Fed's rate decision, FedEx earnings, iPhone 15 preorders: What to watch
On Wednesday, September 20, the FOMC is set to make its next interest rate decision, which could impact the economic forecasts ahead of 2024. Jobless claims data is expected out on Thursday, alongside earnings reports from FedEx (FDX) and General Mills (GIS). Additionally, Apple (APPL) is preparing to ship out iPhone 15 pre-orders this week. Yahoo Finance's Josh Schafer informs viewers of this week's key events.
Video transcript
BRAD SMITH: Let's get the landscape with Yahoo Finance's Josh Schafer. Josh, do we have the excitement meter yet? Please [? do not disappont. ?]
JOSH SCHAFER: Brad, I don't have the physical excitement meter. But I can tell you the excitement is through the roof. It's a Fed week.
SEANA SMITH: There we go.
JOSH SCHAFER: We're fired up. We're fired up on a Monday morning. And I want to take a look at what we do have on the docket this week. A lot of homebuilder data, lot of homing housing data. That homebuilder confidence index came in lower than expected today, surprising the street a little bit. So it will be interesting to see what we see in the housing sector for the rest of the week. I want to highlight a couple other things. And then we'll get to the Fed because that's sort of the fun stuff, right?
We're going to have jobless claims on Thursday. We've been watching that labor market pretty closely. And then we're also going to have FedEx earnings and General Mills on Thursday, really kind of the only highlights from a corporate side of things when we're talking about earnings. We're also going to get some updates on services and manufacturing come Friday.
But again, guys, Wednesday is the big day here. And what we're looking for on Wednesday, right now, it's about a 97% chance the Federal Reserve doesn't raise interest rates on Wednesday. So the most interesting thing, I think, to watch is going to be that summary of economic projections, that [? dot ?] plot and where does that move for the rest of the year?
Our Federal Reserve officials, still pricing in one more rate hike for this year. And when are we going to start seeing a cut? We're looking closely at what we see in 2024 and the projections for interest rates in 2024. That's going to be the big thing to watch. That's on Wednesday. That's the day we're excited about today. But it's only Monday. So plenty to come this week, guys. Maybe we'll get something more exciting that we don't quite see coming yet.
SEANA SMITH: Well, Josh, we've also got maybe something that's a little bit exciting, especially for those who have been waiting to upgrade. Apple is going to start getting the iPhone pre-orders. You're going to be able to start doing that later on this week. What are the expectations there?
JOSH SCHAFER: Yeah, Seana. So the street coming in a little bit surprised with how well demand has been for iPhone sales and pre-sales so far. Been interesting to see these lead times is what I have next to me. So this is a chart from Bank of America.
And when you take a look all the way over here, you can see, in purple, you have iPhone 15 compared to the iPhone 14 Pro. So lead times is how long it's going to take that phone to ship. So lead time's still a little bit far out for the 15 is what analysts said, but better than what we saw for the 14. Interesting to think about when you think about any potential supply chain disruptions and what people are buying.
Speaking of what people are buying, street analysts right now looking at what people have been searching for on Apple's website trying to buy. Seems like that 15 Pro Max, that high end model, is where people are buying right now. [? You should ?] know Apple shares were up earlier this morning as multiple analysts on the street were breaking down this data.
So it seems like, overall, people are relatively happy that those Apple customers are going for those expensive phones. Of course, we're going for those expensive phones, right, guys? They got us in the ecosystem. I always feel like I'm buying up when it comes to the iPhone.
SEANA SMITH: I know. It's hard to say no when you know that there is another model that's just a bit better if you pay 100, 200, 300 bucks more. But that would be very, very good news there for Apple for their margins. All right, Josh Schafer. Great stuff. Thanks.
