Stocks are lower at midday, as Wall Street digests U.S. Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard's comments that the central bank must shrink its balance sheet "rapidly" in response to rising inflation. Brainard's remarks come ahead of tomorrow's release of the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) latest meeting minutes. The Fed's aggressive stance and recent interest rate hikes caused Deutsche Bank to forecast a U.S. recession by 2023, making it the first major financial institution on Wall Street to do so. In response, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) was last seen around 37 points lower, while the S&P 500 Index (SPX) is also in the red, and the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) is down triple digits as yesterday's tech rally loses momentum.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NYSE: NCLH) is seeing an uptick in bullish trading today, as the cruise sector rises after Carnival (CCL) reported its best seven-day period of booking ever. Already, 68,000 calls have exchanged hands, which is seven times the intraday average and more than four times the 15,000 puts traded so far. Most popular is the 4/8 24-strike call, followed by the 23.50-strike call in the same weekly series, with new positions being opened at both. Norwegian Cruise Line stock was last seen up 2.2% to trade at $22.45. NCLH is testing its footing at the 140-day moving average, which has kept a lid on the stock since November, and it now sports a 9.5% lead in 2022.

One of the best-performing stocks on the Nasdaq today is Nano-X Imaging Ltd (Nasdaq: NNOX). The security was last seen 15.1% higher to trade at $13.95, after opening a new semiconductor plant in South Korea. A recent post-earnings pop helpedNano-X Imaging stock reclaim support from the 40-day moving average while it rallies back toward its year-to-date breakeven level. Year-over-year, NNOX is off 71.5%.

Meanwhile, pacing near the bottom of the Nasdaq, Digital World Acquisition Corp (Nasdaq: DWAC) was last seen down 13.8% at $49.07. The parent of former U.S. President Donald Trump's Twitter (TWTR) alternative, Truth Social, is extending recent losses, after two key executives exited the company. Digital World Acquisition stock is pacing for its eight-straight daily loss and its worst single-day percentage drop since October. Year-to-date, DWAC is down 5%.