Chapter 1: What economic data is driving the rise in rates?
Welcome to Seeking Alpha's Wall Street Lunch, our afternoon update on today's market action, news, and analysis. Good afternoon. Today is Thursday, January 22nd, and I'm your host, Kim Kahn. Our top story so far. Rates are moving higher after a raft of morning economic data pointing to sticky inflation, solid growth, and a somewhat stable labor market.
The core PCE price index, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, rose 2.8% year-over-year in November, unchanged from October, and in line with expectations. Olu Sonola, whose head of U.S. economic research at Fitch Ratings, says the data suggests inflation is stuck.
Chapter 2: How is GE Aerospace's growth outlook changing?
PCE isn't converging back to target, but it's also not re-accelerating on tariff-driven pressures, he said, adding that resilient consumers and higher income wage gains keep the Fed in a holding pattern and policy restrictive for longer. Q3 GDP was revised up to an annualized 4.4% from 4.3%, helped by stronger exports and investment, partly offset by a small downgrade to consumer spending.
And weekly initial jobless claims edged up by 1,000 to 200,000, better than the 209 expected. Continuing claims dipped to $1.849 million from $1.875 million the week before. Among active stocks, GE Aerospace is lower, even after Q4 adjusted earnings and 2026 guidance topped Wall Street expectations, as analysts flagged signs that its torrid growth may be slowing.
JPMorgan analyst Seth Seifman, who rates the stock overweight, says GE may find it harder to expand margins this year than in 2025,
Chapter 3: What implications do the Warner Bros. bids have for the market?
citing headwinds from the 9X engine, equipment growth outpacing services, and the potential for further spare engine normalization. Procter & Gamble is higher after CFO Andre Schulten said on the earnings call that the company has just completed what it fully expects will be the softest quarter of its fiscal year.
BN Paribas analyst Kevin Grundy noted that while P&G's top-line results were muted and sentiment is increasingly tied to improving volume trends, he sees a high likelihood the company can achieve its EPS guidance. And Abbott Labs is the S&P's biggest decliner after reporting lower-than-expected Q4 2025 revenue, hurt by underperformance in its nutrition segment.
Abbott's projected organic sales growth for 2026 and its outlook for Q1-adjusted EPS also came in below expectations. In other news of note, European competition watchdogs are set to examine the bids from Netflix and Paramount Skydance for Warner Bros. Discovery at the same time.
Bloomberg reports that parallel reviews are now inevitable, given the timing of rival proposals and the fact that both sides have already sounded out EU regulators. Sources say a double probe would give Brussels unusual leverage over Warner's fate, since it could quickly clear a deal for one bidder while launching a more in-depth investigation into the other.
But whichever company ends up with Warner or its assets, there are already a couple of clear winners. Cheers are echoing on the deal floors of J.P. Morgan and Allen & Company, which stand to earn about $90 million each for advising Warner, no matter who wins the bidding war.
And in the Wall Street Research Corner, Bank of America has updated its US One list, its lineup of best ideas among buy-rated, US-listed stocks. Merck is the newest addition, while Apple keeps its spot after passing the mandatory 52-week review. Other names on the list include Spotify, Walmart, Wells Fargo, NVIDIA, and Progressive.
Check out the full list in our story on Seeking Alpha, and be sure to register for our Investing Experts Live event on January 27th, where you'll get the top ideas for 2026 from leading analysts.
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Chapter 4: How is Bank of America's US One list evolving?
Both links will be in show notes.
That's all for today's Wall Street Lunch. Look for links for stories in the show notes section. Don't forget, these episodes will be up with transcriptions at seekingalpha.com.
Chapter 5: What closing thoughts does the host share about today's market?
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