CHRIS VERSACE: Good morning, Action Alerts Plus subscribers, and Happy Halloween. As the Fed kicks off its two-day meeting, market volatility very much remains on the table for us despite yesterday's attempt at a market rally from oversold conditions. Now, we've noted the market has been in a nervous mood. And simply put, that remains the case.
We have some additional contributing factors today, which include the latest data out of China that showed its manufacturing and services activity cooled in October. And falling new order activity for both points to even slower activity ahead, raising a fresh round of questions over the effectiveness of China's recent stimulative efforts. We also saw the wage component of this morning's Employment Cost Index for the September quarter showing continued wage pressure.
And simply, that is something the fed is not going to like as it enters and contemplates its next steps for monetary policy. It also adds to our concern about extended wage pressure, limiting progress on inflation. Now, those figures, remember, come before what we saw starting in late September with the Teamsters and UPS and the size of that contract settlement. Also, too, the recent settlement with the UAW with Ford, GM, and Stellantis, as well as other factors that will hit in the coming quarters.
Case in point, and something that we've been talking with members about, the California minimum wage increase for fast food workers that begins in the first half of 2024. Now, on top of all of that, we do have a slew of data over the next few days that will tell us exactly how fast the domestic economy is performing. But it will also talk to us about the pace of wage creation. Sorry, wage increases, as well as the degree of job creation. And on top of all of that, tomorrow afternoon we do find out what the Fed is going to say about the forward path of monetary policy.
Remember, we don't expect the Fed to do anything in terms of interest rates exiting tomorrow's meeting. But we do continue to think that Fed Chair Powell's press conference will be some tough talk for the market, signaling that despite what's going on in the world, it remains laser-focused on its job. And recent data is simply not helping the Fed. This leads us to think the Fed is going to leave the door open for another potential rate hike, putting them back in the data-dependent category.
And that's exactly where we are going to be as well. That is likely to keep the market's nervous mood ongoing. That likely means we could continue to see some big swings in the market, as well as for individual stocks as we continue to move throughout the current earnings season. As a result, we want you to be prepared. And that is why we shared our portfolio panic points with you yesterday and we will continue to do so both in the Weekly Roundup and every Monday in a stand-alone alert.
As a reminder, panic points are price levels at which we may opt to exit a position in order to prevent further losses from impacting the overall portfolio. While there is some degree of discretion with panic points compared to a stop loss, this nervous market will keep us focused on our panic points for the portfolio. Case in point, shares of Universal Display closed yesterday below our 140 panic point for the shares. We alerted you to this possibility in an alert yesterday afternoon.
And this morning, inside Samsung's September quarter earnings, there was questionable guidance for Samsung's TV business not only in the current quarter, but for 2024 as well. Now, some quick context. Currently, the TV market is about half the demand for organic light emitting diode displays, which makes it a critical one for universal display. It also means that it's a larger market for organic light emitting diode displays than mobile devices, like smartphones.
Now, we have to remember too that Samsung is also universal's largest customer. And that soft TV outlook, which also happens to jive with concerns over consumer spending could lead to softer than expected guidance from universal later this week. As we've been seeing so far this September quarter earnings season, unless a company delivers pristine quarterly results and guidance, its shares run the risk of being punished.
We'd rather choose to avoid that and limit our loss in OLED shares to a small one. So the combination of moving below our panic point and Samsung's market comments led us to exit organic light emitting diode shares, or OLED shares, this morning. Now, Universal Display shares aren't alone in experiencing these sharp sell-offs this morning.
We're seeing the shares of VF Corp, Denny's, PetMed Express, and others come under big pressure. What's driving it? Weak guidance, pulled guidance, and in some cases, dividend cuts. All of this is taking their toll not only on those individual stocks, but it's also feeding that nervous market sentiment. And odds are it's going to keep the market volatile in the near term.
As I mentioned earlier, we will continue to watch our panic points, but we're also going to let our inverse ETFs run in the meantime. And finally, last night's Apple scary fast Mac reveal turned out to be kind of a non-event in our opinion. Yes, as expected, the company introduced a new line of Macs and M3 chips. Nice to have in our opinion.
But to be candid, we walked away from the presentation feeling rather kind of "meh" if I could say that to members. Now, we do have Apple's earnings later this week. And clearly, that is going to be a much bigger deal for the company and the market. We say for the market because let's remember that Apple shares are one of the largest holdings for both the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ Composite. And yes, as the company reports, we will break down all our thoughts on what it has to say about iPhone, services, Mac, wearables, and the like. And we'll also be updating our views as we digest quarterly results after tomorrow's close from key chip supplier to Apple, Qualcomm.
That's today's Holiday Edition Rundown. Thanks for watching.