Reads
- $30 Billion Disaster Is Just the Tip of a Deadly Climate Cycle
- Widespread Drought Creates Winners and Losers in U.S. Agriculture
- Saudis and Russia Extend Oil Supply Cuts, Bolstering Prices
- Utility Companies Sell Wind, Solar Farms to Shore Up U.S. Power Grid
- Cracking Down on Dissent, Russia Seeds a Surveillance Supply Chain
- Yellen Heads to China This Week Advancing US Bid to Fix Ties
- An 800% Stock Market Rally Puts Zimbabweans on Edge
- Bridgewater’s Greg Jensen Sees a ‘Bad’ Outlook for Bonds and Stocks
- Hedge Funds on the Brink of Abandoning Bullish Dollar Bets
- Lithium Scarcity Pushes Carmakers Into the Mining Business
- Tesla and BYD Post Record Sales on Surge in Electric-Car Demand
- What Apple Did to Hit $3 Trillion
- Zuckerberg’s Quest to Re-Enter China Faces Challenge: His Own Words
- He Spent $140 Billion on AI With Little to Show. Now He Is Trying Again
- Labor Market Headfake? Key Report Could Be Overestimating Job Growth
- Industries Reliant on Thriving Downtowns Suffer From Remote Work
- How to Succeed in Business Like Taylor Swift
- More Chicken, Lighter Beer, Pink Drinks: Companies Craft New Products for Gen Z Tastes
- Tyson Foods to Drop ‘No Antibiotics Ever’ Label on Some Chicken Products
- Fireworks Have a New Competitor: Drones
- China Cuts Key Interest Rates, Hoping to Kick-Start Flagging Economy
- ECB’s Muller Warns Wage Increases Could Delay Slowdown in Core Inflation
- Macron’s Paris Summit Seeks New Life for Global Finance Agenda
- What is the ‘Bridgetown Initiative’ Asking For at Paris Financial Summit?
- Rate Cut Bets Build in Bond Markets From Australia to Sweden
- Powell Faces Tricky Task of Explaining Rate Pause in Congress
- Today’s Rate Hikes Threaten to Push Up Tomorrow’s Housing Costs
- Hedging Failure Exposes Private Equity to Interest-Rate Surge
- UBS to Face Penalties Over Credit Suisse’s Archegos Fiasco
- World’s Biggest Offshore Center Backs Effort to Fight Corporate-Tax Avoidance
- Masayoshi Son Ends Seven-Month Silence to Make Case for SoftBank’s Future
- New Land Grab by Oil Giants Is Deep Underground
- A Job With a Fair Salary? What Pay Transparency Laws Are Revealing
- Return to Office Enters the Desperation Phase
- Inside China’s Underground Market for High-End Nvidia AI Chips
- Intel Spends $33 Billion in Germany in Landmark Expansion
- Biggest Plane Deal in History: Airbus Clinches Massive Order from India’s IndiGo
- Boeing, Airbus and the Battle for the Perfect Plane
- Jack Ma’s Lieutenants Return to Oversee Tough Alibaba Reboot
- Carlos Ghosn Sues Nissan for $1 Billion in Damages
Todays Open Interest Change
PREMIUM
Prepper
The Supreme Court has overturned the Biden administration’s student-debt forgiveness plan in a 6-3 decision, ruling it exceeded the authority Congress granted to the executive branch. The plan, struck down on Friday, would have wiped off $430B in loans from the government's books, but there are already some alternatives that are in the making. The administration will pursue student debt relief through a longer route via the "Higher Education Act," while other plans would allow low-income borrowers to pay smaller amounts on the balance of their loans over time, or put a temporary ban on penalties.
Letter of the law: Chief Justice John Roberts said in the opinion that while the Secretary of Education has the authority to "waive or modify" existing statutory or regulatory provisions applicable to financial assistance programs under the HEROES Act, statutes cannot be rewritten from "the ground up." Earlier, the high court had rejected the first of two challenges against President Biden's plan to cancel a portion of federal student loans as part of a COVID relief program. Writing the majority opinion, Justice Samuel Alito held that the plaintiffs did not have standing, that is, they failed to establish that they would suffer any injury from the loan forgiveness plan.
"This carries huge implications for inflation, consumer discretionary spending, and the distribution of wealth in the U.S.," writes SA analyst Logan Kane, analyzing winners and losers from the landmark ruling. The student loan debate also continues to take place among investors. Some say it would correct devious historical loan practices and support the broader economy. Others have flagged it as another contributor to high inflation, or a measure that would hurt those who chose not to go to college because of the cost, don't have loans, or have already paid them off.
What to watch: Related student loan stocks, including SoFi Technologies (SOFI), Sallie Mae (SLM), Navient (NAVI), and Nelnet (NNI), have been jittery since the announcement by SCOTUS. Once payments resume, the typical student loan payment will be between $210-$314 per month, according to Wells Fargo. In terms of the entire portfolio, the Federal Reserve estimates that Americans owed $1.6T in student loans as of the first quarter of 2023, with the average student loan debt around $38,000 per borrower. (851 comments)
Is it fair to forgive student loans?
· Yes, it's the right thing to do (no different than other subsidies or grants)
· No, must be held responsible for economic choices (read the fine print)
Take the survey and share your thoughts in the WSB comments section.
Smoky haze, hot weather and storms... Many flights have been delayed or canceled over the past week in the U.S., posing some problems for travelers ahead of the Fourth of July. United Airlines (UAL) accounted for most of the flight cancellations, but that didn't stop CEO Scott Kirby from hopping on a private jet to get out of the New York area. He has since apologized, but unions representing airline staff have accused United's management of planning poorly and operating too many flights. Meanwhile, the Independence Day weekend is set to be the busiest on record, with 4.17M Americans flying to their destinations, up 11.2% from 2022 and 6.6% from 2019. (3 comments)
Handily beating estimates, Tesla (TSLA) is powering higher before the bell today. Shares are up 6.5% after the automaker registered record electric vehicle deliveries in the second quarter. In fact, the stock has more than doubled in value year-to-date, splitting analysts on what will come next. "We remain sell-rated on Tesla as we believe its rally this year is not driven by fundamentals," Investing Group Leader Tech Stock Pros warned prior to the delivery report, while Victor Dergunov is doubling down on dip buying. (343 comments)
The music industry is set for another heavy structural change as the decade progresses. That's according to Goldman Sachs, which said the main players will need a "coordinated response" to hold on to sustainable growth and capture new opportunities. The 2030 growth outlook still remains strong, with Goldman raising its CAGR expectations for 2023-2030 to 7.3%. Stocks that are Buy-rated include Warner Music (WMG) and Live Nation (LYV). See the full list of Goldman's picks here. (9 comments)
Today's Markets
In Asia, Japan +1.7%. Hong Kong +2.1%. China +1.3%. India +0.8%.
In Europe, at midday, London +0.3%. Paris +0.2%. Frankfurt +0.1%.
Futures at 7:00, Dow -0.1%. S&P flat. Nasdaq +0.2%. Crude +1% at $71.31. Gold -0.4% at $1,921.50. Bitcoin +0.4% to $30,652.
Ten-year Treasury Yield +3 bps to 3.85%.
Today's Economic Calendar
9:45 PMI Manufacturing Index
10:00 ISM Manufacturing Index
10:00 Construction Spending
NYSE early close at 1:00 PM
SIFMA closes at 2:00 PM
Companies reporting earnings today »
What else is happening...
Apple (AAPL) exceeds $3T market cap as analysts heap praise.
Why is social media being blamed for fueling riots in France?
Twitter temporarily fixes limit on tweets users can read per day.
AMC's (AMC) APE conversion decision more than a week away.
Nintendo's (OTCPK:NTDOY) 'Zelda' lifts videogame sales in May.
What’s next for clinical research firms after pandemic boom?
Israel to buy 25 more Lockheed (LMT) F-35 stealth jets in $3B deal.
Pay hikes expected to remain high in 2024 amid labor shortages.
UBS (UBS) aims to skip $10B backstop from Swiss government.
As northeast U.S. air quality suffers, here are some potential stock ideas.