​The Daily Chase: More Tesla price cuts; NFI Group's debt load

Here are five things you need to know this morning.

Here are five things to know this morning:  Steady: Markets are finding their footing after a sell-off yesterday that saw the TSX, S&P 500 and NASDAQ close at one-month lows. Today we get the U.S. Federal Reserve minutes, which could provide some insight into why they resumed rate hikes in July after skipping in June. Next meeting is Sept. 19 to 20 and right now market is betting only 10 per cent chance of a rate hike. We got a mixed read of inflation in the U.K. Headline inflation fell to its lowest in 17 months, but core inflation remained sticky and services accelerated to a 30-year high. These days it seems like everyone’s inflation rate matters. I don’t recall so many international strategists so preoccupied with Canada’s inflation rate reaccelerating more than expected.  Bullseye: If I told you Target’s sales fell more than expected and the company warned sales and profit for the year were going to be lower, what do you think the stock reaction would be? Well kids, colour me surprised, shares of Target are surging on the news. Why? One, the stock just closed at a three-year low. Second, earnings per share came in 30 per cent higher than expected. Even though sales are falling, the company’s margins expanded and inventory came down. Target isn’t chasing consumers through excessive promotion and that is bringing some comfort to investors today.  How many regulators?: Coinbase has won regulatory approval to sell crypto futures in the United States. Not from the SEC, which of course is suing them. Not from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission which regulates cryptocurrencies as commodities. But from the National Futures Association.  This is a large market in crypto with Bloomberg noting that crypto derivatives accounted for nearly 80 per cent of all crypto trading volume on centralized exchanges in July. Shares of Coinbase are rallying on the back of the news.  Another one: Tesla is cutting prices in China for a second time in three days. Shares are under pressure again in the pre-market. This time the cuts are on sedans and SUVs. The backdrop, of course, is the slowdown in China which has been acute for Tesla. Tesla’s shipments from its Chinese plant dropped 31 per cent in July to the lowest level this year. But the cuts are in keeping with a promise warning Musk made on the company’s last conference call that more price cuts would be coming.  NFI re-fi: We will watch shares of NFI Group at the open. The bus maker delivered higher sales and a narrower loss than expected. On the back of improving supply chains and growing demand, NFI is boosting its full year sales and profit forecasts. However, the company is struggling under a cumbersome debt load, which is why they continue to lose money. Today they announced a private placement with an unnamed asset manager in an effort to raise US$50 million. The deal is priced at $10.10 per share which is a 14 per cent discount to yesterday’s close but higher than the last private placement they did.