Geoffrey Smith 

Investing.com — Soon, the Federal Reserve will announce the end of $120 billion in monthly bond purchases. Zillow Activision Blizzard and Activision Blizzard join the growing list of companies that will erase all or most of their gains from the pandemic. After signs that rising gasoline prices have hurt U.S. consumption, Joe Biden’s and Democrats suffer a devastating loss in Virginia. This is what you should know about financial markets Wednesday 3rd November.

1. Taper time 

It is expected that the Federal Reserve will announce it at its meeting on Tuesday, February 2, 2018, at 2 pm ET (2000 GMT).  The consensus projections are that the central bank will cut its purchases by $15 Million per month. That means the tapering process should be completed in eight months.

The Fed could surprise the hawks by moving faster, which is what some Fed officials in regional Fed regions have advocated for over recent weeks.

It is unknown to what extent Fed Chair Jerome Powell, at 2:30 ET, will alter his views on inflation. Powell only recently acknowledged that inflation is more widespread and lasting than originally predicted. Any change in rhetoric here will be taken a coded warning of earlier interest rate hikes, which could also be telegraphed in the Fed’s ‘dot-plot’ of rate expectations.

2. Zillow’s flipping business flops

Zillow’s shares fell and are now in premarket trading after Zillow said that the company had to make writedowns exceeding $560m on flipping houses.

The online realtor’s Zillow Offers business was slow to realize that the housing market, which boomed during the first year of the pandemic, was cooling off earlier in the year. Also, it did not realize the challenges that would arise in finding labour and materials for the necessary refurbishments to a home.

Zillow now joins the growing number of stocks which have either fully or almost completely unwound pandemic-era gains. Activision Blizzard will keep it company today, trading at a premarket low of 19 months after reporting a.

3. Fed: Stocks hold pattern in anticipation of Fed

Stock markets in the United States will open slightly below Tuesday’s all-time highs. However, trading will be subdued through the Fed meeting.  

By 6:25 AM ET (1025 GMT). They were 0.1% down at 33 points. However, they were 0.1% down at slightly less.

Other than Activision and Zillow, other stocks that could be of interest later include Tinder operator Match Group (NASDAQ:), who also missed expectations on Tuesday and Humana, which announced earnings approximately 50% ahead of forecasts. Facebook (NASDAQ):, sorry, Meta Platforms will also be in the spotlight after it announced that it would cease using facial recognition technology amid growing scrutiny.

An earnings list with heavy weight includes updates from Emerson Electric, Marriott (NASDAQ;), Discovery (NASDAQ:), Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE :), and later ones by,?,, and the lithium miner

4. Virginia Dems get punished for being inactive

Glenn Youngkin was the Republican nominee in this hotly contested race. This contest is widely seen to have big national implications for next year’s midterm elections.

Youngkin was a former executive in private equity and had focused on education issues. He scored high in opposition to the introduction of Critical Race Theory into schools. Youngkin also seems to have gained support from swing voters, distancing him himself from Donald Trump.

Exit polls indicated that his opponent,  the Democratic incumbent Terry McAuliffe, had by contrast failed to motivate his core supporters, in what analysts saw as with the administration’s and Congress’s ability to implement the agenda they had promised at last year’s elections. Senators and other Senators continue to block the Democrats’ major spending bill in Congress.

5. Oil slips after API 

After an unexpectedly high rise in U.S inventories last week that reflected continued demand destruction, crude oil prices fell.  

American drivers are feeling pain and President Joe Biden has increased pressure on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to boost their output. There’s still no suggestion that OPEC will go beyond the 400,000 barrel a day increase slated for December when it meets with Russia and others on Thursday.

Futures fell $1.80, or 2.2%, at $82.11 per barrel by 6:30 AM ET. It was also down 1.9% at $83.14 per barrel

The crude inventory rose by 3.6million barrels, versus expectations of a smaller increase. They will be available at 10:30 ET, as per usual.