Latest News

See the latest news and get GPT analysis of articles

How major US stock indexes fared Friday, 7/28/2023 2023-07-28 - Wall Street got back to climbing following more encouraging profit reports and the latest signal that inflation is loosening its chokehold on the economy. The S&P 500 rose 1% Friday, marking its ninth winning week in the last 11. The Dow added 176 points, or 0.5%, and the Nasdaq climbed 1.9% as Big Tech stocks led the market. Stocks have been rallying recently on hopes high inflation is cooling enough to get the Federal Reserve to stop hiking interest rates. A report Friday said the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation slowed last month by a touch more than expected. On Friday: The S&P 500 rose 44.82 points, or 1%, to 4,582.23. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 176.57 points, or 0.5%, to 35,459.29. The Nasdaq composite rose 266.55 points, or 1.9%, to 14,316.66. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 26.64 points, or 1.4%, to 1,981.54. For the week: The S&P 500 is up 45.89 points, or 1% The Dow is up 231.60 points, or 0.7% The Nasdaq is up 283.85 points, or 2% The Russell 2000 is up 21.28 points, or 1.1% For the year: The S&P 500 is up 742.73 points, or 19.3%. The Dow is up 2,312.04 points, or 7%. The Nasdaq is up 3,850.18 points, or 36.8%. The Russell 2000 is up 220.29 points, or 12.5%.

Newell Brands, Intel rise; Ford, Sweetgreen fall: Friday, 7/28/2023 2023-07-28 - NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes on Friday: Intel Corp., up $2.28 to $36.83. The chipmaker gave investors a strong profit and revenue forecast for the current quarter. KLA Corp., up $28.66 to $511.01. The maker of equipment for manufacturing semiconductors reported strong fiscal fourth-quarter financial results. T. Rowe Price Group Inc., up $9.68 to $126.79. The financial services firm beat analysts’ second-quarter earnings and revenue forecasts. Procter & Gamble Co., up $4.30 to $156.41. The maker of Charmin toilet paper and other consumer products reported strong fiscal fourth-quarter financial results. Ford Motor Co., down 47 cents to $13.26. The automaker is recalling more than 870,000 F-150 pickup trucks in the U.S. to fix the electric parking brake. Newell Brands Inc., up 79 cents to $11.04. The maker of Rubbermaid products beat analysts’ second-quarter earnings and revenue forecasts. Avantor Inc., down $1.55 to $21.28 The laboratory equipment and materials company reported weak second-quarter earnings and revenue. Sweetgreen Inc., down $1.35 to $14.10. The restaurant chain reported disappointing second-quarter earnings and revenue.

Wall St Week Ahead Hopes of 'Goldilocks' economy, rate peak buoy US stocks 2023-07-28 - NEW YORK, July 28 (Reuters) - A resilient U.S. economy and expectations of a nearing peak in the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy tightening cycle are emboldening stock investors, even as worries persist over rising valuations and the potential for inflation to rebound. The S&P 500 is up nearly 19% this year after gaining around 1% in the past week. It has risen nearly 10 percentage points since June 1, over which time the U.S. government avoided a debt ceiling default and consumer prices cooled, while growth stayed resilient. One key factor driving stocks higher has been the view that the economy is moving towards a so-called Goldilocks scenario of ebbing consumer prices and strong growth that many believe is a healthy backdrop for stocks. That view gained further traction in the past week, when Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank's staff no longer forecasts a U.S. recession and that inflation had a shot of returning to its 2% target without high levels of job losses. Policymakers raised rates by another 25 basis points to their highest level since 2007 at the central bank's July 26 meeting and left the door open to another increase in September. "The market has fully accepted the narrative that it wanted, which is Goldilocks. Until we see some set of data that scares them it's hard to see how that changes," said Bob Kalman, senior portfolio manager at Miramar Capital. At the same time, investors believe the Fed is unlikely to deliver much more of the monetary policy tightening that shook markets last year. Futures markets on Friday priced a nearly 73% chance that rates don’t rise above current levels through the end of the year, according to CME’s FedWatch tool, up from 24% a month ago. A test of the economy comes next week, when the U.S. reports employment numbers for July. While comparatively strong employment data has been a driver of this year’s stock rally, signs that the economy is growing at too rapid a pace could spark worries that the Fed will need to raise rates more than expected. "For markets to continue to trade higher, the soft landing must be a soft landing, not a reacceleration, because if housing and consumer spending accelerate from here, the Fed will have to raise rates a lot more," wrote Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management. Kalman, of Miramar Capital, believes there’s a growing chance the Fed may need to raise rates beyond their current 5.50% threshold and hold them there for longer than expected, an outcome he worries could dampen the economy and hurt risk assets. "It's a 50-50 chance that we'll get Goldilocks or we'll get a stronger downturn," he said. Many are also assessing the durability of a rally in tech stocks, which has been fueled in part by excitement over developments in artificial intelligence. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 is up nearly 44% year-to-date, while the S&P 500 information technology sector has gained nearly 46%. Optimistic forecasts from Meta Platforms (META.O) and results from Alphabet (GOOGL.O) earlier this week bolstered the case for those who believe megacaps’ lofty valuations are justified. Some smaller companies have delivered as well, with shares of streaming device maker Roku Inc (ROKU.O) soaring on Friday after it gave an upbeat quarterly revenue forecast. Still, some investors have been looking outside of tech stocks for further gains, wary of rising valuations. The S&P 500 tech sector now trades at 28.2 times forward earnings, from 19.6 at the start of the year. Burns McKinney, senior portfolio manager at NJF Investment Group, owns shares of Apple and Microsoft but has been adding to dividend-paying positions in healthcare, financials, and energy in anticipation that megacap names start to falter. For megacap stocks, "the risk-reward is not as good as it was a quarter ago," he said. Others believe the rally in equities is due for a pause. Randy Frederick, managing director of trading and derivatives for the Schwab Center for Financial Research, said he wouldn't be surprised to see the S&P 500 fall 5% or more in the next month or two as investors take profits on recent gains. Yet he also believes stocks are in the "early stages" of their recovery after falling into a bear market last year. "There’s always a concern with too much optimism, but longer term a sort of consolidation here speaks to a positive market going out," he said. Reporting by David Randall; Editing by Ira Iosebashvili and Deepa Babington Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Exclusive: Sigma Lithium CEO says in talks with potential buyers 2023-07-28 - July 28 (Reuters) - Sigma Lithium (SGML.V) is working with Bank of America (BAC.N) to coordinate talks with parties interested in acquiring it, the chief executive of the miner, which produces the metal used to make electric vehicle batteries, told Reuters on Friday. The deal discussions come amid a supply crunch for lithium. Sigma earlier this year started production at the Grota do Cirilo hard rock lithium project in Brazil to supply roughly a fourth of its output to LG Energy Solution (373220.KS) with the rest slated for sale on the spot market. Bank of America has been Sigma's bank on retainer for some time and has been holding meetings for at least four months with parties that approach with interest in acquiring the lithium miner, Sigma CEO Ana Cabral-Gardner said in an interview. She added that the company "is focused on alternatives that embrace the importance of our shareholders' values of social sustainability." Bank of America declined to comment. Bloomberg News reported in February, citing sources, that automaker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) was considering a bid for Vancouver-based Sigma, which is listed on Nasdaq and has a market value of $4.2 billion. "What I can confirm is that since the rumors started in February, the management continues to work to understand strategic alternatives to strengthen Sigma's and Brazil's unique environmentally competitive position on the midstream of the global supply chain," said Cabral-Gardner. She is also managing partner of A10 Investimentos, which owns 44% of Sigma's shares. Cabral-Gardner said that while Bank of America is coordinating meetings with parties that approach Sigma, Sigma has not yet picked a bank to advise on any potential transaction. "Maybe I'm not selling. Maybe I'm partnering with someone. I don't know what I'm doing yet," Cabral-Gardner said in the interview. "We need to find someone to marry, and when we find someone to marry, then we choose a priest," Cabral-Gardner said, making an analogy between an M&A banker and a priest. "The priest is going to depend on who we're going to marry." Cabral-Gardner added that Sigma does not plan to sell the Brazilian mine separately from the company itself. "The company is the asset," she said. Because lithium demand is low in biofuel-focused Brazil, the country exports nearly all of it. Sigma has projected the mine will reach annual free cash flow of $455 million for its first phase of production. Eight analysts recommend buying Sigma's stock and believe it should be trading 28% higher than current levels, according to Refinitiv Eikon data. Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Cynthia Osterman Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

UAW wins Democratic senators' support for joint venture battery workers 2023-07-28 - WASHINGTON, July 28 (Reuters) - More than half of the Senate's Democrats are backing the United Auto Workers' push for higher wages and benefits for workers at Detroit Three automakers' joint venture battery plants, they said in a letter released on Friday. The 28 senators said the workers are critical to the United States reaching clean vehicle goals, offering the union a boost as it works to secure new contracts before its four-year deals with General Motors (GM.N), Ford Motor (F.N) and Chrysler-parent Stellantis (STLAM.MI) expire Sept. 14. UAW leaders have sought to secure support from Washington as negotiations opened earlier this month, with UAW President Shawn Fain meeting with lawmakers and President Joe Biden last week. In their letter to the CEOs of the Detroit Three and battery joint ventures, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer joined Senators Sherrod Brown, Ron Wyden, Bernie Sanders, Richard Durbin and others in urging the automakers to embrace the joint venture battery workers before the current contract expires. "Workers in the new electric vehicle sector will be critical to your future success," the senators said, noting federal support for EVs in last year's sweeping Inflation Reduction Act. It is a "national disgrace that the starting wage at any current American joint venture electric vehicle battery facility is $16 an hour," they wrote in the letter dated on Thursday, citing "poverty-level wages" amid "extreme financial gains for the companies, executives, and investors." GM declined comment. Representatives for SK On, a unit of South Korea's SK Innovation (096770.KS), and Ford did not respond to a request for comment. Stellantis said it respects the UAW's right to organize future hourly employees at its joint venture battery facilities, adding: " The joint venture intends to offer very competitive wages and benefits." Ford CEO Jim Farley and executive chairman Bill Ford also met with lawmakers this week to discuss the UAW talks and other topics, sources told Reuters. Biden, whose administration has been key in other recent labor negotiations, has described himself as the nation's most pro-union president. The White House last month said the president shared UAW's goal of good-paying jobs. The UAW has not yet endorsed Biden's reelection as it waits to see how the shift to electric vehicles plays out, saying it wants a fair transition. Fain on Friday said the "senators agree that now is the time to ensure all autoworkers have the same pay and safety standards that generations of UAW members have fought for and maintained." Last month, the union chief criticized $9.2 billion federal loan to a Ford/South Korea's SK On joint venture. He has also criticized a GM/LG Energy Solution (373220.KS) battery plant in Ohio over worker pay. Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Susan Heavey Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Southwest Airlines converts some Boeing 737 MAX 7 orders to MAX 8 amid delays 2023-07-28 - July 28 (Reuters) - Southwest Airlines (LUV.N) has exercised options for the delivery of 30 Boeing 737 MAX 7 planes next year, and converted 24 existing MAX 7 orders to MAX 8, the company said in an SEC filing on Friday. The move comes two days after Boeing (BA.N) said the first delivery of the 737 MAX 7 was delayed to 2024 as it tries to secure Federal Aviation Administration certification for the narrow-body jet. Southwest's decision to convert some MAX 7 orders to the MAX 8 model, which is already in operation, would buffer the impact of the delivery delays. On Thursday, Southwest Airlines issued disappointing forecasts for the current quarter and full year after missing estimates for second-quarter results, fueling concerns about the strength of domestic travel demand in the United States. Southwest Airlines has plans to fly the MAX 7 "at some point next year", but if not, it would take MAX 8 orders instead, CEO Robert Jordan said on a post-earnings call on Thursday. (This story has been corrected to say Southwest, not Boeing, issued forecast on Thursday in paragraph 4) Reporting by Savyata Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

GOPers have a math problem. They want voter suppression to solve it. 2023-07-28 - Congressional Black Caucus members gathered for a news conference on Thursday to denounce a raft of oppressive measures deployed nationwide to curb the influence of nonwhite voters. Rep. Steven Horsford kicked off the conference by saying the CBC this term has had to fight for everything from women’s bodily autonomy to fair districts to police accountability. But he reminded listeners that they’ve also had to fight the expulsion of Black elected officials, as well as “extremist Republicans and a judiciary who would rather erase us — who want to see us less free, and with fewer fundamental rights.” This is yet another reminder that old battles have indeed become new again. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala. Rep. Terri Sewell took Alabama Republicans to task for their apparent refusal to comply with a Supreme Court decision ordering the state Legislature to redraw its congressional map with an additional majority-Black district. According to NBC News, the new, seemingly unlawful map was drawn after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy contacted Alabama legislators to express his concern that a new map would lead to Republicans losing their majority in the upcoming elections. “At a time when many are trying to erase our history and roll back our progress, this is yet another reminder that old battles have indeed become new again," Sewell said. "Across this nation, extremists are attempting to silence the voices of Black and minority voters, but we in Alabama have seen this before, and we are not going back without a fight." Rep. Troy Carter took the podium as well, attributing Republicans’ efforts to water down Black voter power as a math problem for them. Similar to Alabama, the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way earlier this year for Louisiana legislators to draw a second majority-Black congressional district, as a lower court had ordered. The 2020 census found Black people make up approximately 33% of the state's population, but only one of Louisiana's six total congressional districts is majority-Black. “One-third of six is two,” Carter said, adding: “The numbers speak for themselves. Math is math." “It is imperative that we move beyond our troubled history and embrace fair maps that align with the data — the facts, the empirical information — that is not subject to politics, not subject to the whim of any individual," he continued. "It’s just the facts. It’s just the math.” Alabama and Louisiana are just two of many states where we’ve seen egregious, right-wing attempts at gerrymandering in recent years. As CNN reported on the Louisiana redistricting case in June, Republicans in the state have argued the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision doesn’t require them to draw a second majority-Black district: In filings after the Alabama ruling was handed down, lawyers for the Louisiana Republican state officials argued that the Louisiana dispute presented a “unique situation” that would allow the high court to resolve legal questions about the Voting Rights Act that they claimed were left open by the Alabama ruling, known as Milligan. “Today’s decision in Milligan does not address the district court’s significant errors of law that should rightly result in reversal,” the Louisiana filing said. Horsford was smart, in his initial comments, to frame gerrymandering as part of a multipronged, Republican effort to deprive nonwhite voters — particularly, Black voters — of power. Republicans seem to understand that many of their policies are deeply offensive to many people of color. And disempowering these people, using a variety of tactics, is a way for Republicans to avoid being accountable to them. But the U.S. is becoming increasingly diverse, and gerrymandering can only do so much to curb the impact of that diversity when it comes to drawing voter districts. Republicans clearly want to keep running to courts to fix this “problem” of theirs. Perhaps, they should take it up with their abacus instead. Because the numbers don’t lie in places like Louisiana and Alabama, which are due for more Black voter representation. Because, as Carter said, “math is math. It is what it is.”

Twitter Is Now 'X': How Other Rebrands Have Succeeded 2023-07-28 - Companies change their names to reverse declining revenue, meet changing customer preferences, or convince consumers that the company is more than just a name. And it works for some, such as Facebook's transformation into Meta Platforms (META), but not all. This week, Twitter dropped the iconic bird logo and replaced it with the letter ‘X’ to make a big splash in the evolving company following Elon Musk's takeover in April. It is still unclear whether the change to the logo will attract more users to the struggling social media brand. Key Takeaways Twitter replaced the bird with the letter 'X'. Facebook, Apple, and Subway found some success with rebranding to expand a company's focus. When Musk bought Twitter late last year, he expressed a desire to create an "everything" app called "X" that would be the go-to destination for members who wanted to shop, chat, or just be entertained. Linda Yaccarino, Twitter's CEO, reinforced that desire, saying in a tweet, “X is the future state of unlimited interactivity—centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking—creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities.” It is still early to say if the rebranding has, or will, work. But based on other companies' similar expansions, it could. Facebook Entered the Metaverse Facebook rebranded the parent company as Meta Platforms, Inc (META) in 2021 but kept the social media platform's name the same. The move was meant to signify the overall company’s transition beyond social media, signaling its intention to lean into the metaverse. At the time, Facebook was under a lot of scrutiny for its practices on Facebook, leading many to speculate that the name change was a way to distance itself from negative publicity. The move seems to have worked. In the years since, the company launched the Meta Quest 3 headset, and is reporting strong advertising revenue by A.I.-driven content. Meta's second-quarter revenue, at almost $32 billion, increased 11% over the same period last year and grew at the fastest clip since the end of 2021. Apple Went Beyond Computers Similarly, when Apple (AAPL) was founded by Steve Jobs, Ronald Wayne, and Steve Wozniak in 1976, it was known as Apple Computers, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. But, in 2007, Jobs changed its name to Apple to shift the focus beyond computers to consumer electronics. The company, which subsequently became the first publicly traded U.S. company valued at $1 trillion, went on to enormous success with iPods, iPhones, iPads, and smartwatches. Rebrands Aren't Just for Tech Companies Rebrands aren't just about expansion; sometimes they are about user perception. The fast-casual sandwich shop Subway was founded in 1965 as Pete’s Super Submarines. The founder, Fred DeLuca, received a $1,000 investment from Dr. Peter Buck to start the shop, and the company was named after him. But customers found the name hard to pronounce, and it was changed to Subway in 1968. Today, Subway has become one of the world’s largest restaurant brands, serving customizable sandwiches to millions of people across more than 100 countries in more than 37,000 restaurants every day. Other Brands Struggeled to Find Rebranding Success Not all name changes are successful. In 2011, Netflix (NFLX) attempted to split its business in two, with Netflix offering streaming services and naming its DVD-by-mail service Qwikster. However, customers and investors disliked the name change, and the company’s stock fell. The company did a U-turn and returned to its original name and business model. When the Gap tried to refresh its logo in October 2010 to a bold black Gap with a small blue square in the upper right-hand corner, the backlash was so extreme it returned to its original logo in just one week. Overstock.com attempted to change its name to O.co. But customers were confused by the change and the company quickly returned to using Overstock.com. The Bottom Line The market still appears unsure of the X rebrand's chances for success. "While Musk’s vision is to turn ‘X’ into an ‘everything app,’ this takes time, money, and people—three things that the company no longer has," said Mike Proulx, research director and vice president at Forrester. Time will tell if that's true.

The Bank of Japan just shocked markets with a policy tweak — here's why it matters 2023-07-28 - The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. Bloomberg | Getty Images The Bank of Japan announced Friday "greater flexibility" in its monetary policy — surprising global financial markets. The central bank loosened its yield curve control — or YCC — in an unexpected move with wide-ranging ramifications. It sent the yen whipsawing against the dollar, while Japanese stocks and government bond prices slid. Elsewhere, the Stoxx 600 in Europe opened lower and government bond yields in the region jumped. On Thursday, ahead of the Bank of Japan statement, reports that the central bank was going to discuss its yield curve control policy also contributed to a lower close on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq , according to some strategists. "We didn't expect this kind of tweak this time," Shigeto Nagai, head of Japan economics at Oxford Economics, told CNBC's "Capital Connection." Why it matters The Bank of Japan has been dovish for years, but its move to introduce flexibility into its until-now strict yield curve control has left economists wondering whether a more substantial change is on the horizon. The yield curve control is a long-term policy that sees the central bank target an interest rate, and then buy and sell bonds as necessary to achieve that target. It currently targets a 0% yield on the 10-year government bond with the aim of stimulating the Japanese economy, which has struggled for many years with disinflation. In its policy statement, the BOJ said it will continue to allow 10-year Japanese government bond yields to fluctuate within the range of 0.5 percentage point either side of its 0% target — but it will offer to purchase 10-year JGBs at 1% through fixed-rate operations. This effectively expands its tolerance by a further 50 basis points. watch now "While maintaining the tolerance band for the 10-year JGB yield target at +/-0.50ppt, the BoJ will allow more fluctuation in yields beyond the band," economists from Capital Economics said. "Their aim is to enhance the sustainability of the current easing framework in a forward-looking manner. Highlighting 'extremely high uncertainties' in the inflation outlook, the BoJ argues that strictly capping yields will hamper bond market functioning and increase market volatility when upside risks materialize." Next step tightening? From a market perspective, investors — many of whom were not expecting this move — were left wondering whether this is a mere technical adjustment, or the start of a more significant tightening cycle. Central banks tighten monetary policy when inflation is high, as demonstrated by the U.S. Federal Reserve's and European Central Bank's rate hikes over the past year. "Fighting inflation was not the official reason for the policy tweak, as that would surely imply stronger tightening moves, but the Bank recognised obstinately elevated inflationary pressure by revising up its forecast," Duncan Wrigley, chief China+ economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said in a note. The BOJ said core consumer inflation, excluding fresh food, will reach 2.5% in the fiscal year to March, up from a previous estimate of 1.8%. It added that there are upside risks to the forecast, meaning inflation could increase more than expected. Kazuo Ueda, governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ). Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Speaking at a news conference after the announcement, BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda played down the move to loosen its yield curve control. When asked if the central bank had shifted from dovish to neutral, he said: "That's not the case. By making YCC more flexible, we enhanced the sustainability of our policy. So, this was a step to heighten the chance of sustainably achieving our price target," according to a Reuters translation. MUFG said that Friday's "flexibility" tweak shows the central bank is not yet ready to end this policy measure. "Governor Ueda described today's move as enhancing the sustainability of monetary easing rather than tightening. It sends a signal that the BoJ is not yet ready to tighten monetary policy through raising interest rates," the bank's analysts said in a note. Capital Economics' economists highlighted the importance of inflation figures looking ahead. "The longer inflation stays above target, the larger the chances that the Bank of Japan will have to follow up today's tweak to Yield Curve Control with a genuine tightening of monetary policy," they wrote. But the timing here is crucial, according to Michael Metcalfe of State Street Global Markets. "If inflation has indeed returned to Japan, which we believe it has, the BoJ will find itself needing to raise rates just as hopes for interest rate cuts rise elsewhere. This should be a medium-term positive for the JPY [Japanese yen], which remains deeply undervalued," Metcalfe said in a note. The end of YCC?

How Virgin Voyages is using A.I. — and a partnership with J. Lo — to boost bookings 2023-07-28 - Cruise line Virgin Voyages is betting big on its recently launched campaign starring J. Lo — and her digital twin, "Jen AI." It starts with a commercial, featuring Jennifer Lopez riffing off artificial intelligence. The spot showcases "Jen AI" experiencing a hilarious malfunction, inadvertently unveiling her true identity: a guy named Kyle. But the campaign doesn't end there. Virgin Voyages digitally mimics the superstar's voice and appearance, with the help of generative artificial intelligence, to allow customers the chance to customize an invitation to book a cruise they can send to friends or family. "It did require a substantial financial investment, but we are already seeing it pay off," Virgin Voyages Global Brand and Experience Strategy Director Billy Bohan Chinique told CNBC. Though he declined to disclose exact figures, he said the campaign's budget was on par with what a brand typically allocates for a Super Bowl advertisement, amounting to millions of dollars. The campaign comes at a time when cruise tourism is showing remarkable signs of a recovery post-pandemic, bouncing back at a faster rate than international travel as a whole. According to Cruise Lines International Association, approximately 31.5 million cruise passengers are expected to travel this year, surpassing 2019 levels.

Ford balances growth and profits in a promising quarter, keeps its stock rating 2023-07-27 - Ford (F) will keep its stock rating after the automaker on Thursday reported quarterly beats on the top and bottom lines — even as electric vehicle losses were a bigger drag on the bottom line than expected. Automotive revenue rose about 12% year over year, to $42.43 billion, topping analysts' forecasts of $40.38 billion, according to estimates compiled by Refinitiv. Adjusted earnings-per-share (EPS) pulled back 6% on an annual basis, to 68 cents, but exceeded estimates of 55 cents per share, Refinitiv data showed. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) increased slightly to $3.79 billion, well ahead of analysts' predictions for EBIT of $3.16 billion. Bottom Line We had concerns after the automaker's fourth quarter of 2022 and put it in the penalty box . Fortunately, CEO Jim Farley and team delivered in the first quarter and we've stuck with the name. With Thursday's results, management shows it is playing to win and that the fourth quarter was an outlier. Sales beat expectations across major operating segments, including traditional combustible engines and next-gen electric vehicles. We will be keeping an eye on the EV losses as we must hold management to its promise of properly balancing growth with profitability. We do understand that the EV business is the equivalent of a start-up, so losses come with the territory. Strong profitability and cash flow generation overall in the second quarter provided the much-needed offset. On the call, Farley noted that first-time EV buyers don't have much loyalty, but "once a customer chooses an EV brand, they stick with that brand over time so as we make pricing decisions and assess customer acquisition costs, we're not only weighing the immediate impact on profitability but also how this translates to lifetime value of that customer." This focus on lifetime value is important, given the growing revenue stream resulting from increasingly connected vehicles, so long as management sticks to an appropriate balance of growth and profitability and doesn't change production capacity to gain market share at all costs. For that reason, we were pleased to hear the Farley say Ford "won't bear an unlimited cost to acquire those customers and build our install base." Management reiterated the commitment to target returning 40% to 50% of free cash flow to investors, so the better the result here, the better the potential for increased dividends and buybacks over time. Fortunately, the traditional internal combustion engine business continues to see strong demand that is "potentially longer and richer than most expected," Farley said. In addition to the strong results, management provided significant upward revisions to its full-year outlook, taking the bottom end of its forecasted adjusted EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) range to a level above expectations coming into the print. Why isn't the stock up? The slight dip in after-hours trading (down about 1%) is likely because the company said it no longer expects to break even on EVs this year due to the "rapid and dynamic changes in the pricing environment." Given the price cuts announced earlier this month, we don't find that too surprising and wouldn't be sellers because of it. As a result, we reiterate our 1 rating and $16 price target. Quarterly commentary Ford Blue, which represents Ford's gas-powered and hybrid vehicles, delivered a strong quarter and was again profitable in every region in which it operates. Volumes increased 7% with broad-based regional growth. Sales at Ford Model e, the electric vehicle division, grew thanks to a 44% increase in volume versus the year-ago period. Of course, that growth was made possible by Ford's investments to increase production capacity for both the Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning. However, profitability was negatively impacted by these capacity investments, along with new product initiatives and industry-wide pricing pressure. The company recently had to cut prices on the F-150. That in mind, while the EV business is a drag for now, management reiterated their commitment to a disciplined financial approach to the division with a focus on balancing growth with profitability. Ford Pro, the unit that houses the company's commercial vehicles, as well as its software and services business, saw its EBIT nearly triple thank to a combination of 8% volume growth and significant margin expansion. On the call, Farley commented, "in the quarter, volume, pricing, paid software subscriptions continued to accelerate as we capture significant pent-up demand across multiple commercial sectors and locations in both North America and in Europe." Guidance Thanks to the strong results, Ford raised its outlook for the full-year 2023, now expecting total adjusted EBIT to be in the range of $11 billion to $12 billion, up from $9 billion to $11 billion, while adjusted free cash flow should now come in the range of $6.5 billion to $7 billion, up from $6 billion. That EBIT guide outpaces the $10.8 billion expected by the Street, even at the low end, while the free cash flow guide trounces the $3.2 billion estimate. By segment, Ford expects Ford Blue to deliver full year EBIT of "about $8 billion," up from about $7 billion, and Ford Pro's EBIT to be "approaching $8 billion," up from $6 billion. Unfortunately, these increases are partially offset by an increase in the expected full-year loss at Ford Model e, which is now expected to lose about $4.5 billion in EBIT, up from the roughly $3 billion previously forecast. Management reiterated the company's commitment to delivering an 8% EBIT margin target in 2026. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long F. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED. Ford Motor Company's electric F-150 Lightning on the production line at their Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan on September 8, 2022. Jeff Kowalsky | AFP | Getty Images

A Bottleneck on the Grid Threatens Clean Energy. New Rules Aim to Help. 2023-07-27 - Federal regulators on Thursday approved new rules to speed up the process for connecting wind and solar projects to the electric grid, in an attempt to reduce the growing delays that have become one of the biggest obstacles to building renewable energy in the United States. Energy companies are investing hundreds of billions of dollars in wind farms, solar arrays and batteries, spurred on by federal tax breaks and falling costs. But these projects face a severe bottleneck: It is getting harder and taking longer to connect new power plants to the power lines that carry electricity to homes and businesses. More than 10,000 energy projects — mostly wind, solar and batteries — were seeking permission to connect to electric grids at the end of 2022, up from 5,600 two years earlier. Grid operators have become overwhelmed by the volume. It now takes five years for the typical power plant to get approval, twice what it did a decade ago, and developers say the process has become dysfunctional. The new rules by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which oversees electricity markets, aim to streamline that approval process, known as the interconnection queue.

Casino Mogul Steve Wynn Reaches Settlement Over Sexual Misconduct Claims 2023-07-27 - Steve Wynn, the longtime Las Vegas casino magnate and major Republican donor, has agreed to pay Nevada a $10 million fine and to step back from its gambling industry in a settlement related to employee allegations of sexual misconduct, closing his yearslong battle with the state’s gambling regulators. The agreement was approved on Thursday by the Nevada Gaming Commission. Mr. Wynn, 81, who did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement, agreed to be “entirely removed from any direct or indirect involvement” with financing, advertising and consulting in the state. The agreement appears to end regulators’ investigations into Mr. Wynn’s conduct, though he could face additional fines if he violates its terms. Mr. Wynn resigned as chairman and chief executive of his casino empire, Wynn Resorts, in 2018, when the misconduct allegations began to emerge more publicly. He has repeatedly denied them. Amid the fallout, he divested company shares and stepped down from his position as finance chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Ford’s Profit Jumped in Second Quarter 2023-07-27 - Ford Motor earned $1.9 billion from April to June, up from $667 million a year earlier, the company said on Thursday. Robust sales of gasoline-powered trucks and sport-utility vehicles more than offset a substantial loss on electric models. The automaker reported revenue of $45 billion, up 12 percent from a year earlier, and said it had sold 1.1 million vehicles around the world, an 8 percent increase. Ford said it had lost $1.1 billion before interest and taxes on its electric vehicle business in the quarter, more than twice as much as it lost a year earlier. Competition in that segment has intensified recently, and the company has had to cut prices on its electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck and Mustang Mach-E crossover. Ford now expects to lose $4.5 billion before interest and taxes on battery-powered cars and trucks in 2023, it said on Thursday, up from an earlier forecast of a $3 billion loss.

Citigroup Says Its Predecessors Likely Benefited From Slavery 2023-07-27 - A new review of historical documents has led Citigroup to acknowledge that slavery and slave labor most likely enriched the banks and other companies that eventually formed the present-day financial giant. The benefits were likely to have come to Citi’s predecessors “through financial transactions and relationships with individuals and entities located or operating in the United States before 1866,” the bank’s public affairs head, Edward Skyler, wrote in a blog post on Thursday. Mr. Skyler said the review also “reaffirmed our previous research in that it did not identify any records showing that Citi or a predecessor institution directly purchased, sold or held enslaved persons.” Citi hired an independent historical research firm to carry out the review as part of a racial equity pledge it made in 2020 after George Floyd, a Black man, was murdered by a white Minneapolis police officer. In the weeks after Mr. Floyd’s murder, American companies and the public grappled with a fresh reminder of the vast injustices that Black Americans had been experiencing since the United States began taking shape as a country.

Bill Geddie, a Creator of ‘The View,’ Is Dead at 68 2023-07-27 - Bill Geddie, whose long working relationship with the barrier-breaking television newswoman Barbara Walters began when he produced her prime-time specials on ABC, then expanded when he collaborated with her on “The View,” one of TV’s most successful daytime talk shows, died on July 20 at his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif. He was 68. His wife, Barbara (Pratt) Geddie, said the death was heart-related. “The View” was Ms. Walters’s idea — she wanted a program on which women from different generations would discuss the issues of the day — but it was Mr. Geddie who oversaw it for 17 years, ushering the changing, sometimes unruly cast of panelists through a daily hour of hot topics, disagreements and personal revelations. “I think he loved doing a show with all women,” Meredith Vieira, who was the moderator of “The View” for nine years from its start in 1997, said in a phone interview. “He was a strong producer who deferred to the female point of view, which was essential for a man running a women’s show.” Joy Behar, the only original cast member still on the show, said by phone that Ms. Walters was “the queen” and Mr. Geddie “took care of everything else.”

Facebook’s Algorithm Is ‘Influential’ but Doesn’t Necessarily Change Beliefs, Researchers Say 2023-07-27 - The algorithms powering Facebook and Instagram, which drive what billions of people see on the social networks, have been in the cross hairs of lawmakers, activists and regulators for years. Many have called for the algorithms to be abolished to stem the spread of viral misinformation and to prevent the inflammation of political divisions. But four new studies published on Thursday — including one that examined the data of 208 million Americans who used Facebook in the 2020 presidential election — complicate that narrative. In the papers, researchers from the University of Texas, New York University, Princeton and other institutions found that removing some key functions of the social platforms’ algorithms had “no measurable effects” on people’s political beliefs. In one experiment on Facebook’s algorithm, people’s knowledge of political news declined when their ability to reshare posts was removed, the researchers said. At the same time, the consumption of political news on Facebook and Instagram was highly segregated by ideology, according to another study. More than 97 percent of the links to news stories rated as false by fact checkers on the apps during the 2020 election drew more conservative readers than liberal readers, the research found.

Read: Full text of superseding indictment in Trump classified documents case 2023-07-27 - Carlos De Oliveira, a Mar-a-Lago maintenance worker, was charged on Thursday in special counsel Jack Smith's classified documents investigation. Donald Trump and his aide Walt Nauta have already been charged in the case and face additional charges with this superseding indictment. Read the full superseding indictment below:

Jan. 6 hero Harry Dunn weighs in on a potential Trump indictment 2023-07-27 - Harry Dunn knows about sacrifice. He and fellow members of the U.S. Capitol Police have been recognized for their heroism in facing off with violent insurrectionists looking to prevent the transition of power from Trump to Biden on Jan. 6, 2021. In the time since, Dunn has become an author, public speaker and mental health advocate in his personal capacity, using the attention he has garnered for even more good. I spoke with him Thursday, as much of America awaited the potential announcement of federal charges against Trump related to his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, including Jan. 6. In the morning, Dunn posted some thoughts. “If it costs you your peace, it’s too expensive,” he tweeted. “With that said maybe I can put it on layaway. #Exhausted.” It was a sober take on a moment many people have been waiting for — and there’s no one I wanted to speak with more. The following excerpts are from our conversation. On a potential Trump indictment: Indictments are only a part of the way to justice. Real justice is what? A guilty verdict. With an indictment — just say the trial doesn’t happen ’til after the election, and say Trump wins. You know that s--- goes away if he wins, right? So if that happens, is that justice? ‘We got the indictment! We got justice!’ No, we didn’t. So it’s a mile marker on the way to justice — it’s what should happen when somebody breaks the law. You get investigated, you get indicted, you get convicted, you get sentenced. That’s f---ing justice. On his tweet Thursday morning: I posted that because this whole thing about Jan. 6 — it’s exhausting. I mean, it’s been 933 days. Nine hundred and thirty-three days. And it has cost me my peace. And that’s expensive. That’s why I included the caveat. Like, I’ve got to put this on layaway, because it’s too important to let it go. On Ruby Freeman and her daughter, Wandrea “Shaye” Moss, the Black election workers in Georgia who were targeted by Trump and his then-lawyer Rudy Giuliani with election lies: I’ve gotten a chance to meet them twice. Once at the Jan. 6 hearing, when they did testify. Another time at the White House, when President Biden bestowed upon us the Presidential Citizens Medal. And, you know, one thing I just wanted to offer to them was my support. When you’re going through something like this — which I have learned — you don’t feel like there’s anybody that’s got you, even though there’s an entire world out there, with a majority of people who support you and will hold you down. But the naysayers and antagonists — they’re the loudest. That’s how I feel about the whole Jan. 6 thing. The naysayers are the loudest, but the people that support us are our majority, and we need to focus on them more. On Giuliani now admitting that he lied about Freeman and Moss: It’s too little, too late, man. You already ruined people’s lives. And you didn’t just figure out lies. Of course he knew from Day One that it was a lie. So, now 900, nearly 1,000 days later, you want to have this epiphany and say, “I was wrong.” Words matter from the jump. That’s why you need to be thoughtful. And think about what you’re saying from the jump. Because words matter. He did that — not because he believes it, but because he knew there was an audience for that. And he exploited that. He did it because he knew that would evoke people to respond like they did on Jan. 6.

Republicans shelve Zuckerberg contempt vote in ‘censorship’ inquiry ‘for now’ 2023-07-27 - Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Meta, is no stranger to Capitol Hill, where he has sparred with Republicans and Democrats over how he runs his platforms. A Republican-led panel was set to vote on Thursday on a resolution to hold him in contempt of Congress, for allegedly failing to turn over internal documents on content moderation. However, House judiciary committee chair Jim Jordan, a Republican of Ohio, temporarily suspended the vote. Jordan announced on Twitter that the committee “decided to hold contempt in abeyance. For now” and posted a series of tweets of alleged internal communications among Meta executives hours ahead of the hearing. “To be clear, contempt is still on the table and WILL be used if Facebook fails to cooperate in FULL,” Jordan said. Republican lawmakers have repeatedly accused Meta – along with other big names Google, Apple and Microsoft – of suppressing conservative speech on their platforms. Jim Jordan had alleged that Meta failed to turn over requested internal company documents to an investigation into tech companies and “willfully refused to comply in full with a congressional subpoena”, according to a report released on Tuesday. Jordan, an Ohio Republican, also subpoenaed the chief executives at Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Apple in February. Zuckerberg is so far the only one facing additional scrutiny. But regulating tech companies is a rare area of bipartisan support, even if the reasons behind it are different. Meta has come under fire from Democrats over privacy concerns and its marketing toward kids and teens. In 2020, Zuckerberg, along with the then Twitter chief executive, Jack Dorsey, faced intense questioning during a Senate judiciary hearing where Democrats condemned the executives for amplifying misinformation, such as false claims of election fraud, and raised antitrust concerns. Meta says it has fully complied with the congressional investigation. “For many months, Meta has operated in good faith with this committee’s sweeping requests for information. We began sharing documents before the committee’s February subpoena and have continued to do so,” said a Meta spokesperson, Andy Stone, in a statement posted in response to the hearing notice on Tuesday. He said Meta had so far delivered more than 53,000 pages of internal and external documents and “made nearly a dozen current and former employees available to discuss external and internal matters, including some scheduled this very week”, according to the statement. Politico reported that Meta handed over more documents hours before Jordan announced the Thursday vote but that the Ohio Republican was not satisfied. “They’ve given us documents because we’re pushing and because we’re talking about this – we appreciate that, but we are convinced that it’s way short of what they should be providing us,” Jordan reportedly said in an interview. One social media company, Twitter – which now goes by X – has escaped much of the scrutiny as its chief executive, Elon Musk, has been seen as friendly to conservatives. In his February letter to tech companies, Jordan called Twitter a model of transparency and praised its “Twitter files” – which many experts flagged as sensationalized. Meta’s second-quarter revenue defied expectations after its earnings release on Wednesday, and Zuckerberg’s own net worth surged on Thursday.