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[The stream has ended. Read CNBC’s full coverage of James’ lawsuit here.]
New York Attorney General Letitia James, who has been conducting a civil investigation of former President Donald Trump’s company, announced a major lawsuit of Trump, three of his adult children and his company over widespread fraud claims.

James’ announcement comes nearly a week after The New York Times reported that she had rejected an offer from Trump’s lawyers to settle her probe of the Trump Organization, which is based in Manhattan.
James’ office was investigating the company for possibly fraudulently misstating the value of various real estate assets to receive financial benefits in the form of more favorable loan and insurance rates, and tax breaks.
Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and accused James, who is a Democrat, of being motivated by politics to investigate the former Republican president.
In August, Trump appeared for a deposition conducted by James’s lawyers. He invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 440 times in refusing to answer questions under oath.
Donald Trump Jr., who runs the Trump Organization with his brother Eric, answered questions from the investigators under oath earlier in August, as did their sister Ivanka Trump. Ivanka previously was an executive at the company.

Eric Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment right more than 500 times when he was questioned under oath in the probe in October 2020, according to a court filing in January.
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With limited inventory due to supply chain challenges, prices for new cars are often marked up at the dealership.
Some sought-after models, including the Jeep Wrangler, Ford Bronco and Porsche Macan, are now selling for at least 20% above the MSRP.

Forget getting a deal; these days, anyone in the market for a new car could pay thousands over the sticker price before they drive off the lot.
Limited inventory due to a persistent shortage of computer chips, along with other supply-chain challenges, helped propel new car prices up 10% from a year ago, according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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For new cars, the average transaction price reached an estimated $46,259 in August — the highest on record, a separate J.D. Power/LMC forecast found.
And now, as demand continues to exceed supply, dealers are even charging a premium over the manufacturer’s suggested retail price on new vehicles, according to car shopping site iSeeCars.
“Consumers are willing to pay well above sticker price for new cars because inventory is so scarce and because they know that new car pricing is not expected to improve until 2023 at the earliest,” said Karl Brauer, iSeeCars’ executive analyst.

Some cars are marked up as much as 24%

New Jeeps on display at a New York City car dealership on Oct. 5, 2021.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images

“The market is pretty brutal in terms of pricing,” said Brauer.
The average new vehicle is priced 10% above the sticker price, the recent iSeeCars analysis of 1.9 million new car listings found — with some sought-after models marked up much more.  

The vehicle with the greatest markup was the Jeep Wrangler, which is currently selling for 24% over the MSRP, or roughly $8,433 more than retail, iSeeCars found.

Several in-demand luxury SUVs are also going for at least 20% over sticker, including the Porsche Macan, Genesis GV70 and Lexus RX.
“These are vehicles people buy because they want to have fun on the weekends and they’re less impacted by rising prices,” Brauer said.
However, “if you are in a position that you need a car to serve your basic needs,” Brauer advises car shoppers to “research and compare prices between multiple dealers,” even if they are far away, “and, in some cases, [shoppers] can avoid markups by ordering directly from the manufacturer.”

Auto loan costs are also higher

At the same time, financing any type of vehicle is also getting more expensive, as the Federal Reserve’s rate-hiking cycle pushes up the cost of auto loans.
The average annual percentage rate on a new car hit 5.7% in August, according to the latest data from Edmunds, and is likely to head higher. 
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Paying an annual percentage rate of 6% instead of 5% would cost consumers $1,348 more in interest over the course of a $40,000, 72-month car loan, Edmunds experts said, although consumers with higher credit scores are often able to secure better loan terms.
“Shopping for better rates through financial institutions can be helpful, but low- or no-interest loans through the automakers’ captive finance company can also make a difference when it comes to saving money and could ultimately lead to a decision to purchase one vehicle over another,” said Ivan Drury, Edmunds’ director of insights.
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Planet is adding another type of imagery satellite to its product line, the latest expansion of the company’s data-gathering operations.
The company named the new satellites “Tanager,” and unlike Planet’s current satellites, the new line will capture “hyperspectral” imagery.
The first two Tanager demonstration satellites are set to launch in 2023.

An artist’s depiction of a Tanager satellite in orbit.

PARIS — Planet is adding another type of imagery satellite to its product line, the latest expansion of the company’s data-gathering operations.
The company named the new satellites Tanager — named after a bird family, like the existing lines of Dove and Pelican satellites that it manufactures. But unlike those satellites, which have cameras and sensors capturing images in the same range as the human eye, the Tanager satellites will capture “hyperspectral” imagery, which divides the light spectrum into hundreds of bands of light.

Planet co-founder and chief strategy officer Robbie Schingler, speaking to CNBC at the 2022 International Astronautical Congress, said the company will use the hyperspectral satellites initially to detect methane output, saying it’s “the lowest hanging fruit” and has implications for business such as oil and gas, dairy farms and waste landfills.
Tanager satellites will collect 420 bands of spectrum, Schingler said, noting that detecting methane requires detecting just four bands.
“We decided to build a full-range imaging spectrometer,” Schingler said, with uses cases beyond methane to markets like “defense intelligence, like seeing disturbed earth – things like burying something or digging a tunnel.”
Planet aims to then tap customers in sectors like agriculture, mining, and intelligence with the Tanager line, with Schingler saying that “hyperspectral data from space is limited” as “the best hyperspectral sensors are either super classified, or they’re in planes.”
The company is building the Tanager satellites with the same spacecraft bus – which is the main body of a satellite – as its Pelican line, to leverage Planet’s vertical approach to manufacturing. The first two Tanager demonstration satellites are set to launch in 2023.

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Charter CEO Tom Rutledge will step down Dec. 1 after a decade running the company.
Rutledge will be replaced by COO Chris Winfrey.
Rutledge will stay on as executive chairman until November 2023.

Chairman and CEO of Charter Communications Tom Rutledge speaks at The New York Times DealBook Conference at Jazz at Lincoln Center on November 10, 2016 in New York City.
Bryan Bedder | The New York Times | Getty Images

Charter Communications Chief Executive Tom Rutledge will step down on Dec. 1 after a decade at the helm and half a century in the cable industry.
Rutledge, 68, will move to executive chairman until his contract runs out in November 2023. Charter Chief Operating Officer Chris Winfrey, who joined the company in 2010, will take over as CEO.

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Rutledge turned Charter from a relatively small regional cable company into the No. 2 provider in the U.S. by orchestrating an audacious takeover of Time Warner Cable, announced in 2015, for nearly $79 billion including debt. At the time, Charter served about 6 million subscribers with a market capitalization of about $20 billion.
The Time Warner Cable deal, combined with a $10 billion acquisition of Bright House Networks announced at the same time, nearly quadrupled Charter’s size, both in valuation and customers served. Rutledge unified the company’s TV and broadband internet assets under the Spectrum brand. During the course of Rutledge’s tenure, Charter’s revenue has grown 600% and its customer base has increased 500%.
Until this year, investors have cheered Rutledge’s commitment to being a pureplay cable company. Charter’s consistent additions of high-speed broadband subscribers, which come with extremely high profit margins, led the company’s stock to rise more than triple from May 2016, when the Time Warner Cable deal closed, to December 2021.
This year, broadband additions have finally plateaued after years of growth. That’s caused cable valuations to plummet. Charter is down about 44% in 2022.
Rutledge began his career in cable in 1972 as a technician at Eastern Telecom. He gained a reputation as being a top-notch cable operator while at Cablevision, working for then-CEO James Dolan. Charter poached him from Cablevision in 2012, giving him the CEO role.

“It has been an honor and a pleasure to lead Charter and this incredible team over the past 10 years,” Rutledge said in a statement. “During my 50 years in this industry, I have witnessed first-hand its ability to continually evolve and change the world, and our opportunity today is greater than ever with ubiquitous connectivity being central to everything we do.”
Winfrey started at Charter in 2010 as its chief financial officer, moving to COO last year.
“Chris’ leadership and expertise in both operations and finance have been pivotal to Charter’s growth and success,” said Rutledge. “Having worked closely with Chris for more than 10 years, he is the right choice to be our next CEO.”
WATCH: Charter CEO Tom Rutledge to step down, will remain exec. chairman through 2023.

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FedEx missed earnings expectations and announced significant cost cutting in its preliminary earnings report last week.
CEO Raj Subramaniam warned of a “worldwide recession,” but analysts say FedEx’s own shortcomings played a role too.
Analysts say FedEx failed to adapt to changing market conditions.

A FedEx worker makes a delivery on September 16, 2022 in Miami Beach, Florida.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images

FedEx warned of weakening global shipping demand in a preliminary earnings report last week, leaving the market scrambling to determine whether the problems reflect internal company shortcomings or a broader economic diagnosis.
CEO Raj Subramaniam pointed to external factors after the shipping giant missed Wall Street earnings and revenue estimates, telling CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Mad Money that the company is a “reflection of everybody else’s business” and that he expects a “worldwide recession.” But some analysts note the relative stability of rivals UPS and DHL, and said FedEx’s own failure to adapt also contributed to its performance.

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“This is the second year in a row now that FedEx has missed its own guidance for its fiscal first quarter, and I think that does create a bit of frustration amongst investors,” said Moody’s analyst Jonathan Kanarek.
Kanarek was among the analysts who noted the mix of factors − internal and external − that likely played a role in FedEx’s disappointing results.

Confronting reality

Some experts see FedEx’s performance as an overdue confrontation with market realities coming out of the pandemic, which the company previously failed to acknowledge.
At its investor day in June, FedEx set out a bullish 2025 outlook driven by annual revenue growth of between 4% and 6% and earnings per share growth of between 14% and 19%.
“Raj came out with a big show back in June, their first analyst day in two years, and talked about an environment that was pretty upbeat. Yet here we are three months later,” said Ken Hoexter, an analyst from Bank of America told CNBC.

“They weren’t expecting, nor had built in, an economic downturn,” Hoexter said.
Since around the time of its investor day, Subramaniam said last week that FedEx has seen weekly declines in shipping volumes. It’s why the company withdrew its 2023 forecast and announced it would close offices and park planes to slash costs. Its stock fell more than 21%, wiping nearly $11 billion from its market capitalization the day after the report.
Still, FedEx stood by its 2025 expectations, a move that Gordon Haskett research advisors called “borderline delusional.” FedEx’s competitors, they say, are taking a more realistic approach to the end of pandemic-era surge in demand.
While FedEx reported softness in European demand among its ailments last week, UPS gained market share in the region. In its most recent earnings call, UPS boasted its highest quarterly consolidated operating margin in almost 15 years, citing agility amid difficult macroeconomic conditions.
“UPS is two to three years ahead of FedEx in terms of the way they’re looking at post Covid margins,” said Capital Wealth’s Kevin Simpson on Closing Bell: Overtime. “It’s almost like FedEx didn’t think the environment would ever go back to normal.”
As part of its cost-cutting efforts, FedEx said it will reduce some ground operations and defer hiring. Meanwhile, UPS will be hiring more than 100,000 seasonal employees for the holiday period.

A bellwether?

Analysts note that FedEx’s ground and express delivery are nevertheless vulnerable to global economic conditions, and that the disappointing performance of the categories could reflect a recessionary environment.
“We really haven’t seen evidence of a broad-based slowdown. But obviously FedEx is a bellwether and we don’t want to dismiss what they’re saying,” said Moody’s Kanarek.
Bank of America’s Hoexter sees the performance of the express category, which came in $500 million below FedEx’s own expectations, as the first indicator of a broader downturn. He said small declines in volume significantly impact margins because air delivery costs so much to maintain.
Ground service, which came in $300 million short of the company’s forecasts, is the next to feel a slowdown: “When the consumer stops buying, the stores start seeing shelves filled, you stop replenishing those inventories,” Hoexter said.
Hoexter’s biweekly truck shipper survey has reported 11 straight periods in “recession range” according to Bank of America’s Global Research report. That comes as FedEx reports lower-than-expected business with top clients Target and Walmart, which have both grappled with excess inventory in recent months.
FedEx reported strong freight margins, but Hoexter noted that the category is “more manufacturing-weighted, which hasn’t felt as big of a brunt.” If demand continues to slow and manufacturers require less production, Hoexter said FedEx could start to see freight volumes soften too.

Holiday fizzle

Regardless of the factors driving FedEx’s troubles, the upcoming holiday season likely won’t bring any relief. In a statement, FedEx said the cost-cutting actions it announced last week aren’t expected to impact service. “We are confident in our ability to deliver this holiday season,” the company said.
But retailers are expecting muted holiday sales. And fearing the delays of last year, many had items shipped early. The port of Los Angeles said that 70% of holiday goods had already hit the shores by the end of August. 
Inventory gluts that have plagued retailers in recent months may also persist, leading to lighter shipping volumes and further dampening FedEx’s business. A KPMG survey found 56% of retail executives expect to be left with excess merchandise after the holidays.
FedEx does have some cushioning if troubles persist, S&P’s Geoff Wilson notes. The company is sitting on a lot of cash – nearly $7 billion as of May 31 − as opposed to the roughly $3 to $4 billion it typically had before the pandemic. He also noted the company reaffirmed its share repurchase plan of about $1.5 billion
“This is the best signal management can give about long-term strength at FedEx,” Wilson said. 

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The IPCEI Hy2Use project has been prepared by 13 member states that will supply the public funding.
The commission says the project will support the construction of “large-scale electrolysers and transport infrastructure, for the production, storage and transport of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen.”
Hydrogen has a diverse range of applications and can be deployed in a wide range of industries.

Part of a hydrogen-powered train photographed in Germany on Aug. 24, 2022. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed support for hydrogen during her State of the Union address on Sept. 14
Carmen Jaspersen | AFP | Getty Images

The European Commission on Wednesday approved up to 5.2 billion euros (roughly $5.2 billion) in public funding for hydrogen projects, a move it said could unlock a further 7 billion euros of investments from the private sector.
The executive arm of the EU said the bloc’s flagship project to support the research, deployment and construction of hydrogen infrastructure, referred to as IPCEI Hy2Use, had been prepared by 13 member states that will supply the public funding.

According to the commission, IPCEI Hy2Use will see 29 businesses participate in 35 projects.
The commission said IPCEI Hy2Use would support the construction of “large-scale electrolysers and transport infrastructure, for the production, storage and transport of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen.”
The initiative will focus on developing “innovative and more sustainable technologies for the integration of hydrogen into the industrial processes of multiple sectors” like glass, cement and steel.
“The IPCEI is expected to boost the supply of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen, thereby reducing dependency on the supply of natural gas,” the commission said.

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Described by the International Energy Agency as a “versatile energy carrier,” hydrogen has a diverse range of applications and can be deployed in a wide range of industries.

It can be produced in a number of ways. One method includes electrolysis, with an electric current splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen.
If the electricity used in this process comes from a renewable source such as wind or solar then some call it “green” or “renewable” hydrogen. Today, the vast majority of hydrogen generation is based on fossil fuels.
Among those commenting on Wednesday’s announcement was Margrethe Vestager, an executive vice president at the commission who is in charge of competition policy.
Vestager said the investments approved under Hy2Use would enable roughly 3.5 gigawatts of electrolysis capacity to be built.
This would result “in an output of approximately 340,000 tons of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen per year,” she added.
The European Commission has previously said it wants 40 GW of renewable hydrogen electrolyzers to be installed in the EU by 2030.

Hydrogen bank

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last week expressed support for hydrogen during her State of the Union address.
In remarks translated on the commission’s website, von der Leyen said “hydrogen can be a game changer for Europe. We need to move our hydrogen economy from niche to scale.”
In her speech, von der Leyen also referred to a “2030 target to produce ten million tons of renewable hydrogen in the EU, each year.”
“To achieve this, we must create a market maker for hydrogen, in order to bridge the investment gap and connect future supply and demand,” she said.
To this end, the EU’s von der Leyen also announced the creation of a European Hydrogen Bank. It is hoped this will be able to invest 3 billion euros to support the future market for hydrogen. More

Walmart announced Wednesday that it will hire 40,000 workers for the holiday season.
Some workers will be part-time store associates and customer service workers, while others will be permanent truck drivers.
Last year, the retailer hired more than 150,000 workers for the crucial shopping season, as well as 20,000 supply chain workers to help alleviate logistic bottlenecks.

A Walmart worker organizes products for Christmas season at a Walmart store in Teterboro, New Jersey.
Eduardo Munoz | Reuters

Walmart announced Wednesday that it will be hiring 40,000 seasonal and full-time associates as the holiday season approaches.
The company says it is hiring for a variety of positions, including seasonal store associates, customer service associates and 1,500 full-time truck drivers. Walmart has been building its private trucking fleet this year, increasing potential first-year pay up to $110,000 in April.

For the in-store positions, current associates will be able to pick up extra holiday hours, after which Walmart will add to its temporary staff as needed. These associate positions saw three wage hikes last year that brought the average hourly wage to $16.40. This year, Walmart increased pharmacy workers’ average wage to $20 per hour and boosted its U.S. average hourly wage above $17.
The seasonal hiring total is smaller than last year when Walmart added 150,000 mostly permanent and full-time associates, as well as 20,000 supply chain workers to help alleviate logistic bottlenecks.
The company says more than 50% of its seasonal U.S. associates will transition to part-time or full-time roles in the new year.
Expectations for the crucial shopping season are modest, with some estimates predicting only 1% to 3% in inflation-adjusted sales growth. Walmart and other retailers have spent much of the year grappling with excess inventory and steep markdowns.

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The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($647,200 or less) increased to 6.25% from 6.01%.
Applications to refinance a home loan, which are usually very sensitive to big rate swings, actually rose 10% for the week, although they were still 83% lower than the same week one year ago.
Mortgage applications to purchase a home increased 1% for the week, but were 30% lower than the same week one year ago.

Mortgage application volume increased last week for the first time in six weeks, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, despite a rise in interest rates.
Abrupt swings in rates and uncertainty on the overall direction of the housing market are likely at play.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($647,200 or less) increased to 6.25% from 6.01%, with points decreasing to 0.71 from 0.76 (including the origination fee) for loans with a 20% down payment.
“Treasury yields continued to climb higher last week in anticipation of the Federal Reserve’s September meeting, where it is expected that they will announce – in their efforts to slow inflation – another sizable short-term rate hike,” said Joel Kan, an MBA economist, in a release.
Applications to refinance a home loan, which are usually very sensitive to big rate swings, actually rose 10% for the week, although they were still 83% lower than the same week one year ago. Part of that may have been due to the holiday adjustment the previous week. It also may have been that the very few borrowers remaining who could benefit from a refinance finally got off the fence, seeing that rates could climb even higher for the foreseeable future.
“The weekly gain in applications, despite higher rates, underscores the overall volatility right now as well as Labor Day-adjusted results the prior week,” Kan said.
Mortgage applications to purchase a home rose 1% for the week, but were 30% lower than the same week one year ago. Buyers are now seeing less competition in today’s pricey market, so some may be jumping in when they have the chance. Homes are sitting on the market longer and sellers are far more willing to negotiate than they were even three months ago.

Still, prices have not really eased much yet, and with rates as high as they are now, affordability is historically weak. The small weekly gain in mortgage demand really doesn’t represent the sharp correction going on in homebuying.
Mortgage rates shot even higher this week, according to a separate survey by Mortgage News Daily. It showed the average rate on the 30-year fixed just below 6.5% on Tuesday, ahead of the much anticipated Federal Reserve meeting Wednesday. Investors will be watching specifically for commentary not on a current rate hike but on what may be ahead.
“The forecasts will amplify whatever volatility we already may have seen with the rate hike decision. Additionally, [Fed Chairman Jerome] Powell’s press conference always has the potential to add additional volatility,” wrote Matthew Graham, chief operating officer at Mortgage News Daily.

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