Raphael Stevens

In the third quarter of this year, mortgage holders withdrew $48 billion of home equity.
They are sitting on a little over $17 trillion in total equity collectively.
They took just 0.42% of all tappable equity, less than half the rate seen in the decade leading up to the Fed hikes.

U.S. homeowners are sitting on a record amount of equity, but higher interest rates over the past two years have made them reluctant to tap into it. That is finally starting to change.
In the third quarter of this year, mortgage holders withdrew $48 billion of home equity, according to ICE Mortgage Technology — the largest volume in the two years since the Federal Reserve started hiking its benchmark interest rate. While mortgage rates don’t exactly follow the Fed’s rate, home equity lines of credit, or HELOCs, are tied to it. The Fed cut its rate by a half percentage point in mid-September.

Despite the bump, homeowners are still being pretty cautious.
They are sitting on a little over $17 trillion in total equity collectively. Roughly $11 trillion of that is tappable, meaning homeowners could borrow on it as long as 20% equity would remain in the home, as most lenders require. The average homeowner now has $319,000 of equity in their home, of which $207,000 is tappable.

An aerial view of existing homes near new homes under construction (UPPER R) in the Chatsworth neighborhood on September 08, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. 
Mario Tama | Getty Images

In the third quarter, homeowners withdrew just 0.42% of all tappable equity, less than half the rate seen in the decade leading up to the Fed hikes.
“Over the past 10 quarters homeowners have extracted $476B in equity, exactly half the extraction we’d expect to see under more normal circumstances. That equates to nearly a half a trillion untapped dollars that hasn’t flowed back through the broader economy,” said Andy Walden, ICE vice president of research and analysis, in a release.
Homeowners tend to use equity for home repairs, renovation projects and large expenses, such as college tuition.

Walden ran the numbers for the change in costs over the past two years: The monthly payment needed to take out $50,000 in a HELOC more than doubled from as low as $167 in March 2022 to $413 in January of this year. The latest rate cut reduced that slightly.
“The market’s currently pricing in another 1.5 percentage points of cuts through the end of next year. If that comes to fruition, and current spreads hold, it’ll have positive implications for both new equity lending as well as for consumers with existing HELOCs, with the payment on a $50,000 withdrawal falling back down below $300 per month,” Walden calculated.
That cost is still above the 20-year average, but it represents a more than 25% reduction from recent highs, according to the calculations.
“Given borrowers’ recent sensitivity to even slight rate drops, this could serve to entice additional HELOC utilization, especially with mortgage holders sitting on record stockpiles of equity and locked into their current home values via low first lien rates,” Walden added.
Home equity growth has been moderating recently, as home prices ease. More supply is coming on the market, and primary mortgage rates are higher than they were over the summer. That gives sellers less pricing power. More

Ford reported a 15.2% increase in U.S. new vehicles sales in October compared with subdued levels during a union strike in October 2023.
Ford said its total U.S. market share increased 0.6 percentage points to 12.6% in October.
Sales of hybrid vehicles were up 38.5% in the month compared with October 2023, Ford said. Its EV sales were down by 8.3%.

The new Ford F-150 truck goes through the assembly line at the Ford Dearborn Plant on April 11, 2024 in Dearborn, Michigan.
Bill Pugliano | Getty Images

DETROIT — Ford Motor on Monday reported a 15.2% increase in U.S. new vehicles sales in October compared with subdued levels due to a union strike in October 2023.
The year-over-year sales increase was led by a 29.2% improvement in sales of Ford’s trucks, which were among the first vehicles affected by the United Auto Workers’ strike during contentious contract negotiations in 2023.

Ford said its total U.S. market share increased 0.6 percentage points to 12.6% in October. The automaker’s sales gain outpaced the industry’s estimated increase of 10% in October compared with a year earlier.
Sales of hybrid vehicles, which Ford has been emphasizing amid a slower-than-expected adoption of electric vehicles, were up 38.5% in October compared with October 2023, Ford said. Its EV sales were down by 8.3%, while sales of traditional vehicles with internal combustion engines were up 14.1%.
Ford’s EV sales remain up 38.2% for the year through October compared with the same time frame in 2023.
The October sales decline for EVs comes days after the company confirmed plans to idle production of its all-electric F-150 Lightning from Nov. 18 until Jan. 6, including previously planned holiday downtime at the end of the year.
Ford’s U.S. sales through October were up 3.8% to more than 1.7 million vehicles sold. More

Retailers are bracing for blowback related to DEI policies in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election and the critical holiday shopping season.
Some companies are concerned about attending public DEI events while others are strategizing on how to avoid criticism over their policies and programs.
“There’s a clear sentiment in the retail community that nobody wants to get Tractor Supply’d,” one retail industry insider told CNBC.

A sign disparaging Bud Light beer is seen along a country road on April 21, 2023 in Arco, Idaho. Anheuser-Busch, the brewer of Bud Light has faced backlash after the company sponsored two Instagram posts from a transgender woman.
Natalie Behring | Getty Images

Retailers are facing a tough equation as they head into the all-important holiday shopping season — this time over DEI initiatives.
Companies are bracing for blowback related to policies around diversity, equity and inclusion and are hoping to avoid alienating customers who may deem the brands too woke – or not woke enough. Some are tapping outside advisors for advice on how to avoid criticism, while others are opting out of public events on the topic as backlash against equity and inclusion programs grows in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election. 

CNBC spoke with a number of retail industry insiders, strategists and staffers who spoke on the condition of anonymity to do so candidly.
“There’s a clear sentiment in the retail community that nobody wants to get Tractor Supply’d,” said one retail industry insider, referring to that company’s decision to walk back a series of DEI initiatives after conservative activist Robby Starbuck criticized the policies online.
“Retailers left to their own devices would like to be very proactive on DEI,” said the person. “But now they don’t want any of their views to be public because they want to be able to sell stuff to everybody, and it’s become such a stupid political issue.” 
The retail industry’s concerns over DEI come after a number of high-profile, consumer-facing companies – including Lowe’s, Tractor Supply, Ford and Molson Coors – walked back some of their equity and inclusion policies in recent months. The changes included ending sponsorships for Pride festivals and cutting ties with the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group.
Across industries, some companies have also cut positions for DEI roles. Between 2019 and 2022, new jobs for chief diversity and inclusion officers spiked nearly 170%, according to a LinkedIn study, but over the last year, new jobs for such roles have fallen while companies like Google and Meta have cut staffers and downsized programs that fell under DEI.

When explaining their decisions to cut back on DEI, some companies, like Lowe’s, cited the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that outlawed affirmative action as a catalyst for reviewing their policies. Privately, many retailers are concerned about losing customers and becoming the subject of conservative backlash, industry insiders told CNBC.
Last year, Anheuser-Busch-owned Bud Light and Target faced severe blowback for marketing campaigns and product collections geared toward the LGBTQ community and saw sales fall as a result. As retailers prepare for a potentially less-than-stellar holiday shopping season, they want to ensure they don’t do or say anything that could end up having the same effect.

Concerns about public events

The growing concern around public DEI efforts, especially during a highly politicized election year, has cast a pall over certain industry events.
In late September, the Retail Industry Leaders Association hosted its annual summit for corporate communications professionals. This year, the event was tied together with RILA’s Diversity Equity & Inclusion Leaders Council, which led some retailers to be concerned about the optics of attending, according to a person who was present and spoke with participants who expressed reservations.
RILA declined to comment.
One former retail executive, who didn’t attend the event but frequently advises publicly traded retailers, said it makes sense that some companies would be concerned about attending because “the optics of it are maybe not so great.”
“The tide is definitely turning against DE&I initiatives,” said the former executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity so they could do so candidly. “I do think it has a lot to do with the election. … If you’re a CEO and you’re looking at, is [Donald] Trump going to win, or is [Kamala] Harris going to win, and you’re self-serving … then I can see why you need to hedge your bets.”
The person called it a “no-win situation,” especially for major retailers with large customer bases that span both sides of the political spectrum. 

Preparing for backlash

At a top New York City advisory firm, one strategist recently told CNBC that a primary concern facing their retail clients is DEI and how they should be preparing for potential backlash, or how they can avoid it altogether by preemptively walking back certain policies and practices. Some of the discussions included whether to participate in annual gay pride parades and how to communicate any policy changes to staff. 
“Retailers are constantly concerned about what they put out there. I think there’s a higher pressure on them,” said Sonia Lapinsky, head of consulting firm AlixPartners’ global fashion practice. “If you think about the time of year, they’re going into their biggest selling season right now. If we look at a moment in time, the last thing they want to do is potentially upset consumers or generate some bad publicity about what they’re doing or not doing. So they’re highly sensitive and highly concerned.” 
Lapinsky pointed to a recent consumer sentiment survey that AlixPartners published, which showed less than half of millennial consumers considered it very important for a retailer to embody their values in messaging, interactions and marketing. 
“Then we go down from there. So 45% for millennials, less than 40% for Gen Z and Gen X, even though we think we hear Gen Z cares about this, and then boomers was 16%,” said Lapinsky. 
However, that doesn’t mean that retailers shouldn’t be thinking about DEI when it comes to their business strategies, said Lapinsky. 
“If I’m designing a product line or even a service or something like that, and I don’t have kind of a wide representation of people who have been creating that, I think I’m very quickly going to miss the pulse on what my consumer thinks about,” said Lapinsky. “So even if they’re saying they don’t need to see it coming through in messaging, they will need to see it coming through in product that resonates and experiences that resonate and service levels that resonate with them, and that’s going to differ based on who they are and where they come from.”

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Boeing’s more than 32,000 unionized machinists walked off the job on Sept. 13.
Monday’s vote on a new labor deal will be their third since September and marks the company’s fourth offer.
Boeing has raised more than $20 billion as the strike halts most of its production.

Boeing workers from the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751 gather on a picket line near the entrance to a Boeing production facility on the day of a vote on a new contract proposal during an ongoing strike in Renton, Washington, U.S. October 23, 2024. 
David Ryder | Reuters

Boeing’s more than 32,000 striking machinists on Monday will vote for the third time on a contract proposal.
If a simple majority approve the offer, it would end the more than seven-week work stoppage that has halted most of the struggling company’s airplane production, another curve ball in what executives had once cast as Boeing’s turnaround year.

The proposal includes 38% raises over four years, up from the 35% increase Boeing proposed and workers rejected late last month, extending the strike. The deal that kicked off the strike in September had 25% raises, while the union had originally pushed for pay increases of about 40%.
Boeing said machinist pay will average $119,309 at the end of this contract proposal.
Workers have complained about the skyrocketing cost of living in the Seattle area, where most of Boeing’s aircraft are produced.
But the union, upon unveiling the proposal last Wednesday, warned this deal might be as good as workers are going to get.
“In every negotiation and strike, there is a point where we have extracted everything that we can in bargaining and by withholding our labor,” the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751 said in a statement. “We are at that point now and risk a regressive or lesser offer in the future.”

Read more CNBC airline news

On Saturday, the union told workers that it is “truly the time to lock in these gains and work to build more in future negotiations. You can confidently declare victory, vote yes for this agreement, and build on this for generations to come.”
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, who took the reins in August, also urged workers to come back to work.
“I know the strike has been difficult for you as well as for our customers, suppliers, communities and all who work at Boeing,” he said in a staff note on Friday. “It’s time we all come back together and focus on rebuilding the business and delivering the world’s best airplanes. There are a lot of people depending on us.”
Boeing has raised more than $20 billion to shore up its finances. More

Singapore Airlines plans to add a four-seat first class to its Airbus A350-900 ultra-long range aircraft that are used on routes like the more than 18-hour flight between New York and Singapore.
The carrier also plans to grow its business class cabin on those aircraft, and retrofit other long-range Airbus A350s with new seats.
Some large airlines have done away with international first class in favor of larger business-class cabins.

Singapore Airlines new business-class seats.
Courtesy: Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines is planning to add a four-seat first class to the Airbus aircraft it uses for its longest routes, a bet to attract high-spending travelers to flights that can top 17 hours.
The carrier will add the new seats to seven Airbus A350-900 URLs, or ultra-long-range aircraft that it uses for lengthy trips, including its longest, between New York and Singapore. It will also revamp its cabins on long-haul Airbus planes with new business class seats that will likely include a suite with a sliding door, a popular design carriers are increasingly adopting to sell privacy as an onboard perk.

Singapore said the new first- and business-class seats will have new in-flight entertainment but the carrier didn’t disclose many details about the new cabins. CEO Goh Choon Phong said in a news release that they will “push the boundaries of comfort, luxury, and modernity.”
Airlines have been investing billions of dollars to revamp their premium cabins to chase travelers willing to shell out for more space on board. They range from international airlines Singapore Airlines to smaller carriers like JetBlue Airways, whose long-range twin-aisle jets used for trips across the Atlantic feature suites with sliding doors.

Singapore’s retrofit plans also include new cabins for 34 long-range Airbus A350s, part of a S$1.1 billion (about US$835 million), overhaul it plans to start putting into service in mid-2026. Those will still have 42 business-class seats, 24 premium economy seats and 192 in standard economy, up from the 187 economy seats it currently lists as the aircraft’s configuration.
The ultra-long-range-airplanes now have only business class and premium economy cabins. After the new cabin design with first class is installed, total business class seats will go up to 70 from 67 and the airline will offer 58 premium economy seats, from the 94 it currently offers, according to the carrier’s website.
Most U.S. carriers have already done away with long-haul first-class cabins, or are in the process of doing so, in favor of larger business-class.

American Airlines Boeing 787-9 Flagship Suite
Source: American Airlines

American Airlines is retrofitting some of its Boeing 777s to include a 70-seat business class instead of separate first and business-class cabins, and will upgrade its business-class seats on 777s and Boeing 787 Dreamliners to designs that include sliding doors. Supply chain issues have slowed some retrofits amid demand for premium-seats post-pandemic throughout the industry.
Some carriers, however, plan to keep first class, at least on some routes. German carrier Lufthansa’s new first class “suites” will debut on Nov. 9. More