts related to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 10 points, S & P 500 futures fell 2 points, and tech-heavy Nasdaq futures fell 25 points.

Bond yields have recently boosted inflation expectations, causing a rotation of high-growth stocks, especially technology stocks, to value stocks. The Treasury yield for 10 years was around 1.63% at the beginning of Wednesday.

The Federal Reserve Board has previously said it will not raise rates until 2023 at the earliest, as it expects inflation to remain below the central bank’s target of 2% throughout the year.

“In June 2020, Chair Powell famously said,’I’m not even thinking about raising rates,’ to reassure the market that the low interest rate environment has been here for some time.” To announce plans to raise interest rates soon, the market began pricing at a faster lift-off (early 2023) than the federal government reported.

“It would be interesting to see if the Fed disobeys the expectations of these markets,” Detrick added.

Federal Reserve Board Preview: Jim Cramer Explains Oil’s Role in Inflation Concerns

Stock prices almost fell on Tuesday And investors were waiting for the Fed’s predictions about the US economy, ending the S & P 500’s five-session winning streak. The Dow has completed a series of seven-day rises.

Read more about oversold stocks

2.-Wednesday Calendar: Federal Reserve Board and Williams Sonoma Revenues

America Economic calendar Includes announcement of interest rates from the Federal Reserve Board at 2:00 pm Wednesday and a press conference from Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell at 2:30 pm

The calendar also includes housing starts and permits at 8:30 am on February and oil inventories for the week ending at 10:30 am on March 12.

Earnings report from Williams Sonoma is expected on Wednesday (((WSM)- Get the report, Five Below (((Five)- Get the report, Lands end (((LE)- Get the report, Sun dial grower (((SNDL)- Get the report And PagerDuty (((PD)- Get the report..

3.-Plug power plummets due to accounting error

Plug power (((plug)- Get the report Pre-market trading on Wednesday was down nearly 18%. Fuel cell company reveals accounting error Results for the first three quarters of 2018, 2019, and 2020.

Errors include “book value of right-of-use assets and related financial obligations”, loss of service contracts, impairment of certain long-term assets, and “reduction of R & D costs by specific cost classification”. I did.

In a statement, Plugpower said, “Given the innovative nature of the company’s business and its leading position in the rapidly developing new industry, the accounting associated with amendment restatement is complex and technical. , With important judgments on how to apply US GAAP. ”

As a result of the amendment, PlugPower has postponed the submission of its annual report, but said it would do so “as soon as possible.”

Share of plug power Soared over 1,400% Over the past year as investors bet on the company’s hydrogen fuel cell technology.

Cowen analysts said Plugpower shares appeared to be “oversold” in the news, and the decline offered “unique buying opportunities.”

In pre-market trading, the share price fell 17.74% to $ 35.11.

4.-Uber Treats British Drivers as Full-Time Employees

Uber Technologies (((UBER)- Get the report Start treating UK drivers as full-time employees You have the right to the minimum wage, pension benefits and other rights.

The movement came later Uber lost in proceedings last month Challenge the requirements.

According to a statement released by the Ride Hailing app, UK drivers will receive income guarantees, holiday payments and pensions.

The company, which has more than 70,000 drivers in the UK, said the change would take effect on Wednesday.

Drivers will receive at least £ 8.72 ($ 12) per hour. Uber described this as “the lower limit of revenue, not the upper limit of revenue.”

Uber didn’t reveal the cost of reclassifying drivers, but said it expects no change in its quarterly or yearly earnings forecasts.

In pre-market trading on Wednesday, Uber’s share price fell 3.14% to $ 57.

5.-St. Patrick’s Day-Fasting

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated around the world to commemorate the death of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, who is alleged to have brought Christianity to the country.

St. Patrick was not Irish-he was British.

St. Patrick has nothing to do with driving snakes out of Ireland. Reptiles have never been there-Ireland is too cold for them.

The first St. Patrick’s Day parade in the United States was held in 1766 in New York. This year’s parade will be mostly virtual. Dozens of people are expected to march early Wednesday to maintain the tradition, according to a spokesman for Mayor Bill de Blasio.

The parade was postponed last year (for the first time) due to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.