After losing almost 5% so far this month, the S&P 500 and other stock indices are trying to bounce in the early going today. Treasuries and the dollar are a bit lower, though, while crude oil, gold, and silver are higher.
On the news front...
Chinese banks lowered the one-year loan prime rate, a move that follows a cut in one of the People’s Bank of China’s benchmark rates last week. But the move was actually smaller than analysts expected, and many were skeptical it would have much impact. Financial market regulators have also implemented some moves, like transaction fee reductions, to encourage investors to buy equities (or at least stop selling so many!)
Could Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) be poised for a comeback? That’s what SoftBank Group (SFTBF) and Arm Ltd. are hoping. The Japanese investment firm is looking to sell a 10% stake in Arm, a semiconductor design firm, for around $8 billion to $10 billion. SoftBank originally bought the company seven years ago.
If the IPO goes off without a hitch in September, it’ll be the biggest such transaction since Rivian Automotive (RIVN) raised $13.7 billion back in November 2021. A record $339 billion worth of IPOs hit the market that year before markets rolled over, the profitless-tech-stock bubble burst, and investors started focusing on companies that actually made money again.
Finally, Hurricane Hilary struck Mexico then the US Southwest and West Coast over the weekend. The National Hurricane Center issued its first EVER Tropical Storm Warning for the Southern California coast in response to the system, which dumped several inches of rain across a wide swath of desert and mountain territory that usually only gets a couple inches of rain all year.
