A Fed interest rate decision, Instacart’s IPO and financial data as a growth tool: trial balance

The Trial Balance is the CFO’s weekly preview of stories, stats and events designed to help you prepare.

Part 1: The 6am CFO

This week, Datasite CFO Tom Donnelly shares his thoughts on meeting structures, leadership confidence, and the importance of talent development.

He also offers his favorite work mantra: “If you take over a coworker’s inventory, be prepared to have your own inventory checked.” (9/21)

Part 2: This week

The Federal Open Market Committee meeting on September 19-20 may seem disappointing as Fed funds futures markets are pricing in only a 1% chance of a rate hike. But there will be a detailed analysis of Jerome Powell’s press conference and the committee’s updated economic forecasts. Does the Fed need to keep interest rates higher for longer to beat the specter of inflation? Will Powell signal that one of two more quarter-point increases will be the peak, and will an increase occur by the end of 2023? Will the Fed even broach the subject of future interest rate cuts? The answers will come on Wednesday.

With Arm Holdings’ successful IPO last week, optimistic investors are hoping two more IPO prices this week will keep the momentum going: grocery delivery company Instacart and SaaS company Klaviyo. Instacart plans to raise $638 million at a market cap of $9.6 billion, and customer loyalty platform Klaviyo plans to raise $499 million at a market cap of $8 billion. Restarting a cold IPO market is no easy task – the success of both deals is not assured.

Microsoft is hosting a special event in New York this Thursday (September 21) where it is expected to unveil details about new Surface laptops and the artificial intelligence features of Windows 11 and Microsoft 365, including Copilot, the assistant for Windows. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will be in attendance.

There is revenue from AutoZone, Steelcase, FedEx, General Mills, KB Home, Darden Restaurants and FactSet Research.

The United Auto Workers’ strike against General Motors, Ford and Stellantis enters its fourth day on Monday.

Shortly before autumn is Climate Week in New York, where the United Nations is holding a climate summit on Wednesday.

Part 3: How to use financial data as a growth tool

CFOs are constantly looking for something that will give their company an edge, whether it be over the competition or in terms of their own current performance. What if the key to achieving that edge was hidden in your own data? In this article, Pipe CFO Ben Goodyear discusses the importance of data for businesses at every stage and how the right tools and expertise can help you leverage it to drive growth and business health. (19.9.)