In the last 24 hours, the markets have stabilized, particularly regional banks, and according to US officials, deposit flows have also stabilized. This happened at the end of last week.
However, caution is still advised as regional bank, First Republic, based in San Francisco, is now in focus. Its shares plummeted more than 47% yesterday as S&P Global downgraded the company to junk status, warning that cash infusions from top banks may not be enough to save its problems.
The question now is if JP Morgan Chase CEO, Jamie Dimon, will throw them an additional lifeline. He said he was working on a rescue plan, but there are still many questions, and we’ll soon find out if any of this changes the Fed’s decision on interest rate hikes tomorrow. Goldman Sachs predicts that the Fed won’t raise rates at all.
Meanwhile, on Wall Street, they’re considering a small rate hike which would mean borrowing becomes more expensive and immediate on your credit card. This has a ripple effect on everyone.
Amazon is laying off another 9,000 workers, the second-largest layoff in the company’s history. This is part of the story we’ve been seeing in technology for many months. All these companies hired during the pandemic, thinking that the world would continue to buy as it did during the pandemic, but everything changed. As a result, many, including Amazon, are now making these unfortunate layoffs.”