Investing.com -- Softbank is on the verge of taking control of WeWork's parent with an emergency cash injection, while a barrage of U.S. earnings is led by McDonald's, Procter & Gamble and Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN). Meanwhile, Justin Trudeau returns to power but is left red-faced (which represents an improvement of sorts). Here's what you need to know in financial markets on Tuesday, 22nd October.
1. WeDeclineandFall
Softbank is set to take a controlling stake in the parent company of WeWork through a $5 billion bailout, in a development that will reverberate around both public and private equity markets.
We Company’s board is due to meet later Tuesday and will consider a range of emergency financing options to stop itself running out of cash after having to pull its IPO. Its failure to go public also meant that it didn’t get its hands on billions more in fresh debt financing that would have alleviated its cash crunch.
The Wall Street Journal and others reported that the company’s valuation could sink to as low as $8 billion under the new deal. It had sought a valuation of around $47 billion ahead of the IPO.
2. McDonald's, P&G to Report
Two of the world’s most prominent consumer stocks – McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) and Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG), are set to report their quarterly earnings before the opening bell.
McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) is expected to post earnings per share of $2.21 on $5.49 billion of revenue, both of which would represent an increase on last year’s performance of $2.05 and $5.37 billion.
P&G, meanwhile, is expected to post earnings of $1.24 a share on revenue of $17.25 billion, compared to $1.12 a share and $16.69 billion a year ago.
Meeting those forecasts would mean that both companies buck a trend of falling earnings, according to FactSet analyst John Butters, who argues that S&P 500 companies are on track to report a year-on-year decline in earnings of 4.7%, but year-over-year growth in revenues of 2.6%.
Stocks flat ahead of earnings barrage
U.S. stock markets are set to open flat after posting healthy gains at the start of the week. By 6 AM ET, Dow futures were up 6 points, effectively unchanged. S&P 500 futures were also flat while Nasdaq 100 futures were up a meagre 0.1%.
In addition to the two consumer giants above, there will also be quarterly updates from United Technologies (NYSE:UTX) and Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT), UPS, NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE), Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB), Kimberly-Clark (NYSE:KMB) and Travelers (NYSE:TRV).
After the closing bell come Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE:CMG), Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN) and Snapchat parent Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP).
A heavy morning for earnings in Europe saw Novartis and UBS beat expectations.
4. Boris has another stab
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to bring a bill implementing his Brexit deal to the House of Commons for a second reading. Latest media reports suggest that Johnson has just enough votes to get the bill through, but he would then have to bring a so-called “programme motion” on Wednesday detailing the timing of the withdrawal (Johnson is still aiming for an exit on Oct. 31, despite requesting an extension from the EU at the weekend).
The programme motion has a much greater risk of being ambushed by opposition amendments. However, there is still no clear majority for either of the alternatives that the opposition is proposing, namely a second referendum with the option to revoke the decision to leave, or a requirement to join a customs union with the EU (which would deny the U.K. the ability to make its own trade policy.
So far in Europe, the pound is holding above 1.1600 euros and above $1.2920.
5. Trudeau returns to power, without a majority
Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party emerged as the winner of Canada’s federal elections, but the Prime Minister lost votes to both left- and right-wing parties and fell 15 seats short of a majority in the House of Commons.
As such, Trudeau is set to head a minority government that will govern on a vote-by-vote basis, something that makes the formulation of, for example, Canadian policy on oil and gas taxation or new pipelines, hard to predict.
The loonie was undaunted and opened up Tuesday close to a three-month high against the U.S. dollar, at $1.3082.