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Hawaiian said it will start flying Airbus A330 cargo jets for Amazon in 2023.
Amazon could have up to a 15% stake in Hawaiian Airlines.
Amazon said the planes will replace older jets.

Air cargo containers with the logo of Amazon are seen at Miami International Airport, in Miami, Florida, United States on June 16, 2021.
Marco Bello | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Amazon has hired Hawaiian Airlines to fly the first Airbus cargo planes in the retail giant’s air network, aircraft that will help replace older jets, as the carrier becomes the latest passenger airline to fly for the company.
Hawaiian will fly at least 10 Airbus A330-300 converted freighters for Amazon, with the first ones starting in the fall of 2023, the carrier said in a filing.

Hawaiian shares surged as much as 13% in early trading following the announcement.
The Airbus jets, which will be the largest in its fleet, are not for net growth, but instead meant to replace older aircraft getting phased out as their leases expire or are close to their operating life, an Amazon spokesperson told CNBC.
Amazon has expanded its dedicated air unit in recent years, whose operations are outsourced to several airlines, including Atlas Worldwide Holdings and ATSG, which fly Boeing 767s for the company, the planes with which Amazon began the air arm.
Amazon is still figuring out which of the older jets will be phased out, the spokesperson said.
Sun Country, a leisure-focused carrier, began flying converted Boeing 737 freighters for Amazon in 2020, when travel demand collapsed early in the Covid pandemic.

“These A330-300s will not only be the first of their kind in our fleet, they’ll also be the newest, largest aircraft for Amazon Air, allowing us to deliver more customer packages with each flight,” Philippe Karam, director of Amazon global air fleet and sourcing, said in an Airbus news release.
Air cargo was a hot segment of aviation during the pandemic when consumer travel plunged and port snarls drove up rates, but the market has since cooled. A surge in travel has meant more capacity has entered the market in passenger belly planes, port congestion eased and consumer habits shifted, driving down the cost of air cargo.
Under the agreement, Hawaiian is issuing warrants for Amazon to acquire up to 15% of its stock, exercisable over the next nine years. Amazon has similar agreements with other air cargo providers ATSG and Atlas.
Hawaiian said it will set up a pilot base in the continental U.S. and hire more aviators, mechanics and dispatchers to support its Amazon flying.
Hawaiian said it will hold an investor and media call at 4 p.m. ET on Friday to discuss the plan.

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Shoppers will see more items on sale this holiday season compared with the past two years.
Computers, electronics and toys are all expected to hit the deepest discounting levels since Adobe Analytics started tracking figures in 2017.
Already, Walmart, Target and Amazon have had early holiday sales.

People walk stores offering sales at a shopping mall in Santa Anita, California on December 20, 2021.
Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty Images

Grocery and energy prices have spiked, and credit card interest rates are climbing, but shoppers can expect some relief as they start holiday shopping.
Retailers, desperate to coax inflation-fatigued consumers to spend, are expected to beef up promotions as they struggle to get rid of already marked-down excess inventory.

“This will be the year of the perpetual deal for Christmas,” said Marshal Cohen, chief industry advisor for the NPD Group, a market research firm.
In some gift categories, merchandise could be marked down by more than 20% on retailers’ websites, according to Adobe Analytics, which tracks online sales. Computers, electronics and toys are all expected to hit the deepest discounting levels since Adobe started tracking figures in 2017.

The abundance of deals is a sharp departure from a year ago. Last holiday season, shoppers started buying gifts early to avoid out-of-stocks and shipping delays. Concerns about not getting hot items meant consumers were willing to pay up.
This year, though, retailers have an abundance of merchandise. Shoppers are reluctant to spend as they pay more for food, housing, health care and other items as inflation hovers around a four-decade high. People are also spending more on travel and experiences after two-plus years of Covid restrictions.

Even with the bigger discounts, industry watchers expect a muted holiday season because of households’ stretched budgets. Consulting firm Bain & Co. forecasts growth of as much as 7.5% from last holiday season, but when adjusted for inflation, that is only 1% to 3%. Consulting firm Alix Partners projects a 4% to 7% increase in sales year over year — but that is a decline when factoring in the current year-over-year inflation rate of 8.2%.

“It’s food, it’s medical care, it’s housing and shelter costs. It’s essential services such as veterinary care, and child care,” said Leo Feler, chief economist at market researcher Numerator. “All of these things come first before consumers buy holiday gifts.”
Plus, customers may not even want some of the items that retailers are putting on sale. Computers, the category that’s expected to have the highest level of discounting during the holiday season, according to Adobe, has seen cooling demand. HP, Dell and Lenovo have all reported a decline in shipments of personal computers.
The return of steep discounting will be a tough pill to swallow for companies. It is pressuring retailers’ profit margins, as they juggle higher costs. Already, Walmart, Target and Best Buy have cut their profit outlooks as the retailers navigate a more promotional environment. Walmart leaders have said even higher-income households are trading down to buy cheaper groceries, raising concerns that they may hesitate to splurge on gifts, decor and other holiday items.

Parade of promos

As shoppers lounged at the pool and went on long-awaited vacations this summer, the drumbeat of promotions was already underway. More items were on sale during backyard barbecue season than during peak holiday season a year ago.
During the second week of July, 46% of units were on promotion, according to the NPD Group. That’s higher than the 41% of units on promotion during the fourth week of November 2021 — the kickoff to the holiday shopping season.
When Amazon threw its Prime Day in July, Walmart opted out of its own sales event because so much of its merchandise was already on sale.
Sales have picked up again in recent weeks, too. In October, Amazon threw a Prime Day-like sales event, the first time it has had two discount days in the same year. Target and Walmart got started early, too, with Target’s Deal Days running a week before the Amazon event and Walmart’s Rollback & More event overlapping with it.
This week, Walmart announced it will have savings events that kick off every Monday in November on its website and then continue in its stores. Customers who belong to its subscription service, Walmart+, will get access to hot deals and popular items seven hours early.
Promotions will be especially pronounced in certain categories. Apparel and the sports and outdoors category have already had a noticeable jump in discounts at Walmart and Target compared with the year-ago period in September, according to YipitData, a research firm that collects data from consumer receipts and scrapes retailers’ websites.
For instance, at Walmart, apparel items sold at an approximately 20% discount, up from about 7% in 2021 for the two-week period ended Sept. 17. At Target, apparel items sold at an approximately 18% discount, up from about 4% in the year-ago period.

A clearance sale sign is seen at the Gap retail store on September 20, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.
Allison Dinner | Getty Images

Beauty, on the other hand, has had few discounts — which may reflect consumers’ willingness to keep spending on self-care or little luxuries like lipstick and lotion, even if budgets are tight in other areas. Discount levels across Ulta Beauty categories were either stable or down slightly year over year for the two weeks ended Sept. 17, YipitData found.
The level of discounting by retailers will also depend on their customer bases, said Numerator’s Feler. Dollar stores or other discounters, for instance, will need be more sensitive to consumers’ budget constraints. But luxury brands, which have higher-income customers, won’t have to adjust as much, with sales in the category remaining strong.
For shoppers like Rebecca Kirschner, the promotions over the past six months mark a welcome change. The New York City resident and her fiance just registered for their wedding, and nearly everything was on sale
A year ago, she recalled shelves being emptier. This holiday season, she expects the money she spends on family and friends will go further.
“It feels like you went from half a plate of food to a buffet,” said Kirschner, 33. “Every store you go into has a big sales section now.”

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Monday – Friday, 6:00 – 7:00 PM ET

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Thursday told investors that the market is finally seeing signs that the Federal Reserve’s succeeding in its fight against inflation.
“We’re now finally getting progress in the war on inflation, and progress is this market’s most important product,” he said.

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Thursday told investors that the market is finally seeing signs that the Federal Reserve is succeeding in its fight against inflation.
“We’re now finally getting progress in the war on inflation, and progress is this market’s most important product,” he said.

Stocks fell for the second consecutive day on mixed earnings reports that kept the market from reviving its rallies from earlier in the week.
Among the companies that have reported this week are trucking and freight companies, whose grim quarters and forecasts suggest the Fed’s battle against inflation is starting to take a toll on them, according to Cramer.
Here are some examples:

J.B. Hunt reported better-than-expected profit and revenue for its latest quarter but said it is struggling to secure equipment. The company also warned of uncertainty surrounding macroeconomic headwinds.
Knight-Swift Transportation reported a miss on earnings and slashed its full-year earnings guidance, forecasting a tepid season for freight in the fourth quarter.
Union Pacific missed third-quarter freight revenue and carload volume estimates and cut its full-year forecast, warning of higher costs.

“The important thing is freight rates keep coming down, which means the Fed’s making progress in its war on inflation,” Cramer said.
He added that it’s only a matter of time before wage inflation, a huge headwind for the Fed, comes down.

“As business slows, nobody’s going to be talking about a trucker shortage. Another win for the Fed,” he said.

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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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Generac Holdings: “I do not want to touch this one.”
Disclaimer: Cramer’s Charitable Trust owns shares of Alphabet, Meta and Amazon.

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CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Thursday advised investors to tread carefully if they’re debating whether to buy shares of IBM after the company reported its third-quarter earnings.
“Even after IBM’s nearly 5% rally today, the stock’s still down substantially versus where it was trading just a few months ago. I’m optimistic,” he said.

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Thursday advised investors to tread carefully if they’re debating whether to buy shares of IBM after the company reported its third-quarter earnings.
“Even after IBM’s nearly 5% rally today, the stock’s still down substantially versus where it was trading just a few months ago. I’m optimistic … but keep in mind this remains a ‘trust but verify’ situation going forward,” he said.

IBM beat revenue and earnings estimates in its third-quarter results reported on Wednesday and raised its revenue outlook. The enterprise software and consulting company said that revenue increased 6.5% year-over-year.
While the strong U.S. dollar is a headwind for the company, which expects that it will have 7% less full-year revenue than it otherwise would have made, IBM still reiterated its guidance from earlier this year of around $10 billion in free cash flow.
“Put it all together, and while IBM still has plenty of room for improvement, this quarter was a big step forward for them, and it was a major win for the bulls,” Cramer said.
He added that the company’s spin-off of its managed infrastructure services business into Kyndryl in November 2021 seems to be paying off.
“Remember, IBM went through that whole Kyndryl spin-off in order to become a growth company again, and that’s now what they are — they’ve got growth in spades,”  he said.

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GM has begun taking reservations for a loaded $107,000 version of its upcoming electric GMC Sierra.
The GMC Sierra EV Denali Edition 1 comes with much of the same technology offered on the wild Hummer EV in a more traditional pickup package.
Less costly versions of the Sierra EV will follow once it begins shipping in early 2024, GM said.

2024 Sierra EV Denali Edition 1
Source: General Motors

General Motors unveiled its latest electric pickup, the new electric GMC Sierra, and began taking reservations for a fully-loaded $107,000 version, called Sierra EV Denali Edition 1, on Thursday.
The automaker expects to begin shipping the Edition 1 in early 2024 and to add lower-priced versions of the Sierra EV — starting at around $50,000 — later that year.

It says the pickup will offer buyers something different when it begins arriving at dealers, even though it shares much of its technology with GMC’s Hummer EV pickup and SUV and the upcoming Chevrolet Silverado EV.
One of the biggest differences between the GMC’s wild Hummer EV and the new electric Sierra might be the new truck’s traditional pickup shape. GMC brand chief Duncan Aldred said that’s part of GM’s strategy.
“It’s going to attract different customers, more traditional truck buyers, whereas the Hummer EV has been attracting people from all brands, people out of exotic sports cars, for example,” Aldred said during a media briefing on Thursday. “With the Hummer EV, we found that 70% of customers with reservations are new to EVs, and about 75% of them are new to the GMC brand.”
“This is going to have a different feel, really appeal to the loyalists,” he said.

2024 Sierra EV Denali Edition 1
Source: General Motors

Like the Hummer pickup and the Silverado, the GMC Sierra EV will have about 400 miles of range, fast-charging capabilities, and the four-wheel “crab walk” steering that has become a popular feature with early Hummer owners.

But unlike the Silverado, which will be offered initially in a “Work Truck” variant for about $40,000 with higher-priced versions to follow, GMC will lead with the most expensive version of its new Sierra EV.

2024 Sierra EV Denali Edition 1
Source: General Motors

Highlights of the Sierra EV Denali Edition 1 include a “max power mode,” which will deliver an estimated 754 horsepower and 785 pounds-feet of torque; a version of GM’s Super Cruise hands-free highway driving system that works with a trailer; 800-volt fast-charging capability that will add up to 100 miles of range in just 10 minutes with a 350-kilowatt fast charger; and some clever storage options that take advantage of the Ultium EV architecture’s flat floor.  
Echoing a popular feature of rival Ford’s electric F-150 Lightning pickup, the Sierra EV will be able to serve as a mobile power source, with 10.2 kilowatts of power available through up to 10 outlets and the ability to power a home for several days during an outage.

2024 Sierra EV Denali Edition 1
Source: General Motors

Aldred said that while the Edition 1 is expensive, later Sierra EVs will be priced to compete with rivals like the Lightning, which starts at about $52,000. Another rival, the smaller Rivian R1T pickup, starts at $73,000.
“The average light-duty [internal combustion] Sierra today transacts at an average of $65,000, and the segment [average] is just below $60,000,” Aldred said. “That means we’ll be putting a Sierra EV into the heart of the pickup segment.”
While the high-priced Edition 1 should generate strong profit margins for GM, the lower-priced versions will be key to the company’s plan to rapidly ramp up sales of EVs in the middle of the decade while remaining profitable. CEO Mary Barra has said that GM will transition fully to EVs by 2035.
General Motors will report its third-quarter results before the U.S. markets open on Tuesday.

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Robert Smith during an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box, broadcast live from World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland, on January 25, 2019.
Adam Galica | CNBC

Robert F. Smith, chairman and CEO at Vista Equity Partners, said investing in businesses and managers that emphasize diversity, equity and inclusion remains vital, especially in a bear market.
The billionaire investor, who spoke with CNBC’s Frank Holland at the Disruptor 50 Summit, said that venture capital and private equity funding should continue to expand to minority-owned businesses. The recent drop in venture capital funding, due to growing recession fears, has disproportionately hit African American, Latinx business owners and founders, he said.

“They didn’t get their fair share of opportunity in gaining access to capital during the massive bull market expansion, and now they’re going through a bit of a bear market contraction. They’re seeing some outsized reductions in their funding,” Smith said.
“And I think that is a mistake on behalf of a lot of the VC community. The communities in America rely on everyone in many cases participating economically, and enabling these citizens to participate through venture funding and other forms of access to capital will only benefit the U.S.,” he continued.
Jump in 2021 funding
Venture capital and private equity funding into Black- and minority-owned business jumped last year as investors maintained a risk-on attitude toward markets, and after the 2020 murder of George Floyd spurred a greater interest into social and economic equity.
Still, Smith said the allocation of capital toward diverse-owned businesses “needs to be more sustainable, and to increase even further from some of those modest increases.” Some venture capital firms that he said are effectively identifying opportunities include the New Voices Fund.
The billionaire investor, who made headlines in 2019 after agreeing to pay off the student loan debt of more than 300 students at the historically Black Morehouse College in Atlanta, said firms should expand opportunities for young people of color.

Smith also pointed out that more institutional investors such as pension funds should also identify and allocate capital with diverse managers.
“I think there’s a fiduciary responsibility there that needs to be taken quite seriously and really looking at these high performing firms that are run by you know, African American and Latinx managers, and ensuring that they get their fair share,” especially when comparing underserved communities’ contribution to a business, he said.

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Sales of previously owned homes fell 1.5% in September from August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.71 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Sharply higher mortgage rates are causing an abrupt slowdown in the housing market.
The average rate on the 30-year fixed-rate home loan is now just over 7%, after starting this year around 3%.

Real estate broker Rebecca Van Camp places a “Sold” placard on her sign in front of a home in Meridian, Idaho, on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020.
Darin Oswald | Tribune News Service | Getty Images

Existing homes are selling at the slowest pace since September 2012, with the exception of a brief drop at the start of the Covid 19 pandemic.
Sales of previously owned homes fell 1.5% in September from August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.71 million units, according to a monthly survey from the National Association of Realtors.

That marked the eighth straight month of sales declines. Sales were lower by 23.8% year over year.
Sharply higher mortgage rates are causing an abrupt slowdown in the housing market. The average rate on the 30-year fixed home loan is now just over 7%, after starting this year around 3%. That is making an already pricey housing market even less affordable.
Despite the slowdown in sales, inventory continues to drop. There were 1.25 million homes for sales at the end of September, down 0.8% compared with September 2021. At the current sales pace, that represents a 3.2-month supply. Six months is considered a balanced supply.
“Despite weaker sales, multiple offers are still occurring with more than a quarter of homes selling above list price due to limited inventory,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the NAR. “The current lack of supply underscores the vast contrast with the previous major market downturn from 2008 to 2010, when inventory levels were four times higher than they are today.”
Tight supply continues to put pressure on home prices. The median price of an existing home sold in September was $384,800, an increase of 8.4% from September 2021. Prices climbed at all price points. This makes 127 consecutive months of annual increases.

Prices are cooling, however. September marked the third straight month-to-month price decline, which usually fall this time of this year.
They’re falling harder this year, though, particularly on the lower end of the market, where inventory is much leaner. Homes priced between $100,000 and $250,000 dropped 28.4% from a year ago, while sales of homes priced between $750,000 and $1 million declined 9.5%.
Homes did sit on the market slightly longer in September, an average of 19 days, up from 16 days in August and 17 days in September 2021.
Higher mortgage rates aren’t just spooking potential buyers. They’re keeping sellers on the sidelines as well, which adds to the inventory crunch.
“Homeowners love their 3% mortgage rate, and they don’t want to give that up,” Yun said.

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