Tesla Program

By Ann Saphir and Lindsay (NYSE:LNN) Dunsmuir

(Reuters) - Containing inflation running at its highest in decades must be a top priority for the Federal Reserve with Americans "suffering" under the rapid pace of price increases, U.S. President Joe Biden's nominees to the central bank's Board of Governors said on Thursday.

While the Fed has a dual mandate to promote maximum employment and price stability, the clear need at the moment is to bring inflation down from its highest rate in four decades and back toward the Fed's flexible target of 2% annually, economist Philip Jefferson said.

"So in this moment ... the inflation rate is high relative to the Fed's target and so the directive is clear," Jefferson, currently dean of faculty at Davidson College in North Carolina, said in response to a lawmaker's question during his confirmation hearing at the Senate Banking Committee.

"The Fed must take steps to bring inflation back in line with its target."

Jefferson's comment was echoed by economist Lisa Cook of Michigan State University, who said she agreed "with the Fed's path right now" and was motivated in that regard by seeing the "suffering" of consumers and businesses in the current inflationary environment.

The comments on inflation come as the Fed is preparing to raise interest rates next month for the first time since cutting them to near zero about two years ago to shield the economy from the effects of the global coronavirus pandemic. Their remarks signaled both Jefferson and Cook are prepared to support that effort if they gain confirmation to the Fed board.

Sarah Bloom Raskin, a former Fed governor nominated by Biden to be the vice chair for supervision - the central bank's top bank regulator - also said in written testimony before the hearing that she backs the mission to lower inflation.

Raskin, however, spent most of the hearing parrying challenges from Republicans about her approach to bank regulation, saying that while she believes banks need strict oversight, it is not her job to tell them how and where to lend https://www.reuters.com/world/us/senate-press-raskin-nomination-be-feds-top-bank-cop-2022-02-03.

(Bloomberg) -- Applications for U.S. state unemployment insurance fell for a second week, partially unwinding a recent spike in claims as the omicron wave withdraws.

Initial unemployment claims decreased by 23,000 to 238,000 in the week ended Jan. 29, Labor Department data showed Thursday. The median estimate called for 245,000 applications in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Continuing claims for state benefits fell to 1.63 million in the week ended Jan. 22.

Applications continued to decline after a surge in recent weeks amid an uptick in Covid-19 cases across the country. Claims have largely been falling in the past year, and layoffs are at a record low as companies are desperate to retain and attract talent amid ongoing labor shortages.

The claims data comes ahead of the government’s monthly employment report, which is forecast to show the U.S. added 150,000 jobs in January. A separate report Wednesday showed that payrolls at U.S. companies fell by 301,000 last month, the most since April 2020, according to ADP Research Institute.

On an unadjusted basis, claims decreased to 257,002 last week. Ohio, Kentucky and Illinois were states registering the biggest decreases in unadjusted claims. Pennsylvania, Michigan and Indiana posted the largest increases in applications.

By Dhirendra Tripathi

Investing.com – ConocoPhillips stock (NYSE:COP) traded 0.4% lower Thursday after the company’s move to top up its shareholder returns by $1 billion fell short of expectations.

The company now plans to give back $8 billion to shareholders in 2022 through various instruments including repurchases and dividends. This compares with Exxon Mobil 's (NYSE:XOM) ongoing $10 billion share repurchase program and Shell's (NYSE:SHEL) plan to buy back shares worth $8.5 billion within the first half of 2022.

Shell also plans to increase its dividend by 4% in the current quarter to 25 cents per share.

Tensions in the Middle East and between U.S and Russia, reluctance of the OPEC+ to raise output and pandemic-fueled boom in economies have all contributed to push energy prices to record highs. Those prices have boosted cash flows at energy majors and enabled them to return more cash to shareholders, moves investors have welcomed given the world’s mood has mostly turned against firms dependent on fossil fuels.

ConocoPhillips’ fourth-quarter total revenue and other income more than doubled to $16 billion. That allowed the company to swing back to a profit of $2.6 billion against a loss a year earlier. A near doubling of realized price boosted earnings.

The company said its production, excluding Libya, rose to 1.6 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in the fourth quarter, up by 423,000 boe/d from last year. Production from Libya averaged 41,000 boe/d.

Most of the increase in the company's output came from the Permian, Reuters said. The company acquired Shell’s assets in the top U.S. oilfield for $8.7 billion during the quarter.

By Geoffrey Smith

Investing.com -- Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) owner Meta Platforms is set for a $200 billion wipeout when it opens later, after reporting a drop in users and predicting more pain from Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)'s privacy settings late on Thursday. The mixed performance of the so-called FAANG stocks will make Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN)'s earnings after the bell particularly interesting. Jobless claims data are due, a day after a shocking fall in private employment in January. The Bank of England is expected to raise its key rate for the second meeting in a row, but the European Central Bank is set to stay strictly in talking mode. Shell (LON:RDSa) adds to the good news from Big Oil. Here's what you need to know in financial markets on Thursday, 3rd February.

1. Meta's Mega Selloff

Facebook owner Meta Platforms is set to lose nearly $200 billion of market value when it opens later, after reporting its first ever drop in daily active users and a broader set of quarterly numbers that spelled various kinds of trouble for the company.

The company managed another gain in revenue thanks to higher ad rates, but the squeeze from Apple’s new privacy laws is set to get worse this year, costing it $10 billion in revenue, according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Profit, meanwhile, fell due to ever-heavier investment in long-term plays related to the so-called Metaverse.

That makes the Facebook owner the second of the once-untouchable FAANG club to endure a wipeout after its fourth-quarter report (Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) being the first). The numbers will add to the importance of Amazon’s results for market sentiment. The e-commerce giant reports after the close.

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