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^FINANCIAL MARKETS
Stocks fall as market waits for Fed
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are lower at midday on Wall Street Wednesday ahead of the Federal Reserve's latest decision on interest rates. Investors are expecting a small cut to rates and will be watching for any clues about what the Fed does next.
Bank stocks are falling after the yield on the 10-year Treasury dropped to 1.75% from 1.81%. Bank of America fell 1%.
FedEx dropped 13.8% after the shipping company lowered its profit forecast for the rest of its fiscal year.
Oil is falling for a second straight day. U.S. oil is down 1.6% to $58.39 a barrel
^HOME CONSTRUCTION
US home building climbs 12.3% in August to 12-year high
WASHINGTON (AP) — The pace of U.S. home construction jumped 12.3% last month to a 12-year high on a surge in apartment building.
The Commerce Department said Wednesday that housing starts came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.36 million, most since June 2007 and up from a revised 1.22 million, as builders overcame a shortage of skilled workers and available land.
Construction of single-family homes rose 4.4% to 919,000. Building of apartments and condominiums surged 30.9% —biggest monthly gain since December 2016 — to 424,000.
Residential construction rose 30.5% in the Northeast, 15.4% in the Midwest and 14.9% in the South but was unchanged in the West.
In another good sign for the housing market, permits, a signal of future building, rose 7.7% to 1.42 million, highest since May 2007.
^FEDERAL RESERVE
NY Fed enters overnight lending markets, again
WASHINGTON (AP) — For the second time in as many days, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York is stepping in to free up billions of dollars to avert spiking overnight borrowing costs.
The New York Fed on Tuesday infused that market with more than $53 billion as overnight borrowing costs surged close to 10%. It was the first time such an action was taken since 2008.
The New York Fed has bumped that figure up to $75 billion for Wednesday.
Economists with Wells Fargo believe the logjam in intrabank lending markets is being caused by required quarterly tax payments from corporations. They need to have cash on hand to make those payments and rely on overnight lending markets for the funding.
A key date for those corporations was Sept. 15, according to Wells Fargo, which has dried up the pool of funding used by broader markets for quick cash.
^PERSIAN GULF-TENSIONS-OIL SUPPLY
Energy watchdog: No plans to use backup oil
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The International Energy Agency says oil markets remain well supplied and that it's not yet considered releasing emergency stocks of crude to offset the drop in output caused by the weekend attacks on Saudi oil installations.
The Paris-based agency, which advises governments and can release oil stocks in times of crisis, said Wednesday its member states hold about 1.55 billion barrels of emergency reserves. That amounts to 15 days of world oil demand, "more than enough to offset any significant disruption in supplies for an extended period of time."
The IEA has only released emergency stocks three times: in 1991 ahead of the Gulf War, in 2005 due to hurricanes in the U.S. and in 2011 over the Libyan war.
IEA head Fatih Birol said: "At this point, we do not see the need to take such action."
^TRUMP-FUEL ECONOMY
Trump says California can't set fuel standards
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says his administration is revoking California's authority to set auto mileage standards stricter than those issued by federal regulators.
In a tweet, Trump said his move would result in less expensive and safer cars. He insisted that new cars would be cleaner, even as they burn more gasoline than they would have under Obama-era fuel efficiency standards he wants to replace.
California's authority to set its own, tougher emissions standards goes back to a waiver issued by Congress during passage of the Clean Air Act in 1970.
Even before the announcement revoking that authority, California and environmental groups said they planned legal action.
^GENERAL MOTORS-UAW STRIKE
Slow progress reported in talks as GM strike enters 3rd day
DETROIT (AP) — Union and company bargainers are making progress toward a new contract as a strike by United Auto Workers brought 33 General Motors factories to a halt continued into its third day.
Committees working on thorny issues such as wages, health insurance costs, use of temporary workers, and new work for plants slated to close worked until early evening Tuesday and are scheduled to resume bargaining early Wednesday.
UAW spokesman Brian Rothenberg said the talks were moving slowly but progressing.
More than 49,000 workers walked off their jobs on Monday in a dispute over the union's quest to get a bigger share of GM's profits and the company's goal of cutting labor costs so they're closer to those at U.S. auto plants run by foreign companies.
^FACEBOOK-EXTREMISM
Facebook still auto-generating Islamic State, al-Qaida pages
WASHINGTON (AP) — In the face of criticism that Facebook is not doing enough to combat extremist messaging, the company likes to say that its automated systems remove the vast majority of prohibited content glorifying the Islamic State group and al-Qaida before it's reported.
But a whistleblower's complaint shows that Facebook itself has inadvertently provided the two extremist groups with a networking and recruitment tool by producing dozens of pages in their names. The new details come from an update of a complaint to the Securities and Exchange Commission that the National Whistleblower Center plans to file this week.
The social networking company appears to have made little progress on the issue in the four months since The Associated Press detailed how pages that Facebook auto-generates for businesses are aiding Middle East extremists and white supremacists in the United States.
Representatives of Facebook and other social media companies are being questioned today by senators on the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
^FACEBOOK-PORTAL
Facebook slashes price, size of Portal video call gadget
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Facebook is slashing the price and the size of the Portal, its screen and camera-equipped gadget for making video calls with friends and family.
A smaller version will now cost $129 and will come with an 8 inch display. A larger version with a 10 inch display will cost $179.
Last year's models were bigger and cost more — $199 for a 10.1 inch display and $349 for at 15.6 inch screen.
A new screenless Portal device that attaches to a television set will be $149. All three go on sale in October.
Facebook is not saying how many Portals it's sold. But it's not clear how many people want a Facebook-branded smart camera in their homes, given the company's history of privacy problems.
^COMCAST-STREAMING DEVICE
Comcast tries to bolster streaming gadget by dropping fee
NEW YORK (AP) — As big entertainment companies prepare to launch new streaming services, Comcast is trying to bolster its Flex streaming TV device by giving it away.
As with Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Roku, Flex lets viewers watch streaming services over a regular TV, though they have to subscribe to Netflix and others on their own.
Comcast said Wednesday that one box would now be free for its home internet customers. Additional boxes would still cost $5 a month each.
Flex will support Comcast's upcoming Peacock streaming service, featuring NBCUniversal shows. Comcast won't say whether viewers will be able to watch upcoming rival services like Disney Plus , HBO Max and Apple TV Plus . Flex doesn't support online-TV services that are cable replacements, like YouTube TV and AT&T TV Now.
^VAPING-FLAVOR BAN-MICHIGAN
Michigan joins New York in banning flavored e-cigarettes
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan has joined New York in banning the sale of flavored e-cigarettes as federal health officials investigate the cause of hundreds of serious breathing illnesses in people who have used vaping devices.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services released details of the ban Wednesday and gave retailers, including online sellers, two weeks to comply. The ban includes menthol and mint flavored products.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Sept. 4 that Michigan would move toward banning flavored e-cigarettes, accusing companies of using candy flavors and deceptive advertising to appeal to kids. New York officials approved its ban Tuesday.
Federal health officials have not identified a single device or ingredient involved in the lung illnesses. President Donald Trump has proposed a federal ban on flavored e-cigarettes and vaping products.
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