Scott Horsley

Well, right now, markets think it's likely the Fed will cut its benchmark interest rate by another quarter point.

It's not a slam dunk, and there could be more dissents than usual.

But if those forecasts are right, that would make it a little cheaper to borrow money to

buy a car or get a new refrigerator or whatever.

And the idea is that increased demand would perk up the economy a little bit and prompt employers to keep more people on the payroll.

In that University of Michigan survey, people do say they feel a little more confident about where the economy is going to be in the future than where it is right now.

Although even that future outlook's not all that optimistic.

And here's Scott Horsley.

Scott, thank you.

You're welcome.

The Commerce Department's inflation yardstick, which is closely watched by the Fed, shows prices in September were up 2.8 percent from a year ago.

That's a slightly larger annual increase than the previous month, but core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, was slightly lower than in August.

Investors think the Fed is more concerned about weakness in the job market than rising prices right now, so policymakers are expected to lower their benchmark interest rate by another quarter percentage point next week.

A survey by the University of Michigan shows consumers are feeling slightly better about the economic outlook than they were a month ago, but sentiment is still pretty gloomy compared to this time last year.

Scott Horsley, NPR News, Washington.

Netflix appears to have won the bidding war to buy the studio and streaming business of Warner Bros.

Discovery for $72 billion.

The deal would allow Netflix to produce more programs in the U.S.

and give the streaming service access to Warner Bros.'

vast catalog of movies and TV shows.