CNBC Daily Open: An ‘immaculate disinflation’ amid uncertainty?

Published

2 years ago

September 19, 2023

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The New York Stock Exchange welcomes executives and guests of Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: ORA), on Sept. 6, 2023, to celebrate entering its 20th year of trading on the NYSE.

This report is from today’s CNBC Daily Open, our new, international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.

What you need to know today

Bracing for Fed meeting
U.S. stocks were little changed Monday as traders await the Federal Reserve’s September meeting. Asia-Pacific markets retreated Tuesday. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped around 0.4% as minutes from the RBA’s last meeting revealed the central bank thinks inflation is still “too high.” Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei 225 slumped 1.1%, leading losses in the region.

Rare returns
Early-stage investing in China hasn’t been lucrative. Only four U.S. dollar-denominated venture capital funds established between 2015 and 2020 have returned investors the money they put in, according to data from Preqin, a research firm. The four firms are: Fengshion Capital Investment Fund, LYFE Capital USD Fund II and GGV Capital V.

Top of the shelf
Instacart priced its initial public offering at $30 a share, the top end of its expected range. That gives the grocery delivery company a valuation of about $10 billion, a figure around 3.5 times its annual revenue. By comparison, DoorDash, a competitor, trades at 4.25 times. Instacart’s the first venture-backed tech startup to list since December 2021, and will signal the health of the IPO market.

Monthly payment for X
X, previously known as Twitter, will charge users “a small monthly payment” to combat “vast armies of bots,” Elon Musk said. Musk also divulged that X has 550 million “monthly users” who generate 100 million to 200 million posts per day. Separately, Turkish President Recep Erdogan invited Musk to build his next Tesla factory in Turkey, reported the country’s state media.

Extra pricey olive oil
Olive oil prices have surged to $8,900 a ton this month amid severe droughts in the Mediterranean. That’s over 100% higher than the year before — and far higher than the record of $6,242 set in 1996, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. And with extreme weather not abating and supplies depleting, prices might continue climbing.

[PRO] Oiling up real estate
Oil prices are currently more than $90 per barrel, and could rise further on the supply cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia. It’s natural to expect energy and oil firms to reap the rewards from this. But, rather surprisingly, two global real estate stocks could also benefit from higher oil prices, said Morgan Stanley.

The bottom line

Stocks barely budged yesterday. All major indexes ticked up, but the gains were so tiny — measured in the hundredths of a percentage point — that it’s better to think of them as unchanged. Trading volume was muted, too. Both the SPDR S&P 500 and the Invesco QQQ, which tracks the Nasdaq 100, traded around 25% fewer shares than their 30-day average.

It’s not that investors aren’t sure about what the Fed might do at its meeting Wednesday. They’re all but certain the central bank will keep interest rates the same for now, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. It’s the November meeting investors are fretting over. Currently, markets think there’s a 28.7% chance of a hike — but that percentage has reached as high as 50.89% in late August (and was 31.3% just five hours ago!). Those wild swings reflect the uncertainty over the November meeting.

Still, Goldman Sachs thinks “the FOMC can forgo a final hike this year, as we think it ultimately will,” as the bank’s chief economist Jan Hatzius wrote in a Sunday note. But with the U.S. economy running hot, the labor market remaining tight — and roiled by strikes — and oil prices surging again, it’s no surprise the broader market doesn’t really know what inflation — and hence interest rates — will look like for the rest of the year.

Hence, the Fed’s dot plot, which charts where the central bankers think interest rates will be in the short- and long-term, will be closely scrutinized by investors. But Hatzius thinks even if members pencil in one more hike for the year, the Fed won’t actually pull the trigger. It’s “only to preserve flexibility for now,” he wrote.

Perhaps we should give the Fed some benefit of the doubt. Ed Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research, is certainly doing so. “Generally speaking, Fed watchers like to criticize the Fed and suggest that they’re always wrong about their forecast and what they are doing,” Yardeni said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

“But I think they’re actually getting it right this time,” Yardeni said. “And I think we may very well have immaculate disinflation, where inflation comes down without an economy-wide recession.” This might be a brazenly optimistic prediction. But it’s an undeniably cheery thought — one of the few certainties to be had today.

Environment

CATL unveils new EV battery that charges as fast as pumping gas

Published

53 mins ago

April 21, 2025

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CATL unveils new EV battery that charges as fast as pumping gas

China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) has unveiled its latest battery cell technologies, which charge as quickly as filling up a gas tank while potentially lowering costs without compromise.

CATL has quickly become the world’s largest battery manufacturer by a wide margin. It is one of, if not the biggest, force for advancing electric transportation.

A big part of CATL’s success is due to its advancements in lithium-iron phosphate battery cells, also known as LFP. LFP cells are cheaper than nickel-rich batteries, but they used to have much lower energy density.

The Chinese battery manufacturers managed to close the gap somewhat while maintaining lower costs, resulting in LFP cells becoming popular for entry-level EVs.

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Now, CATL is looking to do the same with sodium-ion batteries.

Like LFP cells, sodium-ion battery cells have the potential to be cheaper than more common Li-ion cells, but they also offer potential for superior performance, particularly in terms of faster charging and longer lifecycles.

CATL has unveiled today Naxtra, its new sodium-ion battery cells, and it claimed some truly impressive specs.

The new cell reportedly achieves an energy density of 175 Wh per kg (385 Wh per lb), on par with the higher-end of LFP battery cells.

The new cells also offer potential for significant safety improvements.

CATL shared several intense stress tests, including drilling into a cell and even cutting it in half without any thermal event:

The next-gen sodium cells could help further lower the cost of electric vehicles without compromising performance, and while increasing safety.

On top of the new Naxtra cell, CATL has also unveiled its next-gen Shenxing LFP battery cells.

Its charge rate is truly impressive. CATL shared several examples of cars charging at around 1,000 kW and maintaining over 500 kW at over 50% state of charge:

The new cell is being described as capable of adding 300 miles (482 km) of range in about 5 minutes – depending on the EV model.

That’s virtually as quick as filling up a tank of gas.

CATL says that the Shenxing will be in 67 electric vehicle models by the end of the year.

The next-gen cell was unveiled after BYD, CATL’s biggest competitor, also unveiled its latest technology, capable of charging electric vehicles at extremely high speeds.

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Environment

New York adds $30 million more to its EV rebate pot

Published

2 hours ago

April 21, 2025

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New York adds million more to its EV rebate pot

New York EV rebates — Chevy Equinox EV LT (Source: GM)

New York State has announced an extra $30 million for point-of-sale rebates to lease or buy more than 60 new EV models.

The rebates are available to consumers through New York’s Drive Clean Rebate program, which offers a point-of-sale rebate off the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of an EV at participating car dealerships in New York State.

The rebate is available in all 62 counties, with the highest rebate of $2,000 available for EVs with a greater-than-200-mile range. (For a 40- to 199-mile range, the rebate is $1,000.) The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) runs the program.

NYSERDA President and CEO Doreen M. Harris said, “Converting to EVs reduces the total cost of vehicle ownership through lower fuel and vehicle maintenance costs, and NYSERDA is proud to help provide New Yorkers with more purchasing power through these rebates.”

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The Drive Clean Rebate program has issued over 190,000 rebates to consumers since 2017, contributing to the more than 280,000 EVs on the road in New York State.

NYSERDA also boosted its EV charging incentives. Through the Charge Ready NY 2.0 program, the state is boosting the cash available for Level 2 charger installations at apartment buildings, workplaces, and hotels from $2,000 to $3,000 per port. And if the chargers go into disadvantaged communities, that amount jumps to $4,000 per port.

New York has racked up over 17,000 public EV chargers, making it second only to California for charger count. On top of that, there are more than 4,000 semi-public stations tucked into workplaces and multifamily buildings across the state.

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Environment

ArcBest Freight and logistics company deploys 14 electric terminal tractors

Published

3 hours ago

April 21, 2025

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ArcBest Freight and logistics company deploys 14 electric terminal tractors

LTL carrier ArcBest Freight (ABF) announced plans to add five new Orange EV electric terminal tractors to its existing ZEV fleet, bringing its total deployment of these battery electric HDEVs to 14 … with even more to come.

LTL stands for “Less than Truck Load,” and basically means that, since whatever you’re shipping won’t take up a full container, you can share the costs of shipping with other customers with goods going the same way. You save a little more money and the shipper makes a little more money, making it a rare win-win scenario in the shipping space. And that’s important, because LTL containers amount to a massive 15% of total US shipping.

ABF has been putting Orange EV yard dogs to work in their LTL traffic terminals since their initial deployment of four trucks in June 2022. The company added five more a few years later, and just purchased five more — further underscoring their confidence in the benefits of transitioning their fleet to electric power.

“The Orange EV terminal trucks meet our operational requirements and expectations for safe, reliable, and affordable service and performance,” explains Matthew Godfrey, ABF Freight president. “We’re committed to responsible environmental management, and our investment in EVs aligns with our continuous efforts to enhance efficiency while maintaining exceptional service standards.”

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ABF joins other large logistics companies like YMX and DHL in deploying the Orange EV terminal trucks, which have logged hundreds of thousands of hours of service for their customers.

Electrek’s Take

Over at The Heavy Equipment Podcast, we had a chance to talk to Orange EV founder Kurt Neutgens ahead of last year’s ACT Expo for clean trucking. On the show (embedded, above), Kurt explained how his experience at Ford helped inform his design ideology, and that the Orange EV was designed to be cost competitive with diesel options, even without subsidies.

Give it a listen, then let us know what you think of the big yard dogs in the comments.

SOURCE | IMAGES: Orange EV; via PR Newswire.

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