Pre-market Market Trends 1.

On September 20th (Friday) pre-market, the three major U.S. stock index futures fell in unison.

As of press time, Dow futures were down 0.01%, S&P 500 index futures were down 0.23%, and Nasdaq futures were down 0.36%.

2.

As of press time, the German DAX index was down 0.71%, the UK's FTSE 100 index was down 0.84%, the French CAC 40 index was down 0.82%, and the Euro Stoxx 50 index was down 0.75%.

3.

As of press time, WTI crude oil was down 0.39%, at $70.88 per barrel.

Brent crude oil was down 0.39%, at $74.59 per barrel.

Market news coincides with the U.S. stock market's "Triple Witching Day"!

The market faces a $5.1 trillion test.

According to estimates by derivatives analytics firm Asym 500, approximately $5.1 trillion in index, stock, and ETF options will expire on Friday.

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As investors and traders need to adjust their positions before these contracts expire, the market often experiences greater volatility and increased trading volume around "Triple Witching Day."

This "Triple Witching Day" coincides with a critical moment in market positioning.

The Federal Reserve announced a 50 basis point rate cut on Wednesday, the first rate cut in over four years, and the cut exceeded the 25 basis points expected by most economists.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index is less than 1% away from its all-time high, and the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), which measures expected volatility of the S&P 500 index, remains higher than the levels before the market plunge in late July and early August, indicating that investors remain somewhat cautious.

Matt Thompson, co-portfolio manager at Little Harbor Advisors, said, "Triple Witching Day could inject more volatility into the market, we just don't know in which direction."

"Regardless of the market's view on the Fed's rate cut, the large number of options expiring on Friday will intensify this view."

"U.S. Inflation Whistleblower" warns: The Fed's rate cut may not match the dot plot.

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, known as the "U.S. Inflation Whistleblower," recently said that the market's judgment on the Fed's rate cut path is too aggressive, and the potential threat of inflation may prevent the Fed from lowering interest rates along the expected path indicated by the dot plot in the coming years.

"In fact, looking at the dot plot, Fed policymakers seem to think that easy monetary policy will go too far, but this is a considerable risk for the potential growth trend of inflation rates," he said.

"If inflationary pressures re-emerge, then interest rates will not fall as much as Fed officials predict in their so-called dot plot."

He also warned investors that the financial markets have greatly overestimated the easy monetary policy that the Fed is about to adopt.

What will the Fed do next after the rate cut cycle begins?

Wall Street is buzzing.

After the Fed started the rate cut cycle this week, the largest banks on Wall Street have disagreements on the speed and magnitude of the Fed's next rate cuts, and the financial markets will be in a state of tension before the outlook becomes clear.

Bank of America economists and strategists wrote that the Fed "will be forced to cut rates further," with another 75 basis points cut in the fourth quarter and another 125 basis points cut next year.

Barclays economists believe that the Fed will continue to cut rates by 25 basis points in November and December, followed by three more 25 basis point cuts in 2025, but considering the Fed's 50 basis point rate cut on Wednesday (which Barclays did not expect), they now believe that the target range at the end of next year will be reduced to 3.50% to 3.75%.

Citigroup economists maintain their forecast of another 75 basis points cut this year, with a 50 basis point cut in November and a 25 basis point cut in December.

Deutsche Bank economists insist that the Fed will gradually cut rates by 25 basis points before the March 2025 meeting, then switch to quarterly rate cuts, and finally maintain the federal funds rate between 3.25% and 3.5% by the end of next year.

The Fed's big move disrupts the global market, prosperity or recession?

Investors are worried!

Global large investors remain vigilant about market volatility, as the Fed's aggressive rate cut has raised concerns about whether the U.S. economy will usher in prosperity or fall into recession, leading to a chaotic outlook for global stock, bond, and currency markets.

Some fund managers warn that the Fed's substantial rate cut may provide too much support to the already strong U.S. economy, thereby boosting global economic growth, but it may also drive up the prices of commodities and consumer goods.

Trevor Greetham, head of multi-asset at Royal Bank of London, said, "I think it's more likely that the Fed's rate cut will be too large, leading to accelerated economic growth.

At that time, there may not be a lot of global rate cuts."

He also expects increased market volatility thereafter.

Tim Drayson, head of economics at Legal & General Investment Management, said, "I think there will be more turmoil in the market, there are too many risks."

Shamil Gohil, portfolio manager at Fidelity International, also expects increased global market volatility.

Investors also warned that if U.S. economic data changes the market's view of the Fed's next move, the outlook for global central banks may change.

The Fed unexpectedly cuts rates by 50 basis points, and Carlyle warns: Inflation risks are looming, and 4.5% may become the new normal.

Jason Thomas, head of global research and investment strategy at Carlyle Group, warned investors to prepare for a possible rebound in inflation, which will lead Fed officials to maintain interest rates around 4.5%.

Thomas believes that although the current interest rate levels are still high, it is expected that the central bank will cut rates at least twice more after the 50 basis point rate cut this week.

However, as industries that have been stagnant due to rising borrowing costs begin to recover strongly, the world's largest economy may face new price pressures.

He further pointed out, "While there will definitely be more rate cuts, I think the room for rate cuts is smaller than the market expects."

Individual stock news FedEx (FDX.US) Q1 performance explodes, pre-market share price plummets by more than 12%.

For the first fiscal quarter ending August 31, the company's adjusted earnings per share were $3.60, far below analysts' expectations of $4.77 and the previous year's $4.37.

Revenue was $21.6 billion, slightly below analysts' expectations of $21.9 billion.

This marks another warning signal for the direction of the U.S. economy.

NVIDIA (NVDA.US) partners with UAE AI company G42 to create a climate technology laboratory.

According to a statement on Friday, the two companies will work together to develop artificial intelligence that can improve the accuracy of weather forecasts.

They will rely on NVIDIA's climate digital twin cloud platform Earth-2, which aims to help scientists and researchers better understand and predict the impact of climate change through high-precision simulation and visualization technology, thereby reducing economic losses caused by extreme weather.

The statement pointed out that the climate technology laboratory "will serve as a research and development center, promoting the two companies' commitment to environmental sustainability," and will also "mobilize the creation of customized climate and weather solutions that utilize more than 100PB of geophysical data assets."

Insiders may quickly sell after the lock-up period ends, and Trump Media Technology Group (DJT.US) share prices continue to fall.

Trump Media Technology Group went public on NASDAQ at the end of March after merging with a special purpose acquisition company.

According to the terms of the company's initial public offering (i.e., the lock-up agreement), Trump and others who obtained shares before the company went public were not allowed to sell any shares for about 180 days.

This lock-up clause ended at 9:00 AM Eastern Time on September 19.

Trump Media Technology Group's share price once reached a high of $79.38 after going public, and traders believed this was a speculative bet on Trump's return to the White House.

However, the stock has plummeted since its peak, and has accelerated its decline in recent weeks after Trump lost his leading position in opinion polls to Democratic presidential candidate Harris.

Due to investor concerns that insiders will sell shares after the lock-up period ends, Trump Media Technology Group's share price has closed down for four consecutive trading days this week, with a cumulative drop of more than 18%.

As of press time, Trump Media Technology Group's share price fell more than 4% in pre-market trading on Friday.

Buffett continues to sell nearly $900 million of Bank of America (BAC.US) shares, recovering all investment costs.

In a round of transactions disclosed in a filing submitted on Thursday, Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway sold $896 million worth of Bank of America shares this week.

This means that, without considering the impact of taxes, Buffett's total proceeds from selling Bank of America shares since mid-July, plus dividends received since 2011, have exceeded the $14.6 billion he spent on purchasing Bank of America shares.

Buffett, who is now 94 years old, established his investment in Bank of America in 2011 by buying preferred shares and warrants for $5 billion.

Six years later, after the bank raised its dividend, he converted these shares into common stock.

During his investment period, Bank of America's share price has doubled.

As Buffett continues to sell Bank of America's shares, the investment master known as the "stock god" has now recovered all of his investment costs in the stock, and the value of the Bank of America shares he still holds, worth more than $34 billion, is pure profit.

Nike (NKE.US) rises nearly 7% in pre-market trading!

Former executive Elliott Hill returns to take over as CEO to revitalize sales.

Nike announced that former executive Elliott Hill will rejoin the company to replace John Donahoe as President and CEO.

The sportswear giant is reshuffling its top management in an effort to revive sales and cope with increasingly fierce competition.

Hill has worked at Nike for 32 years, holding senior leadership positions in Europe and North America, responsible for helping the company's business grow to more than $39 billion.

Before retiring in 2020, Hill served as President of Nike's Consumer Markets, leading all business and marketing operations of the Nike brand.

The company added that Hill will also become a member of Nike's board of directors and the executive committee.

As of press time, Nike's share price rose nearly 7% in pre-market trading on Friday.Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.US) is said to have increased the settlement amount for baby powder cancer lawsuits to over $8.2 billion.

According to insiders, Johnson & Johnson has raised the settlement amount for thousands of lawsuits accusing its baby powder of causing cancer to over $8.2 billion, up from the previous offer of $6.5 billion.

The decision to increase the settlement amount will bring the total amount Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay or has already paid to resolve baby powder-related lawsuits to over $13.4 billion.

The source added that under the new terms, claimants may receive higher compensation and approximately $650 million in legal fees.

Settlement negotiations are ongoing.

Johnson & Johnson insists that talc (which has been discontinued) has never caused cancer.

The company recently obtained the agreement of more than 75% of the plaintiffs in baby powder-related lawsuits, reaching out-of-court settlement agreements.

If more plaintiffs approve of this agreement, it will help Johnson & Johnson to quickly advance the bankruptcy process, limiting liability to a subsidiary established to resolve legal proceedings.

It is reported that the company may file for bankruptcy in the next few days.