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5 issues to know earlier than the inventory market opens Friday

Here are the top news, trends, and analysis investors need to start their trading day:

1. Stock futures rise as June retail sales beat expectations

Michael Nagel | Bloomberg | Getty Images

US stock futures were higher on Friday morning, the final day of trading in the first week of earnings reports for the second quarter. Dow futures implied an opening gain of more than 70 points, while futures for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were also in the green. A day earlier, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 53.79 points, or 0.15%, to close at 34,987.02. The broad S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.33% and 0.7%, respectively. The 30-strong Dow is on track for its fourth consecutive positive week. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are well on their way to breaking three-week winning streaks.

Retail sales in June exceeded forecasts and rose 0.6%, the Commerce Department said on Friday morning. According to the Dow Jones, economists expected a decline of 0.4%. Retail sales fell more sharply than Street forecast in May.

This week’s earnings reports were highlighted by the major US banks. Looking ahead to the beginning of next week, IBM is due to report on Monday, while Netflix, United Airlines and Chipotle Mexican Grill will publish the results on Tuesday.

2. Yellen expects further “rapid inflation” before the slowdown sets in

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speaks during a daily press conference in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House May 7 in Washington, DC.

Alex Wong | Getty Images

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told CNBC she expected “inflation to accelerate for several months” before price pressures abate. “I’m not saying this is a one-month phenomenon. But I think in the medium term inflation will return to normal levels. But of course we have to keep a close eye on it,” Yellen told CNBC’s Sara Eisen in an interview that came after the Closing Bell aired on Thursday.

The latest consumer and producer price indices, released earlier this week, surpassed Wall Street’s expectations and showed that inflation persisted during the US economy’s pandemic rebound in June.

In the hot real estate market, this is a “completely different phenomenon” from the real estate bubble that burst around the 2008 financial crisis. However, she said, “I am concerned about affordability and the pressures that higher house prices are putting on families who are first buying a home or have lower incomes.”

3. Biden says the US will warn companies that the Hong Kong situation is “getting worse”

U.S. President Joe Biden stops at the Green Road Community Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, the United States, on Jan.

Jonathan Ernst | Reuters

The US plans to warn American companies about “what can happen” in Hong Kong as the Chinese government continues to exert influence over the semi-autonomous region, President Joe Biden said Thursday. Biden said the situation in Asia’s financial center was “worsening” and criticized Beijing for “failing to honor its commitment” to the former British colony, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997. Reuters reported that the Biden government has launched a round of sanctions against Chinese government officials for their role in cracking down on democracy in Hong Kong.

The planned measures by the Biden administration reflect the ongoing tensions in US-China relations, which were frosty even under then-President Donald Trump.

4. Intel in talks to acquire GlobalFoundries for approximately $ 30 billion, WSJ reports

The Intel logo is displayed outside of the Intel headquarters in Santa Clara, California.

Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

Intel’s shares rose about 0.6% in early trading on Friday after the Wall Street Journal reported the semiconductor company was in talks to acquire GlobalFoundries for about $ 30 billion. But the newspaper, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that Intel’s potential deal for the US chipmaker may not materialize. GlobalFoundries, owned by Mubadala Investment Company, a UAE sovereign wealth fund, had reportedly been looking into a blockbuster IPO.

Under the leadership of the new CEO Pat Gelsinger, Intel plans to invest billions in the construction of two chip factories in Arizona and put a new foundry unit into operation. As an influential company in Silicon Valley history, Intel has lagged behind Asian competitors such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company in recent years.

5. LA County reinstates the mandate for inner masks

A son hugs his mother as a concession worker hands out napkins and lemonade at the AMC Theater in the Westfield Century City Shopping Center in Los Angeles, California on Monday, March 15, 2021.

Bing Guan | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Los Angeles County, the largest county in the country, is demanding that people return to wearing face masks indoors as the number of coronavirus cases, fueled by the highly transmissible Delta variant, increases. The mandate, which also applies to people vaccinated against Covid, comes into force on Saturday before midnight.

LA County dropped its mask requirement for fully vaccinated individuals about a month ago, coinciding with the state of California lifting most of the pandemic-era restrictions. The district health officer, Dr. Muntu Davis said Thursday he is now seeing “significant community broadcast”. The majority of cases are recorded in people who have not received the Covid vaccine.

Overall coronavirus cases in the United States have increased recently as public health officials around the world are concerned about the Delta variant.

Correction: In an earlier version, the Nasdaq winning streak was misrepresented. It’s been three weeks.

– The Associated Press contributed to this report. Follow all market activity like a pro on CNBC Pro. Get the latest on the pandemic with coronavirus coverage from CNBC.

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Health

5 issues to know earlier than the inventory market opens Friday, July 9

Here are the most important news, trends and analysis that investors need to start their trading day:

1. Dow to recover some of the losses in Thursday’s sell-off

Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Source: NYSE

Dow futures bounced more than 200 points Friday, one day after a broad sell-off on Wall Street. The Dow lost 259 points, or 0.75%, on Thursday, finishing roughly 1% away from last Friday’s record close. The 30-stock average had been down as much as 536 points during Thursday’s session. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also ended off their lows of the day, retreating from Wednesday’s record closes. All three stock benchmarks, as of Thursday’s close, were on track to finish lower for the week. Concern about a slowdown in economic growth, due to the spread of the Covid delta variant, hurt sentiment Thursday, with investors buying bonds for their perceived safety and driving yields lower.

2. 10-year Treasury yield bounces off February lows

Bond yields, which move inversely to prices, rose Friday. The 10-year Treasury yield was back above 1.34% after falling Thursday as low as 1.25% to levels not seen since February. The 10-year yield hit a then-14-month high of 1.78% in March. It began 2021 at less than 1%. Treasury yields have generally been falling over the past week, with declines accelerating Thursday on delta variant worries and an unexpected jump in first-time filings for jobless claims for last week, rising from the previous week’s Covid-era lows.

3. Biden to sign executive order to crack down on Big Tech

US President Joe Biden speaks about the situation in Afghanistan from the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, July 8, 2021.

Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images

The White House is expected to announce Friday a new executive order aimed at cracking down on anti-competitive practices in Big Tech, labor and numerous other sectors The sweeping order, which includes 72 actions and recommendations that involve a dozen federal agencies, is intended to reshape the thinking around corporate consolidation and antitrust laws, CNBC’s Ylan Mui reported. “The impulse for this executive order is really around where can we encourage greater competition across the board,” the White House’s chief economic advisor, Brian Deese, told Mui in an exclusive interview.

4. Pfizer is developing a Covid booster to target delta variant

12 years and older New Yorkers are getting vaccinated at the St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church in Bronx of New York City, United States on June 13, 2021.

Tayfun Coskun | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

Pfizer and BioNTech are developing a Covid booster shot intended to target the delta variant, already the dominant form of the disease in the U.S. While they believe a third shot of their current two-dose vaccine can preserve the “highest levels” of protection against all currently known variants, the companies are “remaining vigilant” and working on an updated version of the vaccine. Thursday’s announcement came the same day Olympics organizers said they’re banning all fans from the games this year after Japan declared a state of emergency for Tokyo to curb a wave of new Covid infections.

5. Wells Fargo tells customers it’s shuttering all personal lines of credit

A man walks past a Wells Fargo Bank branch on a rainy morning in Washington.

Gary Cameron | Reuters

Wells Fargo plans to end a popular consumer lending product, angering some of its customers. The bank is shutting down all existing personal lines of credit in the coming weeks and no longer offers the product, according to customer letters reviewed by CNBC. The revolving credit lines, which typically allow users to borrow $3,000 to $100,000, were pitched as a way to consolidate higher-interest credit card debt, pay for home renovations, or avoid overdraft fees on linked checking accounts. Wells Fargo is still recovering from the aftermath of its 2016 fake accounts scandal.

— Follow all the market action like a pro on CNBC Pro. Get the latest on the pandemic with CNBC’s coronavirus coverage.

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Health

5 issues to know earlier than the inventory market opens Friday, July 2

Here are the top news, trends, and analysis investors need to start their trading day:

1. Stock futures rise according to the June job report

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on November 4th. 2020.

NYSE

US stock futures rose Friday morning following the release of the better-than-expected June job report. All major street indices closed on Green Thursday as Wall Street got off to a positive start into the second half of 2021 after a strong first half. The S&P 500 rose 0.5% to 4,319.94, its sixth record high in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 131 points, ending the session at 34,633.53. The 30-person Dow has risen three sessions in a row and is at its highest level since June 4th. The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.13% to 14,522.38 on Thursday. The key averages are all positive for the week and at the level of their second consecutive weekly gain.

2. The US created 850,000 jobs in June

A company is advertising an Aid sign on April 9, 2021 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

Spencer Platt | Getty Images

The number of employees outside the agricultural sector rose by 850,000 in June, the Ministry of Labor said on Friday. The number is better than the 706,000 jobs economists were expecting, Dow Jones estimates. However, the unemployment rate rose to 5.9%, while the projections forecast a decline to 5.6%. Average hourly wages rose 0.33% in June and 3.6% year-on-year; both numbers correspond to the estimates. The Department of Labor’s April and May employment reports fell short of Wall Street’s expectations as companies across all industries said they were having difficulty filling vacancies.

3. Robinhood applies for the highly anticipated IPO

Pavlo Gonchar | LightRakete | Getty Images

In its highly anticipated IPO on Thursday, Robinhood Markets announced that it has 18 million retail clients and more than $ 80 billion in client assets. The free stock trading pioneer said it was profitable in 2020, posting net income of $ 7.45 million on net sales of $ 959 million as the number of accounts funded more than doubled that year. In 2019, Robinhood lost $ 107 million on net sales of $ 278 million.

Robinhood ended the first three months of this year in a loss of $ 1.4 billion, related to the emergency funding it closed during the peak of the Reddit-fueled GameStop madness in January. Revenue for the quarter rose 309% to $ 522 million, compared to $ 128 million in the first quarter of 2020. Approximately 38% of Robinhood’s revenue comes from options trading accounts. Stocks make up 25% of sales, while crypto makes up 17%.

Founded in 2013, the company plans to raise $ 100 million when it goes public. It intends to list on the Nasdaq and trade under the ticker “HOOD”.

4. Virgin Galactic plans to launch Richard Branson on July 11th

Sir Richard Branson stands on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in front of the trading of Virgin Galactic (SPCE) in New York, USA, 28 October 2019.

Richard Branson Virgin Galactic IPO NYSE

Space tourism company Virgin Galactic has scheduled its next test flight for July 11th and company founder Sir Richard Branson intends to be on board. The timing is particularly noteworthy as British billionaire Jeff Bezos plans to launch into space. The Amazon founder and richest person in the world is due to launch his own company Blue Origin on July 20th. Virgin Galactic’s shares rose about 30% in pre-trading hours to about $ 56 each. The planned launch will be Virgin Galactic’s fourth test space flight to date. Branson founded Virgin Galactic in 2004 and the company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in October 2019.

5. Toyota outperforms GM in the US for the first time in a quarter

A Toyota Tundra pickup truck is seen at a dealership in San Jose, California.

Yichuan Cao | NurPhoto | Getty Images

Toyota Motor sold more vehicles in the US than General Motors in the second quarter. This is the first time the Japanese automaker has done this in a three-month period. On Thursday, Toyota said it had sold 688,813 vehicles in America from April to June, almost ousting GM’s 688,236 vehicles. Toyota’s results exceeded analysts’ expectations; GMs fell short. Toyota may become the best-selling automaker in the US, depending on where Ford’s results come in. GM’s Crosstown rival reported the number on Friday morning, and analysts are forecasting US sales of 645,000 vehicles in the second quarter. The last time GM wasn’t America’s best-selling automaker for a quarter was in the third quarter of 1998 when Ford oversold them, according to Edmunds.

The automotive industry has coped with semiconductor shortages and messed up production schedules at a time when consumer demand for new vehicles was strong. Toyota and other Japanese automakers have weathered the chip crisis better than their US rivals so far.

Correction: The Nasdaq closed at 14.522.38 on Thursday. In a previous version the number was incorrectly specified.

– Follow the whole market like a pro on CNBC Pro. Get the latest on the pandemic with coronavirus coverage from CNBC.

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World News

Your Friday Briefing – The New York Occasions

The Trump Organization, the family real estate business that catapulted Donald Trump to prominence, was charged Thursday with running a 15-year tax fraud scheme. The charges open up an aggressive new phase in a long-running criminal investigation into the former president and his company.

While the former president himself was not charged, his long-serving and trusted chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, surrendered to the authorities. He is accused of avoiding taxes on $1.7 million in income and faces grand larceny, tax fraud and other charges.

The charges stem from the Manhattan district attorney’s ongoing inquiry into the business practices of Trump and his company. Prosecutors have been looking into whether Trump and the Trump Organization manipulated property values to obtain loans and tax benefits, among other potential financial crimes.

Test of loyalty: Weisselberg is coming under increasing pressure to turn on the Trump family.

Analysis: The charges may hurt Trump’s finances, because indictments can jeopardize relationships with banks and Trump has large outstanding loans.

Digital vaccine cards went into effect in the E.U. to allow residents of member states to travel more freely. But there has been friction over which vaccines qualify — only those made by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca — and how the certificates are used.

There are already discrepancies in how member states are using the system, with some countries denying airlines access to the vaccine cards because of privacy concerns.

A month after Greece reopened to tourists, coronavirus cases in the country reached a record low while the numbers of visitors, especially from the U.S., continued to climb. But in Portugal, the government is set to reintroduce nighttime curfews in certain cities — including some tourism hubs — as it struggles to cope with the spread of the Delta variant.

Other travel news: The top executive of the airline holding company Air France-KLM has called on the U.S. to relax restrictions on visitors from the E.U. The Biden administration is considering lifting its ban, the press secretary said.

Here are the latest updates and maps of the pandemic.

In other developments:

A total of 130 nations have agreed to a blueprint in which multinational corporations would pay tax rates of at least 15 percent wherever they operated. The plan would generate $150 billion in additional tax revenue each year, the O.E.C.D. said.

The conceptual framework also includes rules that would force Big Tech companies and other global businesses to pay taxes in countries where their goods or services are sold, even if they have no physical presence there.

Despite earlier wariness, China, Russia and India are among the signatories. But some major tax havens, including Ireland and some Caribbean nations, still have not signed on to the deal, which could weaken its effectiveness.

Details: The Irish government has said that a deal would need to allow small countries to continue to compete with large ones to make up for the loss of any tax advantage.

Statement: “Today marks an important step in moving the global economy forward to be more equitable for workers and middle-class families in the U.S. and around the world,” President Biden said in a statement.

Activists slammed the TV show “In the Dark” for casting a sighted actress in a blind lead role. The protests invite the question: Is there a right way to act blind?

The most authentic performance of blindness is by turns precise and fumbling, writes Andrew Leland, who has been steadily losing his sight. “For most of the day, blind people are simply people, until they encounter an obstacle or someone says something that returns them to awareness of their difference.”

In the 1950s, the hamlet of Cherry Grove, on New York’s Fire Island, was a refuge for gay men and lesbians. See dozens of enlarged photos from the era.

China yesterday celebrated the 100th anniversary of the founding of its ruling Communist Party. Xi Jinping, the country’s leader, delivered a defiant speech in which he declared China’s rise unstoppable, as a crowd of 70,000 people waved flags, sang and cheered in unison.

The event was staged to convey a powerful nation at ease while the rest of the world struggled with the pandemic. “The Chinese people will never allow foreign forces to bully, oppress or enslave us,” Xi said, clad in a Mao suit. “Whoever nurses delusions of doing that will crack their heads and spill blood on the Great Wall of steel built from the flesh and blood of 1.4 billion Chinese people.”

The party’s longevity has baffled its critics, and as The Economist reports, no other dictatorship has transformed so much — from a famine crisis in the Mao Zedong era to the world’s second-largest economy. Economic growth and a sharp decline in rural poverty in many places, more than ideology, have won the hearts of many citizens.

For this week’s event, officials are rewriting parts of history and clamping down on criticism in order to glorify the party’s contributions to Chinese citizens. But some party members wonder if Xi is doing enough to move the country forward. They also worry that he has done away with the checks and balances, introduced under Deng Xiaoping, that helped the party avoid embarrassing mistakes and left the economy to flourish.

Related: We compiled pictures showing the improbable rise of a party born in the rubble of dynasty. The anniversary has also inspired a wave of state-approved art.

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Health

5 issues to know earlier than the inventory market opens Friday, June 25

Here are the top news, trends, and analysis investors need to start their trading day:

1. Wall Street is heading for its best week in months

A Wall Street sign is pictured outside the New York Stock Exchange amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Manhattan neighborhood of New York on April 16, 2021.

Carlo Allegri | Reuters

US stock futures rose Friday, the day after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record highs, fueled by President Joe Biden’s signing of an infrastructure deal with a bipartisan group of senators. The Dow also rose Thursday, gaining 322 points, or nearly 1%, heading for its best weekly gain since March. The 30-share average is about 1.6% off its record high in early May after last week’s worst weekly decline since October. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq had their best weeks since April.

  • Dow stock Nike rose 13% in the premarket and is likely to open at an all-time high. The athletic shoe and apparel giant topped estimates for quarterly earnings and sales late Thursday. Nike saw a 73% increase in direct sales through its apps and websites. Nike’s stock pop is responsible for much of the surge in the Dow futures.
  • Virgin Galactic is up 14% after the FAA was given the green light to fly passengers into space. “The commercial license we held since 2016 remains in place, but is now approved to carry commercial passengers when we are ready,” Michael Colglazier, CEO of Virgin Galactic, told CNBC.

2. The Fed’s most popular inflation indicator is hot

3. Infrastructure compromise includes $ 579 billion in new spending

US President Joe Biden speaks after a bipartisan meeting with US Senators on the proposed framework for the Infrastructure Bill on June 24, 2021 at the White House in Washington.

Kevin Lamarque | Reuters

The bipartisan infrastructure compromise includes $ 579 billion in new spending, of which $ 312 billion will be used on transportation projects such as roads, bridges and trains. The plan also puts $ 266 billion into non-transport infrastructure, including power, water and broadband internet improvements. Only $ 15 billion goes into infrastructure for electric vehicles and electric buses and public transportation, a fraction of what Biden originally proposed. How they should pay for all of this remains under discussion. The Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill want to pass the bipartisan framework along with a larger bill to address more of their priorities without a Republican vote.

4. The search for survivors of the building collapse in Florida continues

This aerial view shows search and rescue workers working on site after the partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South in Surfside, north of Miami Beach, on June 24, 2021.

Chandan Khanna | AFP | Getty Images

Biden has promised to provide federal aid, if requested, in finding survivors of a partial collapse of a beachfront condo outside of Miami. At least one person was killed and nearly 100 people are still missing. Officials did not know how many people were in the tower when it collapsed in Surfside at around 1:30 a.m. ET early Thursday morning. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who toured the scene, said the rescue teams would “do anything to save lives. Authorities did not say what might have caused the collapse.

5. Chauvin could be sentenced for decades on Floyd’s death

A woman reacts following the verdict in the trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, convicted of the death of George Floyd, on April 20, 2021 at BLM Plaza in Washington, DC.

Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters

Former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin is convicted Friday of the murder of George Floyd’s death in a case that sparked worldwide outrage and a racial reckoning in America. Legal experts predict that Chauvin, 45, could live to be 20 to 25 years old. He was convicted of accidental second degree murder, third degree murder, and second degree manslaughter. While he is widely expected to appeal, Chauvin is also facing trial on federal civil rights charges along with three other dismissed officials whose state trials are pending.

– The Associated Press contributed to this report. Follow the whole market like a pro on CNBC Pro. Get the latest on the pandemic with coronavirus coverage from CNBC.

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Health

5 issues to know earlier than the inventory market opens Friday, June 18

Here are the most important news, trends and analysis that investors need to start their trading day:

1. Dow tracks for first five-session losing streak since January

Traders at the New York Stock Exchange.

Source: NYSE

U.S. stock futures fell sharply Friday as the Dow looked to be set up for its first five-session losing streak since January. Dow futures sank 300 points. Thursday was the second 200-point-plus down day in a row following the Federal Reserve meeting. As of Thursday’s close, the 30-stock average was off nearly 2% for the week. The S&P 500, tracking for a more modest weekly decline, fell Thursday for the third straight session. The Nasdaq bucked Thursday’s down trend, adding nearly 0.9% and breaking a two-session losing streak. The Nasdaq was within just 13 points of Monday’s record close. The S&P 500 was less than 1% from its record close Monday. The Dow was more than 2.7% from its latest record close in early May.

2. 10-year yield continues to bounce around after Fed-driven spike

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Washington, December 1, 2020.

Al Drago | Pool | Reuters

The 10-year Treasury yield to fluctuate after Wednesday’s Fed-driven spike to nearly 1.6%, trading Friday around 1.5%. Yields drifted lower despite rising inflation expectations from the Fed. The central bank on Wednesday afternoon also signaled two interest rate hikes in 2023. In March, policymakers said they saw no increases until at least 2024. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has said he’s willing to let inflation run above the Fed’s traditional 2% target rate before adjusting policy in order to allow the economy more room to recover from the depths of the Covid pandemic.

3. Many commodities bounce one day after falling sharply

Many commodities bounced Friday, one day after falling sharply as China started to take steps to cool off rising prices. Those declines cut into months of gains and weighed on stocks. On Thursday, the drops in commodities were widespread, with platinum futures falling more than 11%, along with declines of nearly 6% in corn futures and 4.8% in copper futures.

A Chinese government agency announced a plan Wednesday to release some of its reserves of key metals. Commodities often move inversely to the dollar since they are mostly priced globally in the U.S. currency, which has been strengthening since this week’s Fed decisions.

4. Warnings about Covid from U.K. study and England’s top medical officer

Paramedics arrive with a patient with Covid-19 at the emergency department of Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego, California.

Bing Guan | Bloomberg | Getty Images

A new U.K. study examined brain imaging before and after coronavirus infections and looked specifically at the potential effect on the nervous system. “In short, the study suggests that there could be some long-term loss of brain tissue from Covid, and that would have some long-term consequences,” Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith.” The destruction of brain tissue could explain why Covid patients lost their sense of smell, he said.

Hounslow, London, which has become one of the U.K.’s biggest hotspots for the variant of coronavirus first identified in India, on Thursday 27th May 2021.

Tejas Sandhu | MI News | NurPhoto | Getty Images

England’s top medical officer warned it would likely take five years before new Covid vaccines could “hold the line” to a very large degree against a range of coronavirus variants. Until then, Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said, new vaccination programs and booster shots would be needed. A further easing of lockdown restrictions in England was delayed this week due to a surge in cases of the delta variant first discovered in India.

5. Biden signs a bill establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday

U.S. President Joe Biden is applauded as he reaches for a pen to sign the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law as Vice President Kamala Harris stands by in the East Room of the White House in Washington, June 17, 2021.

Carlos Barria | Reuters

Most federal workers will observe Juneteenth on Friday because the new holiday marking the end of slavery in the U.S. falls on a Saturday this year. The New York Stock Exchange will not close for Juneteenth but will evaluate closing for it in 2022. On Thursday, President Joe Biden signed a bill establishing Juneteenth, celebrated on June 19, as the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983. Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when Union soldiers arrived Galveston, Texas, and officially ended slavery in the state. It happened more than two years after then-President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

— Follow all the market action like a pro on CNBC Pro. Get the latest on the pandemic with CNBC’s coronavirus coverage.

Disclosure: Dr. Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and is a member of the boards of Covid vaccine maker Pfizer, genetic testing start-up Tempus, health-care tech company Aetion and biotech company Illumina. He also serves as co-chair of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings′ and Royal Caribbean’s “Healthy Sail Panel.”

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Health

5 issues to know earlier than the inventory market opens Friday, June 11

Here are the most important news, trends and analysis that investors need to start their trading day:

1. S&P 500 looks to add to Thursday’s record close

A Wall Street sign is pictured outside the New York Stock Exchange amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Manhattan borough of New York, April 16, 2021.

Carlo Allegri | Reuters

U.S. stock futures rose Friday, one day after the S&P 500 logged its 27th record close of 2021 but its first since May 7. Shaking off a red-hot inflation report, the Dow also rose Thursday, breaking a three-session losing streak and finishing less than 1% from last month’s record close. The Nasdaq’s gain Thursday brought the tech-heavy index within 1% of its last record close in late April.

Ahead of Friday’s open on Wall Street, the Nasdaq was up 1.5% for the week, on pace for a fourth straight weekly gain for the first time since January. The S&P 500 was looking to clinch a three-week winning streak. The Dow was off 0.8% for the week, on track to break two positive weeks in a row.

The 10-year Treasury yield ticked lower Friday, trading just above 1.4%, around its early March lows before it spiked above 1.7% to 14-month highs later that month.

2. Meme stocks get some relief after hitting a wall

SELINSGROVE, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES – 2021/01/27: A woman walks past the GameStop store inside the Susquehanna Valley Mall. An online group sent share prices of GameStop (GME) and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (AMC) soaring in an attempt to squeeze short sellers.

Photo by Paul Weaver/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Meme stocks were getting some relief early Friday after hitting a wall Thursday. Shares of GameStop, which tanked 27% on Thursday, rose 6% in the premarket. GameStop investors seemed to be running for the exits Thursday, one day after the video game retailer announced the appointments of two former Amazon executives as CEO and CFO and said it may sell as many as 5 million additional shares to raise money. GameStop — off about 50% from its $483 per share all-time high in January — remained up nearly 1,100% in 2021. Last week’s big winner, AMC Entertainment, rose 4% in Friday’s premarket after closing down 13% on Thursday. The stock — down more than 40% from last week’s all-time high of $72.62 — was still up 1,900% this year.

3. Biden, G-7 leaders to endorse a global minimum corporate tax

U.S. President Joe Biden poses for a picture during a meeting with Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson (not pictured) ahead of the G7 summit, at Carbis Bay, Cornwall, Britain June 10, 2021.

Toby Melville | Reuters

President Joe Biden and G-7 leaders will publicly endorse a global minimum corporate tax of at least 15% on Friday, one piece of a broader agreement to update international tax laws for a globalized, digital economy. Meeting at a resort in the U.K., the world leaders will also announce a plan to replace Digital Services Taxes, which targeted the biggest American tech companies, with a new tax plan linked to the places where multinationals are actually doing business, rather than where they are headquartered. The White House also said G-7 leaders will agree to “continue providing policy support to the global economy for as long as necessary to create a strong, balanced, and inclusive economic recovery.”

4. Two Royal Caribbean passengers test positive for Covid

A file photo shows the Celebrity Millennium cruise ship at Kai Tak cruise terminal in Kowloon Bay.

Felix Wong | South China Morning Post | Getty Images

Royal Caribbean said late Thursday that two guests onboard its Celebrity Millennium ship tested positive for Covid. According to the cruise operator, which didn’t reveal their ages, the passengers were asymptomatic and in isolation. Celebrity Millennium was one of the first cruises in North America to restart sailing last week. In lifting the more than one year pandemic halt, the CDC required a fully vaccinated crew and everyone over 16 to present proof of vaccination. In the early days of Covid last year, cruise ships became hotbeds for the coronavirus.

5. Tesla begins deliveries of its new Model S Plaid

Tesla Model S Plaid

Source: Tesla

Tesla kicked off deliveries of its new Model S Plaid, with a livestream event Thursday night at the electric auto maker’s test track near its Fremont, California factory. CEO Elon Musk made his entrance by driving a Model S Plaid around the track and onto the stage. Musk, in weeks before the even, hyped the months-delayed vehicle as the “quickest production car ever made.” The Model S Plaid, a high-performance version of Tesla’s flagship sedan, starts at $129,990 compared with $79,990 for a long-range 2021 Model S. On Sunday, Musk tweeted that Tesla canceled the $150,000 Model S Plaid Plus, saying there was “no need, as the Plaid is just so good.”

— Reuters contributed to this report. Follow all the market action like a pro on CNBC Pro. Get the latest on the pandemic with CNBC’s coronavirus coverage.

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Health

5 issues to know earlier than the inventory market opens Friday, June 4

Here are the top news, trends, and analysis investors need to start their trading day:

1. Stock futures rose after the slight job report in May

Trader on the New York Stock Exchange.

Source: NYSE

U.S. President Joe Biden (left) wears a protective mask while speaking with Senator Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican from West Virginia, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, the United States, on Thursday, Jan.

TJ Kirkpatrick | Bloomberg | Getty Images

US companies observe infrastructure talks between President Joe Biden and Senator Shelley Moore Capito, the GOP negotiator. They want to meet again on Friday. At their meeting on Wednesday, Biden proposed a minimum 15% tax on businesses as part of a compromise to pay for a smaller infrastructure package worth $ 1 trillion.

2. Employment growth in May has doubled compared to April

A General Motors assembly worker loads engine block castings onto the assembly line at the GM Romulus Powertrain plant in Romulus, Michigan, the United States, August 21, 2019.

Rebecca Cook | Reuters

Employment growth last month was about twice as fast as in April. The US economy added 559,000 non-agricultural workers in May, compared with an estimate of 671,000. As the restrictions on the Covid pandemic were further relaxed, 186,000 food services and drinking places were added in May. The total number of jobs in April has been revised up by 12,000 to 278,000.

The country’s unemployment rate fell to 5.8% in May, compared to estimates of 5.9%. Investors continued to believe that a modest increase in jobs would prevent the Federal Reserve from hike rates and tighten monetary policy.

3. AMC boss advocates selling more shares in a YouTube interview

Chairman / CEO of AMC Entertainment Inc. Adam Aron speaks on stage at the Will Rogers Pioneer of the Year Dinner 2018 at Caesars Palace during CinemaCon, the official convention of the National Association of Theater Owners, on April 25, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada .

Alberto E. Rodriguez | Getty Images

AMC Entertainment’s shares fell more than 3% in the premarket on Friday, in a wild, Reddit-fueled week of trading that saw shares nearly double on Wednesday and then retreat nearly 18% on Thursday. CEO Adam Aron sat down with Trey Collins, the host of Trey’s Trades channel on YouTube, on Thursday evening. Many of the channel’s subscribers are AMC investors. After two separate stock sales this week that raised approximately $ 800 million in cash, Aron urged shareholders to support a new plan to issue an additional 25 million shares. Aron reiterated that AMC is looking at a number of acquisition opportunities.

4. Bitcoin falls after Elon Musk tweeted a breakup meme

Bitcoin fell nearly 5% to around $ 36,700 on Friday morning, hours after Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted a meme depicting a couple breaking up using a bitcoin hashtag and broken heart emoji. Other cryptocurrencies, including Ether and Dogecoin, also fell. In May, Musk said that Tesla would no longer accept Bitcoin as a payment method due to concerns about energy consumption.

5. Bill Ackmans SPAC confirms talks to acquire 10% of Universal Music

Bill Ackman, Founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management.

Adam Jeffery | CNBC

Pershing Square Tontine Holdings, the special purpose vehicle owned by billionaire investor Bill Ackman, confirmed on Friday that it is in talks to buy 10% of Universal Music Group for around $ 4 billion. The transaction would be worth approximately $ 42 billion to Universal Music. The holding company said the transaction would not result in a merger and Universal Music would conduct a scheduled listing on Euronext Amsterdam in the third quarter of 2021.

– The Associated Press contributed to this report. Follow all market activity like a pro on CNBC Pro. Get the latest on the pandemic with coronavirus coverage from CNBC.

Categories
World News

Your Friday Briefing – The New York Instances

While the Italian government has said that people have a right to get vaccinated no matter their legal status, many undocumented migrants and homeless people have been unable to secure shots, putting both them and others at risk.

To book vaccination appointments, people must enter their social security numbers. But only three of Italy’s 20 regions accept the temporary numbers given to hundreds of thousands of migrants.

More than 125,000 people have died in Italy from the virus. The country’s vaccine rollout started at a sluggish pace, with strategic hiccups and a shortage of doses.

Quotable: “My heart is so weak that if I get Covid it will take me away for sure,” said one homeless immigrant, 63. “I am scared.”

The International Maritime Organization, a little-known U.N. agency that is responsible for reducing carbon emissions in the shipping industry, is doing the opposite. The organization has repeatedly delayed and watered down climate regulations.

Just last week, delegates met in secret to debate what should constitute a passing grade under a new rating system. Under pressure from China, Brazil and others, they set the bar so low that emissions can continue to rise at roughly the same pace as if there had been no regulations at all.

Close ties: Representatives of shipbuilders, oil companies, mining companies, chemical manufacturers and others with huge financial stakes in commercial shipping are among the I.M.O.’s delegates.

Discontent within Facebook has surged in recent weeks over the company’s handling of international affairs, culminating in tense meetings and an open letter, signed by more than 200 employees, calling for an audit of the company’s treatment of Arab and Muslim posts.

Employees have complained about the company’s decisions to take down posts from prominent Palestinian activists when clashes broke out in Israel, as well as messages critical of the Indian government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Facebook is in a tight spot. Governments across the world are pressuring it to remove content as they try to corral the platform’s power over online speech. But when Facebook complies, it upsets its employees, who say the social network has helped authoritarian leaders and repressive regimes quash activists and silence marginalized communities.

Analysis: “There’s a feeling among people at Facebook that this is a systematic approach, one which favors strong government leaders over the principles of doing what is right and correct,” said Facebook’s former head of policy for the Middle East and North Africa region, who left in 2017.

For years, Benjamin Netanyahu outfoxed his rivals. Here’s what changed this week.

The chef and restaurateur Alice Waters, whose new book is “We Are What We Eat,” spoke to our Book Review.

What book, if any, most influenced your approach to food?

I got Elizabeth David’s “French Country Cooking” in my early 20s, shortly after I came back from studying in France in 1965. When I returned home to Berkeley, all I wanted to do was live like the French. Food is culture, and she revealed that. She also influenced me aesthetically — I loved the gracefulness and simplicity of her recipes and her cooking.

The last book you read that made you cry?

“The Water Dancer.” It’s heartbreaking.

The last book you read that made you furious?

Marion Nestle’s “Unsavory Truth: How Food Companies Skew the Science of What We Eat.” That made me absolutely furious. The title of the book says it all. And I’m so grateful to Marion for telling the truth. We need her book more than ever right now.

And the last book you read that made you laugh?

Maira Kalman always makes me laugh. Her children’s books are incredible, like “Ooh-La-La (Max in Love).” The illustrations are unlike any others, and her own incredible imagination just comes out in them.

Categories
Politics

Joe Biden and Shelley Moore Capito to fulfill Friday

United States President Joe Biden gestures at Senator Shelley Capito (R-WV) during an infrastructure meeting with Republican Senators at the White House in Washington May 13, 2021.

Kevin Lamarque | Reuters

President Joe Biden and Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito ended a meeting on a possible infrastructure compromise Wednesday and agreed to speak again in two days.

The president and senior GOP negotiator had a “constructive and frank conversation” about a massive proposal to invest in US infrastructure, a White House official said. Biden and the West Virginia senator started the day with differing views on what should go into a bill and how the government should pay for the plan.

During Wednesday’s meeting, Capito “emphasized their desire to work together to reach an infrastructure deal that can pass bipartisan to Congress,” said Capito spokeswoman Kelley Moore. The senator was “encouraged that negotiations continued” and will brief other Republicans before the next discussion with Biden, she added.

Friday’s discussion could be a last-ditch effort to get any closer to an infrastructure deal before the Democrats decide whether to try to pass laws themselves. The Biden administration has signaled that it wants to see progress in talks with Republicans by next week.

“There is a time limit for that … You won’t be playing this back and forth for much longer,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday morning.

“There is definitely a deal,” she said.

CNBC policy

Read more about CNBC’s political coverage:

Talks continue a back-and-forth between the White House and the GOP as the parties seek a way forward on a plan to transform US transport, broadband, and utilities. Republicans did not support Biden’s proposals to invest in schools, homes, care facilities and green energy under a bill because they should focus on the infrastructure defined in the past.

The GOP sent Biden a counteroffer for $ 928 billion last week. The president had previously cut his proposal from $ 2.3 trillion to $ 1.7 trillion.

The parties must also resolve a dispute about how the expenses should be offset. Biden plans to raise the corporate tax rate from 21 percent to at least 25 percent, which was set under the 2017 Republican Tax Act. It also aims to reduce underpayments from both individuals and businesses.

Republicans have announced that they will not reconsider their tax legislation. Instead, they called for the coronavirus aid money approved earlier this year to be reused. The White House has signaled its opposition to the diversion of funds and has questioned how much of the aid will be left.

If they can’t reach an agreement with the Republicans, the Democrats can try to pass an infrastructure bill themselves by balancing the budget. It would require the support of every member of the Democratic Senate faction in an evenly divided chamber.

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