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Air tickets may become more expensive — thanks to the lack of refining capacity and the financial state of airlines, said William Walsh, the director-general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Walsh added that while consumers are paying higher ticket prices, airlines are not necessarily making a profit.
But another factor could contribute to even higher ticket prices — Russia’s announcement of a military mobilization, said Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker.

Air tickets may become more expensive — thanks to the lack of refining capacity and the financial state of airlines, said William Walsh, the director-general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The decline in refining capacity during the pandemic, and higher jet fuel prices caused by the increase in demand for fuel are “of concern” to the airline industry, Walsh told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble on Wednesday.

U.S. refining capacity dropped by 5.4% in 2022 since it peaked in 2019 — the lowest in eight years. The dip came in the wake of refinery closures and conversions to produce more renewable fuels.
Walsh added that while consumers are paying higher ticket prices, airlines are not necessarily making a profit.
“And given the financial state of many airlines … It’s not that airlines are making money, [they] are just passing on a cost that they can’t absorb themselves, and that they can’t avoid,” he said.

Russia-Ukraine war

But another factor could contribute to even higher ticket prices — Russia’s announcement of a military mobilization, said Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday announced a partial military mobilization in Russia, placing the country’s people and economy on a wartime footing as Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine continues.
Al Baker told CNBC that China’s Covid policies are the “smallest of [his] worries,” and that the airlines’ greatest concern is the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine war.
“For me, the biggest worry is the conflict spreading, which [will then] fuel inflation, putting more pressure on the supply chain,” he added. “The net result will be less passengers in my aeroplane.”

“It also worries me … the [instability] of the oil price, which I don’t want to pass to the passengers, which will then discourage them from travelling.”
Oil prices jumped by more than 2% after Putin’s announcement, following concerns of an escalation of the war in Ukraine and squeezing oil and gas supplies.
Nevertheless, Al Baker maintained that Qatar will continue flying to Russia as long as it is operationally safe to do so.
“We will continue to fly to Russia, we will continue to serve the people … We are not a political institution. We are an industry that serves the common people.”

Hopes for affordable sustainable fuel

Al Baker called for more investments in alternative fuel, and that Qatar Airlines is “ready to invest in sustainable aviation fuel” on the condition that it is “reasonably priced.”
“I have no issue [paying] a bit more, but they cannot pay four or five times the price of a normal F-gas.” F-gas, also known as fluorinated gases are man-made gases applied in various industrial uses.

“If we are pushed to do that, you as a passenger are going to pay for it,” he said.
Walsh echoed his hopes of seeing more investment in the production of sustainable aviation fuel rather than traditional refineries, citing environmental concerns.
Last year, IATA set a goal for the global air transport industry to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
“Sustainable aviation fuels do represent the best option that the industry has to achieve our target of net zero by 2050.”

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Sales of previously owned homes fell 0.4% in August from July to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 4.80 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors.
That is the slowest sales pace since June 2020, when activity stalled very briefly due to the start of the pandemic.
Outside of that, it is the slowest pace since November 2015.

Sales of previously owned homes fell 0.4% in August from July to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 4.80 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors. That is the slowest sales pace since May 2020, when activity stalled very briefly due to the start of the Covid pandemic.
Outside of that, it is the slowest pace since November 2015. Sales were 19.9% lower than in August 2021.

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The sales figures represent closings, so contracts that were likely signed in June and July, when mortgage rates spiked higher and then pulled back. The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage began June at around 5.5% and then shot up over 6% by the middle of the month, according to Mortgage News Daily. It then pulled back a bit, hanging in the 5.7% range for most of July before dropping further to the low 5% range at the end of the month.
The 30-year fixed started this year at 3%. It is now close to 6.5%.
Even with interest rates making housing less affordable, prices were still higher than a year ago. The median price of an existing home sold in August was $389,500, up 7.7% from a year ago. Home prices historically decline from July to August, due to seasonality, but the drop this year was wider than usual, suggesting a significant softening.
From June through August, prices usually decline about 2%, but this year they have fallen about 6%.
“The housing market is showing an immediate impact from the changes in monetary policy,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the Realtors, noting that he will revise his annual sales forecast down further due to higher mortgage rates. “Some markets may be seeing price declines.”

Sales fell in all price categories, but more sharply on the lower end. Sales of homes priced between $250,000 and $500,000 were down 14% year over year, while sales of those priced between $750,000 and $1 million were down just 3%. Much of that has to do with supply, which is leanest on the lower end of the market.

Prices are still being bolstered by tight supply. There were 1.28 million homes for sale at the end of August, unchanged from a year ago. At the current sales pace, that represents a 3.2-month supply.
“In July, we saw the first sign that the housing market’s refresh may affect homeowners’ eagerness to sell, and that hesitation continued in August, as the number of newly-listed homes sank by 13%,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist for Realtor.com.
Homebuilders have been pulling back in the face of falling demand, but there was a small bump in single-family housing starts in August, according to the U.S. Census. That may have been due to a brief drop in mortgage rates during, which sparked more interest from buyers. But building permits, which are an indicator of future construction, fell as mortgage rates were expected to rise again.

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“Violence against another person” is by far the most common criminal offense reported in U.K. hotels, new data shows. 
Statistics from eight police forces across the U.K. show there were 4,589 allegations of violence and 1,307 of public disorder — which often involves intimidation or the threat of violence — in hotels, motels and guesthouses from June 1, 2021 to May 31, 2022.

That’s more than the 3,999 reports involving theft, robbery and burglary.

There were 1,206 reports of arson and criminal damage, and 1,107 reports of rape and other sexual offenses. Several cases of modern slavery (three) and murder or attempted murder (three) were also reported during the period. 
The figures came from freedom of information requests, seen by CNBC, to the 10 largest police forces across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Police services in Bristol and Scotland declined to provide data, according to a summary of the results seen by CNBC.

‘Magnets for crime’ 

Brian Moore, operations director at hotel security consultancy Global Secure Accreditation, told CNBC that hotels are “magnets for crime.” 

“You’ve got big buildings full of people who are usually in a country or area they don’t know, so they are a fish out of water. There may be a language barrier, and they are usually relaxed and have their guard down,” said Moore, a former senior police officer who oversaw the London Olympics as director-general of the U.K. border force. 
For example, travelers often leave their belongings lying around in hotel bars and restaurants while they talk to people, he said.
“But given these are public spaces, it’s no different to leaving something on a bus,” said Moore.
When asked about the U.K. figures, Moore said, “I think most people would be surprised at the volume of crime since the U.K. is relatively safe. Hotels pride themselves on being safe and secure, and many people think they are.” 

With incidents of violence, the cause is often alcohol.

Brian Moore
Operations director, GS Accreditation

In his experience, the majority of violent crimes occur between people who know one another — although this can include people who met in the hotel — whereas “acquisitive crimes” like fraud, theft, robbery and burglary tend to be committed against strangers. 
“With incidents of violence, the cause is often alcohol,” Moore added. “Hotels are places where people tend to over-imbibe, often at times when the least staff and security are available. Staff can break up a gathering but the drinking can continue back in guest rooms.”

How to stay safe

Hotels need to ensure that only people with a legitimate need to be there have access, according to Moore.
Elevators and room corridors should only be accessible via an electric swipe card and have good CCTV coverage. Small hotels, which may not be able to provide these things, are not necessarily more dangerous, he notes, as long as they can differentiate guests from non-guests.

Hotel guests should store valuables in room safes, and exercise caution when using a hotel’s Wi-Fi.
Boy_anupong | Moment | Getty Images

It’s more difficult to secure public spaces while maintaining a welcoming environment, said Moore. But a staff member who approaches someone who looks suspicious, even with just with a friendly word, can deter a potential thief or fraudster, he said.
Guests can improve security by:

making sure room doors have automatic closing mechanisms and a double lock
bringing or requesting a door wedge to add an extra layer of security
using the room safe and keeping an eye on valuables in public spaces
never saying their room number out loud; this prevents someone from approaching the reception desk and attempting to get a key by pretending to know the guest.

Using hotel Wi-Fi

Hotel Wi-Fi is a notorious target for scammers, said Lee Whiteing, commercial director at Global Secure Accreditation.
Guests should avoid making transactions, entering passwords or opening secure information while connected to it, Whiteing said. Those who use VPNs, or virtual private networks, shouldn’t access sensitive material before logging in, he added.
Hotel guests should also ensure they are connecting to the hotel network and not a similarly named, fake one.  
Whiteing recalled running a software test in various hotels to see if anyone would attempt to access his team’s laptops. In the most extreme case, a laptop was attacked 600 times in 24 hours, he said.

Business travelers

Whiteing, who is the former global head of travel at HSBC Bank, also told CNBC that there is a growing awareness that companies need to increase employee safety when it comes to business travel. He also said companies can be liable if they fail to minimize certain risks.
The non-governmental organization ISO, which comprises 167 national standards bodies, recently released a paper identifying threats, risk and prevention strategies that companies can use to manage business trips.
“Historically, checks on accommodation have not always been done well,” Whiteing said. “If a company sent a safety checklist to a hotel, there was little done to verify the answers they gave.”
But an employer has a duty of care when it sends workers abroad or to another city, he said.
“Independent checks need to be done.” More

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It’s that time again! “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer rings the lightning round bell, which means he’s giving his answers to callers’ stock questions at rapid speed.

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Moderna Inc: “I actually want to buy the stock. I know it can go lower, but I think it’s a really well-run company.”

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Texas Instruments Inc: “I think that it’ll make the quarter and I think you can start buying. … Don’t buy all at once.”

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Trade Desk Inc: “Trade Desk sells at a very high price-to-earnings multiple. … It can go lower, and then I would buy it.”

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Carnival Corp: “I think it can stave off that bankruptcy, but I don’t think that makes it a good stock.”

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President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits the Kharkiv region for the first time since Russia started the attacks against his country on February 24, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine on May 29, 2022.(Photo by Ukrainian Presidency/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Ukrainian Presidency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

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UNITED NATIONS — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to deliver dramatic remarks to world leaders Wednesday, hours after Russia moved to mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops for its monthslong assault on Ukraine.

Zelenskyy, who has not left his war-weary nation since Russia invaded in late February, will address world leaders virtually.
His pre-recorded remarks come as Russia’s war enters its eighth month with no apparent signs that the Kremlin is going to relinquish ambitions to erase Ukrainian sovereignty.
In his speech, Zelenskyy is expected to urge countries such as China, the world’s second-largest economy, to abandon its neutrality. He is also set to call for more Western arms and support.
Read CNBC’s live blog tracking developments on the war in Ukraine.

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CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Wednesday advised investors to think of the bigger picture when it comes to the Federal Reserve’s battle against inflation and its effect on the stock market.
“I think [Fed Chair Jerome] Powell wins the game and when he does, we’ll be on the field and the short-termers will be at the bottom of the stands,” the “Mad Money” host said.

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Wednesday advised investors to think of the bigger picture when it comes to the Federal Reserve’s battle against inflation and its effect on the stock market.
“The short-term camp is made up of people who either can’t handle any pain or don’t believe in [Fed Chair Jerome] Powell and want to get out,” the “Mad Money” host said.

“I think Powell wins the game and when he does, we’ll be on the field and the short-termers will be at the bottom of the stands,” he added.
The Fed raised interest rates by 75 basis points on Wednesday and signaled that it will continue its aggressive campaign against inflation.
Stocks ended the volatile trading session down as Wall Street digested the news.
Cramer acknowledged that there will be pain ahead for the market, and advised investors to bet with the Fed if they want their portfolios to stay intact in the long term. 
People who believe in Powell’s vision — whom Cramer calls the silent majority — understand the central bank has to increase interest rates to avoid pain even further down the line, he said.

“The silent majority wants to be able to buy a house at a reasonable price without having a bidding war over it,” he said. “The silent majority knows that their stocks are going to be worth less when they retire if Powell doesn’t act now.”

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General Motors will close reservations for its electric GMC Hummer pickup and the forthcoming GMC Hummer SUV after more than 90,000 of the vehicles were reserved.
Closing the reservations is a way for the automaker to try and fulfill the current list of reserved vehicles, which extends out to at least 2024.
GM has been slowly ramping up production of the Hummer EV pickup since earlier this year.

Production is now set to begin at the former Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant, less than two years after GM announced the massive $2.2 billion investment to fully renovate the facility to build a variety of all-electric trucks and SUVs.
Photo by Jeffrey Sauger for General Motors

DETROIT — General Motors will close reservations for its electric GMC Hummer pickup and the forthcoming GMC Hummer SUV after more than 90,000 of the vehicles were reserved, the company said Wednesday.
Closing the reservations is a way for the automaker to attempt to fulfill the current list of reserved vehicles, which extends out to at least 2024. The number of reservations is notable because of the starting prices of the vehicles, which range between roughly $85,000 and $111,000.

GM said it plans to close reservations for both vehicles starting Thursday. Anyone wanting to reserve one of the electric trucks must do so by the end of Wednesday.
GM has been slowly ramping up production of the Hummer EV pickup since earlier this year. As of the end of June, the company had sold less than 400 of the vehicles. The SUV version is expected to begin arriving to dealers and customers starting in early 2023.

The 2024 GMC Hummer EV SUV and 2022 GMC Hummer EV sport utility truck, or SUT.

Duncan Aldred, global head of GMC, said production of the SUV should happen more quickly than the pickup, which was the first consumer vehicle to feature GM’s next-generation Ultium batteries and vehicle platform.
“We knew it would be a slow ramp. But next year, when you look at the calendar year, I think you’ll see a normalized year,” he told CNBC last week at the Detroit auto show. “When we produce SUV, that should get into stride right away … Next year is a big year for Hummer EV, both truck and SUV.”
GM’s decision follows Ford Motor shutting down reservations for its electric F-150 Lightning pickup after hitting roughly 200,000 units. It also had shut down reservations for the electric Mustang Mach-E crossover, but they have since reopened.

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Marvell Technology (MRVL) CEO Matt Murphy on Wednesday painted an optimistic long-term picture for the semiconductor company, suggesting that Wall Street has recently misjudged both the Club holding’s present performance and future prospects. “The long-term opportunity for this company … is tremendous because if you think about the end markets that we participate in — forget about share gain, forget about new product cycle. Just look at the end markets,” Murphy told Jim Cramer in an interview. “The markets that Marvell is targeting are growing significantly faster than almost any other set of end markets you could focus on, and we don’t have the consumer, drag which is problematic in an environment like today,” the chief executive said, noting only about 10% of Marvell’s revenue falls into consumer categories like printers and personal computers. That’s where much of the chip industry’s weakness has been concentrated this year. By contrast, Murphy said the company’s most important underlying markets — like data center, 5G and automotive — have been resilient, even as Marvell shares have tumbled around 45% year to date. Higher interest rates and economic slowdown concerns have weighed on stocks across the chip industry. “The end markets, they have a big determination on a company’s performance, especially in a cycle like this,” he added. Data center Marvell’s data center revenue grew 48% year over year to $643.4 million in the second quarter but missed estimates. The segment represented 42% of the firm’s overall sales in the three months ended July 30. While Marvell’s on-premise data division is seeing some softness, its cloud-focused unit is holding up better. That’s important because cloud is the star of the show. It is where the secular tailwinds are blowing. Murphy on Wednesday expressed confidence about the fundamental direction of the company’s business large-scale cloud customers. Here’s what he told Cramer: “What we have that is unique to us is our own unique product cycles. We’ve won actually meaningful new business in cloud-optimized custom silicon; high-performance networking chips like switches; all the optical interconnect from Inphi, the acquisition that we [closed in 2021]; plus, storage, security. I mean, I could go on and on,” Murphy said. “We’ve got like 12 product lines that sell into the cloud, and all these new ramps are coming. They’re still in front of us, starting next year, and then a big increase the year after. That’s the long-term view of this.” Automotive Automotive/industrial is the smallest of the five end markets for which Marvell reports results. While jumping 46%, it contributed a less-than-expected $83.6 million to second-quarter revenue, making it just 6% of overall sales. Nevertheless, Murphy told Cramer the company sees ample opportunity to expand that business as the automotive industry gets more technologically advanced. Its current performance is “phenomenal,” he said. The CEO offered a detailed look at that opportunity and an explanation of how Marvell’s auto business differs from Club holdings Nvidia (NVDA) and Qualcomm (QCOM), which is set to hold its automotive investor day on Thursday. “If you look at Qualcomm or Nvidia or some of the others, they’re doing the brains of the car. Think of Marvell as the nervous system. We’re the connectivity inside the car, the network. We work with those big computing companies that are doing self-driving chips and infotainment, things like that. We actually provide all of the connectivity inside the car, which is moving to Ethernet,” Murphy said. While Ethernet networks are hardly a new technology, their presence inside cars is a relatively new development that bodes well for Marvell. The company deploys Ethernet switches in data centers, the telecommunications industry and corporate networks. Currently, a “very small” percentage of cars contain Ethernet networks, according to Murphy. “Every car company is moving to as the de facto, standard for the in-car network of the future. You have to because you need the speed, you need the reliability, you need the security,” he said. “On an Ethernet network, you can effectively do what’s called multidrop. You can have all these different components inside the car on a common network, versus today. There’s literally hundreds of pounds of cabling connecting all these different [electronic control units] inside the vehicles. We actually made it possible to strip away the cable cost and make the network much more efficient and quick and reliable. … It’s all in front of us.” (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long MRVL, NVDA and QCOM. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

Matt Murphy, president and CEO of Marvell Technology
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