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Winners of Pizza Hut's latest promotion better hope the chain's marketing stunt doesn't come across as cheesy.

Pizza Hut, a Yum! Brands (YUM) company, hopes to help New York City job seekers "make a lasting impression" with its latest promotion. The chain will choose winners whose resume will be printed on a custom pizza box and hand-delivered—with a medium-sized cheese pie—to their desired employer.

The pizza company said that "75% of resumes sent are never read," citing a CareerMinds.com study. Pizza Hut on Tuesday said the contest, which closes Sunday, could help winners beat the odds since "an office pizza is hard to ignore."

Pizza Hut said its aim is to help prospective candidates "capture employer attention during peak 'September Surge' hiring season," when "there is a notable increase in job opportunities across industries at the start of Q4."

In order to enter the contest, job seekers must visit ResZAmes.com; enter their desired employer's NYC zip code; and input their resume via online submission form. Pizza Hut will then review the submissions and "choose a select number of lucky winners." (If the web address doesn't make sense to you, say it aloud a few times.)

"Who could possibly ignore a resume when it is delivered as a delicious pizza?" Pizza Hut Chief Marketing Officer Melissa Friebe said.

Still, the company notes in the fine print the inevitable: "Our lawyers want you to know that Pizza Hut cannot guarantee that (i) a resume will be delivered to the potential employer, (ii) a candidate will receive an interview, and/or (iii) a candidate will receive a job offer or be hired."

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The United Nations has announced the donation of a $6 million fund in support of the Maiduguri flood victims in Borno State.

The UN’s Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mohammed Fall, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday, September 17.

He said a joint mission comprising UN agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), alongside the Nigeria Red Cross Society, visited the main city of Maiduguri over the weekend.

According to Fall, the team met with people who had been impacted, many of them had already displaced multiple times by conflict and insecurity in the area.

The flood was caused by an overflow in the Alau Dam located just over 10 miles to the south of Maiduguri.

“We and our partners are providing them with hot meals, we are facilitating air drops of food in hard-to-reach areas cut off by flood waters, and we are also trucking in water.

We are also providing water and sanitation hygiene services and water purification tablets to stem disease outbreaks.

This is in addition to supplying hygiene and dignity kits to women and girls, as well as emergency health and shelter services,” he said.

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Thanks to falling mortgage rates, homebuilders felt a bit less dismal about the housing market in September.The National Association of Home Builders' sentiment index rose to 41 in September from 39 in August, breaking a four-month streak of declines but remaining well below the 50 level that indicates most builders feel optimistic about the near-term outlook for the market.Falling mortgage rates over the last few months have helped boost the homebuilding outlook, though builders are still pessimistic about customers' ability to afford to buy houses.

According to Freddie Mac, the average rate offered for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 6.2%, down more than a percentage point since May. Rates have been pushed down by expectations in financial markets that the Federal Reserve is preparing to cut its influential fed funds rate this week.Despite the recent downtick, mortgage rates are still well above the rock-bottom lows they hit during the pandemic, and a lack of available homes for sale has kept prices hot for new and previously owned homes. Buyers with typical incomes struggle to afford the houses they want between high rates and high prices. On top of that, builders face rising construction costs, the association said.

Builders expect things to improve in the coming months as the Fed cuts rates. An index of builders’ expectations for future business rose to 53 from 49 in August, entering positive territory.“Thanks to lower interest rates, builders now have a positive view for future new home sales for the first time since May 2024,” NAHB Chairman Carl Harris said in a prepared statement. “However, the cost of construction remains elevated relative to household budgets, holding back some enthusiasm for current housing market conditions.”

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SolarEdge Technologies (SEDG) shares tumbled in early trading Tuesday, before rebounding later in the session after Jefferies downgraded the stock, pointing to tough competition in the solar power industry.

Jefferies analysts lowered their rating to "underperform" from "hold," and cut their price target to $17 from $23, implying close to 32% downside from Tuesday's intraday price of $22.37.

"Given significant headwinds in Europe from persistently high inventory levels and Chinese competition, as well as stiff competition in US, we see more downside to the stock,” the analysts said.

The analysts added they had hoped to gain more confidence in the solar power equipment maker during the RE+ clean energy event, but “unfortunately, that didn’t pan out.” Instead, they found “no near-term catalysts that have potential to significantly alter the trajectory.”

Along with dealing with a slowdown in demand, SolarEdge was also dealt a blow in June when it reported one of its customers filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and wouldn’t be able to pay its multi-million dollar debt to the company. 

Despite slight gains Tuesday, SolarEdge shares have lost over three-quarters of their value since the start of the year.

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U.S. equities advanced around midday Tuesday following the news that retail sales rose more than expected in August, and as the Federal Reserve began a two-day meeting where it’s expected policymakers will begin cutting interest rates.

The Dow added to its all-time high set yesterday. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also gained.

Intel (INTC) was the best-performing stock in the Dow after the semiconductor maker said it would turn its contract manufacturing business into a separate subsidiary, and struck a deal to make chips for Amazon’s (AMZN) Amazon Web Services. Amazon shares were up as well.

Shares of Microsoft (MSFT) rose as the software giant announced it was boosting its dividend by 10.7% and approved a $60 billion stock buyback. Dell Technologies (DELL) shares climbed as Mizuho initiated coverage with an "outperform" rating, pointing to tech firm’s strength in the soaring generative artificial intelligence (AI) product market.

Cigna Group (CI) shares fell. The insurer’s Express Scripts pharmacy-benefits unit sued the Federal Trade Commission over a recent report by regulators critical of pricing by benefit managers. Shares of Philip Morris International (PM) declined when the tobacco company sold its asthma inhaler maker Vectura Group to Molex Asia Holdings for $198 million. 

Oil futures were up. Gold prices dropped. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was higher. The U.S. dollar increased versus the pound and yen. Most major cryptocurrencies traded in the green.

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