CNBC Business News Update - Market Midday: Stocks Higher, Inflation Lowest In 3 Years, Mars Buys Pop Tart Maker Kellanova 8/14/24

Episode Date: August 14, 2024

From Wall Street to Main Street, the latest on the markets and what it means for your money. Updated regularly on weekdays, featuring CNBC expert analysis and sound from top business newsmakers. Anchored and reported by CNBC's Jessica Ettinger.

I'm Jessica Edinger, CNBC, Wall Street in the green this afternoon. The Dow is back above 40,000. Investors like that consumer inflation number. The Dow is up 254 points, a half percent. The S&P 500 index up 23 points, almost a half percent. And the Nasdaq is up 37 points this afternoon. Companies whose shares have hit all-time highs today include T-Mobile, GoDaddy, Allstate, Lockheed Martin, Regeneron Progressive, and HCA. Consumer price inflation fell below 3% for the first time in three years with the CPI, the Consumer Price Index, at 2.9%.

After heading sideways for a few months, you can see that we now have, there's a couple months now where we've been declining. CNBC senior economics reporter Steve Leisman, Wall Street's trying to game out whether this number is going to push the Fed to cut interest rates at its meeting next month. The core CPI, that was a 0.17, so it rounded up to 0.2. So these are good numbers. If I'm Jay Powell, I'm cutting 50 in September. That would be consistent with the last three cutting cycles where they started with 50 in January of 01, September of 07. And then, of course, the pandemic. SMBC, NICO Securities, Joe Livornia on CNBC. Privately held Mars is buying Calanova.

That's the snack food business Kellogg's recently spun off. It's the biggest deal of the year so far. $36 billion. Kellenova makes Cheez-Its, Pringles, Pop-Tarts, Rice Krispie Treats, and Eggo Frozen Waffles. They're going to dominate a section of the market, which is the Kind Bar and Nutri-Green Bar, which is somewhere you want to be because that is not a GOP-1 enemy. But they're also going to own the cracker aisle. CNBC Mad Money host Jim Cramer. Mortgage refis surged last week as mortgage rates came down to

about six and a half percent. People with those eight percent loans after buying a house last year jumped on the opportunity to refinance and get out of those loans. As far as the summer home selling market, another week slower than last year. Applications to buy a home down 8% last week from the same week last year. Social security, a key issue for voters in the new CNBC All-America survey, hitting the highest level of importance in the 11 years the poll's been taken. More than two-thirds of those asked, 69 percent of Americans said a candidate's stance on the topic would be a major factor in their vote in November. Back in March, former President Trump told CNBC he's open to cutting Social Security and Medicare. There is a lot you can do in terms of entitlements, in terms of cutting and in terms of also the theft.

Former President Trump on CNBC, but his campaign now says Trump would protect Social Security and Medicare. The Harris campaign opposes any cuts to Social Security, but would increase the amount the wealthiest Americans would have to pay in. Here comes the pumpkin spice latte and more. Krispy Kreme this morning has it. Brand Eating says both the latte and the pumpkin spice cake donut are back on the menu through the end of November. Jessica Edinger, CNBC. September 10th, CNBC and Boardroom

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