JBizNews4 hours agoIran has escalated efforts to seal off its stockpile of enriched uranium, collapsing tunnels, and placing explosive mines at entrances in recent weeks, CNN reported on Saturday, citing five sources familiar with US intelligence.
This comes a day after a senior administration official told reporters that the US and Iran are close to a deal requiring Iran to relinquish its uranium, which has been enriched to near-bomb grade, to the US.
Reuters also reported on Friday that the emerging US-Iran deal will include the dismantling of the Iranian nuclear program and allow the US to collect the regime’s enriched uranium.
However, details of how the uranium will be extracted have not been made clear.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly stated that retrieving the uranium is one of the US’s priorities in negotiations, although he has claimed that only the US and possibly China have the capability to do so.
A CNN report from Friday stated that the US had originally planned to launch a ground mission into Iran to recover the uranium, but that Trump had paused the operation.
In an interview with 103FM, former defense minister Yoav Gallant said that the US and Israel could and should have combined forces to retrieve the uranium during the war.
“We should have gone and brought the enriched uranium by force in a military operation during the campaign. That would have uprooted the nuclear program from Iran,” he said.
Former head of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Nuclear Material Removal, Scott Roecker, expressed concern over reports of heightened fortifications around the uranium.
Roecker told CNN that such fortifications could lead to negotiators requiring Iran to bring the uranium to a central location for verification and removal, which would let Iran provide the inventory of the uranium.
“In this scenario, I would worry that Iran would claim that some portion of the HEU was irretrievable. We wouldn’t have full confidence that Iran couldn’t retain access to it at some point in the future,” CNN quoted Roecker as saying.
JBizNewsJBizNews4 hours agoHard-working Americans looking to fire up the grill this weekend are facing major sticker shock before they even light the charcoal.
As inflation continues to squeeze household budgets, the newly released Wells Fargo summer BBQ food report reveals that hosting a standard summer barbecue for 10 people has climbed to an average of $161 — or about $16 per person.
While total cookout costs are up 2.4% year over year, the real pricing pain is hiding right on the meat tray: the quintessential American hamburger beef has skyrocketed by 14%.
“Regarding food inflation, price increases this season will really depend on the category. For fresh fruits and vegetables, we anticipate some relief as summer unfolds.
Growers are motivated by higher prices to plant more acreage, so increased supply should help moderate price hikes and may actually offer consumers a bit of a break,” Wells Fargo Agri-Food Institute head Robin Wenzel told Fox News Digital.
WALMART WARNS SHOPPERS COULD FACE HIGHER PRICES AS FUEL COSTS SURGE, TAX REFUNDS DRY UP
“However, for those who value convenience and opt for prepared foods, expect prices to edge up,” she warned.
“These items are driven more by labor, packaging and energy costs than the underlying commodities themselves. As consumers continue to pay for convenience, retailers are able to maintain their margins with higher pricing.”
Though burgers are taking the biggest hit from inflation, so are other grilling favorites. Chicken and pork products rose 3% from the previous year and are seen as the “cost-friendly” option, while hot dogs and frankfurters are up 5%.
Ready-made sides like potato salad are up 3% because of higher manufacturing wages being passed on to consumers, the report notes. Other favorites like cornbread are up 4%, raw vegetables are up 6%, and if you’re saving room for dessert, sweet-treat prices have increased anywhere from 1% to 4%.
The higher price tags fall in line with the May consumer price index (CPI) – a broad measure of how much everyday goods like gasoline, groceries and rent cost – which rose 0.5% in May and 4.2% from a year earlier. The annual figure is the highest since April 2023.
Pre-made grocery store shortcuts can be a budget-buster during the summer, as buying a pre-cut vegetable tray adds a $7 premium to your bill, while buying fully cooked, pre-packaged ribs costs $4 more per pound than buying them raw.
“Hosts can save by preparing ribs from scratch, allowing a bit more room to indulge in prepared veggie trays if desired,” Wenzel said. “Budget-conscious hosts should thoughtfully weigh where to splurge. While pre-cooked ribs are more expensive, pork still offers a better value than beef, which remains a costly grill option.”
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Asked to craft the best “inflation-busting” menu, Wenzel recommended serving up chicken, pork, made-from-scratch sides like deviled eggs (eggs are down 14%), watermelon, strawberries (both fruits are down 3%) and cookies or ice cream for dessert.
“When hosting a BBQ for 10 on a strict budget, plan wisely with proteins and look for value where it counts… the decision between homemade and prepared foods is key. Making from scratch, such as potato salad can save money, but convenience has its place,” Wenzel said. “Beer and wine prices haven’t climbed much, but they’ll still add to the total, so asking guests to BYOB is a smart way to keep costs down.”
FOX Business’ Eric Revell contributed to this report.
JBizNews12 hours agoMeta CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged Friday that the company has “made mistakes” as it undergoes a sweeping workforce overhaul tied to its aggressive push into artificial intelligence (AI).
Zuckerberg made the remarks in an internal memo to employees, according to Reuters, which reported that the Meta chief warned of challenges associated with the rapid development of AI technology.
Meta has poured billions of dollars into AI infrastructure and tools as it competes with OpenAI, Google and Microsoft for dominance in the emerging technology.
The company has also explored ways to use AI agents to perform tasks currently handled by employees.
“Given the complexity of these changes, we’ve made mistakes and will almost certainly make more,” Zuckerberg said.
He added that he is “focused on providing as much stability as possible” as the company continues to reshape its workforce.
“I don’t want to overpromise because the world is changing in ways that are out of our control,” Zuckerberg said.
META LAUNCHES $115M SKILLED TRADES ACADEMY WITH GUARANTEED JOBS FOR GRADUATES IN 4 STATES
He also reiterated that Meta does not expect any additional company-wide layoffs this year.
The comments come after Meta laid off roughly 10% of its global workforce in May and reassigned approximately 7,000 employees to AI-focused initiatives.
Zuckerberg reportedly said the company will attempt to find new positions for employees reassigned to train AI models.
AMERICA CAN’T COMPETE WITH CHINA IN AI WITHOUT THESE WORKERS, META’S PRESIDENT SAYS
“By creating important new roles for people, this also allowed us to shrink the size of teams knowing that if we make mistakes in some places, then we could transfer some people back,” Zuckerberg said.
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According to Reuters, the restructuring — combined with previous transfers and role eliminations — is expected to ultimately affect about 20% of Meta’s workforce.
Meta employed nearly 78,000 people as of the end of March, according to company securities filings.
FOX Business has reached out to Meta for comment.
FOX Business’ Bradford Betz and Reuters contributed to this report.
JBizNews12 hours agoThousands of cases of a frozen pizza snack sold in 21 states are being recalled because they may contain metal pieces.
Rich Products Corp. voluntarily issued the recall of 6,408 cases or more than 160,000 pounds of its Farm Rich Pizza Cheese Crunchers, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The pizza was sold in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.
FORD RECALLS MORE THAN 255,000 VEHICLES OVER ENGINE STALL RISK
The recall was initiated by the New York-based company on May 19.
The product has a best-by date of July 7, 2027, with a UPC code of 041322652256 and a lot number of 003029976.
MORE THAN 17K COFFEE MAKERS RECALLED AFTER DOZENS OF REPORTED BURN INJURIES.
The FDA classified the recall as a Class II health risk, which means the defect could cause temporary or medically reversible health problems.
The agency didn’t specify if any injuries had been reported or how the possible contamination was discovered.
The recall comes weeks after another frozen pizza recall over salmonella concerns.
The pizzas, which spanned several brands, had been sold at Walmart and Aldi.
JBizNews14 hours agoThe Justice Department (DOJ) on Friday announced it has closed its antitrust investigation into Paramount Skydance’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, concluding the transaction is not likely to harm competition or American consumers.
The Antitrust Division said its eight-month review examined more than two million documents and found the deal could strengthen competition across the media and entertainment industry, including in streaming video, traditional television and theatrical film distribution.
“The extensive investigatory record reviewed by the Division suggests that the impact of the transaction will be to increase competition across the media and entertainment ecosystem, with benefits for American consumers and workers,” the department said.
The DOJ said the combined company would continue competing against larger streaming rivals including Netflix, Amazon and Disney and found no evidence the transaction would likely reduce consumer choice.
WARNER BROS DISCOVERY SHAREHOLDERS APPROVE PARAMOUNT SKYDANCE DEAL
The department also disclosed that regulators reviewed a separate proposal involving Netflix before Paramount reached a definitive agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery.
According to the DOJ, evaluating both proposals provided investigators with competing perspectives on the future of the media industry.
The decision drew criticism from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who urged state attorneys general to continue fighting the transaction.
GSA SELLS OLD POST OFFICE BUILDING IN WASHINGTON, ONCE HOME TO TRUMP HOTEL
“This is terrible news for every American who doesn’t want Trump-aligned billionaires to control what they watch and how much they pay,” Warren wrote on X.
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Warren also alleged the merger “reeked of corruption and influence-peddling” and called on state officials to block the deal.
State attorneys general retain independent authority under antitrust laws, and the DOJ’s decision does not itself prevent additional legal challenges to the proposed transaction.
The merger still faces several steps before completion.
Paramount announced Friday that it had extended debt exchange and tender offers connected to Warner Bros.
Discovery and said it expects those offers to remain aligned with the anticipated closing timetable. The company also cautioned that the acquisition remains subject to closing conditions and other risks.
JBizNews16 hours agoFord announced a recall covering more than a quarter million Ford Focus vehicles over an issue that may cause the engine to stall unexpectedly.
The recall affects 255,404 Focus vehicles from the 2012-18 model years due to an issue with the canister purge valve (CPV). These vehicles were covered by a prior recall, but the correct software fix may not have been installed on the affected vehicles.
If the fix wasn’t properly installed, the CPV may malfunction and stick open, with the powertrain control module (PCM) unable to adequately detect the stuck open CPV.
“A CPV that is stuck open during the evaporative leak monitor check can cause excessive vacuum in the fuel system of these vehicles. Excessive vacuum can result in deformation of the plastic fuel tank,” the recall report said.
FORD ISSUES RECALL FOR MORE THAN 548,000 VEHICLES OVER ISSUE WITH CENTER CONSOLE
Affected vehicles may trigger a malfunction indicator light, or drivers may observe an inaccurate fuel gauge indication, inaccurate distance to empty and/or have drivability concerns.
Ford flagged a concern with the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) that it found discrepancies that showed the software fix may not have been successfully applied to all vehicles.
MORE THAN 1 MILLION JEEP VEHICLES RECALLED OVER FIRE RISK AS OWNERS WARNED NOT TO PARK INSIDE
The company then identified the subset of affected vehicles and issued a recall earlier this month. Ford isn’t aware of any reports of accidents or injury related to the issue.
Owners of affected vehicles will be notified by mail and instructed to take their vehicle to a Ford or Lincoln dealer to have the PCM updated, with software parts to be validated before the process concludes.
FORD RECALLS NEARLY 420,000 EXPEDITION AND LINCOLN NAVIGATOR SUVS OVER SEAT BELT LOCKING ISSUE
There will be no charge for the service.
Ford approved a reimbursement plan for owners who paid to have the issue fixed prior to the May 2023 safety recall, and owners who paid out of their own expense to have repairs completed may be eligible for reimbursement.
JBizNews17 hours agoOn Thursday morning, real estate professionals in Washington state woke up having to comply with a new law requiring them to publicly market their residential real estate listings to all consumers, unless the seller can show doing so would negatively impact their health or safety.
The statute, formerly known as Senate Bill 6091, was signed into law in mid-March by Washington Governor Bob Furgeson. The law amends a section to the state’s real estate brokerage law that requires for-sale properties to be marketed broadly to the general public.
“A broker may not market the sale or lease of residential real estate to a limited or exclusive group of prospective buyers or brokers, or any combination thereof, unless the real estate is concurrently marketed to the general public and all other brokers, except as reasonably necessary to protect the health or safety of the owner or occupant,” the new law states.
While there is generally a flurry of activity any time a new law or regulation goes into effect, Adam Cothes, the leader of the Seattle-based Adam Home Team, brokered by eXp Realty, is not really expecting the law to change much for him or his business.
“My brokerage has done a lot of meetings and trainings on this, but from my perspective this really feels more like background noise because it isn’t really a change from anything that we are already doing,” Cothes said.
According to Cothes, this is due to his business being within the jurisdiction of Northwest MLS (NWMLS), which, as a non-Realtor affiliated MLS, does not have to adhere to the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) Clear Cooperation Policy. This means that NWMLS’s listing policy requires mandatory listing submission with no carve-out for office exclusive properties.
While all listings must be submitted to NWMLS, Cothes said the MLS’s rules allow sellers to remove the address and withhold their name from any public advertising of the property, if they choose.
“Becuase of NWMLS, this is how we have been operating for years, so it feels like more of a speed bump,” Cothes said.
Although Cothes may see the law as a “speed bump” NWMLS CEO Justin Haag told HousingWire that in preparation for the law’s implementation, the MLS has focused on forms updates and member education. But like Cothes, he said the new law is not a change for NWMLS.
“Members already comply with the law through longstanding NWMLS rules that promote an open, fair, transparent and comprehensive marketplace,” Haag said. “Northwest MLS has long championed market transparency, with members sharing all listings with all brokers and all consumers. SB 6091, which promotes competition and fairness in access to housing, codifies that standard, ensuring that when a home is marketed for sale, it is available to all buyers and all brokers.”
While her business does not fall within NWMLS’s service area, Kim Hagel-Barkley, who runs The Barkley Group out of eXp Realty in Spokane, also does not believe this law will require much change on her part.
“I don’t see this law impacting my business at all. None of my business has been from private listings,” Hagel-Barkley wrote in an email. “I’m sure once in a while, a home would sell because it was mentioned that it would be coming on the market to a team member or someone else but that was definitely not the norm at all. I really don’t see this law having an impact on the consumers I serve at all.”
Many real estate professionals in the state feel this law is targeted at Compass International Holdings and its three-phased marketing plan, in which a listing starts off as a Compass private exclusives before entering a coming soon status and eventually, in the case of over 90% of listings enrolled in this marketing plan, heading to the open market via the MLS.
However, as the law only requires public marketing and does not state a listing must be immediately shared in the MLS, Compass told HousingWire that its three-phased marketing plan complies with the law.
“Compass Private Exclusives and Compass Coming Soons are fully compliant with the new law,” a Compass spokesperson told HousingWire. “The new Washington law preserves homeowner choice. It affirms that homeowners in Washington can market their homes before listing them on the MLS or public portals.”
When a listing is a private exclusive, Compass said consumers and agents at other brokerages can access these listings by reaching out to a Compass agent or visiting a Compass office to look at a listing book. Additionally, all of Compass’s coming soon listings are available on Redfin.
Compass is currently in a legal battle with NWMLS regarding its listing policy. In a lawsuit filed in April 2025, the brokerage company claimed that NWMLS “is a monopolist and a combination of competing real estate brokers and that its policies are the “most restrictive homeowner marketing rules in the country.”
Despite the law and Compass’s assertions that all consumers and agents can access the firm’s private exclusive listings, at least one brokerage is looking to ensure its buyers know that they might not be able to see all possible listings due to potential private listings.
On Thursday, Windermere Real Estate, a Seattle-based independent brokerage released an optional purchase addendum it created, which it said is aimed at increasing transparency for homebuyers amid the growth of private listing networks and off-market marketing strategies. The firm said the new “transparency addendum” is designed for use with standard residential purchase and sale agreements and is freely available to any licensed real estate agent or brokerage in the U.S.
Windermere said it developed the form in response to practices that can limit public visibility into a home’s listing and pricing history. According to the announcement, the form is meant to support buyer agents’ fiduciary duties by alerting buyers that publicly available information about days on market and price changes could be incomplete or inaccurate and by providing a structure for buyers to ask whether any relevant marketing or pricing history is being withheld.
“Select real estate brokerages are increasingly promoting private listing networks and off-market marketing strategies,” OB Jacobi, the president of Windermere Real Estate, told HousingWire. “While these approaches are not new, their growing prevalence raises concerns because they can obscure important market history from buyers, including days on market, prior pricing activity and prior marketing exposure. Windermere believes this trend risks leaving buyers unaware that critical information is being withheld from them, so we developed this transparency addendum to provide an added layer of protection.”
Jacobi added that the company felt that in Washington, the form would fill any gap still left unprotected by the new law.
“Consumers have been clear: they expect transparency. Buyers want confidence they’re seeing the full range of homes available, and sellers want assurance their property is reaching the widest possible audience,” Jacobi said. “When transparency erodes, so does trust in the system. Washington’s new law provides that extra layer of protection that consumers expect and deserve so that they can make educated buying and selling decisions about one of the largest financial investments of their lives.”
It remains to be seen if the law will have a material impact on agents and consumers in Washington or if it will be just a “speed bump.” But either way, Cothes said he is glad that the practice of publicly marketing a property for all consumers to see has been codified.
“I am very much in favor of the law and support it. We all think it is very consumer friendly. Buyers generally have a better chance when inventory is broadly available instead of being limited to a small network,” Cothes said.
JBizNews17 hours agoSpaceX’s record-setting IPO is creating a financial windfall for thousands of the company’s current and former employees who received stock as part of their compensation.
Workers who hold stock in non-public companies are subject to restrictions that can keep them from selling those shares under most circumstances before an IPO occurs. Once the stock goes public, it starts a timeline under which they can begin to sell some of those shares as so-called “lock-up periods” gradually allow employees to sell shares in tranches that expand over time.
The ranks of SpaceX workers who will see an influx of wealth as a result of the IPO include not only those who design the rockets and satellites that have made the company famous, but also baristas, janitors and other workers who helped keep the company running.
FOX Business spoke with workers outside of SpaceX’s facility in Hawthorne, California, about their plans for the monumental IPO turning into a reality.
SPACEX MAKES HISTORIC DEBUT; MUSK SOLIDIFIES STATUS AS WORLD’S FIRST TRILLIONAIRE
One SpaceX employee, who said that he’s a process planner, said that he wants to “try to stay healthy” and that the IPO is “a beautiful thing… I mean, Elon is the best. Go Elon!”
Another SpaceX employee said that, “I’ve been a millionaire for a while, but it’s always nice to have money. It’ll be great when the lock-up period is out, of course, and we can actually sell some of it and that’ll feel a little more into the wealth, but it’s a great day.”
Juan Hernandez, who previously worked as a welder at SpaceX, told CBS News that when he was first hired by the company in 2015 he was offered $10,000 in stock. He explained that it “wasn’t a big deal” to him at the time and, “I didn’t know it was gonna be this big, at this point.”
Hernandez, who now works at Blue Origin after a 10-year stint at SpaceX, told CBS that he has around 6,500 SpaceX shares that would represent a nearly $880,000 windfall based on the IPO listing price of $135 a share. He added that giving employees stock options encourages them to “perform a lot better because, I mean… it’s their company as well.”
He went on to tell the outlet that he wants to maintain a strong work ethic after the IPO and plans to keep working, and expressed gratitude to Musk for “making all these lives much better and meaningful for their families as well.”
SPACEX SET A NEW RECORD FOR IPOS: THESE ARE THE WORLD’S 5 LARGEST
The Wall Street Journal reported that J. André Lavoie, a 63-year-old former SpaceX engineer who moved to Italy five years ago, has shares valued at over $28 million based on the IPO price. Lavoie plans to use the funds to renovate a hotel he purchased and is considering helping others in the community transition from heating their homes with burning wood to cleaner heating sources.
“I don’t want to just die with a pile of money in the bank,” Lavoie told the Journal. He added that the rise in the value of the shares has caused him to reconsider his plans. “Every year the shares have been going up so radically it keeps messing up my life plans.”
The Journal also spoke with 27-year-old Maryellen Musselman, who joined SpaceX in 2022 and worked on a ship used in retrieving rocket parts from the company’s launches that splashed down off the coast of Florida.
Musselman used 10% of her pay to purchase additional shares during the two years she worked at SpaceX and said that while she’s unsure of how quickly she’ll look to sell, saying it’ll likely be “an 11th-hour decision.”
SPACEX’S FIRST EMPLOYEE SAYS HISTORIC $1.7T IPO WILL BE ‘LIFE-CHANGING’ FOR THOUSANDS OF WORKERS
She wants to use the money to help her start a ship repair business in Chesapeake, Virginia, saying that, “Mariners are not usually stock owners in their companies, they’re not always under benefits.”
Tom Mueller, who was hired as SpaceX’s first employee in 2002 and led projects including the Merlin Engine that powers the Falcon 9 rocket, the Raptor Engine that powers Starship and other key propulsion systems, told FOX Business’ “The Claman Countdown” on Thursday that the IPO would be life-changing for employees.
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“Elon always said that ‘Your salary is one thing, but it’s the equity that’s gonna be worth something.’ And we are all like, ‘Yeah, okay someday,'” Mueller said. “That day is here. It’s great.”
JBizNews17 hours agoAs I’ve said so many times, President Trump is not going to make a bad deal with Iran.
And what we are learning from White House sources is an 80 percent to 85 percent chance of what they are calling the Islamabad memorandum of understanding. It could be completed in the next few days, maybe this weekend.
Hat tip to Fox News digital for comprehensive coverage.
All of Mr. Trump’s red lines are included in this MoU. And importantly, the entire deal is premised on Iran changing its behavior in verifiable ways that meet clear performance benchmarks.
The key points of this MoU begin with a plank that would prevent Iran from ever getting a nuclear weapon. That includes removal and destruction of already-enriched uranium.
It also includes a number of technical details where inspectors from the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Administration and American personnel will be involved in the process of destroying, removing, and verifying the end of Iran’s enriched material.
Additionally, Iran’s long-term nuclear ambitions will be ended. Technical inspection procedures will be included. Quote, “our approach here is to verify, verify, verify. And that the Iranians won’t get the benefit of the bargain unless they perform,” end quote. That is according to administration sources.
Also Iran must stop funding terrorism in the region. A full regional peace deal is included. Plus, Iran will agree to opening the Strait of Hormuz, and the blockade will then be lifted if Iran follows through.
Importantly, according to sources, Iran will receive no money upon signing the MoU. Any sanctions relief must be tied to actual performance. If they change their behavior, and start acting like a normal country in accordance with this deal, then money will be forthcoming.
But after all, this is not the final deal, this is a memorandum of understanding. So hard bargaining on technical details and verification processes still lies ahead, even if this MoU is signed. That’s very, very important.
You might think of this as the beginning of the end of the war, but it’s not yet the end of the war.
Undoubtedly, though, Mr. Trump’s coercive diplomacy, or negotiations with bombs, is going to continue if Iran doesn’t measure up.
I have the feeling that Mr. Trump’s threat to destroy their infrastructure — bridges, power and water facilities — moved this MoU along pretty rapidly.
But performance incentives are the heart of this deal.
Behavior must change.
JBizNews17 hours agoNicotine usage among Americans has taken a new form as traditional tobacco usage has reached record lows.
Nicotine pouches, an alternative to traditional chewing tobacco, have seen explosive growth. A study by Monitoring Tobacco Product Use showed that U.S. monthly dollar sales of pouches surged 250.8% from January 2023 ($145.5 million) to August 2025 ($510.5 million).
Investors are paying attention, and some top celebrities are getting in on the action. Fox News Digital spoke with music artist and renowned DJ “Diplo” about his stake in the nicotine pouch company Sesh.
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“[Nicotine pouches were] very helpful and controlling my ADHD, so, I try to do it, not in the evening, but in the morning when I’m starting to work. And it was pretty effective,” he said.
Diplo, whose real name is Thomas Wesley Pentz Jr., is not the only top name invested in Sesh. Nick and Joe of the Jonas Brothers, Post Malone, The Chainsmokers, and billionaire Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale’s venture capital firm, AVC.
The CDC Foundation reported that teen usage of nicotine pouches nearly quadrupled from 2022 to 2025, and flavored products have played a role in young Americans using nicotine.
While vaping and e-cigarette devices face stricter regulatory scrutiny when it comes to flavors, as some states have outright banned flavored products, nicotine pouches have more leeway.
FDA APPROVES FRUIT-FLAVORED VAPES FOR FIRST TIME AFTER REPORTED TRUMP PRESSURE
“There’s no smoke, nicotine isn’t tobacco,” Diplo said. “I’ve never been into tobacco, I’ve never been into smoking.”
Access to nicotine products is becoming increasingly easy. Delivery services like GoPuff and others allow for products like Sesh to be ordered straight to the home. Nicotine and vape shops have popped up on streets in big cities and across the U.S. as demand rises.
The Wall Street Journal reported that President Donald Trump pressured former FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary to speed the authorization of flavored vapes, a shortfall that became a factor in Makary resigning from the job in May.
TRUMP’S FDA BOSS RESIGNING AS ADMIN TAPS NEXT ACTING LEADER
Although the FDA has authorized nicotine pouch products for sale in the U.S., health experts warn against the effects they can have, particularly on younger people.
While these products are designed to be discreet, odorless and convenient, Maggie Britton, the clinical director of health initiatives at National Jewish Health, warned that it is particularly dangerous for developing brains, as nicotine can alter the brain circuits involved in attention, learning, memory, mood regulation and impulse control.
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Long-term health effects remain in question, including its impact on oral health, cardiovascular function and cancer risk, she told Fox News Digital.
“Caution should guide both public health decisions and individual choices,” she said. “When we don’t yet fully understand the long-term health effects of a product, the responsible approach is to limit use rather than expand it.”
JBizNews18 hours agoHOUSTON — About half of the oil and fuel shipments disrupted by the war with Iran are moving again through the Strait of Hormuz, according to U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, offering a measure of relief to global energy markets and supply chains.
Speaking on Friday, June 12, at the Bloomberg Energy Security Executive Briefing in Houston, Wright said approximately 7 million barrels per day of oil and fuel are once again flowing through the strategic waterway, representing roughly half of the volume that had been stranded when the conflict began.
He also made clear that the United States intends to restore full access to the route regardless of whether Iran cooperates.
For consumers, businesses, and investors, the Strait of Hormuz remains the most important energy chokepoint in the world.
The narrow passage carries nearly 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies, making it one of the most critical arteries of the global economy.
When traffic slows or stops, the effects quickly spread beyond energy markets.
Fuel prices rise.
Shipping costs increase.
Manufacturers face higher expenses.
Consumers ultimately pay more for everything from gasoline to groceries.
Traffic through the strait had been severely disrupted since fighting erupted between the United States and Iran at the end of February.
The conflict sent oil prices sharply higher, unsettled financial markets, and created significant uncertainty across global supply chains.
A fragile truce took hold this week after President Donald Trump pushed both sides to halt direct military attacks, allowing shipping activity to begin recovering.
Wright first signaled improvement earlier this week during an energy conference in Washington, where he said vessel traffic was increasing “very meaningfully” compared with recent weeks.
Even so, he cautioned that restoring normal operations would take time.
Many shipping companies rerouted vessels during the conflict, while supply chains adjusted to avoid the region altogether.
Returning those networks to normal will likely take months.
According to Wright, the challenge extends beyond simply reopening the waterway.
Shipping companies, crews, insurers, and energy traders must regain confidence that the route is secure before traffic fully returns to pre-war levels.
Some vessels have continued moving through the strait under extraordinary circumstances.
Reports indicate the U.S. Navy has assisted dozens of commercial vessels through the passage during the crisis.
Other ships reportedly crossed at night with communications and tracking systems turned off to reduce perceived security risks.
Financial markets have responded positively to signs of progress.
Earlier this week, after Wright reported improving traffic conditions, U.S. crude oil prices fell approximately 3.4% to around $88 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, dropped to its lowest level in seven weeks.
Lower crude prices generally translate into lower gasoline and diesel prices, although those savings often take time to reach consumers.
The recovery remains fragile.
Iranian officials have repeatedly suggested the strait could remain restricted, and the broader conflict has not been formally resolved.
As long as the possibility of renewed fighting exists, shipping companies are likely to face elevated insurance costs and security concerns.
Those additional expenses ultimately flow through the global economy.
The economic stakes are enormous.
Energy costs influence nearly every industry, from manufacturing and transportation to agriculture and retail.
A prolonged disruption at Hormuz acts as a hidden tax on economic growth, raising operating costs for businesses and reducing purchasing power for consumers.
The faster shipping returns to normal, the faster that pressure can ease.
For now, the administration appears committed to maintaining both diplomatic and military pressure to keep the route open.
Wright’s message in Houston was clear: the United States intends to restore normal shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and is prepared to secure the route if necessary.
The key number remains 7 million barrels per day.
That represents meaningful progress but still falls well short of pre-war traffic levels.
Every additional tanker that moves through the strait helps ease pressure on energy markets.
Every new escalation risks sending those gains back into reverse.
JBizNews Desk — Energy
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JBizNews18 hours agoA small condominium project in Denver’s West Colfax neighborhood may be the best evidence yet that Colorado’s housing reforms are producing real results.
The Colorado Housing and Finance Authority this month closed a $5.7 million low-interest construction loan for Wolff Street Flats, a 23-unit affordable for-sale development by Osina Development and Modus Real Estate. It is the first project to close under CHFA’s Drive It Home Construction Loan program, which draws from a $50 million bond investment authorized by bipartisan legislation enacted last year.
Scott Speil, principal of Osina, told HousingWire TBD that construction will begin next week. Completion is scheduled for August 2027.
Homes at Wolff Street Flats will sell to households earning 80% of Area Median Income or less — roughly $89,000 annually for a two-person household — at an estimated average price of $285,000.
Since 2024, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has signed laws requiring greater density near transit corridors, removing parking minimums for some multifamily housing and limiting condo construction liability. In March, he signed the HOME Act, letting schools, transit agencies and nonprofits build housing on their land regardless of local zoning.
Denver rewrote its zoning code in 2010, allowing more diverse housing types in residential neighborhoods.
“They did well with the rezoning,” Speil said. “That really stimulated quite a bit of development and growth.”
Speil founded his company in 2016 to develop condos and townhomes on urban infill lots. His projects average 10 to 12 units each, selling for $550,000 to $750,000.
Denver home prices skyrocketed during the pandemic as residents fled high-cost states such as California. The market is now cooling, with the median home price around $600,000 after years of rapid gains. For-sale inventory has climbed to roughly six months of supply, and mortgage rates above 6% have slowed demand.
“There isn’t a shortage of housing but still a shortage of affordable housing,” Speil said.
Wolff Street Flats is Osina’s first affordable project, one Speil said would not have been feasible without state and city financing. The construction loan carries a 3.5% interest rate, well below the going rate. Osina also received a state grant and a City of Denver performance loan.
“It’s very expensive to build anything right now because of interest rates and construction costs,” Speil said.
City officials are pushing to expand affordability further. Roughly 40% of Denver’s land remains zoned exclusively for single-family homes. Denver’s Unlocking Housing Choices initiative proposes to legalize duplexes, triplexes and small apartment buildings in those neighborhoods.
A spring 2026 public engagement process drew 843 survey responses. Many residents said financing barriers and market forces remain stubborn obstacles even where zoning allows more density.
Lawmakers who backed the state financing program say projects like Wolff Street Flats prove the approach is working and a model for the state.
“Projects like Wolff Street Flats show how this policy translates into real homes in our communities,” said Rep. Manny Rutinel, a co-sponsor of last year’s legislation. “It’s a practical step toward making homeownership more accessible across Colorado.”
CHFA spokesman Matt Lynn told HousingWire TBD that the $50 million bond investment generated strong demand and is now fully committed. It will produce an estimated 182 affordable for-sale units statewide. The agency will report regularly to the Colorado General Assembly on the program’s results as lawmakers weigh further steps to address the state’s housing shortage.
“CHFA is considering ways the Drive it Home program may be expanded by seeking additional investment in the future from mission-driven funders, so that more units may result from the program,” Lynn said.
JBizNews18 hours agoOn Friday, June 12, 2026, Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX sold shares to the public for the first time, listing on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker SPCX. It was the largest such debut — known as an initial public offering (IPO) — in history. An IPO is the moment a private company starts letting everyday investors buy a piece of it. SpaceX’s stock opened at $150 a share, rose as high as $176.52, and finished the day at $161.11 — a 19% jump over the $135 price the company first set. The sale raised about $75 billion and valued SpaceX at roughly $1.77 trillion. Speaking from the company’s Texas headquarters, Musk marveled that a business he started in a small warehouse was now the biggest stock-market debut ever.
The big debut closed out a quiet but hopeful week for the market. Stocks edged higher as investors watched for signs that the U.S.-Iran war may be winding down. President Donald Trump said he had called off planned strikes on Iran overnight and that the main points of a peace deal were essentially settled. Iranian state media said a draft agreement could be signed as soon as Sunday, including a U.S. promise to lift oil sanctions and an Iranian pledge to reopen the Strait of Hormuz — a key shipping lane for the world’s oil — within 30 days.
That matters for ordinary households, not just traders. When oil flows freely again, prices tend to fall, and that eventually shows up as cheaper gas at the pump. Oil prices dropped on the news.
Here is how the main scoreboards of the market finished. These indexes each track a basket of large U.S. companies, so when they rise, it usually means most stocks had a good day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which follows 30 big-name companies, rose 353.51 points, or 0.7%, to 51,202.26. The broader S&P 500 added 0.5% to 7,431.46, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.31% to 25,888.84. The Dow had closed Thursday at 50,848.75. The Russell 2000, which tracks smaller companies, also rose.
SpaceX was the day’s headline, and Wall Street was divided on whether its price will hold. Oppenheimer began covering the stock with a positive rating and a $190 target, and New Street Research set a $165 target. On the other side, Keith Snyder of CFRA Research rated it a sell with a $115 target, saying he thinks the stock is overpriced. A target is simply where an analyst expects the stock to trade over the next year — an educated guess, not a guarantee.
Adobe, which makes Photoshop and other creative software, fell about 7% even after a strong report. It earned $5.96 a share on $6.62 billion in revenue, beat forecasts, and raised its outlook for the year. Sometimes a stock falls anyway when investors expected even more.
Chipmakers had a good day. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Qualcomm, and Sandisk each rose about 5%.
Rocket Lab climbed 4.5% after announcing it will join the Nasdaq-100 on June 22.
The biggest tech names slipped as investors shifted money elsewhere. Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, and Oracle each fell around 2%.
Banks helped balance the day, with JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs both higher; Goldman rose 1.81%.
Among other household names, Sherwin-Williams gained 1.86% and Caterpillar added 1.31%, while Salesforce fell 2.35%, Travelers lost 1.98%, and IBM slipped 1.96%.
Public Storage jumped 7.13%, Playtika rose 5.43%, Virgin Galactic dropped 10%, DoubleVerify lost 4.2%, and Ollie’s Bargain Outlet fell 3.3%.
Oil fell as traders bet the Iran deal would bring more crude back to the market and ease prices for drivers. Gold, which people often buy as a safe place to park money in uncertain times, held steady as those fears cooled.
The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) — nicknamed the market’s “fear gauge” because it rises when investors get nervous — sat near 19, down from higher levels earlier in the month.
Two things to watch over the weekend. The first is whether the United States and Iran sign their peace deal Sunday and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which would help keep gas prices down. The second is whether SpaceX can hold its first-day gains once big investment funds are required to start buying the stock. Monday will start to tell.
JBizNews Desk — New York
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JBizNews19 hours agoElon Musk’s SpaceX debuted on the public market on Friday, raising $75 billion in what was the largest IPO in history.
SpaceX’s IPO more than doubled the previous IPO record and provides the company with capital to help finance what Musk explained on a pre-IPO livestream with JPMorgan Chase will be a “significant growth phase” as it ramps up the deployment of its Starlink communications satellites and looks to build artificial intelligence (AI) data centers in space.
The IPO is the first of several highly anticipated IPOs that are expected to occur later this year, with a pair of companies at the forefront of the AI boom – ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and Anthropic – taking steps toward a debut.
SPACEX MAKES HISTORIC DEBUT; MUSK SOLIDIFIES STATUS AS WORLD’S FIRST TRILLIONAIRE
It remains to be seen whether those looming IPOs will break the new record set by SpaceX, but here’s a look at the four other IPOs that round out the list of the five largest in history:
Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company went public in December 2019, with the deal initially raising $25.6 billion in capital after listing on the Saudi stock exchange.
That amount grew to about $29.4 billion after Saudi Aramco and its underwriters exercised an over-allotment option – also known as a greenshoe option – that allowed Aramco to issue more shares due to the high level of demand from investors.
ANTHROPIC FILES CONFIDENTIALLY FOR IPO
The China-based e-commerce giant Alibaba went public in September 2014 with a $21.8 billion capital raise, which ranked as the largest at the time.
As with the Saudi Aramco IPO, intense demand prompted Alibaba’s underwriters to use an option to issue more shares that boosted the total amount raised to $25 billion. The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
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Japan-based communications provider SoftBank debuted in December 2018 with a $21.3 billion IPO on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The company’s parent, SoftBank Group, is a major tech investor around the world and has made notable investments in U.S. AI companies and chipmakers. SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said in December 2024 that his firm would invest $100 billion in the U.S. with the goal of creating 100,000 new jobs.
The 2010 IPO of the Agricultural Bank of China was the world’s largest at the time, totaling an initial $20.8 billion – though that figure later grew to $22.1 billion when it issued more shares on exchanges in Hong Kong and Shanghai through a dual-listing.
The firm is one of the largest financial institutions in China in terms of assets and customers, serving as the primary bank for Chinese agricultural businesses.
JBizNews19 hours agoA growing number of companies are shifting operations out of Singapore and into neighboring Malaysia, drawn by lower costs, tax incentives, and room to expand. The trend gained momentum this spring when global apparel retailer H&M announced in May that it would relocate its Southeast Asia headquarters from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, affecting 78 jobs. In March, brewer Heineken said it would move portions of its production from Singapore to facilities in Malaysia and Vietnam.
These are not isolated moves. Since the start of 2026, a visible wave of businesses has relocated at least part of their operations across the border. “These moves are significant and mark a clear acceleration,” said Alwyn Lim, associate professor of sociology at Singapore Management University. The shift reflects a broader global trend as companies search for lower costs, greater scale, and improved competitiveness.
The economics are straightforward. Singapore remains one of the world’s most expensive places to operate a business, with high commercial rents, rising labor costs, and limited land availability. Malaysia, separated by only a narrow causeway, offers substantially lower operating expenses and significantly more industrial space.
“Malaysia offers significantly lower overheads, attractive tax incentives, and the industrial land space companies need to scale,” said David Blasco, country director of Randstad Singapore.
Importantly, most companies are not abandoning Singapore altogether. Instead, many are adopting a strategy known as “twinning,” keeping headquarters, research centers, and senior management functions in Singapore while moving manufacturing, warehousing, and logistics operations to Malaysia.
Singapore continues to offer advantages that remain difficult to replicate elsewhere in Asia. The city-state remains one of the world’s leading financial centers, provides political stability, strong legal protections, efficient logistics, and access to highly skilled talent. Malaysia, particularly the state of Johor, offers lower labor costs, more abundant land, and lower energy expenses.
Lennon Tan, president of the Singapore Manufacturing Federation, describes the trend as “rightsizing geography” rather than a loss of confidence in Singapore. Companies are strategically placing each function where it makes the most economic sense.
Food manufacturers provide a clear example. Many are retaining brand management, procurement, and supply-chain leadership in Singapore while moving physical production north to Johor. Gardenia, the well-known bread producer, operates a major facility in Senai, Malaysia, capable of producing approximately 8,000 loaves of bread and 20,000 tortilla wraps per hour.
A major government initiative is helping accelerate the shift. The Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone, formally agreed upon by both governments in early 2025, is designed to integrate the two economies more closely. Covering more than 3,500 square kilometers, the zone spans an area more than four times larger than Singapore itself and targets eleven key industries, including manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, and digital services.
The incentives are substantial. Eligible companies can qualify for a special corporate tax rate of just 5% for up to 15 years, significantly below Malaysia’s standard 24% corporate tax rate. Since the agreement was signed, Singapore-based companies have committed more than 5.5 billion Singapore dollars in investments into Johor, according to Singapore government officials.
Major multinational companies are already expanding across both markets. Firms including ResMed and FedEx have announced investments designed to take advantage of the growing integration between Singapore and Johor.
For years, the biggest obstacle to such arrangements was transportation. Crossing the border could take hours during peak periods, creating costly delays for employees and businesses. That barrier is about to shrink dramatically.
A new Rapid Transit System (RTS) rail link, scheduled to begin operations by the end of 2026, will connect Johor Bahru and Singapore in approximately six minutes and is expected to carry up to 10,000 passengers per hour in each direction. Authorities have also introduced QR-code immigration processing and streamlined customs procedures.
As travel times fall and border crossings become easier, the economic logic behind splitting operations between the two countries becomes even stronger.
The stakes are significant. For Malaysia, particularly Johor, the influx brings new factories, jobs, infrastructure investment, and economic growth. For Singapore, the challenge is preserving higher-value industries while allowing lower-margin operations to relocate elsewhere.
Officials in both countries argue the arrangement can strengthen the broader region rather than create winners and losers. By combining Singapore’s strengths in finance, innovation, and management with Malaysia’s advantages in manufacturing, land availability, and cost efficiency, the region hopes to compete more effectively against other Asian economic hubs.
The trend also reflects a broader global movement. Businesses worldwide are reevaluating where they locate factories, offices, and supply chains, balancing labor costs, taxes, logistics, and market access. Similar conversations are unfolding across Europe, North America, and Asia as companies seek greater efficiency and resilience.
For now, the momentum appears to favor further integration. With operating costs in Singapore continuing to rise, Malaysia expanding incentives, and new transportation links nearing completion, more companies are expected to adopt a cross-border model.
Rather than choosing one country over the other, many businesses increasingly see Singapore and Malaysia as complementary parts of a single economic ecosystem.
JBizNews Desk — Asia
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JBizNews19 hours agoGrocery inflation may appear relatively modest in government reports, but shoppers are encountering a very different reality depending on where they shop inside the supermarket.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday that food prices rose 3.1% over the past year, while grocery prices — officially categorized as food at home — increased 2.7%.
That is lower than the overall inflation rate of 4.2%, but those averages mask dramatic differences among individual products.
The sharpest increases are occurring in the produce aisle.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, fresh vegetable prices were 11.5% higher in April than a year earlier.
Fresh tomato prices rose nearly 40%.
Transportation costs remain a major factor.
Higher diesel prices have increased shipping expenses for fresh produce, one of the most transportation-dependent categories in grocery stores.
The USDA currently forecasts fresh vegetable prices will rise approximately 7.8% during 2026.
Other grocery categories have moved in the opposite direction.
Egg prices, which surged to approximately $6.23 per dozen during the bird-flu outbreak earlier this year, have fallen to roughly $2.86 per dozen as production recovered.
Chicken prices have remained stable or moved lower, providing consumers with a relatively affordable protein option.
Potato prices were also down about 3% compared with a year ago.
Not every staple has benefited from improved supply conditions.
Coffee prices have risen approximately 19% over the past year following weather-related crop problems in major coffee-producing countries.
Beef prices have reached record levels as the U.S. cattle herd continues to shrink.
The result has been significantly higher costs for steaks, roasts, and ground beef.
Economists note that food categories are influenced by entirely different forces.
Produce prices often track transportation and fuel costs.
Egg prices respond heavily to disease outbreaks and flock recovery.
Coffee depends on weather conditions in producing nations.
Beef prices largely reflect herd size and livestock production cycles.
Understanding those factors can help consumers make more informed shopping decisions.
Retailers report that many shoppers are changing purchasing habits in response to higher prices.
Consumers increasingly purchase store brands, buy smaller quantities, and substitute lower-cost items when possible.
Recent surveys found that a majority of Americans have reduced grocery spending to stay within household budgets.
For consumers, the lesson is simple: headline inflation figures often fail to reflect actual shopping experiences.
The price increases families encounter depend heavily on what they buy and where they shop.
Until transportation costs ease and cattle inventories recover, grocery inflation is likely to remain highly uneven across the supermarket.
JBizNews Desk — Washington
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JBizNews20 hours agoThe riskiest corners of the global bond market are signaling trouble, warning that the world economy may be sliding toward stagflation, the painful combination of high inflation and weak growth. Investors have become increasingly cautious as inflation pressures remain elevated in many economies while geopolitical tensions continue to threaten global growth.
Stagflation is the economic nightmare that defined much of the 1970s. It occurs when prices continue rising even as economic activity slows and unemployment increases. Policymakers fear it because the traditional remedies often work against one another. Raising interest rates can help control inflation but may further weaken growth. Cutting rates may support growth but risks reigniting inflation.
One of the clearest places to watch for early warning signs is the junk-bond market. Junk bonds, also known as high-yield bonds, are issued by companies with lower credit ratings and greater risk of default. Investors demand higher yields to compensate for that risk. The difference between those yields and the yields on safer government bonds is known as the credit spread.
When investors grow concerned about the economy, those spreads typically widen. Companies with weaker balance sheets become the first casualties of rising borrowing costs and slowing demand.
Recent market activity suggests investors are becoming increasingly selective. The lowest-rated segment of the high-yield market, particularly bonds rated CCC, has underperformed higher-rated junk debt. Market strategists view that divergence as a warning sign that investors are moving away from the most vulnerable borrowers.
The pressure comes at a difficult time for corporate America and many businesses around the world. A large volume of debt issued during the era of ultra-low interest rates is approaching maturity over the next several years. Companies that previously borrowed at historically low rates now face significantly higher refinancing costs.
For stronger firms, higher borrowing costs may simply reduce profits. For heavily indebted companies, refinancing can become a major challenge, potentially leading to restructurings, layoffs, asset sales, or defaults.
The concern extends beyond the United States. Policymakers and economists across Europe and Asia have warned that energy-market disruptions and persistent inflation could create conditions resembling stagflation. Rising commodity prices increase costs for businesses and consumers while simultaneously slowing economic activity.
Higher energy prices have historically played a major role in stagflation episodes. Oil-price shocks ripple through transportation, manufacturing, agriculture, and consumer spending. Businesses often pass those costs to customers, fueling inflation while reducing economic growth.
History offers a sobering comparison. During the late 1970s, geopolitical turmoil in the Middle East contributed to sharp increases in oil prices. Inflation accelerated, interest rates surged, and economic growth weakened. The result was one of the most difficult periods for policymakers, investors, and businesses in modern economic history.
Today’s environment is not identical. Banks generally hold stronger capital positions than they did before the 2008 financial crisis, and many corporations entered this period with healthier balance sheets. Nevertheless, investors remain focused on whether inflation can be controlled without triggering a significant slowdown.
For ordinary investors, junk bonds matter because they are widely held through mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, pension plans, and retirement accounts. Rising defaults can reduce returns and increase volatility. More importantly, the companies that rely on high-yield financing employ millions of workers, making their financial health important for the broader economy.
The bond market is not forecasting an economic crisis. Credit spreads remain well below the extreme levels seen during major recessions and financial panics. However, the growing weakness among the lowest-rated borrowers is attracting attention because these companies often experience stress before problems spread to the wider economy.
The message from the junk-bond market is not that stagflation is inevitable. Rather, investors are increasingly pricing in the possibility that inflation could remain stubborn while growth slows. Whether those concerns intensify will depend on inflation trends, energy prices, central-bank policy decisions, and the resilience of businesses facing higher borrowing costs.
For now, the signal from the world’s riskiest debt markets is a warning worth watching.
JBizNews Desk — Global
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JBizNews20 hours agoNew York City Councilmember Jennifer Gutiérrez and some of her colleagues are pushing a proposal to require the establishment of at least five municipal grocery stores per borough.
The proposal comes as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration aims to establish one municipal grocery store in each of the Big Apple’s five boroughs by the end of his first term.
“Let’s make sure it’s not something that just our current mayor invests in, but something we can codify into in perpetuity,” Gutiérrez said, according to The City Reporter.
Fox News Digital reached out to Gutiérrez’s office on Friday to request a comment from the councilmember.
The proposal calls for the commissioner of small business services or the leader of a different agency designated by the mayor to create at least five grocery stores per borough “in consultation or partnership to the extent feasible with a contracted entity,” according to the measure.
A press release pertaining to the mayor’s effort earlier this year noted, “The city-owned grocery initiative is designed to lower costs on everyday staples by using public ownership to eliminate costs that are currently passed on to consumers.”
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“The initiative aims to deliver affordable, high-quality groceries that provide meaningful savings to New Yorkers and strengthen neighborhood food access citywide. Mayor Mamdani has allocated $70 million in capital funds for the development of the five sites,” the release noted.
“Under the model, the City will own the land and cover overhead costs like rent and construction. A private operator, selected through a request for proposals, will manage daily operations and be contractually required to pass savings directly to customers on a core basket of everyday staples,” the release explained.
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Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, took office this year after winning the New York City mayoral election last year while running as a Democrat.
JBizNews21 hours agoEvery mortgage AI demo this year ends the same way: the loan closes itself. The most valuable AI deployments in mortgage end differently, with the underwriter finishing in a fraction of the time what once took most of the day and still signing their name to the result.
That gap, between what the industry is being sold and what is working in production, is the most important thing for mortgage leaders to understand right now. The useful question isn’t whether AI belongs in this industry. It does. It’s where AI belongs first, and what it must earn before it gets to do more.
The most common misconception about mortgage AI is that the payoff only arrives when the system runs the full workflow on its own. The production data tells a different story. The meaningful early gains come from AI in assistive roles, where the model prepares and recommends and the human still owns the decision.
Underwriting is the clearest example. On conventional conforming production at a top 25 lender in the western USA, AI assistance has compressed underwriting from seven hours per loan to roughly 90 minutes, a reduction of more than 80%. The AI does the bulk of the work, pulling the right documents into view, calculating income, surfacing the conditions most likely to apply, flagging inconsistencies and producing a clear set of findings. The underwriter reviews those findings and recommendations and makes the credit decision. The part of the job that requires judgment stays human. The keystrokes around it don’t.
Condition document validation tells the same story from a different angle. AI is taking more than five days of cycle time out of the loan by cutting the back and forth between operations teams and borrowers, checking documents against requirements as they arrive, surfacing gaps in plain English and shortening the loop where a missing pay stub used to trigger another round trip.
These are not small gains. With production costs at $11,109 per loan in Q3 2025, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), well above the historical average of $7,799 since 2008, every basis point of operational lift compounds directly into lender economics. More importantly, each of these use cases lays the groundwork for broader transformation, because they are practical, measurable and easier to govern.
When mortgage leaders talk about trust, it is tempting to hear it as soft language. It is not. Trust here is regulatory and operational. Models that touch credit decisions fall under the model risk management framework laid out in SR 11-7. Anything that influences adverse action sits in fair lending territory. Compliance and risk teams need to be able to explain to an examiner what the model did, why it did it and what controls the decision.
That requirement also shapes the technology itself. Early on, we made the obvious mistake of throwing a single large language model into the problem. It looked clean in pilot but broke at production volume due to cost and latency. What holds up is an architecture that combines multiple model types, each bound to what it does well and grounded in the lender’s own guidelines.
That is not a technical footnote. It is part of how you build something a compliance team can defend, and it is why staged deployment matters: assistive first, then supervised, then bounded autonomy in lower-risk areas where performance has been proven. That sequence is how you meet regulatory expectations while still moving.
The frame I keep coming back to with lenders is shared execution. AI prepares and recommends. People review and approve. In some workflows, that will be the permanent design. In others, autonomy can expand once performance is well understood and the controls are in place. The goal is not to take people out of the loan. It is to put them where their judgment matters, in exceptions, edge cases, borrower conversations and escalations, and let AI absorb the surrounding repetitive work.
The pattern is showing up at every level of industry. When Fannie Mae and Palantir launched the Crime Detection Unit in May 2025 to use AI against mortgage fraud, the design was not for autonomous fraud prosecution. It was AI surfacing suspicious patterns across the GSE’s $4.3 trillion portfolio in seconds; patterns that previously took human investigators months to find, and then human investigators building the case. AI prepares and surfaces. People review and decide. If that is the design pattern for the GSE, it is the design pattern for the lender, too.
That model is easier to adopt because teams see AI as leverage rather than a threat. It is also easier to defend, because there is a human accountable at every decision boundary. The mortgage AI you want is one that knows when not to be autonomous.
Pick a high-friction workflow where readiness is the bottleneck: underwriting, condition clearing, initial disclosure review and post-close trailing docs. Run AI in live operating conditions, not just sandboxes. Measure against KPIs your CFO already tracks – cycle time, files per FTE per day, condition clear rate, escalation rate, repurchase exposure, etc. Expand autonomy where both performance and trust are increasing. Hold the line where they are not.
By 2027, two kinds of mortgage lenders will exist. The ones that scaled AI the loud way and are managing the cleanup. And the ones that scaled it the quiet way and are pricing loans the rest cannot match. The difference between them will not be ambition. It will be sequence.
Other industries are learning the hard way that AI productivity and AI governance cannot be separated. Mortgage’s regulatory floor forced that lesson on day one. That sounds like a constraint. For the lenders that get it right, it is the moat.
Mortgage AI should earn trust before it earns autonomy, not because autonomy is the wrong destination, but because in this industry, trust is what makes the destination reachable at all.
Sandeep Shivam
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners. To contact the editor responsible for this piece: [email protected].
JBizNews21 hours agoThe traditional American pastime of gathering at a local sports bar to watch Sunday football is being strangled by a technical and financial bottleneck, one restaurateur is warning.
“It’s why we’re speaking up, because the simple matter is that it is hard to watch all of the streaming things… Is it on YouTube TV? Is it the [NFL] Sunday Ticket? Is it Amazon?” Texas restaurateur and Tailgators Pub & Grill founder Jim Hallers said on “Varney & Co.” Friday.
“For the last 30 years, it’s come to us through DirecTV, and it’s just worked,” he continued. “And so we like a centralized approach, but we just need technology that works, and streaming is still very immature.”
Testifying before Congress on Wednesday, Hallers explained to lawmakers that the sports media landscape’s sudden fragmentation into separate streaming apps is creating an expensive tech maze for hospitality venues, threatening the business model of – often-rural – neighborhood pubs that rely on NFL fans to keep their doors open in the fall.
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“Everybody has to move to streaming. And so, literally, now, we have to buy streaming boxes. And in a typical smaller bar where I have maybe 30 or 40 TVs with a DIRECTV box mounted behind every television, I now have to get an EverPass streaming box. But you can’t put an EverPass streaming box behind every TV. It doesn’t work like that,” Hallers said on Capitol Hill. “Just imagine at home, if you tried to stream, you know, 30 Netflix’s at once, your internet’s just going to die. Well, it’s the same way for most bars and restaurants today.”
“One commercial video switch with enough inputs and outputs can cost in excess of $15,000. A full upgrade including equipment, wiring and the labor, will cost $30,000 to $40,000 per restaurant,” he also testified. “So instead of simplifying the business, the transition is adding another layer of cost and complexity.”
Wednesday’s congressional hearing stemmed from the Iowa Restaurant Association and the Wisconsin Restaurant Association, which each represent thousands of independent restaurant and bar owners, sending letters to high-powered GOP lawmakers in their states urging them to act on “a significant shift in the commercial distribution of NFL Sunday Ticket that threatens to impose immediate and substantial burdens on small businesses” across their states.
The concern comes after streaming service EverPass Media announced it would become the exclusive commercial option for NFL Sunday Ticket starting with the 2026 season. The Iowa letter was sent to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, while the Wisconsin edition went to Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, who chairs the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust.
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“We understand that transitioning to a streaming-based solution for NFL Sunday Ticket may require planning, from connectivity and hardware to overall venue readiness. That’s why our team is committed to helping customers make the transition with confidence and be fully prepared before kickoff. Our goal is simple: make sure your venue is ready well before the first Sunday of the season, so you can focus on what matters most: delivering a great experience for every guest who walks through the door,” EverPass’ website reads.
“We really need it to work,” Hallers pleaded on Friday. “It’s not a matter of price. We just want technology that works, and that’s what they’ve been taking away from us.”
Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.
JBizNews21 hours agoNEW YORK — The New York Knicks are one win away from their first championship in more than half a century, and the city is cashing in on every game.
In an announcement on Wednesday, June 3, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the New York City Economic Development Corporation estimated the team’s 2026 playoff run had already generated approximately $202 million in economic activity from home games, with the total potentially climbing to $465 million if the NBA Finals reach a full seven games.
“When the Knicks win, New York comes alive,” Mamdani said.
The math is straightforward.
City officials estimate each additional home playoff game generates roughly $90 million in economic activity, including spending on tickets, food, merchandise, transportation, and hotel accommodations.
That money flows through the local economy, benefiting arena workers, restaurants, bars, transportation providers, retailers, and hospitality businesses throughout the five boroughs.
As of Friday, June 12, the Knicks hold a 3-1 lead over the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals.
They can clinch the championship on Saturday in Game 5 in San Antonio.
A victory would give the franchise its first NBA title since 1973 and its first Finals appearance in 27 years.
The road to the Finals has been dominant.
The Knicks defeated the Atlanta Hawks before sweeping both the Philadelphia 76ers and the Cleveland Cavaliers to earn a spot in the championship series.
There is, however, an unusual business twist.
Because the Knicks advanced so quickly through earlier playoff rounds, they actually hosted fewer playoff games than they did during last year’s postseason run.
According to city estimates, New York hosted seven home playoff games in 2026, compared with nine in 2025.
That means a dominant team can sometimes reduce the economic benefit to the city.
If the Spurs extend the Finals and force a Game 6 at Madison Square Garden, another significant economic boost would follow.
For the company that owns the team, the playoff run has been highly profitable.
Madison Square Garden Sports, the publicly traded parent company of both the Knicks and the NHL’s New York Rangers, has seen its valuation climb sharply.
The Knicks franchise is now estimated to be worth approximately $9.85 billion, representing roughly a 30% increase over the past year.
Analysts estimate the playoff run alone could generate approximately $140 million in additional revenue.
The company reported roughly $1.04 billion in revenue during its most recent fiscal year, and management has explored ways to provide investors with more direct exposure to the Knicks as a standalone asset.
Each home playoff game has become a significant profit center.
Industry analysts estimate a single postseason game at Madison Square Garden can generate approximately $5 million in profit, driven by premium ticket prices, concessions, sponsorships, and merchandise sales.
The ticket market reflects the excitement.
Resale prices have fluctuated dramatically depending on whether a championship-clinching game could take place in New York.
Heading into the week, the least expensive tickets for a potential Game 6 at Madison Square Garden were listed for more than $9,000.
Many of the biggest beneficiaries may be local small businesses.
Restaurants, bars, hotels, and retailers surrounding Madison Square Garden have reported heavy traffic throughout the playoff run.
Business owners describe the surge as a major boost after years of challenges following the pandemic.
Andrew Rigie, executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance, said local restaurants and bars “are just doing amazing.”
Mitch Modell, former chief executive of Modell’s Sporting Goods, was even more direct.
“Never have we seen the city like this, ever,” he said.
Economists caution that championship-related economic studies often overstate their impact.
Many argue that some of the money spent on playoff games would otherwise have been spent on other forms of entertainment within the city.
Others note that large sporting events can sometimes discourage regular tourists from visiting crowded destinations.
As a result, the actual net economic benefit may be smaller than headline estimates suggest.
Still, the excitement surrounding the Knicks’ run is undeniable.
The crowds are real.
The spending is real.
And for a city that has waited nearly three decades to see its basketball team return to the NBA Finals, the packed restaurants, sold-out bars, and booming ticket sales have become their own form of scoreboard.
One more victory, and both the celebration and the economic activity are likely to grow even louder.
JBizNews Desk — New York
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JBizNews22 hours agoUS President Donald Trump claimed that Iran leaked false information regarding the potential terms of a Washington-Tehran deal and stated that “there is no such thing as dealing in good faith” with Iranian leadership in a post on Truth Social on Friday.
“The terms that Iran leaked out to the Fake News have nothing to do with the terms that were agreed to, in writing,” Trump asserted. “Very dishonorable people to deal with. With them, there is no such thing as dealing in good faith.”
He also stated that Iran’s Thursday night drone attack on ships in the Strait of Hormuz was “totally unacceptable” and encouraged Iranian leadership to “get their act together.”
According to Reuters, a senior Trump administration official stated that under the emerging deal, Iran’s nuclear program would be dismantled, all nuclear materials would be destroyed and removed, and Iran would not be able to continue funding terrorist proxies in the region.
The official added that the deal would be “performance-based” and none of Tehran’s frozen assets would be released until Iran fulfills its part in the agreement.
Earlier on Friday, Iranian state media site Mehr claimed that a full ceasefire deal between the United States and Iran will include an end to fighting in Lebanon, as well as the initial unfreezing of 12 billion dollars in funds for Iran.
US-based media outlet Bloomberg also reported that the US and Iran are edging closer to signing an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as the Group of Seven world leaders are set to meet next week, according to senior officials.
A draft of the deal is still waiting for Iranian officials’ approval, Mehr reported, and the final agreement will be approved by the United Nations Security Council.
As part of the deal, the US would allegedly remove sanctions on Iranian oil and petrochemical products, allowing Iran full access to its frozen assets. Mehr reported that the total amount of funds is 24 billion dollars, with half of that amount being released to Iran before further talks may begin.
Among other concessions claimed to be part of the deal, the US would agree to not intervene in internal Iranian affairs and remove its forces from areas near Iran.
Mehr also claimed that the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would be lifted and that the strait would be fully reopened within 30 days of the deal’s signing.
When it comes to the issue of Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the deal only specifies that there will be a 60-day negotiation period to establish a final nuclear agreement.
Iran’s ballistic missile program, as well as its support for proxy groups across the Middle East such as Hezbollah, will not be included in the negotiations, according to Mehr.
On Thursday night, US President Donald Trump announced that he had canceled scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran, after a deal with Iran had been agreed upon.
The deal, also known as a memorandum of understanding (MOU), was approved “both in concept and great detail” by all involved parties, including the US, Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and multiple other Middle Eastern countries, Trump wrote.
No date was given for the signing, but Trump said it could happen over the weekend in Europe, with US Vice President JD Vance set to attend.
Danya Saperstein, Amichai Stein, and Reuters contributed to this report.
JBizNews22 hours agoMENLO PARK, Calif. — Meta’s biggest apps stopped working for huge numbers of people on Friday, June 12, as a widespread outage knocked Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger offline and locked users out of their accounts.
The company confirmed the trouble through spokesperson Andy Stone, who posted on X on Friday: “We’re aware people are currently having trouble accessing our services. We’re working on it.”
The scale was significant.
The outage-tracking site Downdetector logged more than 100,000 user reports by 10 a.m. Eastern time as a server-side failure logged people out of Facebook and partly disrupted Instagram.
Reports came in from across the United States, with heavy concentrations in New York City, Chicago, and San Francisco, as well as from Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
Users described a similar pattern.
They were suddenly logged out and then unable to sign back in.
Feeds went blank.
Error messages appeared reading “unexpected error” or “query error.”
Messenger was among the hardest-hit services, with users appearing offline to friends and messages failing to send.
The disruptions affected both desktop and mobile applications.
For everyday users, an hour without Instagram is an inconvenience.
For businesses, it can mean lost revenue.
That is the part of the story that does not appear in the error messages.
Millions of small businesses rely on Meta’s platforms for customer service, advertising, and online sales.
When those platforms go dark, transactions stop.
On Friday, Meta Ads Manager, the company’s advertising platform, experienced major disruptions. Advertisers were advised to pause campaigns to avoid spending money on ads that users could not properly access.
The financial exposure can be substantial.
Meta generally does not provide automatic credits or refunds when outages occur.
A small business spending hundreds of dollars per day on advertising can lose valuable campaign time with little opportunity to recover those costs.
Restaurants accepting orders through Instagram, retailers selling through Facebook, and content creators who depend on the platforms for income can all feel the impact immediately.
Meta did not immediately identify the cause of the outage.
However, the symptoms point to a familiar type of failure.
When Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger all experience problems simultaneously, the issue is often tied to backend authentication systems that verify user identities across Meta’s network.
If that shared login infrastructure encounters problems, multiple platforms can fail at once even though the broader internet remains fully operational.
That helps explain why users were being logged out and unable to sign back in rather than simply experiencing slow loading times.
Meta has experienced similar outages in previous years linked to authentication and backend service failures.
In many cases, services have been restored gradually over several hours, with some regions returning online before others.
The timing is notable.
Meta continues to invest heavily in artificial intelligence and emerging technologies while relying on Facebook and Instagram as the core drivers of its advertising business.
Those platforms generate the revenue that funds much of the company’s broader strategy.
An outage affecting all major services at once highlights how dependent both users and businesses remain on infrastructure that typically operates unnoticed in the background.
As of Friday afternoon, Meta had not provided a timeline for full restoration of services and had not posted detailed updates regarding recovery efforts.
For users, there is little that can be done when the problem originates on Meta’s systems rather than their own devices.
For businesses relying on constant connectivity, the most expensive part of the outage may simply be the time spent waiting.
JBizNews Desk — Technology
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JBizNews23 hours agoElon Musk crossed a line no person in history has reached. When SpaceX priced its initial public offering at $135 a share, Musk became the world’s first trillionaire. The milestone was locked in before the stock ever traded, built on numbers from the company’s filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and confirmed by wealth trackers at Forbes and Reuters. The shares then opened on the Nasdaq on Friday, June 12, above that price, adding even more to his fortune.
The math is simple, even if the figure is hard to picture. In its IPO prospectus, SpaceX said Musk owns about 4.8 billion shares, roughly 42% of the company, plus 350 million stock options. The $135 offering price valued the company at $1.77 trillion. At that price, Musk’s SpaceX stake alone was worth roughly $690 billion. Add his stake in Tesla, worth about $279 billion, along with his other holdings, and his total fortune cleared $1 trillion.
Then the stock climbed higher. Shares opened at $150, about 11% above the offering price. Within minutes they topped $160, up roughly 19%, lifting the company’s market value above $2 trillion.
To put the number in perspective, one trillion dollars equals one thousand billion dollars. Before Friday, Musk was already the richest person alive, worth an estimated $813 billion, more than twice the fortune of the second-richest person, Google co-founder Larry Page. No one else is close.
The deal itself broke records. SpaceX raised $75 billion by selling 555.6 million shares, making it the largest initial public offering in history. It surpassed the previous record held by Saudi Aramco. The company also broke from standard practice by setting a fixed offering price of $135 rather than offering a range, a move with few precedents among major U.S. listings.
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Citigroup, and JPMorgan Chase led the offering, joined by 18 additional banks.
Musk rang the opening bell from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Texas. Gwynne Shotwell, the company’s president and chief operating officer, rang the bell at Nasdaq’s Times Square location, surrounded by employees. Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 and kept it private for 24 years. What ultimately pushed the company to go public was Starlink, the satellite internet service that now generates most of its revenue.
Musk cannot access most of this wealth anytime soon. More than 90% of his fortune remains tied up in company stock. He also faces a 366-day lockup period on his SpaceX shares, longer than the standard 180-day restriction, meaning he cannot sell shares for more than a year.
The company is also still losing money. SpaceX reported $18.67 billion in revenue for 2025, up 33% from the previous year, but posted a net loss of nearly $5 billion. Critics argue the $1.77 trillion valuation is far too high for a company that remains unprofitable.
Wall Street is divided. Oppenheimer initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $190 price target. Morningstar took the opposite view, with analyst Nicolas Owens assigning a fair value estimate of $63 per share, less than half the IPO price.
The offering is expected to create thousands of new fortunes. About 4,400 SpaceX employees could become millionaires now that the stock is publicly traded, according to estimates cited in early coverage. Retail investors also received their first opportunity to own a stake in the company. The stock trades under the ticker SPCX and is available through brokers including Charles Schwab, Fidelity, Robinhood, SoFi, and E*Trade.
For now, Musk sits alone at the top — the first member of a club that has never had anyone in it.
JBizNews Desk
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JBizNews23 hours agoElon Musk’s SpaceX began trading at $150 a share on Friday, above its listing price of $135 a share, making him the world’s first-ever trillionaire following the IPO.
The rocket and satellite company raised a record $75 billion, valuing the company at about $1.8 trillion, pushing the value of Musk’s stake in SpaceX to an estimated $690 billion. The company is trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker “SPCX” after pricing its IPO on Thursday.
Combined with his holdings in electric vehicle maker Tesla, as well as other investments and assets, Musk’s net worth is now estimated at about $1.1 trillion.
OPENAI SIGNALS POTENTIAL STOCK MARKET DEBUT WHILE WEIGHING PRIVATE-COMPANY ADVANTAGES
Investor demand for SpaceX has been intense. Reuters reported this week that the company attracted more than $250 billion in orders, while Bloomberg News reported Thursday that retail investors alone submitted more than $70 billion in requests for shares.
The company is expected to allocate at least 20% of the offering to retail investors, according to Bloomberg — an unusually large portion for individual investors in a deal of this size.
FEDERAL JURY DELIVERS VERDICT ON MUSK’S LAWSUIT AGAINST OPENAI
The IPO cemented Musk’s status as the world’s richest person, pushing the value of his holdings toward $1 trillion, a milestone no individual has previously reached.
Founded by Musk in 2002, SpaceX has grown into the world’s largest space company and a dominant force in commercial launch services. The company pioneered reusable rocket technology, helping lower launch costs and reshape the economics of the space industry. It has also become a key contractor for NASA and the U.S. government through civil and national security missions.
ANTHROPIC FILES CONFIDENTIALLY FOR IPO
Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet business, has emerged as a major growth engine, providing broadband connectivity to consumers, businesses and governments around the world. According to the company’s IPO filing, Starlink generated the majority of SpaceX’s $18.67 billion in revenue last year.
The public debut has long ranked among Wall Street’s most anticipated offerings. SpaceX spent years as one of the world’s most valuable private companies, with investors eager for an opportunity to buy shares in the business.
According to the IPO filing, SpaceX will maintain a dual-class share structure that leaves control firmly in Musk’s hands. Class B shares will carry 10 votes each, while publicly traded Class A shares will carry one vote apiece. Musk is expected to retain roughly 85% of the company’s voting power following the offering.
Some 4,400 current and former SpaceX employees also stand to become millionaires through stock compensation accumulated during their time at the company, according to The New York Times, citing an analysis by investment platform Hill.com.
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If shares trade above their offering price following Friday’s debut, SpaceX’s valuation could climb even higher, potentially pushing Musk’s net worth beyond the trillion-dollar threshold while rewarding thousands of employees and investors who backed the company during its rise.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
FOX Business’ Eric Revell and Reuters contributed to this report.
JBizNews23 hours agoHere’s a word that trips people up: when a company “backstops” a deal, it is not backing out. It is doing the opposite — standing behind it and promising to pay if something goes wrong.
And that is exactly what Google has now done for Anthropic, the maker of the Claude artificial intelligence assistant.
According to people familiar with the financing, in details that came to light Tuesday, June 9, Google agreed to guarantee the lease payments behind a roughly $35 billion deal that gives Anthropic the computer chips it needs to run its AI systems. Google agreed to backstop those payments at five data centers, helping Anthropic obtain what amounts to a $35 billion loan, and Anthropic’s role in these specific data centers had not previously been reported.
Running advanced artificial intelligence requires enormous amounts of computing power, and the chips that make it possible cost a fortune.
Buying tens of billions of dollars of hardware outright would strain even the best-funded technology companies.
So Anthropic and its partners structured the deal differently.
A separate company was created to purchase the chips and lease them back to Anthropic, allowing the company to spread the cost over time instead of paying everything upfront. Apollo Global Management and Blackstone arranged approximately $35 billion in debt financing for the transaction, making it one of the largest private-credit deals ever assembled.
The money is being used to acquire Google’s custom-designed AI processors known as Tensor Processing Units, or TPUs. Anthropic then leases those chips, and the lease payments are used to repay the debt.
[AP pic: Rows of servers and processors inside a modern data center used for artificial intelligence computing.]
This is where the story becomes unusual.
Lenders providing $35 billion want protection in case something goes wrong.
Two major companies are providing that protection.
Broadcom, which helps manufacture the chips, guarantees that the processors will retain a minimum resale value, reducing risk for lenders.
Google is providing another layer of security by guaranteeing the lease payments tied to five data-center locations.
In practical terms, if Anthropic were unable to make certain payments, Google’s commitment helps cover the obligation.
That guarantee is a major reason financing on this scale became possible.
At first glance, the arrangement seems strange.
Anthropic’s Claude competes directly with Google’s Gemini AI assistant.
Yet the two companies are connected in several important ways.
Google was one of Anthropic’s earliest investors and has repeatedly increased its stake in the company. Google also supplies the chips that sit at the center of this transaction.
That means Google is simultaneously:
In short, Google invests in Anthropic, sells it chips, and now helps secure the financing that allows Anthropic to buy even more of those chips.
That complexity has raised concerns among some industry observers.
Critics point to what are sometimes called circular financing arrangements, where a small group of technology companies become increasingly dependent on one another.
The concern is that money can appear to move in a loop:
Supporters argue that such partnerships accelerate innovation and help fund the massive infrastructure required for AI.
Critics worry that the growing web of financial connections could create broader risks if one major player encounters trouble.
The deal comes at a pivotal moment for Anthropic.
The financing surfaced only days after the company reportedly filed confidential paperwork for an initial public offering and completed a $65 billion fundraising round that valued the company at approximately $965 billion.
Anthropic has also committed substantial resources to expanding its computing capacity, including participation in a data-center partnership valued at approximately $50 billion.
The company is spending aggressively to secure the infrastructure needed to compete with rivals including OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and xAI.
For everyday readers, the story offers a glimpse into how the artificial intelligence boom is actually being financed.
Most headlines focus on new AI models, chatbot features, and flashy product demonstrations.
Behind the scenes, however, the industry increasingly relies on:
The infrastructure required to power advanced AI is becoming almost as important as the software itself.
For now, the arrangement reflects confidence.
Lenders are willing to commit tens of billions of dollars, Google is willing to stand behind part of the financing, and Anthropic gains access to the computing power it needs without paying the full cost upfront.
The larger question is what happens as these relationships grow more intertwined.
The same partnerships helping fuel the AI boom today could also make the industry’s biggest players increasingly dependent on one another tomorrow.
That is the hidden meaning behind the word “backstop.” A safety net works only as long as the company holding it remains strong enough to catch everyone else.
JBizNews Desk — Technology
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JBizNews23 hours agoBillionaire hedge fund CEO and owner Ken Griffin is making good on his promise to “double down” on Miami after publicly feuding with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani over New York’s new tax on expensive second homes.
Griffin, who runs hedge fund Citadel, plans to add a 300-unit apartment building and a 1,400+ space parking garage to the site of Citadel’s future headquarters in Miami’s financial district Brickell, recent filings show.
Citadel also acquired every unit in a 22-story condominium tower across the street from the Brickell building with plans to demolish it to expand the Miami campus.
“We are focusing this part of our development at 1201 Brickell solely on commercial office space. Miami is open for business, and the unparalleled quality of our development will drive the tenancy of leading global firms, including Citadel and Citadel Securities,” a Citadel spokesperson told FOX Business.
The Miami push follows a protracted feud between Griffin and Mamdani, stemming from a video Mamdani made specifically targeting Griffin’s Park Avenue penthouse in an explainer for his new city tax on expensive second homes.
“When I ran for mayor, I said I was going to tax the rich. Well, today we’re taxing the rich… This is an annual fee on luxury properties worth more than $5 million whose owners do not live full-time in the city — like this penthouse, which hedge fund CEO Ken Griffin bought for $238 million,” Mamdani said in his April 15 video while standing in front of Griffin’s penthouse.
Griffin responded, calling the personal attack “creepy and weird,” worrying that it put him in harm’s way and demonstrated “a profound lack of judgment,” on Mamdani’s part.
Griffin’s Citadel executives then suggested that a new Citadel office space in Midtown could become a casualty of Mamdani’s not-so-business-friendly policies.
MAMDANI’S CLASH WITH BILLIONAIRE PUTS NYC STREET FOOD VENDORS IN THE CROSSHAIRS
“We are about to commence the redevelopment of 350 Park Avenue, creating 6,000 highly paid construction jobs and supporting the creation of more than 15,000 permanent jobs in Midtown New York,” Citadel COO Gerald Beeson wrote in an April 23 memo to employees.
“The project – if we move forward – will entail more than $6 billion dollars of spending,” he also wrote.
Mamdani eventually softened his rhetoric, thanking Griffin for his contributions to the city.
Citadel already moved its headquarters from Chicago to Miami in 2022, and the Brickell acquisitions further grow the hedge fund’s South Florida footprint.
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FOX Business contacted Mayor Mamdani’s office for additional comment.
FOX Business’ Madison Alworth and Matthew Kazin contributed to this report.
JBizNews1 day agoChina’s factory-gate prices rose at their fastest pace in nearly four years in May, climbing 3.9% from a year earlier, according to data released Wednesday by the National Bureau of Statistics of China. The increase in the Producer Price Index (PPI) was the strongest since July 2022, exceeded economists’ expectations of 3.8%, and accelerated from 2.8% in April.
The report highlights a growing divide inside the world’s second-largest economy: factory costs are rising rapidly while consumer inflation remains subdued.
The Producer Price Index measures prices businesses receive for goods before they reach consumers, including raw materials, industrial products, machinery, and fuel. The Consumer Price Index, by contrast, measures what shoppers pay in stores. In May, factory inflation accelerated sharply while consumer inflation remained modest.
Two major forces appear to be driving the increase.
The first is energy and commodity costs. Rising oil and petrochemical prices have increased costs throughout China’s manufacturing sector. China remains one of the world’s largest energy importers, making its factories particularly sensitive to changes in global commodity markets. Higher transportation, fuel, and materials costs have filtered through industrial supply chains.
The second driver is the global boom in artificial intelligence and electrification. Dong Lijuan, Chief Statistician at the National Bureau of Statistics, said the expansion of AI infrastructure, electrification projects, and computing demand helped lift prices in sectors tied to metals, machinery, and technology hardware.
According to the bureau, non-ferrous metal mining prices rose 36.5% year-over-year, while non-ferrous metal smelting and processing prices increased 24%. Demand for copper, aluminum, rare-earth materials, electrical equipment, and data-center infrastructure has surged as countries and companies race to build AI capacity and expand electric-power systems.
In simple terms, the world’s push toward AI, cloud computing, electric vehicles, and upgraded energy infrastructure is consuming enormous quantities of industrial materials, pushing prices higher.
Consumer inflation told a different story.
China’s Consumer Price Index rose 1.2% from a year earlier in May, below economists’ expectations of 1.3%, while prices slipped 0.1% from April. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, eased to 1.1%.
Food prices remained weak, falling 1.7% year-over-year, reflecting continued softness in household spending and consumer demand.
One notable exception was energy. Consumer gasoline prices climbed sharply from a year earlier, reflecting higher global crude-oil prices and rising transportation costs.
The gap between factory inflation and consumer inflation is important because it suggests many manufacturers are struggling to pass rising costs on to customers. Businesses are paying more for raw materials and energy, but consumers remain cautious, limiting companies’ ability to raise prices.
That squeeze can pressure profit margins across manufacturing industries.
The implications extend far beyond China.
As the world’s largest manufacturing hub, China produces a significant share of global electronics, machinery, appliances, industrial components, and consumer goods. Rising production costs inside China can eventually ripple through international supply chains and affect prices paid by businesses and consumers around the world.
For much of the past several years, China experienced factory-gate deflation, meaning producer prices were falling. That trend helped keep global goods inflation under control. The recent turnaround suggests that dynamic may be changing.
The May report also reflects broader policy shifts in Beijing. Chinese authorities have been working to reduce excess industrial capacity and discourage aggressive price competition in certain sectors, measures that can contribute to firmer pricing across manufacturing industries.
There are reasons for caution, however.
Many of the strongest gains were concentrated in commodity-related industries such as energy and metals, which can be volatile. If commodity prices retreat, producer inflation could cool quickly. On a monthly basis, producer prices rose more slowly than they did in April, suggesting some moderation may already be underway.
At the same time, weak consumer demand remains one of the biggest challenges facing China’s economy. Without stronger household spending, manufacturers may continue facing pressure despite rising factory output prices.
For now, the picture is one of two very different economies operating side by side: an industrial sector facing rapidly rising input costs driven by energy, metals, and AI-related demand, and a consumer sector that remains far more cautious.
Whether those rising factory costs eventually flow through to shoppers in China and around the world may become one of the most important inflation questions for the global economy in the months ahead.
JBizNews Desk — Asia
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JBizNews1 day agoNearly a year after launch, Tesla’s self-driving taxi service remains limited to just 59 vehicles across three Texas cities, raising fresh questions about Elon Musk’s ambitious autonomy targets.
Nearly a year after Tesla put its first robotaxis on the road, the service remains far smaller and less reliable than the company originally projected. As of late May 2026, Texas motor-vehicle filings and independent tracking data showed a fleet of roughly 59 robotaxis, operating only in Austin, Dallas, and Houston.
That is far from the vision outlined by Elon Musk, who has repeatedly described a future in which Tesla operates thousands of autonomous vehicles across the United States. Musk previously indicated the company could reach 1,000 robotaxis by the end of 2026, a target that now appears increasingly difficult.
The gap between promise and reality became more visible this week as riders and reviewers documented operational issues that suggest the service is still functioning more like a public test program than a mature transportation network.
Users reported wait times frequently exceeding 30 minutes, while the Tesla Robotaxi app periodically displayed messages such as “High Service Demand” and “No Rides Available.” In at least one reported case, a vehicle arrived but failed to begin the trip, requiring intervention from customer support.
Passengers have also cited inconvenient pickup and drop-off locations, sometimes forcing riders to walk significant distances despite available curb space nearby.
Tesla launched the service in Austin in June 2025 with approximately a dozen modified Model Y vehicles. Access was initially restricted to selected users, influencers and Tesla enthusiasts who shared favorable early experiences online.
During Tesla’s July 2025 earnings call, Musk outlined plans for rapid expansion into additional states, including California, Nevada, Arizona and Florida. While Tesla expanded into Dallas and Houston in April 2026, the broader national rollout has yet to materialize.
The vehicles themselves remain more limited than many consumers expected.
Most rides continue to include a human safety operator, and Tesla restricts operations to carefully defined geographic areas known as geofences. The service therefore remains well short of Musk’s long-standing vision of fully autonomous vehicles operating nationwide without human supervision.
The stakes for Tesla are significant.
As vehicle sales growth has slowed, investors increasingly view robotaxis and Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology as key drivers of the company’s future value. Expectations surrounding autonomous transportation have become a central component of Tesla’s market valuation.
The numbers highlight the challenge ahead.
With approximately 59 vehicles currently operating, Tesla would need to expand its fleet by roughly 17 times in just seven months to reach Musk’s stated goal of 1,000 robotaxis by year-end. That expansion would also require regulatory approvals, operational infrastructure and proof that the vehicles can safely operate with reduced human oversight.
Meanwhile, competitors have established a substantial lead.
Waymo, the autonomous-driving division of Alphabet, operates a significantly larger robotaxi network. Estimates suggest Waymo’s Texas fleet is roughly ten times larger than Tesla’s. In Austin alone, public reports indicate Waymo operates more than 250 vehicles, compared with approximately 50 for Tesla.
Waymo also routinely operates vehicles without safety drivers, a milestone Tesla has not yet achieved at comparable scale.
Wall Street analysts have taken notice.
Garrett Nelson, an analyst with CFRA Research, recently said Tesla’s Austin deployment has fallen short of expectations. Independent road tests in Dallas and Houston have reported similar concerns, including lengthy wait times, unavailable vehicles and routing issues.
In one Dallas test, a trip expected to take roughly 20 minutes reportedly stretched to nearly two hours because of service interruptions and availability problems.
For consumers, the current limitations are difficult to ignore.
A service marketed as convenient, on-demand transportation remains available only in limited areas and often struggles to deliver rides quickly and consistently. Until reliability improves and availability expands, robotaxis are unlikely to replace traditional ride-hailing services—or personal vehicles—for most riders.
Tesla maintains that its camera-based approach to autonomous driving will ultimately allow it to scale more quickly and at lower cost than competitors that rely on expensive lidar and sensor systems.
That strategy could still prove successful over time.
For now, however, the company’s Texas deployment highlights the considerable distance between Tesla’s long-term vision and the current state of its robotaxi service. Nearly a year after launch, the business remains small, geographically limited and operationally inconsistent.
Whether Tesla can close that gap before the end of the year remains one of the most closely watched questions in the autonomous-vehicle industry.
JBizNews Desk — Texas
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JBizNews1 day agoU.S. stocks opened higher Friday, June 12, 2026, as the largest stock offering in history and rising hopes for peace in the Middle East drew buyers into the market. President Donald Trump told reporters that a deal to end the war with Iran could be signed within days, one that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and restore energy shipping through the Gulf. At the same time, SpaceX began its first day as a public company on the Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX, completing the biggest initial public offering ever recorded, according to the company’s S-1/A registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In early trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 298 points, or 0.6%, while the S&P 500 added 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.1%, held back by a steep drop in Adobe.
The move extended Thursday’s rally, when the Dow gained 1.86% to close at 50,848.75, the S&P 500 rose 1.75% to 7,394.30, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 2.54% to 25,809.66.
The day’s centerpiece is SpaceX.
In its SEC filing, the company founded by Elon Musk set its price at $135 a share and offered about 555.5 million shares to raise roughly $75 billion, valuing SpaceX at $1.77 trillion and making it the seventh-most valuable U.S. company, ahead of Tesla.
Musk and SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell rang the opening bell Friday, Musk from Texas and Shotwell from the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York.
The first public trade did not print at the opening bell as the stock cleared a Nasdaq auction to establish its opening price.
Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley led the offering as part of a syndicate of 23 banks listed in the prospectus.
SpaceX-related companies led early gains.
EchoStar, which owns an estimated 3% stake in SpaceX, rose about 4.8% before the open to roughly $134.28.
AST SpaceMobile advanced for a second straight session, while Rocket Lab gained about 4.5% after announcing it will join the Nasdaq-100 later this month.
Intel jumped about 5% after Bank of America analyst Vivek Arya upgraded the stock to Buy from Underperform and raised his price target to $135 from $96. Arya cited stronger demand for artificial-intelligence server chips and improved visibility into Intel’s contract manufacturing business, including a reported order from Google for more than three million custom AI processors.
Nvidia added about 1%. The company told Chinese customers its new Vera AI data-center processor could be available as early as August and is now open for orders.
Amazon also moved higher as investors returned to artificial-intelligence infrastructure names.
The biggest drag was Adobe, which fell about 7% despite reporting stronger-than-expected results.
Adobe reported quarterly revenue of $6.62 billion, above analyst expectations of $6.46 billion, but news of the planned departure of its chief financial officer triggered a series of analyst downgrades.
Goldman Sachs analyst Gabriela Borges lowered her price target to $190 from $220 while maintaining a Sell rating. Morgan Stanley analyst Keith Weiss said Adobe’s results reflected strong AI demand but expects the stock to remain range-bound.
Financial stocks also firmed, with JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs trading higher.
Fifth Third Bancorp began trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
Among other notable movers, Playtika rose more than 5%, Virgin Galactic fell about 10%, DoubleVerify dropped roughly 4.2%, and Ollie’s Bargain Outlet declined about 3.3%.
Oil prices declined on hopes that diplomatic progress could ease tensions in the Middle East.
West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery fell 2.8% to $85.26 a barrel, while Brent crude dropped 2.5% to $88.13 a barrel.
The decline followed comments from President Trump indicating that an agreement could be reached as soon as this weekend in Europe.
A 14-point draft reported by Iranian state media would commit Iran to reopening the Strait of Hormuz within 30 days in exchange for the lifting of U.S. oil sanctions, although Tehran has not formally approved the proposal.
Lower oil prices typically translate into lower gasoline costs for consumers and businesses.
Meanwhile, gold traded near $4,180 an ounce after briefly dipping toward $4,000 before rebounding above $4,200.
The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) eased toward 19.
Despite Friday’s gains, investors remained focused on the historic SpaceX debut.
Some traders reportedly sold existing holdings during the week to raise cash for SpaceX shares, contributing to choppy trading in parts of the technology sector even as the broader market advanced.
With the largest public offering in history still establishing its opening price, volatility is likely to remain elevated throughout the session.
JBizNews Desk — Markets
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JBizNews1 day agoPresident Donald Trump downplayed a sharp rise in inflation, arguing higher prices are tied to the Iran conflict and will fall once the war ends.
U.S. inflation accelerated to its fastest pace in three years during May, according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released Wednesday, June 10, 2026, by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But rather than expressing concern, President Donald Trump surprised reporters with an unusual response.
“I really love the inflation,” Trump said during remarks at the White House.
The comment immediately drew attention because rising prices have traditionally been viewed as a political liability for any administration. However, Trump quickly clarified his reasoning, shifting the discussion toward the ongoing conflict with Iran and arguing that inflation pressures are largely tied to wartime energy disruptions.
“I love the inflation. You know why?” Trump said before discussing U.S. operations related to Iran’s oil sector and asserting that the administration’s broader strategy would ultimately benefit the economy.
The remarks came after a difficult inflation report.
The Consumer Price Index, which measures changes in the prices consumers pay for goods and services, recorded its highest annual increase since April 2023. It marked the third consecutive month of accelerating inflation and moved further above the Federal Reserve’s long-term target of approximately 2%.
The primary driver remains energy.
Since the escalation of hostilities involving Iran earlier this year, oil markets have experienced significant volatility. The disruption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important energy corridors, has pushed fuel prices sharply higher.
According to AAA, the national average price of regular gasoline has climbed to approximately $4.15 per gallon, compared with about $2.98 before the conflict intensified.
Within the May inflation report, gasoline prices rose 7%, following a 5.4% increase in April and a 21.2% surge in March.
Higher energy costs continue to ripple throughout the economy.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported increases across multiple categories, including transportation, airline fares, recreation, healthcare services, communications and other consumer expenses. Because fuel affects shipping and operating costs throughout the economy, higher energy prices often translate into broader inflationary pressures.
Trump used the inflation discussion to make a broader argument about the war.
The president claimed U.S. operations have prevented oil prices from rising even further by disrupting Iranian oil activity. He described nighttime maritime operations involving multiple vessels but did not provide specific figures or supporting documentation. The claims could not be independently verified.
When asked whether inflation would fall before the November midterm elections, Trump expressed confidence.
“When the war’s over, it’s coming down,” he said. “It’s going to come down like a rock.”
That message reflects the administration’s position that current inflation pressures are temporary and largely tied to geopolitical events rather than underlying economic weakness.
Economists note, however, that sustained inflation can create additional challenges.
Persistent price increases may force the Federal Reserve to maintain higher interest rates or even consider future increases to cool demand. Higher rates can raise borrowing costs for mortgages, auto loans, business financing and credit cards.
For consumers, that means inflation can have effects beyond rising prices at gas stations and grocery stores.
Even so, current inflation remains below the levels experienced during the post-pandemic surge.
In 2022, annual inflation exceeded 9%, reaching its highest level in roughly four decades. While today’s inflation is the strongest in three years, it remains significantly below those historic peaks and is currently more concentrated in energy-related sectors.
The key variable remains the duration of the Iran conflict.
If energy markets stabilize and oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz return to normal levels, inflation pressures could ease. If disruptions continue, higher fuel costs could remain a source of upward pressure on prices throughout the economy.
For now, consumers face rising costs, policymakers face renewed inflation concerns, and investors are watching closely to see whether the recent surge proves temporary—or becomes a more persistent challenge for the U.S. economy.
JBizNews Desk — Washington
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JBizNews1 day ago
JBizNews1 day agoDespite rising defaults, redemption pressures and slowing retail inflows, investors continue pouring money into bonds issued by private credit firms, keeping a key source of business financing alive.
For all the concern surrounding the private credit industry this year, one corner of the market remains surprisingly strong: investors continue to buy the bonds issued by private credit funds.
In an April 2026 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Goldman Sachs Private Credit Corp. reported raising approximately $1.04 billion of new capital during the first quarter, citing what it described as “continued strong investor demand.” More recently, Blackstone’s flagship private credit fund reported fresh inflows in early June, signaling that institutional investors continue to support the sector despite mounting concerns elsewhere in the market.
To understand why that matters, it helps to understand what private credit is.
Private credit refers to loans made outside the traditional banking system. Instead of borrowing from a commercial bank or issuing publicly traded bonds, companies receive financing directly from investment firms, asset managers and specialized lending funds. These loans often carry higher interest rates than traditional debt and typically lock investors into long-term commitments.
Over the past decade, private credit has grown into a multi-trillion-dollar global industry, becoming an increasingly important source of financing for businesses that may not qualify for conventional bank lending.
A large share of that activity takes place through Business Development Companies (BDCs), investment vehicles that raise money from investors and lend it to businesses. To increase their lending capacity, many BDCs also issue bonds of their own, effectively borrowing money from fixed-income investors.
Those bonds continue to find buyers.
According to Fitch Ratings, rated BDCs issued approximately $21 billion of debt during 2025 and another $4 billion during January 2026 alone. Recent bond offerings from several major private credit firms have continued to attract strong demand despite broader concerns about the sector.
That resilience stands in contrast to developments elsewhere in private credit.
After a fundraising boom during 2024 and 2025 that brought more than $60 billion into BDCs, investor enthusiasm began cooling in early 2026. Industry data show retail sales of new BDC shares fell approximately 40% during the first quarter compared with the same period a year earlier.
Several so-called evergreen funds—semi-liquid investment vehicles designed for individual investors—have also encountered significant redemption pressure.
These funds typically limit quarterly withdrawals to approximately 5% of assets, and some managers have been forced to restrict redemptions after requests exceeded those limits.
Blue Owl Capital was among the firms that capped withdrawals after investor redemption requests substantially surpassed available liquidity.
At the same time, credit conditions have become more challenging.
In March, Morgan Stanley strategist Joyce Jiang warned that private credit default rates could approach 8%, significantly above historical averages. Some industry observers argue that actual stress levels may be even higher when distressed restructurings are included alongside formal defaults.
The rising number of troubled loans has intensified debate over whether the private credit boom has entered a more difficult phase.
Supporters of the industry argue that the concerns may be overstated.
Most private credit loans are structured as senior secured debt, meaning lenders are first in line to recover money if a borrower encounters financial trouble. That position generally provides greater protection against losses than unsecured lending.
Industry participants also note that redemption limits are functioning exactly as intended by preventing forced asset sales during periods of market stress.
Neuberger Berman and other managers have argued that recent redemption restrictions reflect prudent liquidity management rather than underlying portfolio weakness.
Institutional investors appear to agree.
Unlike retail investors, pension funds, insurance companies and large institutions typically invest with longer time horizons and are less likely to react to short-term market volatility. Their continued support has helped sustain demand for private-credit-related debt even as retail sentiment has weakened.
Still, competition for investor dollars is increasing.
As concerns surrounding private credit have grown, some investors have shifted assets into traditional publicly traded bond funds that offer daily liquidity, transparent pricing and attractive yields without multi-year lockups.
Asset managers including Pacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO) and Janus Henderson Group have actively promoted those advantages as investors reassess their options.
For businesses, the outcome matters.
Private credit has become a major funding source for thousands of small and midsize companies that may struggle to secure financing through traditional banks. If capital inflows slow significantly, borrowing costs could rise and financing could become harder to obtain, potentially affecting expansion plans, hiring decisions and investment activity.
That is why continued demand for BDC bonds remains important.
As long as investors keep buying the debt issued by private lenders, those firms can continue raising capital and extending loans to businesses across the economy.
The result is a market sending mixed signals.
Retail investors are pulling back. Redemption requests are climbing. Default concerns are growing.
Yet institutional investors continue committing capital, and bond buyers continue funding private lenders.
The private credit industry faces one of its biggest tests since its rise to prominence, but for now, investors purchasing its bonds still appear convinced that the asset class remains worth the risk.
JBizNews Desk — Markets
© JBizNews.com All Rights Reserved. Reproduction or distribution without written permission is prohibited.
JBizNews1 day agoThe Florida-based medical marijuana operator becomes the first American cannabis company that grows and sells marijuana to trade on a major U.S. stock exchange, marking a milestone years in the making for the industry.
A U.S. marijuana company traded on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange for the first time on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, as Trulieve Cannabis Corp. began trading under the ticker TRLV.
The Tallahassee, Florida-based company became the first American “plant-touching” cannabis operator—one that directly cultivates, processes and sells marijuana—to secure a listing on a major U.S. stock exchange.
The achievement represents a breakthrough for an industry that has spent years seeking broader access to public capital markets.
“As the first U.S. cannabis company to list on a major U.S. exchange, we are excited,” said Kim Rivers, Trulieve’s founder and chief executive officer, in announcing the listing.
Rivers said the move is expected to expand the company’s shareholder base, improve market visibility and increase awareness of the medical cannabis industry.
Prior to the NYSE listing, Trulieve traded over-the-counter under the symbol TCNNF and on the Canadian Securities Exchange, where it has been listed since 2018.
For years, major U.S. exchanges largely prohibited listings by American cannabis companies because marijuana remained classified as a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law.
That classification placed marijuana alongside drugs considered by the federal government to have no accepted medical use, creating significant legal and regulatory obstacles for companies directly involved in the cannabis business.
As a result, most U.S. cannabis operators were forced to raise capital through Canadian exchanges or over-the-counter markets, which generally offer lower trading volumes and reduced access to institutional investors.
The regulatory landscape changed this spring.
In April 2026, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the reclassification of medical marijuana to Schedule III, a category reserved for substances recognized as having accepted medical uses and a lower potential for abuse.
The move created a pathway for state-licensed medical marijuana businesses to register with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and potentially qualify for listing on major U.S. exchanges.
Trulieve still needed to restructure its business to meet listing requirements.
Because only medical marijuana was rescheduled, the company separated its adult-use recreational cannabis operations into a distinct entity. Through a third-party investment arrangement, Trulieve fully deconsolidated its recreational business, leaving the publicly traded company focused exclusively on medical marijuana.
While Kim Rivers continues to maintain control over the recreational operation, its financial results are no longer included within the NYSE-listed company.
The remaining medical cannabis business remains substantial.
Trulieve operates 206 state-licensed dispensaries and approximately 3.5 million square feet of DEA-registered cultivation and production facilities. The company is also one of the dominant players in Florida’s medical marijuana market, where it is estimated to control between 30% and 40% of statewide medical cannabis revenue.
Investors responded positively to the listing.
Shares initially rose about 4% during Wednesday morning trading before moderating later in the session. The larger market reaction came after the June 5 listing announcement, when Trulieve shares surged approximately 20%.
The stock is now up roughly 38% in 2026.
The broader cannabis sector has also benefited.
The AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF (NYSE: MSOS), one of the industry’s most widely followed exchange-traded funds, recently reached its highest level of the year. Trulieve represents approximately 30% of the fund’s holdings.
For individual investors, the NYSE listing significantly simplifies access.
Investors can now purchase Trulieve shares through traditional brokerage accounts, retirement accounts and popular investing platforms without navigating over-the-counter markets or Canadian exchanges.
Industry competitors are already positioning themselves to follow.
Curaleaf Holdings announced a 1-for-3 reverse stock split in late May, while Verano Holdings implemented a 1-for-5 reverse split, moves widely viewed as preparation for potential uplistings if regulatory conditions continue to improve.
Curaleaf has cautioned, however, that additional regulatory clarity will still be necessary before a listing can move forward.
Meanwhile, Canadian cannabis companies including Tilray Brands, SNDL, and Canopy Growth have long traded on major U.S. exchanges because they operate under Canada’s federally legal cannabis framework rather than directly touching U.S. marijuana operations.
Additional regulatory developments could arrive soon.
Industry participants are closely watching a DEA hearing later this month that could further reshape federal cannabis policy. The move to Schedule III also offers another major benefit: relief from certain federal tax rules that have historically imposed heavy burdens on cannabis businesses.
Lower tax costs could significantly improve profitability across the industry.
Industry advocates view Trulieve’s listing as a turning point.
Michael Bronstein, president of the American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp, said U.S. cannabis companies have long argued they deserve the same access to capital markets available to international competitors.
With Trulieve now trading on the New York Stock Exchange, that argument is finally being tested on Wall Street.
JBizNews Desk — Markets
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JBizNews1 day agoFederal prosecutors are investigating whether some of America’s largest banks improperly closed customer accounts based on political beliefs, affiliations, or lawful business activities.
Federal prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into whether some of the nation’s largest banks cut off customers because of their political views. The probe became public on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, when people familiar with the confidential matter said the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, led by Jeanine Pirro, had issued subpoenas to several major lenders, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo.
The subpoenas, some dating back to last year, seek lists of customers whose accounts were closed and records explaining the reasons for those closures. Prosecutors are examining whether the decisions were standard business actions or whether customers were targeted because of their political views, affiliations, religious beliefs, or industries in which they operate.
JPMorgan Chase did not immediately comment. Bank of America and Wells Fargo declined to comment.
At the center of the investigation is a practice known as “debanking,” in which a financial institution closes an account or declines to provide banking services. For individuals and businesses alike, losing access to banking services can create serious disruptions, affecting payroll, bill payments, deposits, financing, and everyday operations.
According to people familiar with the matter, prosecutors are reviewing whether any account closures violated federal law, including the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA). The statute is commonly associated with bank fraud investigations but is also attractive to prosecutors because it provides a broad enforcement framework and a ten-year statute of limitations.
That timeline would allow investigators to review account closures dating back to the period following the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot, when some financial institutions reassessed relationships with politically exposed clients and organizations.
The investigation represents the most significant escalation to date in a broader debate over whether financial institutions have unfairly denied services to customers based on political considerations.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly accused major banks of refusing to do business with him following his first term in office. He publicly raised the issue with Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan during the World Economic Forum in Davos in early 2025.
In August 2025, Trump signed an executive order titled “Guaranteeing Fair Banking for All Americans,” directing federal agencies to investigate allegations of politically motivated debanking and refer potential violations to the Department of Justice.
Much of the government’s initial review was conducted by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), which supervises the nation’s largest national banks. According to reports, the OCC found preliminary evidence that some institutions had imposed restrictions on certain customers in the past.
Notably, the regulator reportedly did not formally refer the matter to the Justice Department. That makes the criminal investigation unusual, as prosecutors appear to have moved forward independently rather than acting on a formal regulatory recommendation.
The banks involved have consistently denied closing accounts because of politics or religion.
JPMorgan Chase has publicly stated that it does not close accounts based on political or religious affiliation. Banking industry representatives argue that account closures are typically driven by anti-money-laundering requirements, sanctions compliance obligations, fraud concerns, or other regulatory risk-management considerations.
That defense highlights one of the central questions facing investigators.
Federal civil-rights laws prohibit certain forms of discrimination, particularly in lending. However, banks generally maintain broad discretion over whom they choose to serve, and regulatory requirements sometimes compel institutions to terminate relationships viewed as high-risk.
Critics of the investigation argue that banks are being scrutinized for complying with the same federal regulations that require extensive customer-risk monitoring.
The outcome could have major implications for several industries that have long struggled to maintain banking relationships.
Cryptocurrency companies, cannabis businesses, firearms-related businesses, political organizations, advocacy groups, and certain nonprofit entities have frequently argued that they face heightened scrutiny from financial institutions. A determination that some account closures were unlawful could reshape how banks evaluate customer risk and could lead to significant changes in compliance policies across the industry.
Meanwhile, regulators have already begun adjusting their guidance.
Earlier this month, the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) jointly removed references to “reputation risk” from supervisory guidance. Critics had argued that the standard allowed banks to deny services to lawful businesses simply because they were politically controversial or carried public-relations risks.
For now, the investigation remains in its early stages.
Subpoenas are requests for information and do not indicate wrongdoing. No bank has been charged with a crime, and prosecutors have not publicly alleged that any institution violated federal law.
Still, the probe signals that federal authorities intend to test a question that has increasingly moved from political debate into legal scrutiny: when a bank decides to close an account, where is the line between legitimate risk management and unlawful discrimination?
JBizNews Desk — Washington
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JBizNews1 day agoDogecoin’s (CRYPTO: DOGE) official X account marked the start of the FIFA World Cup on Thursday by posting images of Shiba Inu dogs in national team jerseys.
The image featured three adorable canines on a soccer field, sporting U.S., Japan, and England jerseys.
“Drop ur flag so we know which country got the most shibes,” the X handle urged as it attempted to map Dogecoin supporters worldwide.
world cup started today 🏆 drop ur flag so we know which country got the most shibes pic.twitter.com/JigKb3pY5U
— Dogecoin (@dogecoin) June 12, 2026
Replies showed diverse flags from countries, including Brazil, Mexico and Canada, suggesting DOGE’s broad worldwide fanbase.
In fact, one user, MrGoldRobe.eth, declared …
JBizNews1 day agoFor decades, the homebuying journey followed a relatively predictable path. Buyers would visit communities, meet with sales representatives to gather information and gradually move toward a purchase decision. Today, that process looks dramatically different.
Modern homebuyers move fluidly between websites, online reviews, virtual conversations, social media content, mortgage research and in-person model visits. They may spend weeks or even months researching builders, floor plans and school districts. While buyers have more information than ever before, they also face a growing challenge: information overload.
As builders work to improve their homebuilder sales strategy in a competitive housing market, many are discovering that success is no longer determined solely by generating more leads. Instead, the opportunity lies in creating a more connected and consistent omnichannel homebuyer experience that guides customers through an increasingly complex decision-making process.
Historically, builders operated around a relatively structured sales funnel. Buyers entered the process, progressed through a series of steps and eventually reached a purchase decision. Today’s buyers rarely follow that path.
They often move between multiple builders, conduct extensive online research and consume enormous amounts of information before engaging directly with a sales team. In many cases, buyers arrive at a model home having already narrowed their options and formed preliminary opinions about the builders they are considering. This shift has fundamentally changed how builders must think about customer engagement.
The challenge is no longer simply providing information. Buyers already have access to floor plans, pricing details, community information and reviews. The challenge is helping buyers make sense of that information and confidently move toward a decision.
Builders that recognize this shift are increasingly focusing on creating seamless experiences across every customer touchpoint rather than treating each interaction as a separate event.
One of the biggest obstacles facing builders today is the lack of continuity across sales and marketing channels. Many organizations still operate with separate teams, with work spread out in silos between:
While these teams may perform their individual roles effectively, the buyer often experiences them as disconnected departments rather than a unified brand. From the buyer’s perspective, this can feel frustrating.
Customers frequently find themselves repeating the same information multiple times as they move through the process. Questions already answered online must be answered again during virtual consultations and repeated once more during in-person visits. The result is a lack of what many sales leaders describe as contextual intelligence: the ability for every team member interacting with a buyer to understand that buyer’s goals, concerns and previous interactions.
When information flows seamlessly between teams, buyers feel understood. When it does not, confidence begins to erode. In an environment where trust plays a significant role in purchasing decisions, reducing these points of friction can directly impact homebuilder conversion rates. When buyers feel understood and supported throughout the process, they are more likely to move confidently toward a purchase decision.
The role of the builder website is also evolving. For years, builder websites operated on an outdated model, primarily serving as digital brochures. Their purpose was to display communities, floor plans and contact information.
Modern builders are increasingly treating their websites as 24-hour sales professionals capable of educating, engaging and supporting buyers throughout the research process. This requires a different mindset.
Buyers expect websites to educate, guide and answer questions. Rather than simply presenting information, websites should help buyers understand the builder’s processes, warranty programs, construction standards and overall customer experience.
Every digital interaction should reinforce the builder’s value proposition and help establish trust before a direct conversation ever occurs. As virtual engagement tools continue to mature, websites are becoming a critical foundation of the broader omnichannel homebuyer experience.
The growing sophistication of today’s buyers is also changing the role of sales professionals. Traditionally, many builder sales processes focused heavily on qualification. The goal was to determine whether a prospect was ready and capable of purchasing a home. While qualification remains important, leading builders are shifting toward a more consultative approach.
Today’s buyers need guidance before they need qualification. Most buyers are not experts in homebuilding, financing or community selection. Even after conducting extensive research, many still need guidance in navigating the process and evaluating their options. Trust is built through consultation, not interrogation.
Builders who position their teams as advisors rather than gatekeepers often create stronger customer relationships and better long-term sales outcomes.
By the time many buyers arrive at a model home, many times much of the traditional sales process has already occurred. They have reviewed floor plans, explored communities and compared multiple builders online. In many cases, they have already identified a shortlist of preferred options. This means sales professionals must adapt.
The days of simply presenting information are fading. Buyers often need help interpreting information rather than acquiring it. Successful sales teams are becoming skilled at discovery and interpretation. Instead of leading with presentations, they focus on understanding the buyer’s goals, concerns and decision-making process.
Rather than seeking additional data, customers are looking for a sense of certainty. The most effective sales conversations help buyers connect the information they have already gathered with the personal decisions they need to make for their families. In this environment, sales professionals become guides who help buyers navigate complexity rather than simply providing additional details.
One of the biggest misconceptions surrounding omnichannel engagement is that it requires a major technology overhaul. In reality, successful implementation often starts with process alignment rather than new tools.
Builders can begin by asking three simple questions:
These questions often reveal gaps that create friction throughout the customer experience. The goal is not necessarily to add more technology. The goal is to create greater continuity between existing touchpoints. Every interaction should build upon the previous one.
Whether a buyer moves from a website to an online sales representative, from a virtual meeting to a model home visit or from a mortgage conversation to a design center appointment, the experience should feel connected and consistent. When continuity increases, buyer confidence tends to increase as well.
As builders look ahead, the most successful organizations may not be those generating the largest volume of leads. Instead, they may be the ones creating the most connected customer experiences. Buyers do not experience marketing, online sales, mortgage services and model homes as separate departments. They experience a single brand.
Every interaction shapes their perception of the brand and influences whether they feel confident moving forward. The builders that thrive in the next phase of home sales will be those that prioritize homebuilder sales continuity, create a connected omnichannel homebuyer experience and align every touchpoint around a consistent homebuilder sales strategy.
In a market defined by abundant information and evolving consumer expectations, continuity is becoming more than an operational goal. It is becoming a competitive advantage.
Click Here
JBizNews1 day agoFor decades, the homebuying journey followed a relatively predictable path. Buyers would visit communities, meet with sales representatives to gather information and gradually move toward a purchase decision. Today, that process looks dramatically different.
Modern homebuyers move fluidly between websites, online reviews, virtual conversations, social media content, mortgage research and in-person model visits. They may spend weeks or even months researching builders, floor plans and school districts. While buyers have more information than ever before, they also face a growing challenge: information overload.
As builders work to improve their homebuilder sales strategy in a competitive housing market, many are discovering that success is no longer determined solely by generating more leads. Instead, the opportunity lies in creating a more connected and consistent omnichannel homebuyer experience that guides customers through an increasingly complex decision-making process.
Historically, builders operated around a relatively structured sales funnel. Buyers entered the process, progressed through a series of steps and eventually reached a purchase decision. Today’s buyers rarely follow that path.
They often move between multiple builders, conduct extensive online research and consume enormous amounts of information before engaging directly with a sales team. In many cases, buyers arrive at a model home having already narrowed their options and formed preliminary opinions about the builders they are considering. This shift has fundamentally changed how builders must think about customer engagement.
The challenge is no longer simply providing information. Buyers already have access to floor plans, pricing details, community information and reviews. The challenge is helping buyers make sense of that information and confidently move toward a decision.
Builders that recognize this shift are increasingly focusing on creating seamless experiences across every customer touchpoint rather than treating each interaction as a separate event.
One of the biggest obstacles facing builders today is the lack of continuity across sales and marketing channels. Many organizations still operate with separate teams, with work spread out in silos between:
While these teams may perform their individual roles effectively, the buyer often experiences them as disconnected departments rather than a unified brand. From the buyer’s perspective, this can feel frustrating.
Customers frequently find themselves repeating the same information multiple times as they move through the process. Questions already answered online must be answered again during virtual consultations and repeated once more during in-person visits. The result is a lack of what many sales leaders describe as contextual intelligence: the ability for every team member interacting with a buyer to understand that buyer’s goals, concerns and previous interactions.
When information flows seamlessly between teams, buyers feel understood. When it does not, confidence begins to erode. In an environment where trust plays a significant role in purchasing decisions, reducing these points of friction can directly impact homebuilder conversion rates. When buyers feel understood and supported throughout the process, they are more likely to move confidently toward a purchase decision.
The role of the builder website is also evolving. For years, builder websites operated on an outdated model, primarily serving as digital brochures. Their purpose was to display communities, floor plans and contact information.
Modern builders are increasingly treating their websites as 24-hour sales professionals capable of educating, engaging and supporting buyers throughout the research process. This requires a different mindset.
Buyers expect websites to educate, guide and answer questions. Rather than simply presenting information, websites should help buyers understand the builder’s processes, warranty programs, construction standards and overall customer experience.
Every digital interaction should reinforce the builder’s value proposition and help establish trust before a direct conversation ever occurs. As virtual engagement tools continue to mature, websites are becoming a critical foundation of the broader omnichannel homebuyer experience.
The growing sophistication of today’s buyers is also changing the role of sales professionals. Traditionally, many builder sales processes focused heavily on qualification. The goal was to determine whether a prospect was ready and capable of purchasing a home. While qualification remains important, leading builders are shifting toward a more consultative approach.
Today’s buyers need guidance before they need qualification. Most buyers are not experts in homebuilding, financing or community selection. Even after conducting extensive research, many still need guidance in navigating the process and evaluating their options. Trust is built through consultation, not interrogation.
Builders who position their teams as advisors rather than gatekeepers often create stronger customer relationships and better long-term sales outcomes.
By the time many buyers arrive at a model home, many times much of the traditional sales process has already occurred. They have reviewed floor plans, explored communities and compared multiple builders online. In many cases, they have already identified a shortlist of preferred options. This means sales professionals must adapt.
The days of simply presenting information are fading. Buyers often need help interpreting information rather than acquiring it. Successful sales teams are becoming skilled at discovery and interpretation. Instead of leading with presentations, they focus on understanding the buyer’s goals, concerns and decision-making process.
Rather than seeking additional data, customers are looking for a sense of certainty. The most effective sales conversations help buyers connect the information they have already gathered with the personal decisions they need to make for their families. In this environment, sales professionals become guides who help buyers navigate complexity rather than simply providing additional details.
One of the biggest misconceptions surrounding omnichannel engagement is that it requires a major technology overhaul. In reality, successful implementation often starts with process alignment rather than new tools.
Builders can begin by asking three simple questions:
These questions often reveal gaps that create friction throughout the customer experience. The goal is not necessarily to add more technology. The goal is to create greater continuity between existing touchpoints. Every interaction should build upon the previous one.
Whether a buyer moves from a website to an online sales representative, from a virtual meeting to a model home visit or from a mortgage conversation to a design center appointment, the experience should feel connected and consistent. When continuity increases, buyer confidence tends to increase as well.
As builders look ahead, the most successful organizations may not be those generating the largest volume of leads. Instead, they may be the ones creating the most connected customer experiences. Buyers do not experience marketing, online sales, mortgage services and model homes as separate departments. They experience a single brand.
Every interaction shapes their perception of the brand and influences whether they feel confident moving forward. The builders that thrive in the next phase of home sales will be those that prioritize homebuilder sales continuity, create a connected omnichannel homebuyer experience and align every touchpoint around a consistent homebuilder sales strategy.
In a market defined by abundant information and evolving consumer expectations, continuity is becoming more than an operational goal. It is becoming a competitive advantage.
Click Here
JBizNews1 day agoMore than 17,000 coffee makers were recalled over a burn hazard that can cause serious injury, according to federal regulators.
About 17,600 Kidisle-branded hot and iced coffee machines were affected by the recall, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
“The recalled coffeemakers(sic) can become clogged, causing hot liquid or steam to build up and be released unexpectedly during use, posing a risk of serious injury from burn hazard,” the commission said on Thursday.
FORD ISSUES RECALL FOR MORE THAN 548,000 VEHICLES OVER ISSUE WITH CENTER CONSOLE
At least 107 reports have been made regarding the coffee makers releasing hot liquid or steam unexpectedly, causing at least 27 reported injuries, including first and second-degree burns that required medical treatment.
The item is designed in black, white and gray colors, measures about 11 inches high and 6 inches wide and has a 50-ounce detachable water tank. It can brew six to 14 ounces of cupped or ground coffee.
The coffee makers were sold online at Amazon, Walmart and eBay from June 2024 through April of this year for about $49.
The machines affected by the recall have model “KC101B” printed on a sticker on the underside while the brand name is listed on the product order receipt.
KIA RECALLS 6K VEHICLES DUE TO POSSIBLE SEAT BELT DEFECT THAT COULD RAISE INJURY RISK
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Consumers are urged to stop using the coffee makers immediately and contact Kidisle for a full refund.
JBizNews1 day ago
JBizNews1 day ago
JBizNews1 day agoWASHINGTON— President Donald J. Trump signed a proclamation on Thursday, June 11, 2026, restoring commercial fishing access to nearly half a million square miles of the Pacific Ocean and opening three additional marine national monuments to U.S. commercial fleets as part of what the White House calls its America First Fishing Policy.
The proclamation reopens the Mau and Ho‘omalu Zones of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, the Islands Unit of the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument, and the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument — vast Pacific waters that have been closed to commercial fishing since their creation.
The White House said the move is intended to increase domestic seafood production, support American jobs, strengthen food and national security, and help lower seafood prices for consumers.
Thursday’s proclamation completes a broader series of actions taken by the administration to expand commercial fishing access in federally protected waters.
In April 2025, Trump signed an executive order creating the America First Seafood Strategy, along with a proclamation reopening portions of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument to U.S.-flagged vessels operating between 50 and 200 nautical miles offshore.
In February 2026, the administration reopened the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument off New England.
The latest action follows a recommendation approved on March 24, 2026, by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (Wespac), which urged reopening the remaining Pacific monuments.
The economic impact may be felt most strongly in American Samoa, where fishing remains the backbone of the private-sector economy.
According to administration figures, more than 80% of the territory’s private economy depends on fishing.
American Samoa is home to the nation’s only “Buy American”-compliant tuna cannery supplying U.S. military rations and school lunch programs. The facility employs approximately 5,000 workers, accounts for roughly 99.5% of the territory’s exports, and supports about 84% of private-sector employment.
American tuna purse-seine vessels and longline fleets are expected to be among the biggest beneficiaries of the newly reopened fishing grounds.
The White House argued that the benefits extend well beyond fishermen.
Commercial fishing supports jobs across harvesting, processing, transportation, shipbuilding, equipment manufacturing, distribution, sales, and marine services.
Administration officials said expanding domestic seafood production could strengthen the U.S. seafood supply chain and reduce dependence on imports, which currently account for the majority of seafood consumed in the United States.
The White House also linked the policy to household budgets, arguing that limiting domestic supply contributed to higher seafood prices for consumers.
The administration maintained that many targeted species, including tuna, are highly migratory and do not remain permanently within monument boundaries.
Officials argued those fisheries are already managed under federal law, including the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, making broad monument-wide fishing prohibitions unnecessary.
Under that view, the administration says the closures imposed economic costs while providing limited conservation benefits.
Opponents strongly disagree.
In August 2025, Judge Micah W. J. Smith of the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii vacated an earlier NOAA Fisheries authorization that would have allowed fishing in the Pacific Islands Heritage monument, ruling that required public procedures had not been followed.
That lawsuit was brought by Earthjustice, the Conservation Council for Hawai‘i, and the Center for Biological Diversity, which argued the administration’s actions violated protections established under the Antiquities Act.
Hawaii Governor Josh Green has publicly supported maintaining monument protections, while conservation organizations and some Native Hawaiian leaders have warned that reopening areas such as Papahānaumokuākea — one of the largest marine conservation regions in the world and an area of profound cultural significance — could cause lasting environmental damage.
Legal challenges to Thursday’s proclamation are widely expected.
The administration described the proclamation as part of a broader effort to reduce regulatory barriers at NOAA, expand access to fisheries, and increase catch opportunities based on what it calls the best available science.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and NOAA Administrator Neil Jacobs have repeatedly argued that increasing access to domestic fisheries will help strengthen coastal economies and put more American-caught seafood on American tables.
The White House said the administration’s combined fisheries actions have unlocked billions of dollars in potential economic value.
For the U.S. fishing industry, Thursday’s proclamation represents one of the most significant expansions of commercial access in years.
For American Samoa’s tuna fleet, its canneries, and the thousands of jobs tied to them, it opens the door to fishing grounds that have largely been off limits for more than a decade.
The next chapter will depend on how NOAA implements the policy and whether the courts ultimately allow the expanded access to remain in place.
JBizNews Desk — Washington
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JBizNews1 day agoThe 2026 FIFA World Cup kicked off Thursday at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, where co-host Mexico defeated South Africa 2-0 in front of a packed home crowd. The match opened the largest World Cup in history — a 104-game tournament spanning 16 cities across the United States, Mexico, and Canada, marking the first time three nations have jointly hosted the event. The tournament concludes with the final on July 19 in the New York-New Jersey region.
The opening day carried significance far beyond the result on the field. Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada declared a local holiday to celebrate the kickoff, while President Claudia Sheinbaum indicated a broader national observance remained under consideration. The opening ceremony transformed the nearly 87,500-seat stadium into a global entertainment stage, featuring performances by Shakira, Burna Boy, J Balvin, and Maná.
For FIFA, the World Cup is far more than a sporting event — it is the organization’s largest economic engine.
The expanded 48-team format, up from 32 teams in previous tournaments, creates more matches, more sponsorship inventory, more ticket sales, and significantly more broadcast content. FIFA has projected record revenues for the current cycle, driven largely by the expansion.
Host cities are hoping for their own economic boost.
The tournament is expected to attract millions of visitors across North America, generating spending on hotels, restaurants, transportation, entertainment, and tourism. Cities hosting matches are positioning themselves as global destinations, using the event to showcase local infrastructure and attract future investment.
Mexico City’s holiday declaration reflects how seriously local leaders view the economic opportunity.
The opening venue itself illustrates the business side of modern sports.
Estadio Azteca recently entered a naming-rights agreement with Mexican financial institution Banorte and is officially branded Banorte Stadium. However, because Banorte is not an official FIFA sponsor, the governing body required the venue to be referred to as “Mexico City Stadium” during the tournament.
The move highlights FIFA’s strict sponsorship protections, designed to preserve exclusivity for companies that pay billions for official tournament partnerships.
Broadcasting remains another major revenue source.
In the United States, matches are being carried by Fox Sports and Telemundo, while streaming coverage is spread across multiple digital platforms. Fox-owned Tubi streamed portions of the opening festivities free in 4K, reflecting the growing importance of ad-supported streaming models for major live events.
The World Cup also fuels a vast consumer marketplace that extends far beyond television.
Official jerseys, merchandise, collectibles, licensing agreements, music partnerships, and promotional campaigns are expected to generate billions in additional spending worldwide. Global brands continue to compete aggressively for visibility during what remains the most-watched sporting event on the planet.
Not everything surrounding the tournament has been celebratory.
Rights groups and some fans have raised concerns about security planning at several venues, while dynamic ticket pricing has generated criticism after some ticket costs rose significantly above original face values. Economists also continue to debate whether the long-term financial benefits of hosting major sporting events justify the substantial public spending often required.
For now, however, the focus remains on the tournament itself.
Mexico’s opening victory gave home supporters an early reason to celebrate, while businesses across North America are preparing for weeks of increased tourism and consumer activity. As the tournament unfolds, the broader question for host cities will be how much of the spending and attention generated by the World Cup translates into lasting economic gains after the final match is played in the New York region next month.
JBizNews Desk — North America
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JBizNews1 day agoCryptocurrencies rallied Thursday after President Donald Trump said he had called off planned U.S. military strikes on Iran, easing fears of a wider conflict and sending investors back into risk assets.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he had “canceled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening,” adding that negotiations had reached the highest levels of Iran’s leadership and that a potential agreement could be finalized soon. Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump said a deal could potentially be signed over the weekend.
The announcement sparked a broad rally across digital assets.
Bitcoin climbed to an intraday high of approximately $63,850, while Ethereum approached $1,700. XRP and Dogecoin also posted strong gains as investors moved back into speculative assets. The total cryptocurrency market capitalization rose nearly 2%, reaching roughly $2.17 trillion.
The reaction followed a familiar market pattern. When geopolitical tensions ease, investors generally become more comfortable holding volatile assets, and cryptocurrencies often benefit disproportionately.
Trump’s comments came just one day after U.S. forces launched strikes against Iran following the loss of a U.S. Army helicopter near the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global energy corridor responsible for transporting a significant share of the world’s oil and natural gas supplies.
Although Trump signaled progress toward diplomacy, he also said the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports would remain in place until any agreement is formally completed, highlighting the fragile nature of the situation.
Markets remain cautious.
Iranian officials have not publicly confirmed that a final agreement has been reached, and at least one senior Iranian official reportedly stated that Tehran has not approved a framework.
Investor sentiment also remains weak despite Thursday’s rally. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index continued to register “Extreme Fear,” suggesting many traders remain skeptical about the sustainability of the move.
According to data from Coinglass, more than $260 million in crypto positions were liquidated during the previous 24 hours, with the majority consisting of short positions betting on lower prices. As those bets were forced to close, buying pressure accelerated the rally.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin open interest increased approximately 1.2%, indicating additional capital entering the market.
Another major event looming over financial markets is the highly anticipated SpaceX IPO.
The Elon Musk-led aerospace company priced what has been described as the largest stock sale in history this week, raising approximately $75 billion and preparing to begin trading Friday on the Nasdaq.
Such a massive offering could attract significant investor capital away from other speculative investments, including cryptocurrencies.
Widely followed market analyst Michaël van de Poppe warned that the timing could make conditions “tricky” for Bitcoin and other digital assets.
Van de Poppe said Bitcoin must hold a key support level near $63,200 to maintain upward momentum.
“However, if the trend stalls, we’ll probably hit the low of this correction in the weekend,” he said.
By Thursday afternoon, Bitcoin remained slightly above that threshold, but analysts said the coming days will determine whether the breakout can hold.
Additional signs of speculation emerged beneath the surface of the rally.
Research firm CryptoQuant reported rising activity in derivatives markets, particularly in Ethereum. Open interest in Ethereum futures on the Binance exchange reached a record high, reflecting increased use of leverage by traders seeking to capitalize on market volatility.
While leverage can amplify gains, it can also accelerate losses if sentiment reverses.
Thursday’s trading session highlighted how closely cryptocurrency markets have become tied to geopolitical developments and policy headlines.
A single social-media post from Trump helped move hundreds of billions of dollars across financial markets within hours. Analysts noted that just as quickly, those gains could reverse if negotiations break down.
The market now faces two competing forces.
A formal Iran agreement could remove one of the largest sources of uncertainty confronting investors and support continued buying of risk assets. At the same time, a successful SpaceX market debut could attract investor attention and capital away from cryptocurrencies.
For now, Bitcoin remains above the critical level analysts are watching, and traders will be closely monitoring both the Iran negotiations and Friday’s historic SpaceX debut to determine whether the rally has staying power.
JBizNews Desk — Markets
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JBizNews1 day agoFor the first time, Americans exposed to COVID-19 will have access to a prescription pill designed to help prevent the illness from developing after contact with an infected person. The approval marks a new phase in the long-term management of a virus that has largely faded from public attention but continues to cause hospitalizations and deaths across the United States.
Shionogi & Co. announced on June 1 that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Xocova (ensitrelvir) for post-exposure prevention of COVID-19 in adults and adolescents age 12 and older who have been exposed to someone infected with the virus.
According to the company, Xocova becomes the first FDA-approved oral medication specifically cleared to reduce the risk of developing COVID-19 after exposure.
The treatment is designed to be simple and fast. Patients take three tablets on the first day followed by one tablet daily for the next four days, creating a five-day regimen intended to begin shortly after exposure.
The approval is based on results from the SCORPIO-PEP clinical trial, which enrolled 2,387 participants who had been exposed to an infected household member. According to trial data, people who received Xocova experienced a 67% reduction in the risk of developing symptomatic COVID-19 compared with those who received a placebo.
The drug works by targeting a key enzyme the coronavirus needs to reproduce. By blocking the virus’s main protease, ensitrelvir interferes with viral replication before the infection becomes established.
Reported side effects in clinical trials included headache, diarrhea, and cough. The medication also carries standard warnings regarding use during pregnancy and other medical considerations that should be discussed with a healthcare provider.
While COVID no longer dominates headlines, the virus remains a significant public health concern.
According to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States recorded between 3.8 million and 12.4 million COVID-19 cases between October 2025 and late May 2026. Those infections were associated with as many as 240,000 hospitalizations and 42,000 deaths during the period.
The approval also highlights an important shift within the pharmaceutical industry.
During the pandemic, companies such as Pfizer and Moderna generated billions of dollars from vaccines and treatments developed during the global emergency. As COVID became endemic and demand for those products declined, revenue from pandemic-era medicines fell sharply.
Shionogi is betting that a preventive treatment aimed at recently exposed individuals can fill a different market niche.
The company estimates that nearly half of people living with an infected household member ultimately contract the virus themselves, creating a potentially significant population that may seek preventive treatment following exposure.
The approval follows a lengthy regulatory process.
After earlier efforts to secure U.S. approval for ensitrelvir as a treatment for active COVID-19 infections faced challenges, the company shifted its focus toward prevention, where clinical trial results proved more successful. The FDA granted approval ahead of its scheduled June 16 decision deadline.
The medicine is already approved in Japan, where it initially received emergency authorization in 2022 before later receiving full approval.
Outside experts say the drug’s value lies in its ability to intervene early.
By slowing viral replication shortly after exposure, the treatment may reduce the likelihood that the virus gains a foothold and progresses into symptomatic illness.
For investors and the pharmaceutical industry, the approval represents a test of whether COVID prevention remains a viable commercial market years after the pandemic emergency ended.
The vaccine boom may be over, but COVID continues to circulate globally. The success of Xocova will depend on whether physicians and patients embrace post-exposure treatment as a routine part of managing the virus, or whether most people continue to rely on vaccination, natural immunity, and time.
Either way, the FDA’s decision opens an entirely new category of COVID prevention in the United States.
This article is general business and healthcare reporting and should not be considered medical advice. Individuals should consult a qualified healthcare professional regarding treatment options.
JBizNews Desk — Health Care
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JBizNews1 day agoFord is recalling more than 548,000 vehicles over a center console defect that could cause injury to the occupants, according to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The recall affects certain 2018-2024 Ford Expedition vehicles, the federal regulator said Thursday. A total of 548,463 vehicles are affected by the recall.
The center console’s chrome plating may bubble and peel over time, potentially leading to sharp edges, the regulator said. Passengers who come into contact with the sharp edges face an increased risk of injury.
KIA RECALLS 6K VEHICLES DUE TO POSSIBLE SEAT BELT DEFECT THAT COULD RAISE INJURY RISK
“A customer may come in contact with the sharp edge of peeling chrome while driving, increasing the risk of injury,” the NHTSA report reads.
The NHTSA said the defect may have been caused by the center console chrome trim that was manufactured by a supplier using parameters that failed to meet Ford’s specifications.
The manufacturers listed in the regulator’s report are automotive parts suppliers Xin Point and Forvia.
According to the recall report, Ford identified a trend in the NHTSA’s Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQs) in September about the bubbling and peeling of chrome trim on the center console of 2019-2020 model-year Ford Expedition vehicles.
“Five of the six reported VOQs allege customer hand injuries from contact with the sharp edge of the peeling chrome trim,” the report reads.
Ford said it is aware of one accident and 65 injuries in connection with this issue.
MORE THAN 1 MILLION JEEP VEHICLES RECALLED OVER FIRE RISK AS OWNERS WARNED NOT TO PARK INSIDE
“Customer reports of hand and finger lacerations associated with this condition include a small number of instances stating that professional medical attention was required,” the report says.
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Customers affected by the recall will be able to go to a Ford dealer to have their vehicles inspected, and center consoles replaced as necessary, at no cost.
Notification letters about the safety risk are expected to be mailed out on June 29.
Additional letters will be sent in January of next year “once the remedy is available,” according to the NHTSA.
JBizNews1 day agoChick-fil-A has added a new entrée option to its Kids Meal lineup, introducing a Mac & Cheese Kids Meal at restaurants nationwide.
The meal is available now and includes an entrée, side item, drink and prize.
The launch marks the first time Chick-fil-A has offered macaroni and cheese as a standalone Kids Meal entrée, expanding beyond its past options of grilled or crispy chicken nuggets and chicken strips.
THE ROTISSERIE CHICKEN PURSE IS DESTINED TO BE SUMMER’S MUST-HAVE GROCERY STORE ACCESSORY
The Mac & Cheese Kids Meal features a medium-sized serving of the chain’s macaroni and cheese, which is made with a blend of Parmesan, cheddar and Romano cheeses and baked daily in restaurants.
Customers can also add bacon to the entrée for an additional charge.
Guests can choose from a variety of sides, including Waffle Potato Fries, Waffle Potato Chips, a fruit cup or applesauce.
DOCTORS REVEAL HEALTHIEST FAST-FOOD MEALS AND THE MENU ITEMS THEY SAY TO AVOID
Drink options include white or chocolate milk, Honest Kids Apple Juice, Simply Orange, bottled water or upgraded fountain and frozen beverages.
The addition reflects Chick-fil-A’s effort to broaden options for younger diners, particularly children who may prefer non-chicken menu items.
Macaroni and cheese has long been one of the chain’s most popular side dishes and is now available as the centerpiece of a Kids Meal for the first time.
COSTCO FANS ERUPT AFTER BELOVED FOOD COURT ITEM REPLACED BY HIGH-CALORIE NEWCOMER
Chick-fil-A is also rolling out a new collection of Kids Meal prizes at select locations.
The lineup includes cow-themed toys and games inspired by the company’s longstanding mascot, such as a Clip a Cow keychain, Cow Kart cardboard racer, Hasbro Cow Games and a Cow Case featuring one of six foldable games.
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The new Mac & Cheese Kids Meal is available now at participating Chick-fil-A restaurants across the United States, while toy availability may vary by location.
FOX Business has reached out to Chick-fil-A for comment.
JBizNews1 day agoSpaceX confirmed on Thursday, June 11, that it had priced what the company described as the largest stock sale in history — approximately 555.6 million shares at $135 each, raising about $75 billion. While investors around the world rushed to participate, many investors in mainland China and Hong Kong found themselves locked out of the offering due to U.S. export-control restrictions tied to defense-related technology.
Rather than buying SpaceX directly, many investors across Asia have turned to an alternative strategy: purchasing shares of publicly traded suppliers, satellite component manufacturers, and investment funds that already hold private stakes in the company.
The company, led by Elon Musk, is expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX on Friday at a valuation of roughly $1.75 trillion. Underwriters also hold an option to purchase an additional 83.3 million shares. The offering surpasses the previous record established by Saudi Aramco’s 2019 IPO.
Restrictions reportedly went beyond simply rejecting orders. Access to SpaceX’s website and IPO marketing materials was blocked in mainland China and Hong Kong, preventing many investors from reviewing offering documents or participating directly.
One of those investors was Hu Xiaobin, a retail trader from China’s Anhui province. Anticipating growing interest in the company, he spent months purchasing shares of Chinese-listed companies connected to SpaceX’s supply chain.
Among his holdings were Sunway Communication, which manufactures components used in Starlink ground terminals, and Western Superconducting Technologies, a producer of specialty metals used in aerospace applications.
Hu later sold both positions before the IPO, describing the trade as successful “value speculation.”
One of the biggest beneficiaries of investor enthusiasm has been Lens Technology, a Shenzhen-listed supplier known for working with Apple and Tesla. The company’s stock has surged nearly 50% this year, reaching record highs after identifying commercial space as a new growth opportunity.
Interest intensified further in May when company chairman Zhou Qunfei was photographed seated between Apple CEO Tim Cook and Elon Musk during a Beijing banquet held to welcome President Donald Trump, fueling speculation about future business opportunities involving Musk’s companies.
Taiwan has also emerged as a major focus for investors seeking indirect exposure to SpaceX.
The island produces many of the electronic components used in satellite systems. Companies including Chin-Poon Industrial, Wistron NeWeb, and Universal Microwave Technology have publicly stated that they supply SpaceX.
According to Jeffrey Chan, a director at Hong Kong-based Central Asset Management, investors are also watching Compeq, Tong Hsing Electronic, Kinpo, and Japan’s Meiko Electronics as potential beneficiaries of SpaceX’s future growth.
“For local retail investors, getting a direct piece of the IPO book is going to be incredibly tough,” Chan said, adding that he expects SpaceX to become a core holding for many global growth-oriented funds.
Investor interest has expanded beyond suppliers.
The Tema Space Innovators ETF, which owns a small pre-IPO stake in SpaceX, has gained approximately 29% since launching in March. Meanwhile, the Tradr 2x Fly Long Daily ETF, which offers leveraged exposure to space company Firefly Aerospace, has attracted significant attention from traders.
In Europe, satellite companies including Eutelsat of France, OHB of Germany, and SES of Luxembourg have all posted strong gains this year as investors seek exposure to the broader commercial-space sector.
Not everyone believes the rally is sustainable.
Nicholas Smith, Japan strategist at brokerage CLSA, said much of the recent buying appears to be driven by retail investors rather than large institutions.
“It’s a great story if you’re a trader,” Smith said. “But I doubt people would be making big bets on this.”
Others see genuine long-term opportunity.
Nick Wilcox, managing director at Man Group, believes the capital raised through the offering could translate into increased spending throughout SpaceX’s supplier network.
“There is a raft of Asian companies that will be highly benefiting from that,” Wilcox said.
Still, analysts caution that many supplier stocks have already risen sharply on expectations that may not materialize. Thinly traded aerospace and satellite suppliers can be highly volatile, and future business relationships remain uncertain.
For investors in mainland China and Hong Kong, however, the irony remains clear: the company they most want to own is the one they still cannot directly buy.
JBizNews Desk — Asia
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JBizNews1 day agoThe new chairman of the Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh, is signaling that he plans to fight inflation in a fundamentally different way than many of his predecessors, a shift that could reshape interest rates, mortgages, business borrowing, and savings returns for millions of Americans. Warsh, himself a former Fed governor, laid out the case in testimony before the Senate Banking Committee on April 21, calling for a new framework to address persistent inflation and a different approach to communicating monetary policy.
The timing could hardly be more important. On Wednesday, June 10, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that consumer prices rose 4.2% over the past year, the fastest pace in three years. The report arrives just days before the Federal Reserve’s next policy meeting on June 16–17, where officials will decide whether interest rates should remain unchanged, move higher, or eventually begin to fall.
At the center of Warsh’s thinking is a belief that artificial intelligence may significantly alter how inflation behaves. Warsh has repeatedly argued that AI could become one of the most powerful productivity-enhancing technologies in modern history. Greater productivity allows businesses to produce more goods and services without proportionally increasing costs, potentially easing inflationary pressures while supporting economic growth.
In practical terms, Warsh believes the economy may be capable of growing faster than traditional models suggest without automatically triggering higher inflation. If productivity rises sharply because of AI adoption, businesses may be able to absorb costs more efficiently, potentially reducing the need for aggressive interest-rate increases.
That view challenges decades of Federal Reserve orthodoxy. Traditional economic models often assume that when unemployment falls too low and economic activity accelerates, inflation eventually rises. Under that framework, the Fed frequently raises rates to cool demand and prevent prices from climbing too quickly.
Warsh has suggested that relationship may be weaker than many economists assume. Rather than focusing primarily on historical relationships between growth and inflation, he has emphasized productivity, innovation, investment, and supply-side improvements as important drivers of price stability.
He has also criticized what he sees as excessive reliance on backward-looking economic data. Government reports often arrive weeks or months after underlying economic activity occurs. Warsh has argued that policymakers should pay closer attention to real-time developments in business investment, technological adoption, and productivity trends.
Beyond inflation policy, Warsh has advocated broader changes at the central bank. He has called for a more aggressive reduction of the Fed’s balance sheet, which still contains trillions of dollars in assets accumulated during years of quantitative easing. He has also suggested that the Federal Reserve should simplify how it communicates with markets and focus more narrowly on its core economic responsibilities.
Supporters argue that these changes could restore credibility to an institution that faced criticism for initially underestimating the inflation surge that followed the pandemic-era economic recovery.
The challenge for Warsh is that current economic conditions are testing his framework. While AI may eventually boost productivity, inflation today is being driven by more immediate factors, including higher energy costs, supply disruptions, and geopolitical uncertainty.
As a result, the Federal Reserve faces a difficult balancing act. Cutting rates too quickly could risk reigniting inflation, while keeping rates elevated for too long could slow economic growth and increase borrowing costs for households and businesses.
Several former Federal Reserve officials have noted that institutional realities may limit how dramatically policy changes. Dennis Lockhart, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, has suggested that regardless of personal philosophy, any Fed chair ultimately must respond to incoming economic data. Loretta Mester, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, has similarly emphasized the importance of building consensus among policymakers.
For consumers, the outcome matters directly. Mortgage rates, auto loans, business lending, and savings yields are all influenced by Federal Reserve policy. A more growth-oriented approach could eventually lower borrowing costs and stimulate investment. A more cautious approach could keep rates elevated in an effort to prevent inflation from becoming entrenched.
The upcoming Federal Reserve meeting may provide the first significant indication of how Warsh intends to navigate that challenge. Investors, businesses, and consumers will be watching closely to see whether the new chairman emphasizes productivity-driven optimism or maintains a more traditional focus on inflation risks.
Either way, the decisions made over the coming months will have consequences far beyond Wall Street, influencing everything from home purchases and business expansion plans to retirement savings and household budgets.
JBizNews Desk — Washington
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JBizNews1 day agoWASHINGTON, June 11 — A food-safety issue that began with bulk powdered milk continues to spread through the food supply chain as additional products made with the recalled ingredient are removed from store shelves.
The original recall began on April 20, 2026, when California Dairies Inc. voluntarily recalled large quantities of powdered milk and buttermilk powder due to potential Salmonella contamination, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Since then, the FDA has continued tracing products that used the ingredient, leading to additional recalls involving downstream manufacturers.
The original action involved approximately 2.68 million pounds of low-heat nonfat dry milk and an additional 19,841 pounds of buttermilk powder.
Because the ingredients were sold primarily to manufacturers and distributors rather than directly to consumers, the contamination concern quickly spread throughout the food production system.
Companies that purchased the ingredients incorporated them into a variety of products or repackaged them under separate brand names.
As a result, the list of affected products continues to expand.
The recall received a Class I designation, the FDA’s most serious recall classification.
A Class I recall indicates a reasonable probability that exposure to the product could cause serious health consequences or death.
Salmonella infections can produce fever, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and severe illness.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Salmonella causes approximately 1.35 million infections, 26,500 hospitalizations, and 420 deaths annually in the United States.
Young children, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems face the greatest risk.
Powdered milk appears in far more products than many consumers realize.
It is commonly used in baking mixes, snack foods, soups, sauces, chocolate products, processed foods, and numerous packaged goods.
That widespread use makes recalls involving powdered milk particularly difficult to contain.
A single contaminated ingredient can affect dozens of brands and manufacturers across the country.
Consumers are encouraged to review current FDA recall notices and compare affected lot numbers and product codes with items in their homes.
Products included in recall notices should be discarded or returned according to manufacturer instructions.
Because additional products may continue to be identified, food-safety experts recommend periodically checking updated FDA recall lists.
The case highlights how interconnected modern food production has become.
A single supplier can provide ingredients to numerous manufacturers, distributors, and retailers nationwide.
When contamination occurs, recalls often extend far beyond the original company.
Industry experts say the incident demonstrates the importance of traceability systems that allow regulators and manufacturers to quickly identify where affected ingredients were used.
Those systems help limit public exposure and reduce the scope of food-safety incidents.
JBizNews Desk — Washington
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JBizNews1 day agoSpaceX’s first employee, Tom Mueller, said the company’s record-breaking IPO will be a “life-changing” moment for employees during an exclusive interview with “The Claman Countdown” on Thursday.
SpaceX will start trading on the NASDAQ on Friday in the largest IPO in history. The IPO is expected to be priced at $135 per share and aims to raise $75 billion, valuing the company at $1.77 trillion.
“Elon always said that ‘Your salary is one thing, but it’s the equity that’s gonna be worth something.’ And we are all like, ‘Yeah, okay someday,” Mueller said. _“_That day is here. It’s great.”
WHY IT’S INEVITABLE THAT ELON MUSK WILL BE A TRILLIONAIRE
SpaceX will trade under the ticker symbol SPCX, and its employees could become millionaires based on their access to stock options.
The IPO will create more than 4,000 new millionaires among current and former employees of the 24-year-old space giant, according to estimations.
“We’re having a little party tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. We’re going to ring our own bell and celebrate with a bunch of early SpaceX employees,” Mueller told FOX Business.
SpaceX’s founder, Elon Musk, could possibly become the world’s first trillionaire following the historic market debut.
SPACEX TO SEND STARSHIP TO MARS NEXT YEAR, ELON MUSK CONFIRMS
His estimated net worth could rise 26%, from roughly $793 billion to $1 trillion, based on the market value of the assets he owns, including SpaceX and Tesla.
Mueller, who was hired as SpaceX’s first employee in 2002, led projects including the Merlin Engine that powers Falcon 9, the Raptor Engine that powers Starship and other key propulsion systems.
He said joining SpaceX from a large, bureaucratic space corporation was “refreshing” and gave him more freedom to innovate, describing Musk’s company culture as energizing.
“I had just come from TRW, a big space corporation, and getting away from the bureaucracy and able to move fast and really be energized and do the type of product development that we wanted to do… It was really refreshing and fun, actually, even though it was hard. It was actually really satisfying,” Mueller said.
FIRST PRIVATE SPACEX POLAR MISSION SPLASHES DOWN NEAR CALIFORNIA
Mueller explained how a pivotal moment in 2008 helped pull the company, which generated $18.7 billion in revenue in 2025, back from the brink of bankruptcy.
“2008 was actually the year that we finally made orbit, the fourth flight of Falcon 1 made orbit that year, and it was also when we were just about out of money and that flight saved us,” he told “The Claman Countdown.”
“Then we really got regimented and started flying Falcon 9, the rocket that’s currently flying. And it’s been the most reliable rocket in history. So, it really all came together. And now look where we’re at now. We’re a trillion-dollar company.”
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Major investors and corporations are eagerly awaiting SpaceX’s market debut, with BlackRock placing an order for at least $5 billion in shares, according to The Wall Street Journal.
IPO investors can make trades as soon as the SpaceX stock goes live on Friday.
JBizNews1 day agoNEW YORK, June 11 — Gold prices continued their sharp decline on Thursday, June 11, falling to their lowest levels in roughly six to seven months despite rising inflation and escalating conflict in the Middle East.
Spot gold traded near $4,100 per ounce, down more than 10% over the past month, even as investors confront war concerns, higher energy costs, and renewed inflation pressures.
Ordinarily, those conditions would support demand for gold as a traditional safe-haven asset.
Instead, investors are increasingly focused on the prospect of higher interest rates.
The conflict with Iran and disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz have pushed oil and gasoline prices sharply higher, fueling inflation concerns.
At the same time, investors increasingly believe the Federal Reserve may keep rates elevated for longer—or potentially raise them further—to contain rising prices.
That expectation has strengthened the U.S. dollar and boosted Treasury yields.
The U.S. Dollar Index climbed to its strongest level since April, while the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note moved above 4.50%.
Because gold pays no interest, it often struggles when bonds and cash offer higher returns.
As interest-bearing investments become more attractive, some investors shift money away from precious metals.
Silver has faced similar pressure, falling sharply alongside gold.
The decline comes despite continued demand from global central banks.
Central banks purchased approximately 244 metric tons of gold during the first quarter of 2026, continuing a multi-year trend of diversification away from the U.S. dollar.
Demand for physical gold bars also increased earlier in the year, although jewelry demand weakened in major markets including India and China.
Those purchases have helped support prices but have not been enough to reverse the broader selloff.
Supporters of gold point to several longer-term trends.
U.S. federal debt now exceeds $37 trillion, while annual interest payments have surpassed $1 trillion.
Meanwhile, central banks have remained net buyers of gold for four consecutive years.
Historically, those conditions have supported long-term demand for precious metals.
The challenge for gold today is the behavior of so-called real yields—the return investors receive after accounting for inflation.
When interest rates rise faster than inflation expectations, gold becomes less attractive relative to bonds and cash.
Adding to pressure on precious metals, the European Central Bank raised its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points on Thursday, bringing the rate to 2.25%.
The ECB also increased its inflation forecasts, citing higher energy costs and economic uncertainty linked to the Middle East conflict.
Higher interest rates globally create additional headwinds for gold markets.
Attention now turns to the Federal Reserve’s upcoming June meeting.
Investors are closely watching for guidance from Chair Kevin Warsh and updated projections showing where policymakers believe rates are headed.
Markets largely expect rates to remain unchanged this month.
The larger question is whether officials signal further tightening later this year.
A more aggressive outlook could pressure gold further, while indications that rates may stabilize could support a rebound.
For many investors, the recent decline serves as a reminder that gold is not always a straightforward inflation hedge.
In the short term, interest-rate expectations often matter more than inflation itself.
JBizNews Desk — New York
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JBizNews1 day agoBeni Sabti, an Iranian researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), implied that Israel is a US proxy, just as Hezbollah is an Iranian proxy, and criticized the American strategy amid the exchange of blows between the United States and Iran during an interview for 103FM.
Sabti addressed the attack on military infrastructure carried out by the Americans on the orders of US President Donald Trump, against the backdrop of the exchanges between the United States and Iran, and argued that Trump’s current strategy is fundamentally mistaken.
“President Trump is playing into their hands because he is creating South Lebanon or Vietnam,” Sabti said. “Continuing the war at this level plays into the hands of the Iranian regime. It gives them an excuse to remain in a state of emergency, not to take care of the public’s needs, to waste resources, and to transfer money to Hezbollah. We are entering some kind of Iranian quagmire.”
Sabti also said that the effect of heavy economic pressure and damage to infrastructure on Iranian civilians is low and doesn’t push the Iranian people to rise up against the regime. “We’ve seen this movie in Gaza. Did it matter to Yahya Sinwar or Mohammed Deif that we were bombing and destroying the buildings? Do we want to take a risk and wait a year until the public goes out into the streets?
“The only solution for the Iranian regime is to eliminate the senior officials and produce a result in a short period of time,” he pointed out.
To illustrate his point, Sabti detailed the decision-making structure in Tehran: “Mojtaba Khamenei is one link, and he is the weak link. If you uproot and destroy the 15 people around him, you solve the problem. These are the operatives and the thinkers who make the decisions in Iran today.”
“Mojtaba sits in a tunnel and does not even know whether his orders are being carried out. When you neutralize the people who actually make the decisions, like Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Ahmad Vahidi, you achieve a decision.”
The discussion later turned to the fighting in Lebanon and the American restrictions on strikes in Beirut.
While the IDF has made gains against Hezbollah and inflicted severe damage to the organization, Sabti made clear that it must cut off the head of the snake.
“I kiss the hands and feet of the soldiers who are doing an amazing job,” Sabti said.
“But as long as you do not strike the head of the enemy, you are really giving it life. This effect of being in a war is good for them. Instead of going to the source, we are killing the mosquitoes one by one.”
JBizNews1 day agoHigh drama today as President Trump called off the Iranian bombing and announced that a deal with Iran is imminent from his Truth Social posting that “Discussions and final points have been, in both concept and great detail, approved by all parties involved.” That’s America, Israel, Iran and all of the Gulf states involved in the war.
The president spoke about this today at the White House: “The Strait will officially open as soon as we sign, which could be soon. Very soon, maybe over the weekend in Europe.”
Stock markets soared; oil prices fell. Mr. Trump also noted on his Truth Social that “the Naval Blockade will remain in full force and effect until this Transaction is finalized.”
And my great hope is that no money is given to Iran for a long time, until they prove that their behavior is changing. And frankly, while I applaud President Trump’s diplomatic endeavors — such as negotiating with bombs — I have nothing but skepticism about Iran following through on their promises.
Just yesterday, the United Nation’s nuclear watchdog blasted Iran for failing to allow inspection and verification of their weapons and their weapons-grade uranium. That’s an old story.
And Mr. Trump, in whatever the deal turns out to be, is surely going to want complete denuclearization, some kind of end to their enriched uranium, as well as reopening the strait toll free and an end to Iran’s state sponsorship of terrorism in Israel and throughout the Middle East.
As President Reagan always said, trust but verify. And as both Reagan and Mr. Trump believe, peace through strength.
Meanwhile, one of the really neat developing stories, regardless of any Iranian deal, is Mr. Trump’s secret supply of oil tankers going through presumably the Oman Channel of the Hormuz Strait.
As Mr. Trump said yesterday and has corroborated by a number of oil watchdogs, some 200 ships transited the strait for a total of about 100 million barrels of oil over the past month.
That comes to about 3 million barrels per day. Recall that world oil supply and demand intersect at about 100 million barrels per day.
And the prior closing of the Strait took about 20 percent, or about 20 million barrels per day, off the market. So the supply shortages drove oil prices way up.
Yet this story is surreptitiously changing. Mr. Trump riffed about it earlier today: “Over the last month, we’ve been, taking our ships, big ships, quietly at night. You guys didn’t know that? Pretty cool. Right? As a captain, he knows about more about ships than I do. But it’s pretty cool. He turned off the lights.”
Mr. Trump added: “We bombed their radar and everything so they couldn’t see what was going on. And we took out, some nights, 25 ships, some nights, 15 days. Last 4 or 5 nights we did 25, 22, 21, 26, 18 and 14. Who else would remember those numbers? Nobody.” It’s “a lot of ships,” he concluded.
It’s a great story. Now administration sources tell me about a dozen ships per night are being moved through the strait. I’m doing some arithmetic now — that’s 360 a month.
Using the same ratio of the first month’s secret passage, that will get us about 180 million additional barrels of oil which would come to roughly 6 million barrels a day. That’s big stuff. Remember we’re 20 million barrels short because of the closing of the Strait.
Now last month’s 3 million barrel, perhaps this month’s 6 million barrels, that’s 9 million additional barrels per day to reduce the 20 million barrel shortfall.
These extra oil supplies are bringing oil prices down in the market place and will continue on a steady basis if it keeps up. Gasoline prices will be following in tow.
It’s a silver lining for the temporary inflation bulge. And it’s gonna make stocks strong and over time, interest rates softer.
Mr. Trump’s secret sauce. Think of it.
JBizNews1 day agoWASHINGTON, June 11 — Wholesale prices in the United States rose far faster than expected in May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Thursday, June 11, adding to evidence that inflation is heating up as higher energy costs ripple through the economy.
The Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures prices received by producers before those costs reach consumers, climbed 1.1% in May, pushing the annual rate to 6.5%, the highest reading since November 2022.
The increase came in well above economists’ forecasts. Analysts surveyed by Dow Jones had expected a 0.7% monthly increase, while FactSet economists projected 0.6% and a 6.4% annual rate. Instead, wholesale inflation matched April’s elevated pace, signaling that price pressures remain stubbornly strong.
Most of the increase came from goods prices.
Final-demand goods prices jumped 2.8% during the month, the largest increase since the current data series began in December 2009. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, goods accounted for nearly four-fifths of the overall monthly increase.
Energy prices were the primary driver.
Wholesale energy prices surged 10.7%, while wholesale gasoline prices jumped 23.4% in May.
The increase followed ongoing disruptions in global energy markets tied to the conflict with Iran and reduced shipping flows through the Strait of Hormuz, a key artery for global oil transportation.
Even after removing volatile food and energy prices, inflation remained elevated.
Core producer prices rose 0.4% during the month.
A broader measure excluding food, energy, and trade services climbed 0.8%, marking the largest monthly increase since March 2022. On a year-over-year basis, that measure increased 5.1%, the highest level since October 2022.
Among services, portfolio management fees increased 4.8%.
Food prices rose 0.6%, more than double April’s pace, although some categories declined, including pork prices, which fell 10.1%.
Further upstream, inflation pressures were even stronger.
Prices for unprocessed goods used in early-stage production increased 4.9% during May and were up 22.2% from a year earlier — the largest annual increase since September 2022.
Much of that increase was driven by an 11.8% jump in crude petroleum prices.
One notable exception was natural gas, where prices fell 18.2% during the month.
The report arrives one day after the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that consumer inflation reached 4.2% annually in May, the highest level in three years.
Producer prices often serve as an early warning sign because businesses frequently pass higher costs through to consumers.
When fuel, transportation, manufacturing inputs, and raw materials become more expensive, those increases often show up weeks or months later in grocery stores, retail shelves, utility bills, and household budgets.
Small businesses may face particularly difficult choices as margins tighten, forcing owners to absorb higher costs or pass them on to customers.
The report also complicates the outlook for the Federal Reserve.
At the start of the year, financial markets expected multiple interest-rate cuts. Persistent inflation has dramatically altered those expectations.
The Federal Reserve’s next meeting is scheduled for June 16–17 and will be the first chaired by Kevin Warsh. Policymakers are expected to release updated economic projections and interest-rate forecasts.
While markets see little chance of an immediate rate move, futures traders increasingly expect the possibility of another rate increase before year-end.
Higher interest rates would raise borrowing costs for consumers and businesses while inflation remains elevated, creating additional pressure on household budgets and economic growth.
The next Producer Price Index report is scheduled for July 15.
JBizNews Desk — Washington
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JBizNews1 day agoMortgage rates jumped this week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday.
Freddie Mac’s latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey, released Thursday, showed the average rate on the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage climbed to 6.52% from last week’s reading of 6.48%.
The average rate on a 30-year loan was 6.84% a year ago.
MORTGAGE RATES JUMP AS INFLATION FEARS, IRAN WAR WEIGH
“The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.52% this week,” Sam Khater, chief economist at Freddie Mac, said in a statement.
“Stronger employment momentum has helped existing home sales reach a five-month high. Importantly, we’re seeing homebuyers look past the short-term rate fluctuations and actively enter the market, signaling renewed confidence in homeownership opportunities.”
FORECLOSURES HIT HIGHEST LEVEL IN 6 YEARS AS INSURANCE, PROPERTY TAX COSTS SQUEEZE HOMEOWNERS
The average rate on a 15-year fixed mortgage rose to 5.84% from last week’s reading of 5.79%.
The U.S. added 172,000 jobs in May, beating forecasts, while unemployment held steady at 4.3%. The strong report may lower hopes for near-term interest rate cuts, according to Realtor.com economist Jiyai Xu.
The Labor Department also reported that the Consumer Price Index rose 4.2% year over year in May, the highest since April 2023.
Core inflation, excluding food and energy, rose 2.9%, according to Realtor.com.
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“What began as a question of when the Fed would cut rates has quietly shifted,” Xu said in a statement. “Ongoing global tensions and rising energy prices have prompted some to wonder whether a rate increase may be back on the table.”
JBizNews1 day agoThe clearest picture of how artificial intelligence is reshaping work in Asia can be found in India’s vast technology industry, where hiring has slowed to its weakest pace in more than two years. According to staffing data firm Xpheno, whose figures were reported during the week of June 8, entry-level job openings across India’s IT sector have fallen 44% from a year earlier, while senior-level postings are down 67%.
The numbers from India’s biggest employers tell the same story. Tata Consultancy Services made 25,000 job offers to new graduates last month, and Infosys is expected to hire about 20,000 in the coming year. Those figures sound large, but they are well below previous levels. Tata Consultancy Services hired more than 40,000 new graduates annually during each of the previous three years. Direct campus hiring across the industry now runs roughly 30% to 35% below historical levels.
What makes this shift striking is that the companies are not shrinking. They are growing output while holding headcount flat or reducing it. Tata Consultancy Services shed a net 13,249 employees in one recent fiscal year even as revenue continued rising, while Infosys recorded the largest annual headcount decline in its history, a 5.9% decrease. Neither company attributes the trend solely to AI, but the pattern is increasingly difficult to ignore: more work, fewer people.
The stakes are enormous because of the industry’s scale. India’s technology and business-process sector generated approximately $254 billion in revenue and employed 5.4 million people, according to NASSCOM. For decades, the sector thrived by providing skilled labor to multinational corporations. Artificial intelligence is now challenging that model.
The jobs facing the greatest pressure are the very positions that launched millions of careers: entry-level coding, software testing, routine customer support, and back-office processing. These roles absorbed vast numbers of graduates each year and helped build India’s middle class. AI tools increasingly perform many of those tasks, reducing the need for large numbers of entry-level workers. Recruiters describe a growing shift toward just-in-time hiring, where employees are added only when projects require them rather than being kept on large reserve benches.
The transformation is not limited to India. Across Asia’s major financial centers, AI is moving rapidly from pilot projects to everyday operations. In Hong Kong, a 2026 KPMG employment survey found that 24% of organizations are now widely deploying AI, triple the level reported a year earlier. KPMG identified AI literacy and practical AI application as the most valuable skills employees can possess. At the same time, more employers expect to reduce headcount than increase it, reflecting one of the most cautious hiring outlooks in recent years.
For workers with the right skills, however, the technology is creating opportunities. Research published in January by UNICEF Innocenti found that AI-related job postings across South Asia continue to rise and offer salaries roughly 30% higher than comparable white-collar positions. Workers who understand how to leverage AI are seeing measurable gains in earnings and productivity. The concern is that those gains may not be shared equally.
Researchers increasingly warn of a more divided labor market, where highly skilled workers benefit from higher pay and greater demand while workers performing routine tasks face fewer opportunities. The challenge is not merely job displacement but widening inequality between those who can effectively use AI and those who cannot.
The World Bank, in its recent report on East Asia and the Pacific, offered a more optimistic long-term perspective. Historically, new technologies have expanded employment overall by increasing productivity and creating new industries. However, the benefits have tended to flow disproportionately to skilled workers, while some less-skilled workers have been pushed into more informal and less secure forms of employment.
There is also an augmentation story unfolding alongside the displacement narrative. Microsoft’s 2026 Work Trend Index, which surveyed 20,000 AI users across ten countries, found that most respondents reported higher productivity, and a majority said AI enabled them to produce work they could not have completed just a year earlier. In many cases, AI is changing how work is performed rather than simply eliminating jobs.
For businesses, the implications are substantial. Investors are increasingly distinguishing between companies that are building AI-driven products and services and those that continue to rely primarily on selling human labor. The valuation gap between those models is expected to widen.
Governments are responding as well. India’s Karnataka state, home to Bangalore, is offering incentives aimed at doubling the number of multinational global capability centers operating there to 1,000 by 2029. These centers are expected to create higher-value jobs, though they are unlikely to absorb the vast numbers of graduates that the traditional outsourcing model once employed.
The broader trend across Asia is becoming clear. Artificial intelligence is increasing productivity, boosting wages for workers who master it, and raising the skill requirements for new entrants. For a region that built much of its modern economic success on abundant, affordable, educated labor, that represents one of the most significant workplace shifts in decades.
JBizNews Desk — Asia
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JBizNews1 day agoU.S. stocks rallied hard on Thursday, June 11, shaking off a hot inflation report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and fresh military action against Iran to close sharply higher.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 929 points, or 1.87%, to 50,848.38, climbing back above the 50,000 mark. The S&P 500 rose 1.74% to about 7,393, just shy of 7,400. The Nasdaq Composite gained 2.53% to roughly 25,806, and the small-cap Russell 2000 led everything with a 3.06% surge.
Tech, industrials, and materials drove the move, while energy, consumer staples, and real estate lagged.
The rally was striking because the morning’s economic news was not good.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Producer Price Index (PPI), which tracks wholesale prices, rose 1.1% in May, well above the 0.7% economists expected. The core reading, which strips out food and energy, rose 0.4%.
On an annual basis, wholesale inflation hit 6.5%, the fastest pace in nearly four years.
It landed a day after consumer prices were reported at a three-year high of 4.2%.
Hot inflation usually pushes the Federal Reserve away from cutting interest rates, and futures markets now lean toward a possible rate hike this year rather than the cuts investors expected in January.
So why did stocks climb?
The answer was Iran.
Even as explosions were reported across the country near the Strait of Hormuz and the United States carried out renewed strikes, Iranian officials signaled that a deal with Washington is close.
That hope for de-escalation outweighed the fighting itself, and traders bought the dip from Wednesday’s steep selloff.
The bigger draw was SpaceX.
Elon Musk’s rocket company is set to make its stock-market debut on Friday on the Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX, in what is expected to be the largest IPO in history.
According to people familiar with the offering, investor demand has topped $250 billion — roughly three-and-a-half to four times the company’s planned $75 billion target.
The size has some investors worried the debut could pull money out of other stocks.
Musk is also expected to appear virtually at an ASML event to discuss Terafab, a planned chipmaking plant intended to supply Tesla and SpaceX.
The day’s biggest single-stock story was Oracle, which fell about 12% even though its results beat expectations.
The software giant reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $19.18 billion, ahead of the roughly $19 billion Wall Street expected, with adjusted earnings of $2.11 per share versus estimates near $1.89.
What spooked investors was the spending.
Oracle said its total outlays reached $55.7 billion in fiscal 2026, above the $50 billion expected, and guided capital spending for fiscal 2027 to roughly $95 billion — about 40% higher than the $67.7 billion analysts had modeled.
The company said it plans to raise nearly $40 billion through debt and equity next year, including a previously announced $20 billion stock offering, to fund its artificial-intelligence buildout.
Oracle has signed major data-center deals with Meta Platforms and OpenAI as it pushes to compete with cloud leaders Amazon and Microsoft.
Chip stocks, which had been hammered in recent weeks, came roaring back.
Intel jumped about 10%, while Applied Materials and Arm Holdings each rose close to 8%.
On the losing side, GoDaddy slipped 2.5% and Axon Enterprise fell 2.2%.
After the closing bell, attention turned to Adobe, which reported fiscal second-quarter results.
Wall Street looked for earnings near $5.82 per share on revenue of about $6.46 billion.
Adobe shares have fallen roughly 28% this year on fears that new AI design tools could eat into its business.
Ahead of the print, RBC Capital maintained an Outperform rating with a $350 price target, while Mizuho held a Neutral view, citing limited near-term catalysts.
Homebuilder Lennar and luxury retailer RH also reported after the close, giving investors a read on housing and high-end consumer spending.
There was one more soft spot in the data.
The Labor Department said new claims for unemployment benefits totaled 229,000 in the week ending June 6, above forecasts, a small sign of cooling in the job market even as inflation runs hot — a difficult mix for the Federal Reserve to manage.
For one day, hope for an Iran deal and excitement over SpaceX won out over rising prices and war headlines.
The real test comes Friday, when SpaceX starts trading and Wall Street finds out whether the biggest IPO ever can hold up a market that has been swinging hundreds of points a day.
JBizNews Desk — New York
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JBizNews1 day agoPresident Donald Trump said Wednesday, June 10, that the U.S. military has been quietly helping oil tankers move through the Strait of Hormuz, claiming that more than 100 million barrels of oil and over 200 commercial ships have passed safely through the contested waterway. He disclosed the operation in remarks to reporters in the Oval Office and in a post on his Truth Social platform.
Trump said he directed the military last month to carry out what he described as a secret mission to support oil tankers and other commercial vessels navigating the strait, the narrow channel between Iran and Oman that has been largely disrupted since the war began.
“This wildly successful effort is because the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CONTROLS the Strait of Hormuz — NOT Iran,” Trump wrote, adding that Iran’s military has been weakened and its economy is under severe strain.
The president tied the operation directly to energy prices. He argued that the continued movement of oil through the region helped keep crude prices near $90 per barrel rather than surging above $200, a level some analysts have warned could occur if the strait were completely shut.
That economic angle is the heart of why this matters to ordinary Americans.
The Strait of Hormuz is one of the most important oil routes in the world. Before the conflict escalated, roughly 20 million barrels of oil per day flowed through the waterway, representing about one-fifth of global petroleum supply. Any disruption quickly affects fuel markets, shipping costs, airline expenses, manufacturing, and ultimately consumer prices.
When traffic through the strait became constrained, oil prices climbed and gasoline costs followed. Those higher energy expenses have filtered into transportation, food distribution, and retail supply chains across the economy.
Anything that restores even part of that flow can help reduce pressure.
Still, the picture is more complicated than the president’s description suggests.
Commercial traffic through Hormuz remains significantly below pre-war levels. Independent energy analysts note that global markets are still missing substantial volumes of oil that would normally transit the route. Industry estimates indicate that billions of barrels of expected shipments have been delayed or rerouted since the conflict began.
There is, however, some evidence that more oil may be moving through the region than publicly reported.
A recent JPMorgan analysis suggested that a meaningful volume of crude may still be exiting the Gulf through vessels operating with limited public tracking visibility. Analysts noted that oil exports appear higher than official shipping traffic alone would suggest.
At those estimated rates, Trump’s claimed totals fall within a range that analysts consider plausible, though still far below normal peacetime volumes.
Administration officials have also hinted at improving conditions.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said earlier this week that oil exports moving through Hormuz are “rising very meaningfully,” though he did not provide specific figures.
Meanwhile, ships that had been stranded inside the Persian Gulf have gradually resumed movement through the corridor amid ongoing coordination with U.S. military forces.
Exactly what role the military is playing remains somewhat unclear.
Earlier this year, Trump announced a mission known as Project Freedom, intended to assist commercial vessels affected by the conflict. Administration officials later indicated that U.S. forces were not formally escorting ships but were providing communications support, intelligence, monitoring, and defensive protection against attacks.
U.S. Central Command has stated that American forces are working to protect commercial shipping from drone, missile, and maritime threats in the region.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently told lawmakers that the United States has responded to Iranian attacks targeting commercial vessels. He warned that drone strikes against civilian ships pose significant environmental and economic risks and said U.S. forces respond when commercial traffic comes under attack.
For businesses and consumers, the implications are significant.
If more oil is successfully reaching global markets, it helps explain why crude prices have remained elevated but have not exploded to the levels many feared earlier this year. That stability benefits airlines, trucking companies, manufacturers, retailers, and families facing higher fuel bills.
Gasoline prices remain well above pre-conflict levels, and inflation pressures tied to energy costs continue to affect household budgets. Any improvement in oil flows therefore has direct consequences for the broader economy.
The conflict, however, remains unresolved, and the Strait of Hormuz is still operating far below normal capacity.
Energy forecasters continue to expect elevated oil prices through much of the year unless shipping conditions improve substantially.
Trump’s announcement signals that the administration believes its efforts are helping keep energy supplies moving despite the conflict. Whether that translates into sustained relief at the gas pump will depend on how much oil is truly flowing and how long the disruption lasts.
JBizNews Desk — Energy
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JBizNews1 day agoAmericans’ mood about money has hit a record low. In late May, the University of Michigan reported that its consumer sentiment index fell to 44.8 — the lowest reading in the survey’s history. The survey’s director, Joanne Hsu, said the cost of living was the top concern, with 57% of people naming high prices as the reason their finances feel worse. It was the third straight month of decline.
That is not a Wall Street number. That is a kitchen-table number, and it is flashing red.
This is not a slow drift. The struggle is surging.
A survey released in February by The Century Foundation found that more than one in three Americans (34%) had skipped a meal in the past year to save money, up from one in four just months earlier. That is how fast this is moving. Families are not only skipping meals; they are skipping doctor visits and going without medication.
People are not trimming the fat anymore. They are cutting into the bone.
It shows up at the most basic place a family spends money. A CNN poll in late May found that 61% of Americans had cut back on groceries to stay within budget, and 59% had cut back on extras and entertainment. When a majority of the country is buying less food, that is not a soft patch.
That is a warning siren.
So people take on more work just to stand still. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the number of Americans holding more than one job hit roughly 9.3 million in November 2025 — the most ever recorded since the government began tracking it in 1994. Half of those workers hold a college degree.
A second job used to be how you got ahead. For millions of families, it is now how you keep the lights on.
The math behind it is brutal. Over the past five years, housing costs climbed about 28% while wages rose around 24%. Grocery prices jumped 0.7% in a single month in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics — the biggest monthly increase in nearly four years. Gas has pushed above $4.50 a gallon, according to AAA.
And the middle class itself is shrinking. Pew Research Center found the share of Americans in middle-class households fell from 61% in 1971 to 51% by 2023. The backbone of the country is getting thinner every decade.
The split is now extreme.
Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, found that the top 10% of earners account for about 49.2% of all consumer spending — the highest share since records began in 1989. Everyone in the bottom 80%, earning under roughly $175,000, has seen their spending barely keep pace with inflation.
An economy carried by the richest tenth is not strong. It is top-heavy, and one nervous quarter from those households would shake the whole thing.
Now look at where Washington’s energy is going.
The administration is consumed by the world stage — the war with Iran, the Strait of Hormuz, ceasefire diplomacy, oil, and trade fights stretching across continents. Those matters are real, and leaders have to manage them. But a government cannot run on foreign policy alone.
While the White House looks overseas, the family back home watching its grocery bill climb is getting silence. Diplomacy in the Gulf does not put food on a table in Ohio.
And here is the quiet failure almost no one is talking about.
The federal government employs offices and officials whose entire job is to help these families — appointees placed at agencies built to support small businesses, workers, and communities. Too many of them are missing in action.
The programs exist. The doors are shut. Emails from the community go unanswered. Outreach from business leaders goes unanswered. Even letters from members of the Senate and Congress go unanswered.
People hired and sworn to serve the public have simply gone quiet, and the help meant for Main Street never leaves the building.
It does not have to be this way, and we have proven it.
As one example, in April 2024, the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce convened the first National Chambers of Commerce Leaders Roundtable inside the U.S. Department of Commerce, putting chamber leaders from around the country face-to-face with federal officials who rarely meet Main Street.
It worked, and the government said so in writing.
In a letter dated December 9, 2024, then-Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves credited the chamber’s initiative and said it stimulated economic growth from the grassroots level.
And yet the new administration has repeatedly promised engagement while postponing it again and again. That is what bottom-up engagement looks like when officials actually engage, show up, and work alongside the boots-on-the-ground business and community leaders who understand these challenges best. The Department of Commerce itself recognized the value of this approach. The initiative was intended to continue bringing together chamber leaders and federal officials to strengthen economic growth from the grassroots level, but despite repeated commitments, efforts to continue hosting and expanding this initiative have been pushed off time and again.
It has been promised since and left to sit idle.
A December 9, 2024 letter from then–Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves praised the Chamber’s grassroots economic-growth initiative and urged its continuation.
Here is what Washington should understand: this has not gone unnoticed.
The American people see exactly where the attention is going, and where it is not. The record-low mood is the receipt. The skipped meals are the receipt. The second jobs are the receipt.
Voters of every party are watching a government that has time for every capital in the world but no time for their kitchen table.
So the demand is plain.
Refocus.
Balance the global agenda with the home front. Make every agency answer the mail. Hold appointees accountable when they go missing, and replace those who refuse to do the job they were given.
Forgetting the middle class is not smart, and it will not be rewarding.
A family skipping meals and working two jobs remembers who showed up and who disappeared. That memory does not fade by Election Day.
Washington can see the middle class now — or be reminded at the polls that it looked away.
JBizNews Desk — Washington
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JBizNews1 day agoOn Tuesday, lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced the Build American Efficiency Act, a bill designed to make it easier for homebuilders, manufacturers and HUD funding recipients to comply with Build America, Buy America (BABA) rules on federally backed housing projects.
BABA, enacted as part of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, requires that iron, steel, construction materials and manufactured products used in federally funded infrastructure and construction projects be produced in the United States.
For developers and builders, those domestic sourcing mandates mainly affect HUD-supported and other federally assisted construction and rehabilitation projects.
Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA) introduced the legislation on Tuesday with Real Estate Caucus co-chairs Reps. Mark Alford (R-Mo.) and Tracey Mann (R-KS)., along with Reps. Brad Finstad (R-MN) and Johnny Olszewski (D-MD), according to an announcement.
Homebuilders and developers have warned that BABA implementation can slow projects, add documentation costs and create uncertainty about product eligibility, particularly as HUD and other agencies finalize guidance. For developers relying on HUD programs or other federal funds, the ability to quickly prove materials compliance can be the difference between a viable capital stack and a stalled deal.
The Build American Efficiency Act would not change BABA’s underlying domestic content requirements. Instead, it focuses on how homebuilders and their suppliers can document compliance by doing the following:
“I am pleased to join my colleagues in introducing this bipartisan bill to speed up the building of new homes,” Correa said in an announcement, arguing that the bill would “cut red tape” while keeping requirements to use American-made construction materials.
Mann said the proposal is meant to help builders and manufacturers “navigate complicated federal compliance requirements without sacrificing our commitment to American-made products,” by allowing HUD to recognize systems that identify BABA-compliant materials and “reduce unnecessary delays” in getting homes built.
Alford said the bill clarifies that HUD can recognize auditable, verifiable databases such as the Make It American Process Standard to document compliant products, while emphasizing that it “does not mandate any database” but instead “gives builders better tools so we can build more American homes faster with American products.”
For production and infill builders that rely on HUD-assisted projects, tax-exempt bonds, HOME, CDBG or other federally sourced funds, BABA compliance has become a growing operational risk. The need to trace domestic content for thousands of SKUs, coordinate with manufacturers and respond to agency audits can slow procurement and add soft costs, particularly on multifamily and mixed-use projects.
If enacted as described, the Build American Efficiency Act could give HUD clearer authority to endorse third-party, auditable databases or process standards for documenting compliant materials. That could allow builders and their purchasing teams to rely more on pre-vetted product lists and standardized certifications instead of case-by-case paperwork.
For manufacturers that serve residential construction, inclusion in recognized BABA-compliant systems could become a competitive differentiator for winning business on HUD-backed and other federally assisted housing deals. At the same time, the bill’s flexibility language signals that builders could continue to use separate documentation paths if a particular product or supplier is not yet captured in a database.
The bill now heads to the House committee process, where homebuilding and manufacturing trade groups are likely to weigh in on how HUD should structure any recognized systems and how burdens are allocated among builders, suppliers and owners.
JBizNews1 day agoHeavy spending on artificial intelligence could widen economic outcomes and hit lower-quality loans, the firm says.
One of the world’s largest bond investors is warning that a painful stretch of loan defaults has begun, and that the enormous sums companies are borrowing to build artificial intelligence are making it worse. Pacific Investment Management Co. (Pimco) laid out the warning on Wednesday, June 10, in its latest annual long-term outlook report.
The message was blunt.
“The default cycle is reasserting itself, and we expect significantly higher losses in lower-quality credit such as leveraged and private direct lending,” wrote Daniel Ivascyn, the firm’s chief investment officer, along with colleagues Richard Clarida and Andrew Balls. The firm said plainly that “the credit loss cycle is upon us.”
This is not a minor voice. Pimco manages approximately $2.3 trillion in assets, making it one of the largest fixed-income investors in the world. When a firm that size says losses are coming, lenders and investors listen.
To understand the warning, it helps to define the terms. Leveraged loans are loans made to companies that already carry heavy debt. Private direct lending, often called private credit, is when investment funds rather than banks lend money directly to mid-sized businesses. Both areas have ballooned over the past decade as investors chased higher returns, and Pimco says underwriting standards loosened along the way.
In other words, lenders got less careful about who they handed money to.
Now the bill is starting to come due. Pimco expects those weaker corners of the market to face a wave of defaults as companies struggle to keep up with their debts.
The artificial intelligence boom is a central part of the story, and not in the way most headlines frame it. Pimco estimates that AI-related debt issuance is running at roughly $100 billion every quarter. The companies building the massive data centers behind AI are increasingly financing those projects with borrowed money rather than cash on hand. Capital spending is surging while free cash flow moves in the opposite direction.
Pimco’s view is that this buildout could widen the gap between winners and losers over the next several years, leaving weaker, more heavily indebted borrowers exposed.
There is a warning sign that most people are missing, according to Pimco.
Official high-yield default rates have hovered around their long-run average of roughly 4%, a number that looks calm on the surface. Ivascyn argues that figure is misleading. He points to what the firm calls “shadow defaults,” where a struggling borrower quietly renegotiates or amends its loan terms to avoid an official default. The trouble never shows up in the headline statistics, but the company is still in distress.
Another red flag is the growing use of payment-in-kind financing, where a borrower pays interest with additional debt instead of cash. It is the financial equivalent of paying one credit card with another. It buys time, but it also increases the eventual burden.
Pimco also flags a striking disconnect. Credit spreads—the extra interest investors demand to hold risky debt instead of U.S. Treasury securities—remain near historically low levels. On the surface, that looks like confidence. Underneath, Pimco frames it as complacency, with investors getting paid very little to take on rising risk.
The firm is careful to note that this is not a repeat of the early-2000s telecom bust, when companies borrowed aggressively to lay fiber-optic networks that later went underused. Today’s AI financing is more disciplined, Pimco says, and the opportunity in AI-related lending is real.
But only for investors who can tell the difference between well-funded borrowers with genuine revenue and overleveraged operators chasing the hype.
The everyday stakes are larger than they might seem. Pension funds, insurance companies, university endowments, and retirement accounts have poured money into private credit over the past decade, attracted by higher yields and steady payouts. A wave of defaults would reduce those returns.
The borrowers most at risk are often smaller and mid-sized businesses that depend on private lenders for capital. Those same firms are also facing higher financing costs, elevated energy prices, and ongoing economic uncertainty. If lending conditions tighten, many could scale back hiring, delay expansion plans, or reduce investment, creating ripple effects throughout local economies.
For now, Pimco says the risk of a broad financial crisis remains low. This is not a 2008-style financial meltdown in the making. Instead, the firm sees a slower grind of mounting losses concentrated among the weakest borrowers and the most aggressive lenders.
Its recommendation is straightforward: favor higher-quality credit, maintain discipline, and pay close attention to who is on the other side of every loan.
The broader lesson lands at the center of today’s AI debate. The technology’s promise may be real, but the money funding much of the buildout is increasingly borrowed. Pimco’s warning is that not every borrower participating in the boom will be able to pay it back.
JBizNews Desk — Markets
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JBizNews1 day agoThe Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is urging the mortgage industry to develop a unified framework for managing artificial intelligence as lenders increasingly deploy AI tools across origination, servicing and customer engagement.
In a white paper released Wednesday, the association said AI technologies are rapidly becoming embedded throughout the mortgage process, from customer service chatbots and fraud detection systems to underwriting and servicing operations.
The paper argues that while AI offers significant efficiency gains, the industry faces growing uncertainty about regulatory expectations and legal compliance.
The paper, prepared for the MBA by law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, examines how existing federal laws apply to AI-powered mortgage lending and outlines best practices for lenders that adopt the technology. It also provides an up-to-date overview of MBA members’ engagement and implementation around AI use and regulation, while also posing and analyzing key legal questions about the use of AI.
“AI’s assistance with — and, in some cases, performance of — a broader range of mortgage-related tasks raises novel questions about expectations for human involvement with AI models, as well as risk management more broadly,” the report explained.
MBA noted that mortgage companies are increasingly exploring generative AI, predictive AI and agentic AI systems, with many lenders already using AI-powered chatbots to answer simple questions or support servicing functions. But the paper also said that more advanced systems may soon be capable of handling nearly every stage of the mortgage process.
The association noted that while existing laws like the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 (“SAFE Act”) exist to establish a nationwide licensing system and ensure loan originators are subject to regulatory oversight, the act does not answer whether mortgage companies can offer completely human-free loan originations.
“While it does require human MLOs to be licensed or registered (depending on the nature of their employment), the SAFE Act does not require AI tools to have their own MLO license or registration to engage in loan origination activities,” the report reads.
MBA argued that current federal disclosure requirements effectively require lenders to assign a human mortgage originator to every transaction. Under the Truth in Lending Act and Regulation Z, lenders must disclose the name and Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS) identification number of an individual loan officer associated with the loan.
The report recommends that lenders maintain a “human in the loop” approach, ensuring a licensed mortgage originator remains available to borrowers and participates in some level of oversight, even when AI performs substantial portions of the origination process.
MBA also warned that lenders could face risks under federal and state consumer protection laws if borrowers are led to believe a human loan officer is overseeing their application when the process is handled entirely by AI.
The white paper comes as regulators and investors have begun to address AI governance. Earlier this year, Freddie Mac updated its seller-servicer guide to include AI and machine learning governance requirements, while Fannie Mae issued guidance calling on lenders to establish policies and procedures that govern AI systems.
MBA said federal policymakers have provided limited guidance on how existing lending and consumer protection laws apply to AI-enabled mortgage processes. To address that uncertainty, the association is advocating for a principles-based AI risk management framework tailored to the mortgage industry. This would include standards for governance, model validation, fair lending tests, explainability, data privacy and vendor oversight.
MBA also encouraged lenders to implement robust testing programs to monitor AI systems for disparate treatment or disparate impact on protected groups and to maintain documentation showing compliance with fair lending requirements. The report identified several risks associated with AI adoption, including potential fair lending violations, bias in automated decision-making, improper steering of borrowers to certain loan products and consumer privacy concerns.
The association said lenders should prepare for evolving regulatory expectations while also engaging with lawmakers and regulators as states consider legislation governing AI use in financial services.
“The rapid adoption of AI across the mortgage industry presents both significant opportunities and complex legal and regulatory challenges,” the report concluded. “The absence of comprehensive federal and state guidance on AI in mortgage lending creates an imperative for the industry to develop and adopt a unified, principles-based risk management framework.”
This article was written by Sarah Wolak and generated with the assistance of HousingWire Automation, then reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.
JBizNews1 day agoFlorida homeowners didn’t vote for higher property tax bills, but they’re getting them anyway.
A historic wave of in-migration caused the hike.
Gov. Ron DeSantis called lawmakers into a special session last week and pushed through a resolution to put a constitutional amendment before voters in November that would more than quadruple the state’s homestead property tax exemption.
Lawmakers blessed the proposal with modifications to protect school funding.
DeSantis is asking voters to solve the tax bill problem created when companies and employees arrived in droves from high-cost Northeast cities, notably New York City, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The influx overwhelmed existing housing supply and drove up home values for longtime residents.
Even though state and local tax rates barely budged, a protracted period of rising property values ratcheted up tax assessments.
It is not the first time DeSantis has used state power to override local housing decisions. When the migration wave exposed a crippling supply shortage, he signed legislation stripping local governments of zoning control to clear the way for more development targeting workforce housing.
That addressed supply.
But for homeowners already sitting on assessments inflated by the state’s nation-leading pandemic-era domestic in-migration, adding new supply doesn’t amount to property tax relief.
Florida is not alone. Across the Sun Belt — Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arizona — the same migration dynamic reshaped housing markets and sent tax bills climbing even where local governments cut rates.
Florida, however, is the first to take the fight directly to voters with a constitutional remedy.
If Florida voters approve the amendment, New Yorkers who flocked to the Sunshine State would face higher taxation pressure from both directions.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani proposed a pied-a-terre tax on luxury second homes. Gov. Kathy Hochul pushed the state legislature to pass it into law as part of the state’s new budget just before Memorial Day weekend.
Those who never made Florida their official domicile won’t qualify for the expanded homestead exemption. Local governments scrambling to offset lost revenue may have little choice but to raise rates on non-homestead properties — the homes those part-time Floridians own.
But New Yorkers who made Florida their permanent home could land a property tax break, one offset by holding on to a home in the Big Apple. New Yorkers have long chosen Florida for a vacation home or permanent move, citing the high cost of living in the Northeast.
“The Northeast is expensive to live in because that’s where all the people are,” Gary Bingel, a state and local tax expert with Eisner Advisory Group, a New Jersey-based consulting firm, said in an interview with The Builder’s Daily.
He said moving to Florida is now tantamount to “creating the same problems people are moving away from.”
Between 2020 and 2022, Florida home prices surged more than 50%, driven largely by buyers relocating from New York — the top source of new Florida residents — along with Georgia and Texas.
Since then, prices have stalled. Florida’s average home value fell 3.7% over the past year as new construction added more supply than the market could absorb. Florida’s in-migration has subsided as housing costs rose.
“The affordability picture has changed in Florida almost more than anywhere else in the country,” Eric Finnigan, vice president of demographics research at John Burns Research & Consulting, told the Wall Street Journal.
Assessed home values haven’t returned to pre-in-migration-surge means. Under Florida’s Save Our Homes recapture rule, assessed values continue climbing by up to 3% annually even when market prices fall — until the two figures converge, according to St. Johns County Property Appraiser Eddie Creamer’s explanation posted on the county’s website.
Most Florida counties held millage rates steady or even lowered them. Marion County commissioners voted in September 2025 to cut the countywide rate. Homeowners there still saw their bills climb.
Tax bills in cities statewide increased an average of about 50% over the past several years.
At a news conference announcing the amendment, DeSantis noted Florida’s economy has grown from $1.1 trillion to $1.85 trillion during his seven years as governor.
“That’s a really significant increase in a seven-year period,” he said. “We’ve done close to $10 billion in tax relief since I became governor.”
He said the rise in home values made property taxes a much bigger burden for millions of Floridians.
“Fortunately, because we’ve had success, we have the ability to do something about it,” he said.
DeSantis proposed a broader exemption than what the Legislature passed.
The amendment would replace the current $50,000 homestead exemption with a phased increase — rising to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028 — for homeowners who establish Florida residency on or before Dec. 31, 2026. The relief is reserved for primary residences. Second-home and investment-property owners do not qualify.
The school board levy is carved out entirely, the key concession lawmakers extracted before giving DeSantis his supermajority vote.
New residents arriving after Dec. 31, 2026, receive the existing $50,000 exemption for four years before qualifying for the full break.
The amendment cuts the annual assessment cap on non-homestead commercial properties from 10% to 5% beginning Jan. 1, 2027. It needs 60% voter approval to take effect. Renters — who occupy about a third of Florida’s housing units — get no relief.
Just before Florida lawmakers put the amendment on the ballot, New York passed a budget instituting the pied-a-terre tax on non-primary residences within New York City.
“New York City is the greatest city in the world, and the people who call it home should not be left carrying the burden alone,” Hochul said in a statement announcing the tax.
The law rolls out in two phases. Phase 1 runs from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2028. It covers one- to three-family homes valued at $5 million or more, and condos and co-op units valued at $1 million or more.
Phase 2 begins July 1, 2028, and runs through June 30, 2031. The threshold for condos and co-ops rises to $5 million, aligning with single-family homes, under a new comparable sales-based valuation method the city must develop.
Tax rates on condos during Phase 1 range from 4% on units valued between $1 million and $3 million to 6.5% on units above $5 million. Single-family home rates range from 0.8% to 1.3% depending on value.
The city’s Department of Finance must notify affected owners by Aug. 30. The measure is projected to generate between $340 million and $500 million annually.
New York City’s program is set. Florida’s amendment must be sold to voters.
A dispute has already begun. Cities and counties are questioning how they cover budget gaps for services and infrastructure when their key revenue source shrinks.
“Money has to still come from somewhere,” Bingel said, adding it could mean higher tourism or sales taxes. “It’s not as straightforward as everybody says. There’s always some sort of trade-off.”
Ken Johnson, a real estate professor at the University of Mississippi, told The Builder’s Daily that a national recession presents the greatest risk for the amendment, noting it could “drain state and county coffers to the point that essential services could not be delivered.”
Otherwise, property owners could gain a significant financial benefit.
“But that is a ‘big if’ as recessions are cyclical, and it is not a matter of ‘if’ but rather ‘when’ a recession will hit,” Johnson said.
JBizNews1 day agoThe federal government’s energy forecasters expect fuel prices to climb sharply this year as the war with Iran keeps oil from flowing freely through the world’s most important shipping lane. The U.S. Energy Information Administration laid out the outlook in its monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook, released June 9.
The agency expects the global oil benchmark, Brent crude, to average around $105 a barrel through June and July, assuming the Strait of Hormuz stays largely closed to shipping in the near term. It projects the wholesale price of gasoline will rise by about 50% in 2026 compared with the agency’s pre-conflict forecast from February, with diesel and jet fuel up more than 60%.
Those are wholesale figures, the prices charged before fuel reaches the corner station, but they flow straight to the pump. Drivers have already felt it. The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline jumped well above $3 this spring as the conflict disrupted oil supplies, and the government’s forecast suggests relief is not coming soon.
The cause traces back to the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that carries roughly a fifth of the world’s oil. The agency assumes shipping through the strait stays effectively closed in the near term, with traffic only beginning to resume in the third quarter of 2026 and not returning to normal until early 2027. Until those flows recover, the world is short of oil, and shortages push prices up.
There is a path back down. Once oil moves through the strait again and producers restore output, the agency expects Brent to fall to an average of $79 a barrel in 2027. But that depends entirely on the war winding down, which remains uncertain after fresh U.S. strikes on Iran this week.
The strain is showing up in America’s emergency reserves. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the nation’s backup supply of crude, has been drawn down sharply since the conflict began and is heading toward its lowest level since the early 1980s. That cushion helps soften price spikes, but it cannot be drained indefinitely.
For households, the effect goes far beyond the gas tank. Energy is woven into the price of nearly everything. When fuel costs rise, it costs more to grow food, manufacture goods, and truck them to stores. That is why energy did most of the damage in this week’s inflation report. The Bureau of Labor Statistics said consumer prices rose 4.2% over the past year, the fastest in three years, and that energy alone accounted for more than 60% of the monthly increase.
Small businesses feel it acutely. Delivery companies, contractors, landscapers, and anyone who runs a fleet of vehicles watches fuel costs eat into already thin margins. Many face a hard choice between absorbing the expense or raising prices on customers who are themselves stretched. Farmers face higher costs for diesel and fertilizer, much of which is tied to energy prices, which can ripple forward into grocery bills.
The travel industry is caught too. Airlines just cut their global profit forecast in half, blaming the same jump in fuel costs. Higher pump prices also weigh on summer road trips, a staple of the warm-weather economy, as families recalculate whether the drive is worth it.
The forecast itself carries a clear caveat: it assumes the strait stays disrupted. Energy prices have been less explosive than some feared, in part because traders have found workarounds and quiet routes to keep some oil moving. But the government’s central expectation is for elevated prices to persist through the year, easing only when the conflict does.
For now, the message to consumers and business owners alike is to plan for higher fuel costs through the summer and beyond. The next monthly energy outlook is due July 7, and it will show whether the war, and the prices it is driving, are getting better or worse.
JBizNews Desk — Energy
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JBizNews1 day agoAmerican employers added 172,000 jobs in May and the unemployment rate held at 4.3%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday, June 5. The number came in well above what economists had expected and pointed to a job market that is still growing, even as one major industry keeps shedding workers.
The hiring was concentrated in a few areas. Job gains occurred in leisure and hospitality, local government, and health care, while employment in financial activities declined. The mix matters. Restaurants, hotels, hospitals, and local agencies are doing the hiring, while higher-paying office and finance roles are flat or shrinking.
The headline figure beat forecasts handily. Economists had penciled in around 85,000 new jobs, so 172,000 was more than double the estimate. Annual wage growth came in at about 3.4%, roughly in line with expectations and still ahead of where it stood a year ago.
But the report carried a clear warning underneath the strong top line. Technology companies are cutting jobs at a steady clip, and many are blaming artificial intelligence. U.S.-based employers announced 97,006 job cuts in May, about 39% of them in the technology sector, according to the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
That is the tension running through the labor market right now. The broad economy keeps adding jobs in services and government, while tech firms trim their ranks and lean on automation to do more with fewer people. For now, the service-sector hiring is winning, which is why the overall numbers still look healthy. The worry is whether AI-driven cuts spread to other industries over time.
There were softer spots too. The number of long-term unemployed, those out of work for 27 weeks or more, held at 2.0 million and accounted for 27.5% of all unemployed people. That figure is up by more than half a million over the year, a sign that people who lose jobs are taking longer to find new ones. The labor force participation rate held at 61.8%.
The strong report reshaped expectations at the Federal Reserve. With hiring this solid and inflation running hot, the case for cutting interest rates this year largely evaporated. Markets now lean toward the Fed holding rates steady, with some traders betting on an increase before December. For the central bank under Chair Kevin Warsh, a sturdy job market removes any urgency to ease, especially with prices still climbing.
For everyday workers, the picture is mixed in a familiar way. If you work in services, health care, or local government, hiring is steady and your job looks secure. If you work in technology, the ground is shakier, as companies cut staff and reorganize around AI tools. And if you are unemployed and searching, the rising long-term jobless figure is a caution that landing the next role can take a while.
For employers, the report reinforces a careful, selective approach to hiring. Companies are adding workers where they need them, particularly in customer-facing and care roles that are hard to automate, while holding back in areas where software can pick up the slack. Small businesses in hospitality and health care, the very sectors that drove May’s gains, remain on the hunt for staff even as the giants of Silicon Valley downsize.
The next employment report, covering June, is scheduled for release on Thursday, July 2. It will show whether the war with Iran and the jump in energy prices have begun to dent hiring, or whether the job market’s quiet strength holds for another month.
JBizNews Desk — Labor & Employment
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JBizNews1 day agoWhen most people think of major stock market indexes, their minds go to the S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite, or Dow Jones because they’re the “Big 3.” One index that often flies under the radar is the Russell 2000, which tracks the smallest 2,000 companies in the Russell 3000 index.
The Russell 2000 is to small-cap stocks what the S&P 500 is to large-cap stocks, and so far this year, ETFs like the Vanguard Russell 2000 ETF have outperformed all of the “Big 3” indexes. If you have $1,000 available to invest, it could be a great addition to your portfolio for the long haul.
Investing in small-cap stocks – which are typically categorized as companies with market caps between $250 million and $2 billion – is generally a higher risk/reward trade-off than investing in larger companies.
ETF ASSETS ARE SURGING. HERE’S HOW THEY DIFFER FROM MUTUAL FUNDS
On one hand, their small sizes usually mean they’re more susceptible to broader market and economic conditions (like interest rates) and are more volatile. On the other hand, their small size leaves much more room for growth. It doesn’t always play out this way, but in theory, it’s much easier to double a valuation from $500 million to $1 billion than from $500 billion to $1 trillion.
HOW ETFS CAN BE EFFECTIVE BUILDING BLOCKS FOR RETIREES
Small cap doesn’t always mean a new, start-up-like company, either. It can be a well-established company operating in a niche. In either case, VTWO gives you access to 1,957 small-cap stocks from every major sector. It’s a true one-stop shop for small-cap stocks.
Through market close on June 5, VTWO is up 13.2%, marking one of its best starts to a year in a while. And although its gains this year are impressive, it’s important to zoom out and look at longer-term performance as well. Here is how VTWO has performed over the years compared to the “Big 3” indexes:
Source: YCharts. Table by author. Year-to-date returns based on market close on June 5.
ETFS VS MUTUAL FUNDS IN 2026: WHICH IS RIGHT FOR YOUR PORTFOLIO?
VTWO’s underperformance over the years doesn’t quite scream “invest in me,” but its main goal is diversification and covering more ground, rather than having the bulk of your returns rely on a handful of tech giants like the “Magnificent Seven” stocks.
I wouldn’t make VTWO the bulk of your portfolio (aim for less than 10%), but having some exposure is a great way to tap into growth potential while also setting your portfolio up to have a winner during times when small-cap stocks usually outperform the market (like now). If you think big tech is due for a pullback, now is a good time to add some of the little guys to your portfolio.
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Stefon Walters has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
JBizNews1 day ago
JBizNews1 day agoThe world’s airlines expect to earn roughly half as much this year as they did last year, dragged down by a surge in jet fuel prices tied to the war with Iran. The International Air Transport Association, the industry’s main trade group, delivered the downgrade Sunday, June 7, at its annual meeting in Rio de Janeiro.
Airlines will bring in a combined net profit of $23 billion in 2026, down from a previously projected $41 billion and below the $45 billion they earned in 2025, the group said. Profit margins are expected to thin from 4.2% to 2.0%, meaning carriers will keep just two cents of every dollar in sales.
The cause is fuel. The group expects average jet fuel prices to run 70% higher than last year, adding about $100 billion to the industry’s collective fuel bill. Oil prices jumped after the U.S.-Iran conflict began in late February and disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint that handles a large share of the world’s oil. Jet fuel now averages around $152 a barrel, up from roughly $90 last year.
Willie Walsh, the group’s director general, said war-related disruptions and rising fuel costs have shifted the outlook for the worse. He warned that smaller carriers that started the year with weak finances are struggling the most.
The pain is uneven. The Middle East, long the most profitable region for air travel, has been hit hardest. The group now expects the region’s airlines to lose $4.3 billion this year, a sharp reversal from the $7.2 billion profit they earned in 2025, as carriers like Emirates and Qatar Airways cut operations following weeks of airspace closures. In North America, profits are forecast to fall to $9.4 billion from $12.4 billion.
Travel demand itself is holding up. Passenger numbers are expected to rise 2.4% to 5.1 billion this year, with planes filling to about 84% of capacity. The problem is that demand cannot outrun costs. Airlines are now earning just $4.50 in profit per passenger, a razor-thin cushion.
For travelers, the squeeze is showing up at the booking screen. Airlines are raising fares to cover the higher fuel bills, so summer trips cost more than they did a year ago. Some carriers, including LATAM and Azul, are cutting how often they fly certain routes. Others are flying longer paths to avoid closed airspace over the Middle East, which burns more fuel and adds time to journeys. Fewer flights and pricier tickets are the direct result.
Fuel is not the only headache. Airlines are also short on new planes. Airbus and Boeing have struggled with delivery delays, leaving carriers flying older, less fuel-efficient jets at exactly the moment fuel is most expensive. The aircraft backlog has swelled to record levels, capping how fast airlines can grow and adding to their costs.
The business stakes reach well beyond the airlines themselves. Air travel ties directly into tourism, conventions, and trade. When flying gets more expensive, families rethink vacations, companies trim travel budgets, and the hotels, restaurants, and shops that depend on visitors feel it. Shipping costs rise too, since a meaningful share of high-value goods moves by air.
The whole forecast rests on how long the war lasts. As long as the Strait of Hormuz stays disrupted, fuel will stay expensive and airlines will keep absorbing the hit or passing it to passengers. If the conflict eases and oil flows normalize, the math could improve quickly. Until then, the industry is bracing for a lean year, and travelers should expect to keep paying more to fly.
JBizNews Desk — Aviation
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JBizNews1 day agoAn American favorite pizza chain is quietly disappearing from communities across the country.
Papa Johns is following through on its plan to close about 300 North American stores, with dozens of locations shuttering in the first quarter – primarily in core Sun Belt states.
A recent analysis of Papa Johns financial filings by Fast Company found that 44 stores closed across 17 states, with the highest concentration of closures in Texas, California, Florida and Arizona.
Multiple location closures have also been identified in Michigan, North Carolina and Virginia.
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The pizza brand first announced in February that hundreds of underperforming restaurants would cease operations by the end of 2027, describing the locations as being primarily franchise-owned, more than a decade old and generating less than $600,000 in annual sales volumes (AUVs).
“We believe these closures will further strengthen the system, increasing AUVs by at least 3% and improve franchisee health by allowing franchisees to reallocate resources towards operational excellence in their remaining restaurants and open units in priority markets,” Papa Johns CFO Ravi Thanawala previously said.
He also said that the majority of the company’s restaurants worldwide have “performed well over the years and delivered strong returns for both corporate and franchise owners,” and that the strategic closure of underperforming restaurants is “among the most impactful actions we can take to improve restaurant profitability and fleet health.”
However, shares of Papa Johns International were down roughly 21% year to date through Wednesday’s close. Over the past five years, shares of Papa Johns International have fallen more than 69%.
In addition to the Q1 store closures, filings showed that Papa Johns laid off 7% of its corporate workforce.
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Not only are franchisees across the fast-food industry facing severe headwinds from inflation, supply chain expenses and labor costs, but pizzerias nationwide are facing stiff competition. A recent Wall Street Journal report found that pizza restaurants are now outnumbered by Mexican restaurants and coffee shops.
Other pizza chain competitors have made strategic moves amid weakening demand, including rival Pizza Hut closing hundreds of locations and its parent company, Yum! Brands, reportedly looking into a potential sale of the chain.
FOX Business’ Matthew Kazin contributed to this report.
JBizNews1 day agoAmerica’s historic beef shortage may not ease anytime soon as the U.S. cattle herd remains at its lowest level in more than seven decades, keeping pressure on prices even as consumers continue to buy beef at elevated levels.
Omaha Steaks President and CEO Nate Rempe joined FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo on “Mornings with Maria” to discuss the supply challenges facing the beef industry and why meaningful price relief could still be years away. The discussion comes as retail beef prices reached a record $9.64 per pound in April, up 13% from a year earlier, according to USDA data.
While recent concerns have centered on the re-emergence of the screwworm parasite in parts of Texas and New Mexico, Rempe said the larger issue is its effect on cattle imports from Mexico, which account for roughly 4% to 5% of the U.S. live cattle market.
The bigger challenge, however, remains the size of the domestic herd.
“We’ve got to build the herd,” Rempe said. “If we can build the herd and we can build supply back up, then we can see beef prices come down.”
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Rempe noted that ranchers must retain more female cattle for breeding rather than sending them to market, a process that takes time and delays any meaningful increase in supply.
“As you know, we’re at a 72-year low,” Rempe said. “I think maybe last year when we talked, we were thinking we would see recovery in ’27, now we’re into ‘28, maybe even ’29 before we start seeing meaningful herd building happening.”
Those supply constraints have persisted even as consumer demand remains strong heading into key grilling holidays and summer gatherings.
“The demand is just not waning,” Rempe said.
That combination of limited supply and resilient demand has created an unusual market dynamic that continues to support higher prices.
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“I think the big question for economists and people thinking about the beef market and sort of retail beef in general is how long can that persist?” Rempe said. “How long can the supply stay constrained and demand stay high?”
The comments underscore the challenges facing beef producers as the industry works to rebuild the nation’s cattle herd from historically low levels.
JBizNews1 day agoOracle reported the biggest quarter in its history on Wednesday, June 10, telling investors in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that its order backlog for cloud and artificial intelligence work has ballooned to $638 billion. The company posted record revenue of $19.2 billion for its fiscal fourth quarter, up 21% from a year earlier.
The number drawing the most attention was that backlog, which Oracle calls remaining performance obligations. It represents contracts signed but not yet delivered, essentially money customers have promised to pay for future work. It grew by $85 billion in the quarter alone, climbing from $553 billion to $638 billion. For a company with annual revenue of $67.4 billion, that backlog is roughly ten times what it brings in each year.
The rest of the report was strong too. Earnings came in at $1.45 per share on a GAAP basis, up 21%, and $2.11 on an adjusted basis, up 24%. Total cloud revenue reached $9.9 billion, up 47%. The fastest-growing piece was the cloud infrastructure business, where Oracle rents out computing power. That unit posted revenue of $5.8 billion, up 93% from a year earlier.
The results topped Wall Street’s expectations. Analysts had looked for about $19.1 billion in revenue and $1.96 per share. Oracle beat both.
What makes this quarter important reaches beyond Oracle. The company has become one of the central players in the AI buildout, renting the massive computing capacity that other firms need to train and run AI systems. Its backlog is widely watched as a gauge of whether the AI spending boom is real and durable, or whether it is starting to cool. Wednesday’s jump suggests demand is still climbing.
Chairman and chief technology officer Larry Ellison and chief executive Safra Catz have spent the past year raising the company’s growth targets, and the backlog gives those promises weight. The catch is that a backlog is a promise, not cash in hand. The question hanging over the company is how fast it can turn those signed contracts into delivered revenue, and how much it must spend to do so.
That spending is enormous. Oracle is pouring tens of billions of dollars into data centers and the chips that fill them, with capital spending expected to run near $75 billion in the coming fiscal year. Building that capacity requires heavy borrowing, and Oracle already carries one of the largest debt loads of any technology company. The bet is that the AI orders will more than pay for it. If demand holds, the math works. If it slows, the bills come due regardless.
For ordinary investors, Oracle matters more than many realize. Its stock sits in countless index funds and retirement accounts, so its swings ripple into savings that have nothing to do with technology. The shares have climbed steeply over the past several months on AI optimism, then pulled back this week along with the rest of the market. Oracle closed Wednesday around $206 a share, caught in a broad selloff driven by inflation and the war with Iran, even as its underlying business posted records.
The broader signal is what businesses across the economy will take from this report. Oracle’s surging backlog tells suppliers, builders, and power companies that the demand for AI infrastructure is not letting up. That means continued orders for everything from servers and chips to electricity and construction. It also means the companies chasing this boom are taking on heavy debt and betting big that the spending pays off.
Oracle’s fiscal year is now closed, and the company heads into a new one with a record pipeline and record obligations to match. Wednesday answered the immediate question of whether the AI orders are real. The longer test, turning that $638 billion in promises into delivered profit, starts now.
JBizNews Desk — Technology
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JBizNews1 day agoThe number of open jobs in America jumped in April even as companies pulled back on actual hiring, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which released its Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey on Tuesday, June 2. The report showed job openings rising to 7.6 million, the highest level since May 2024, while hiring slowed sharply.
The gap between those two numbers is the whole story. Employers are advertising more positions but filling fewer of them. Hires fell to 5.1 million for the month, and total separations dropped to 5.0 million. Openings rose by more than 730,000, yet the people actually starting new jobs declined by roughly 419,000.
Economists have a name for this: a low-hire, low-fire market. Companies are reluctant to let workers go, but they are also slow to bring new ones in. Both sides are sitting still.
The jump in openings was not broad. Almost the entire increase came from a single category, professional and business services, which added about 668,000 postings. Strip that out, and the rest of the economy looked flat. That has led some analysts to question whether the headline number really signals a hiring boom or just a pile-up of unfilled jobs in one corner of the market.
Worker behavior tells the same cautious story. Quits held steady at about 3.0 million, while layoffs and discharges stayed near 1.7 million. The quits rate slipped to its lowest in years. When people stop quitting, it usually means they are nervous. Leaving a job without another one lined up takes confidence, and right now workers are choosing to stay put.
The layoff rate ticked down from 1.2% in March to 1.1% in April. By that measure, Americans who have jobs still enjoy strong security. The risk of being let go remains low. The harder problem is for people trying to get hired or change jobs. Openings exist, but companies are taking their time, and that slows down raises and promotions across the board.
For the Federal Reserve, now led by Chair Kevin Warsh, the report lands at a delicate moment. The central bank watches hiring and quitting closely for signs the job market is either overheating or cracking. April’s numbers suggested neither. The market is cooling slowly, not collapsing.
What happens next may depend on forces outside the labor market entirely. The war with Iran has pushed up oil and gasoline prices, and that feeds inflation. Higher inflation makes the Fed less willing to cut interest rates, which keeps borrowing expensive for the businesses that do the hiring. Matthew Martin, senior U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, warned that weaker household spending and uncertainty could start to weigh on companies’ hiring plans in the months ahead.
For everyday workers, the practical takeaway is simple. If you have a job, you are probably safe. If you want a new one, expect a longer search. Employers are posting openings but moving slowly to fill them, and the easy job-hopping of recent years has faded. Vacancies are staying open longer, which means more interviews, more waiting, and less leverage to negotiate pay.
Small business owners feel the same freeze from the other direction. Many have openings they cannot fill at wages they can afford, while also being careful not to overextend payroll heading into an uncertain summer. The result is an economy that looks stable on paper but feels stuck for anyone trying to move.
The next major labor reading comes when the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes its June turnover data later this summer. Until then, the picture is one of an economy holding its breath, with workers and employers alike waiting to see how the war, inflation, and interest rates settle out before making their next move.
JBizNews Desk — New York
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JBizNews2 days agoAmazon Web Services (AWS) said on Thursday, June 11, that its data centers around the world withdrew about 2.5 billion gallons of water last year to cool the servers that power its cloud-computing and artificial-intelligence businesses. The figure was detailed by AWS executives including Kerry Person, vice president of data center operations, and Will Hewes, the company’s water stewardship lead. It is one of the clearest pictures Amazon has ever provided of the water footprint behind the global computing boom.
The disclosure matters because Amazon has long faced criticism for providing limited information about data-center water consumption. Rivals Microsoft and Google have published water-use figures for years. Amazon had largely focused on efficiency metrics rather than total withdrawals, and earlier this year investors filed resolutions urging major technology companies to provide greater transparency. Thursday’s announcement is Amazon’s most direct response yet.
Amazon is presenting the figure as evidence that its operations are highly efficient. The company says it uses approximately 0.12 liters of water per kilowatt-hour of computing, compared with an estimated industry average of 0.84 liters per kilowatt-hour. According to AWS, that makes its operations roughly seven times more water efficient than the average data-center operator. The company said outside auditors reviewed the calculations and that water withdrawals at facilities Amazon directly owns and operates declined about 2% year-over-year, even as its global footprint expanded.
The company attributes much of the reduction to its cooling strategy. Data centers generate enormous amounts of heat, and many operators rely heavily on evaporative cooling systems that consume significant amounts of water. AWS says its facilities use outside-air cooling about 90% of the time, relying on fans to move air through server halls. Water cooling is generally used only when outdoor temperatures exceed roughly 85 degrees Fahrenheit. The company also adjusted operating temperatures within its facilities to further reduce cooling demand.
The disclosure arrives at a sensitive moment for the industry. In Amazon’s home region, the Seattle City Council this week unanimously approved a one-year emergency pause on new large data-center developments within the city. The action reflects growing concern among local governments over the water, electricity, and land demands created by artificial-intelligence infrastructure.
Person said community reactions are often different from what critics expect.
“As we’ve been engaging with our local communities, they’ve been very pleasantly surprised about how little water we are using,” he told reporters.
Not everyone agrees. Simon Hans Edasi, a Seattle-area data scientist who studies data-center development and water resources, has raised concerns about Amazon’s planned $4.8 billion campus in Burbank, Washington, near the Columbia River. He argues that the industry is increasingly expanding into eastern Washington and other regions where water supplies are already under pressure.
Several recent studies have found that a significant share of new U.S. data-center construction is occurring in areas experiencing varying degrees of water stress. Those concerns have fueled permitting battles, project delays, and in some cases the cancellation or relocation of major developments.
For companies investing tens of billions of dollars in AI infrastructure, community opposition is becoming a material business risk. Delays in permits and approvals can significantly increase costs and slow expansion plans.
Amazon says its long-term answer is its Water Positive by 2030 commitment, first announced in 2022. The company says it has completed approximately 75% of the work needed to achieve that goal and currently replenishes about three gallons for every four gallons it uses.
According to Hewes, the strategy focuses on three priorities: reducing water consumption, replacing drinking water with treated wastewater whenever possible, and investing in local replenishment projects. Those efforts include repairing leaking municipal infrastructure, restoring watersheds, and supporting agricultural irrigation programs that use recycled water.
Microsoft has announced similar goals, including a pledge to improve water efficiency by 40% by 2030 and replenish more water than it consumes in the regions where it operates.
As artificial intelligence drives unprecedented demand for computing power, technology companies are increasingly competing not only on performance and scale, but also on environmental impact.
Amazon also highlighted a broader industry statistic, noting that global data centers account for approximately 0.5% of industrial water use worldwide. Whether that argument satisfies communities increasingly wary of large-scale AI development may ultimately be decided one project at a time.
JBizNews Desk — Technology
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JBizNews2 days agoStocks opened higher on Thursday, June 11, shaking off a brutal week even as the U.S.-Iran conflict deepened and a fresh inflation report came in hot. The S&P 500 rose 0.21%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.45%, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.26% in the opening minutes. The small-cap Russell 2000 fell 1.10%, a sign investors remained cautious about higher interest rates sticking around.
Oil prices climbed after President Donald Trump said the United States would hit Iran “very hard” and seize “total control” of the country’s oil and gas industry, while U.S. Central Command confirmed fresh strikes overnight. Explosions were reported across Iran, including near the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic shipping lane through which a significant portion of the world’s oil supply passes.
The market’s gains came despite an alarming inflation report.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Producer Price Index (PPI) jumped 1.1% in May from April, exceeding economists’ expectations of 0.7%. On a year-over-year basis, wholesale prices climbed 6.5%, marking the steepest increase since November 2022.
Energy prices drove much of the increase. Wholesale gasoline prices surged 23.4% during the month as escalating tensions with Iran pushed crude oil prices sharply higher. Excluding food and energy, so-called core wholesale prices rose a more moderate 0.4%, suggesting the inflation shock was concentrated largely in energy markets.
The report arrived just one day after separate government data showed consumer inflation reaching 4.2% annually, the highest reading in three years, and only days before the Federal Reserve’s June 17 policy meeting.
The biggest corporate story of the morning belonged to Oracle Corporation.
The software and cloud-computing giant reported fiscal fourth-quarter results after Wednesday’s closing bell. Revenue totaled approximately $19.2 billion, while adjusted earnings came in at $2.03 per share, both above Wall Street expectations.
Despite the strong results, Oracle shares fell roughly 8% at the open after management revealed plans to raise approximately $40 billion through a combination of debt and equity offerings, including a reported $20 billion stock sale, to fund an aggressive expansion of artificial-intelligence infrastructure.
Chief Executive Clay Magouyrk told analysts the company expects to bring nearly one gigawatt of computing capacity online this quarter alone, while Chief Financial Officer Hilary Maxson said Oracle anticipates roughly $70 billion in capital expenditures during the coming fiscal year.
Investors appeared concerned about the scale of the spending.
Analysts at Bank of America noted that more than half of Oracle’s contracted future revenue is tied to a single customer, OpenAI, increasing perceived concentration risk.
The spending plans also rattled parts of the broader software sector. Shares of German software giant SAP fell more than 4% as investors questioned whether competitors would face similar pressure to dramatically increase AI infrastructure spending.
Not all analysts turned negative.
UBS analyst Karl Keirstead raised his price target on Oracle to $285 from $250, while Oppenheimer and Wedbush increased their targets to $275. Evercore ISI lifted its target to $245, and Barclays maintained an overweight rating with a $240 price target.
Another major market focus is SpaceX.
Elon Musk’s rocket company is expected to price its long-awaited initial public offering after Thursday’s close at approximately $135 per share, with trading expected to begin Friday on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol SPCX.
At a reported valuation exceeding $1.75 trillion, the offering would rank as the largest IPO in history.
The proposed listing has already generated controversy.
Senator Elizabeth Warren has urged the Securities and Exchange Commission to delay approval of the offering, citing concerns about valuation and Musk’s concentrated control over the company.
Adding further uncertainty, Iranian state media reportedly warned that Musk’s businesses operating in the Middle East, including the Starlink satellite network, could be viewed as military targets amid escalating regional tensions.
Elsewhere, semiconductor stocks rebounded after a difficult stretch that erased nearly $1 trillion in market value earlier this month.
Shares of SoftBank Group Corp. fell more than 9% after reports suggested financing tied to its investment in OpenAI encountered complications. Meanwhile, investors were awaiting earnings from Adobe Inc., scheduled for release after Thursday’s closing bell, with analysts closely watching whether the company’s AI initiatives are translating into meaningful revenue growth.
For now, Wall Street’s gains rest on a fragile assumption: that the latest inflation surge is primarily an energy story and that the conflict with Iran remains contained.
Investors now turn their attention to Adobe’s earnings, SpaceX’s IPO pricing, and next week’s highly anticipated Federal Reserve interest-rate decision, which may ultimately determine whether the market’s recent volatility intensifies or begins to ease.
JBizNews Desk — New York
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JBizNews2 days agoKevin O’Leary says Bitcoin’s (CRYPTO: BTC) recent weakness has less to do with fading investor interest and more to do with regulatory uncertainty.
Appearing on Fox Business on June 10, the O’Leary Ventures chairman said Bitcoin’s decline from its all-time high near $120,000 to around $60,000 has disappointed many investors who expected ETFs and institutional adoption to drive prices higher.
“Bitcoin’s going nowhere until the CLARITY Act becomes law,” O’Leary said.
He added that sovereign wealth funds and institutions are not yet touching Bitcoin as it is not yet law. O’Leary predicts 1% to …
JBizNews2 days agoOne of the most popular money-making trades in global finance this year — borrowing Hong Kong dollars cheaply and investing the proceeds in higher-yielding U.S. dollar assets — is losing its appeal as borrowing costs in Hong Kong rise, according to a report published Tuesday by Bloomberg News reporters Iris Ouyang and Jacob Gu. The shift reflects changes in Hong Kong’s financial system that are making the trade more expensive to maintain.
Here is the trade in simple terms. For much of this year, Hong Kong dollars were relatively inexpensive to borrow. Traders took advantage by borrowing Hong Kong dollars at low rates and moving the money into U.S. dollar assets offering higher returns. The difference between the borrowing cost and the investment return is known as a carry trade.
The attraction of the strategy depends on one key factor: cheap funding. As long as borrowing costs remain low, traders can earn the spread between the two currencies. When funding costs rise, that profit margin shrinks.
The benchmark at the center of the story is HIBOR, the Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rate, which measures the rate banks charge one another to lend Hong Kong dollars. As HIBOR increases, the cost of financing carry-trade positions rises as well.
The reason traces back to Hong Kong’s currency system. Since 1983, the Hong Kong dollar has been pegged to the U.S. dollar within a trading band of HK$7.75 to HK$7.85 per U.S. dollar. When the currency weakens toward the lower end of that range, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) intervenes by purchasing Hong Kong dollars from the market.
Those interventions remove liquidity from the banking system. With less cash available, short-term borrowing costs tend to increase. In effect, the same market forces that encouraged the carry trade have also contributed to the conditions making it less profitable.
Seasonal factors are adding pressure. Midyear is traditionally a period when large dividend payments, corporate funding needs, and new stock offerings absorb liquidity from Hong Kong’s financial system. That can further tighten money-market conditions and contribute to higher borrowing rates.
The implications extend beyond hedge funds and currency traders. Most residential mortgages in Hong Kong are linked directly or indirectly to HIBOR. As the benchmark rises, mortgage payments can increase, affecting household budgets across the city.
Banks often benefit from a higher-rate environment because they can earn more on loans and other interest-bearing assets. Borrowers, however, face higher financing costs. Property developers, homebuyers, and businesses seeking credit may all feel the effects if funding costs continue climbing.
For savers, the picture is somewhat brighter. Higher interest rates can lead to improved returns on bank deposits and savings products, though those gains often lag changes in wholesale funding markets.
Importantly, the recent rise in borrowing costs is not viewed as a threat to Hong Kong’s currency peg. Rather, many analysts see it as evidence that the system is functioning as intended. The peg relies on automatic adjustments in liquidity and interest rates to keep the currency within its designated trading range.
The broader question for investors is whether the narrowing gap between Hong Kong and U.S. funding costs will continue. If borrowing Hong Kong dollars becomes significantly more expensive, the economics that fueled the carry trade could weaken further.
For now, the takeaway is straightforward: the era of exceptionally cheap Hong Kong dollar funding appears to be fading, reducing the attractiveness of one of the market’s most widely used currency trades.
JBizNews Desk — Asia
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JBizNews2 days agoUS President Donald Trump announced that he had canceled scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran on Thursday night, after a deal with Iran had been agreed upon.
The deal was approved “both in concept and great detail” by all involved parties, including the US, Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and multiple other Middle Eastern countries, Trump wrote.
The blockade will stay in place until the deal is finalized, Trump added.
Israel does not recognize reaching an agreement, a senior Israeli official told Channel 12.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 11, 2026
IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency wrote that Trump had announced an imminent deal 38 times in the last two months, and that until Iran announces an agreement, any Trump statement should be considered similarly to the past ones.
Iran’s Fars News Agency cited a source as saying Iran had not yet agreed to any memorandum of understanding with the US.
Negotiations between the US and Iran progressed late Wednesday night as Qatari envoy Ali Al-Thawadi and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi worked to resolve three key issues that impeded previous proposals, Axios reported on Thursday night.
The issues included the mechanism for releasing frozen Iranian assets, which Axios wrote was the primary issue for the Iranians, arrangements for reopening the Strait of Hormuz during the 60-day ceasefire period, and how negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program will be conducted during that period, according to the report.
Sources told Axios that Iranian officials told several countries on Thursday that while an agreement had been approved in principle, Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei had yet to give final approval.
Trump earlier announced that the US would be striking Iran in a post on Truth Social on Thursday afternoon.
“At some point in the not too distant future, we will be taking Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points, and assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets,” he added.
Trump said that his preference “has always been” to take Kharg Island, but that he wasn’t sure if “America has the stomach for it,” in a call with Fox also on Thursday.
Trump also addressed difficulties with negotiations with Iran, specifying that at one point, Iran would not agree not to buy as well as to not develop nuclear weapons, until they were convinced a day later.
Trump told Fox that the Kurds had let the US down after weapons were delivered to be distributed to the Iranian people during the January protests that predated the war.
When asked for his message to the Iranian people, Trump said that they were scared due to the arms disparity between the IRGC and unarmed protesters.
“We sent weapons and the Kurds let us down,” Trump said, adding that he had initially been against the plan to send the weapons to the Kurds, believing they would keep them instead of distributing them.
Notably, The Jerusalem Post reported that early on in the war, Israel had hoped to utilize the Iraqi and Iranian Kurds, who had received weapons from both the CIA and the Mossad, but that Trump had vetoed the operation.
Iranian Defense Ministry spokesperson Reza Taleinik said that Iran’s armed forces were at the highest level of readiness, and that Iran’s enemies must accept a ceasefire, on Thursday.
“Any crossing of the Islamic Republic’s red lines by the enemy will face a decisive, regret-inducing and harsh punitive response,” Taleinik said.
Iran’s top joint military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said on Thursday the United States would receive a more severe response than before if it attacks Iran.
“Considering recent US threats against Iran’s oil infrastructure, either oil and gas exports are for everyone, or they will be available for no one,” the command said in a statement carried by state media, adding the war would become more widespread and extensive, causing insecurity in the region.
Yonah Jeremy Bob and Reuters contributed to this report.
JBizNews2 days agoStarbucks is exploring options for its Japan business, including the possible sale of a minority stake or a public listing, according to people familiar with the matter cited in a report published Wednesday. The discussions are described as preliminary, and the company has not publicly confirmed any plans or commented on the reported deliberations.
In simple terms, Starbucks is considering whether to bring in outside investors to own part of its Japan operation. Another option under review is an initial public offering of the business, allowing investors to buy shares in the Japan unit while Starbucks retains a significant ownership position.
According to the report, a transaction could value the business at approximately ¥400 billion to ¥500 billion (about $2.5 billion to $3.1 billion), though no formal process has been announced and no final decision has been made.
For customers, little would change. Starbucks stores across Japan would continue operating under the same brand, serving the same products, and using the same loyalty programs. The question is not about changing the coffee business itself but about changing who owns part of it.
Japan is one of Starbucks’ most important international markets. The company operates approximately 2,100 stores across the country, making it one of the largest Starbucks footprints outside North America. Most of those locations are company-operated rather than franchised.
The reported discussions follow a major transaction Starbucks recently completed in China. In an official filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Starbucks disclosed that funds managed by Boyu Capital acquired a 60% stake in the company’s China retail operations, while Starbucks retained a 40% ownership interest and continued to own and license the Starbucks brand to the venture.
That China deal valued Starbucks’ China business at roughly $4 billion and reflected a broader strategy of partnering with local investors while maintaining control of the brand and long-term growth plans.
Brian Niccol, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Starbucks, said at the time that the China partnership would accelerate growth by combining Starbucks’ global brand with strong local expertise and operational capabilities.
A similar arrangement in Japan would extend what many analysts describe as an asset-light strategy. Rather than owning every international operation outright, Starbucks can generate capital from mature markets while continuing to benefit from future growth through retained ownership stakes, licensing fees, and brand royalties.
Unlike some corporate divestitures, the reported Japan discussions are not being driven by a struggling business. Starbucks has a long history in the country and remains one of the most recognized coffee brands in Japan.
The company first entered Japan in 1996, opening its inaugural location in Tokyo. In 2014, Starbucks purchased the remaining ownership stake in Starbucks Coffee Japan for approximately $914 million, giving the company full control of the business after years of operating through a joint venture.
If Starbucks ultimately sells a minority stake today, the valuation being discussed suggests the Japan operation has appreciated significantly since that acquisition.
The timing also aligns with Niccol’s broader effort to reshape the company. Since becoming CEO, he has been implementing the “Back to Starbucks” turnaround strategy, focused on simplifying operations, improving customer experience, and strengthening profitability.
Selling stakes in mature international businesses can free up capital, improve financial flexibility, and allow management to focus resources on key strategic priorities, including efforts to strengthen the company’s core North American operations.
For investors, the reported discussions could provide a clearer picture of how much Starbucks’ international businesses are worth. When outside investors place a specific value on an operation like Japan, it offers a market-based benchmark that can help analysts assess the company’s overall valuation.
Several important caveats remain. The discussions are reportedly in the early stages, the information comes from unnamed sources rather than company executives, and many preliminary deal talks never result in a transaction.
Starbucks could pursue a stake sale, an IPO, a strategic partnership, or decide to keep the business exactly as it is.
What is clear is that Starbucks is continuing to evaluate how it structures ownership of its international operations. After reshaping its China business through a local partnership, Japan may now be the next market under review as the world’s largest coffee chain looks to balance growth, capital allocation, and shareholder value.
JBizNews Desk — Asia
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JBizNews2 days agoDespite an overhanging shadow of war with Iran, over a dozen Israeli defense companies are taking part in ILA Berlin, one of Europe’s major aviation and defense exhibitions that opened on Wednesday.
ILA Berlin, taking place between June 10-14, 2026, will host more than 750 exhibitors from 37 countries. There are 15 Israeli companies participating, pitching their battle-proven systems to countries and companies aiming to rearm as Europe’s defense spending continues to rise due to ongoing conflicts and regional rivalries.
The companies are showcasing systems from various domains such as aerospace and space systems; air defense; unmanned platforms and counter-UAS solutions; radar and electronic warfare; AI-driven command, control, and situational awareness; and advanced homeland security.
In addition to Israel Aerospace Industries, Elbit Systems, and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, the smaller companies taking part include Aeromaoz, ASIO Technologies, Axon Vision, BIRD Aerosystems, Creomagic, eyesAtop, Magam Safety, Maris-Tech, Orbit Communication Systems, RSL Electronics, TSG, and Uvision.
According to the Defense Ministry, Israel’s participation in ILA Berlin 2026 “comes amid a record-breaking year for Israeli defense exports, which surpassed the $19 billion threshold in 2025, driven in part by the expansion of the Arrow 3 deal with Germany.”
Germany is undergoing a significant transformation in its defense posture. Since 2022, Berlin has committed to large‑scale increases in defense spending, initiated major procurement programs, and articulated a long‑term ambition to become Europe’s strongest military power.
The country is investing heavily in air defense, armored platforms, advanced munitions, and integrated command‑and‑control systems, creating a broad spectrum of opportunities for international defense suppliers.
The Berlin Air Show underscores Germany’s growing importance as a defense hub. While ILA has traditionally focused on aerospace, it has expanded in recent years to include broader defense and security technologies, reflecting Germany’s increasing emphasis on integrated air and missile defense and on strengthening its industrial partnerships.
“Israel’s participation in the exhibition reflects the Ministry’s strategy to deepen defense and strategic cooperation with Germany, and the significant potential for expanding business partnerships with German industry and additional European nations,” said Director of the International Defense Cooperation Directorate (SIBAT), Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yair Kulas.
While there were pro-Palestinian protesters on the opening day, Israel’s Defense Ministry said that “the exhibition serves as an important platform to advance and deepen strategic partnerships – both with Germany and with other friendly nations across Europe.”
At the airshow, Elbit Systems announced that it had signed a strategic partnership with Diehl Defense to jointly offer the SkyStriker loitering munition system to the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr)
According to a press release, Elbit Systems along with its German Subsidiary, Elbit Systems Deutschland, and Diehl Defence will “combine their complementary technologies, industrial capabilities, and deep operational expertise to offer a high‑performance, mature loitering munition solution, tailored specifically to Germany’s defense and modernization priorities.”
The SkyStriker is an autonomous, long‑range loitering munition designed to locate, track, and engage operator‑designated high-value targets with high accuracy. The platform is capable of carrying up to a 10‑kilogram warhead, loitering more than two hours, and achieving a range of over 200 km. It can be launched from numerous platforms including land-based vehicles, the EuroPULS rocket launcher, naval vessels, containers and aircraft.
The partnership also includes local manufacturing, assembly, integration, and qualification activities at Diehl Defence, if awarded relevant programs, supporting the development of sovereign capabilities and strengthening the German defense industry.
Unlike Eurosatory, where France banned Israeli companies from presenting offensive weapons systems, ILA offers a venue free from the political constraints, allowing them to present a wider range of systems and engage more directly with German and European stakeholders.
In a recent interview, Shifters CEO Ofer Ballin told Defense & Tech by The Jerusalem Post that “we all know that Europe is going through a tremendous change in terms of force building, and the geopolitical situation over the next decade will make the need supersede the politics.”
Assaf Chaprak, CTO at Shifters, told D&T that “Germany has always been a better option than France. The decision that the French government made is pure antisemitism. It is outrageous and shameful, but regardless, Eurosatory is a great opportunity to meet and engage with clients and with users.”
The opening ceremony of the Israeli National Pavilion took place on Wednesday under the leadership of SIBAT within the Israel Ministry of Defense (IMOD), with the heads of Israel’s defense industries in attendance.
Israel’s Ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, said the technologies on display “offer the most concrete demonstration” of Israel’s contribution to German and European security.
“Israel, Germany, and Europe face shared security challenges, including the infiltration of Iranian-origin technologies into the European arena and shared threats in the fight against terrorism.
The close strategic relationship between our two countries, including in the defense sector, holds enormous potential for future cooperation in additional areas, including joint technological development and production,” he said.
JBizNews2 days agoA Florida fuel-trading company is in advanced talks to ship Cuba the largest cargo of American fuel the island has received since before the U.S. embargo reshaped relations between the two countries, according to remarks confirmed Tuesday by Matthew Klann, President of Vanguard Energy. The Miami-based company has already supplied smaller shipments of gasoline and diesel to Cuba and is now working toward a significantly larger delivery as the island struggles through a deepening energy crisis.
What makes the development remarkable is the history behind it. The United States has maintained a trade embargo against Cuba for more than six decades, and Washington has spent much of this year trying to restrict fuel flows to the island. A major, openly arranged shipment of U.S. fuel would represent a sharp departure from decades of precedent and highlights a unique policy exception now taking shape.
To understand how Cuba reached this point, it helps to look at the events of the past several months. Cuba has long relied heavily on imported fuel, particularly from Venezuela. Disruptions to those supplies, combined with additional U.S. pressure on energy shipments to the island, have left Cuba facing severe shortages that have strained its electrical grid and transportation networks.
The consequences have been felt across the country. Cuban officials have acknowledged months of fuel shortages severe enough to disrupt power generation. Rolling blackouts have become a regular feature of daily life, with some areas experiencing outages lasting many hours at a time. Businesses, schools, hospitals, and households have all been affected by the lack of reliable electricity.
The reason U.S. fuel is now being considered lies in Washington’s distinction between Cuba’s government-controlled economy and its emerging private sector. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has argued that allowing certain transactions that benefit private Cuban entrepreneurs aligns with broader U.S. policy goals aimed at strengthening independent economic activity while maintaining pressure on the state.
In practical terms, that means fuel exports intended for private businesses may qualify for exceptions that would not apply to government entities. Companies such as Vanguard Energy have been operating within that narrow framework, supplying fuel to approved buyers under existing regulations.
Until now, those shipments have been relatively small. Earlier deliveries represented only a fraction of Cuba’s overall energy needs. The cargo currently under discussion would be substantially larger and could provide meaningful relief to parts of the island’s struggling economy.
The move comes as Cuba continues searching for alternative energy suppliers. Fuel shipments from other countries have arrived intermittently, but they have not been sufficient to stabilize the island’s energy system. The uncertainty surrounding foreign supplies has increased the importance of any new source of fuel.
The business implications are significant. For Vanguard Energy, the arrangement could establish an early foothold in a market that very few American companies are legally permitted to serve. If the policy framework remains in place, companies that develop expertise navigating the regulatory and logistical challenges could gain a substantial competitive advantage.
Those logistical challenges are considerable. Cuba’s fuel-import infrastructure faces capacity constraints, and handling large shipments can require complex coordination involving storage facilities, ports, and distribution networks. Successfully managing those obstacles is likely to be as important as securing regulatory approval.
For ordinary Cubans, however, the issue is less about geopolitics than daily life. Fuel shortages affect electricity generation, public transportation, refrigeration, food distribution, and countless other basic services. Any increase in available fuel could have an immediate impact on living conditions.
For U.S. policymakers, the potential shipment represents a test of a broader strategy: maintaining economic pressure on the Cuban government while allowing targeted support for private citizens and entrepreneurs. Whether that approach can achieve both objectives remains an open question.
Neither Vanguard Energy nor U.S. officials have disclosed the size of the proposed shipment or a specific delivery timetable. Discussions remain ongoing, and final approvals have not yet been announced.
If completed, however, the deal would mark one of the most significant fuel shipments from the United States to Cuba in decades and could become a milestone in the evolving relationship between U.S. policy and Cuba’s private economy.
JBizNews Desk — Americas
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JBizNews2 days ago
JBizNews2 days agoAluminum traded on the London Metal Exchange slipped to about $3,594 a tonne on Monday, easing back from the more than four-year high of roughly $3,790 it touched on June 2. The decline came as a stronger U.S. dollar made the metal more expensive for buyers using other currencies, briefly cooling a rally that has run for months.
Here is the simple version. Aluminum is priced in dollars. When the dollar gets stronger, the same bar of metal costs more for buyers in Europe, China, India and elsewhere paying in their own currencies. That extra cost tends to slow demand and pressure prices lower. That is most of what happened this past week.
The dollar climbed after a strong U.S. jobs report. A healthy labor market raises the odds that the Federal Reserve keeps interest rates elevated if inflation remains stubborn. Higher U.S. rates tend to attract investment into dollar-denominated assets, strengthening the currency and weighing on commodities priced in dollars. That chain reaction, not any easing of overseas tensions, is what knocked aluminum off its peak.
It is important to understand what did not cause the pullback. Supply concerns that have supported aluminum prices in recent months have not disappeared. Traders continue to monitor disruptions affecting energy markets, shipping routes and raw-material supplies, all of which can influence the cost and availability of aluminum around the world.
There is also continuing concern about access to bauxite, the ore used to make aluminum. Export restrictions and supply-chain uncertainties in key producing regions have added another layer of pressure to the market. When raw materials become harder or more expensive to move, the effects are felt throughout the aluminum supply chain.
For all the day-to-day swings, the bigger picture remains a market trading near multi-year highs. The recent decline represents a pullback from a sharp rally rather than a fundamental change in direction. Prices remain well above levels seen earlier in the year.
The business impact extends far beyond commodity traders. Aluminum is a critical input for automobiles, beverage cans, construction materials, packaging, electrical transmission lines and aircraft manufacturing. When prices remain elevated for extended periods, those costs eventually work their way through factories and into consumer products.
Manufacturers that consume large amounts of aluminum often try to lock in supply contracts ahead of time, but prolonged price increases can still pressure profit margins. Beverage makers, automakers and industrial manufacturers all keep a close eye on aluminum markets because the metal is embedded in so many everyday products.
The currency story matters for Americans as well. A stronger dollar can make imported goods cheaper for U.S. consumers while making American exports more expensive overseas. Aluminum’s recent move is one example of how expectations about Federal Reserve policy can ripple through global markets and eventually affect businesses and households alike.
What happens next will likely depend on two competing forces. On one side, a strong dollar and the possibility of higher-for-longer U.S. interest rates could continue to pressure commodity prices. On the other, ongoing supply concerns and tight availability of key materials could provide support.
This week, the dollar gained the upper hand. Over the longer term, however, supply conditions may prove to be the more important factor in determining where aluminum prices go next.
For now, aluminum remains near multi-year highs, underscoring just how strong the market has been despite the recent pullback.
JBizNews Desk — Markets
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JBizNews2 days agoGeneral Motors on Tuesday announced it’s releasing a software update that allows some electric vehicle (EV) owners to send power back to the electric grid.
The update allows owners of GM’s vehicle-to-home energy system, which allows the EV to power the home during a blackout, the expanded capability of sending electricity to the power grid.
Owners of the system would be able to sell power from their vehicle back to utility providers at times when demand is high, with GM getting a portion of the proceeds. EVs are viewed as an untapped resource for balancing the electric grid to meet surging demand from AI data centers as well as extreme weather events.
GM said that it alone has over 250,000 bidirectional capable vehicles on U.S. roads at this time, while it will include the vehicle-to-grid technology in all planned EVs going forward.
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It said that the quarter-million GM EVs that are capable of vehicle-to-grid energy transfers currently have the storage capacity to help power 120,000 homes for up to one week.
GM said that it’s actively testing vehicle-grid integration technology through a partnership with Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), and it expects that by 2030 there will be over 52,000 GM EVs actively participating in grid-balancing protocols.
It’s also conducting tests in Michigan with DTE Energy, using the homes of GM employees, to grow reliable backup capacity in a way that suits the preferences of home and EV owners, which GM Energy Vice President Wade Sheffer said is a “win for customers, automakers, and utilities.”
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“Maintaining a safe, reliable, and affordable grid is paramount. This transition won’t be easy, and we deeply respect the challenge of balancing day-to-day grid reliability with rapid innovation,” Sheffer said in a letter, adding that the company sees three areas in which utilities, regulators and automakers can simplify the path forward.
Those include boosting the enrollment of customers in utility programs by GM and industry partners, educating them on EV grid support and the value in utility programs and rates, with best practices developed amid its ongoing regional pilot projects.
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GM noted that consumers will be more motivated to participate when given clear and appropriate incentives, such as expanding localized, time-of-use tariffs, allowing EV owners to charge cost-effectively during energy surplus and receive appropriate compensation for supporting the grid during peak strain or times of need.
GM also said that streamlining paperwork, engineering reviews and utility interconnection processes to boost consumer confidence in being able to easily purchase and install a bidirectional charger.
“It’s time for us to look at parking lots and driveways across our communities as a massive, distributed power asset waiting to be integrated. By working together, we can help secure an affordable, reliable, and resilient energy future for everyone,” Sheffer’s letter said.
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Reuters contributed to this report.
JBizNews2 days agoFederal prosecutors say California real estate investor falsified collateral documents, helping trigger a 2025 sell-off that erased roughly $1 billion in market value from regional bank stocks.
The case grows out of a scare that hit Wall Street in October 2025. That month, Zions Bancorporation and Western Alliance Bancorp disclosed that loans tied to funds operating under the Cantor Group name had gone bad. The news wiped out roughly $1 billion of Zions’ market value in a single day and dragged down other regional bank stocks, as investors worried the problems might be wider than two lenders.
Now the matter has turned criminal. On Wednesday, June 10, 2026, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California announced the arrest of the California real estate investor at the center of those loans on a federal bank fraud charge.
Mahender Makhijani, 44, of Corona del Mar, was taken into custody on a criminal complaint that accuses him of cheating a bank out of nearly $100 million by faking documents to make the property backing his loans look far more valuable than it was. He was scheduled to make his first court appearance Wednesday afternoon in federal court in Santa Ana. According to the complaint, Makhijani controls Cantor Group V LLC, a Newport Beach company that borrowed heavily against real estate.
“When criminals are allowed to deceive lenders, the spillover effects can harm consumers and businesses,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli. He called the arrest part of an effort to protect the banking system.
Here is what prosecutors say happened. Western Alliance advanced close to $100 million to Cantor Group V so the firm could make or buy loans backed by real estate. Under the deal, Cantor was supposed to pledge those loans, and the underlying property, to the bank. The bank wanted first claim on the collateral — meaning if a borrower stopped paying, the bank would be first in line to take the property and sell it. That first position is what made the loans safe enough to fund.
To prove it held that first position, Cantor had to hand over title insurance policies. From September 2024 to April 2025, the complaint says, Makhijani falsified those policies so they appeared to show Cantor was first in line. In reality, other lenders were ahead of it, which made the collateral worth far less.
The method was low-tech, according to the affidavit. Makhijani or a subordinate edited the title documents in Adobe software, then stripped out the digital fingerprints that would reveal the changes — in some cases by printing the altered files and scanning them back in. An employee then sent the doctored policies to the bank. When the bank flagged problems, prosecutors say, Makhijani got on the phone and lied about them, and in December 2024 had a spreadsheet of false explanations sent over to smooth things out.
Had the bank known the collateral’s true value, prosecutors say, it would have treated Cantor as in default and demanded the full balance back. Western Alliance sued in Los Angeles County in August 2025, the first public sign of trouble before the broader disclosures shook the market two months later. The criminal complaint does not name the bank, identifying it only as “Bank #1,” but the loan size, the timing and the lawsuit match the case Western Alliance brought against the Cantor fund.
The complaint also reflects how seriously federal regulators are taking strains in bank lending. IRS Criminal Investigation, the FBI, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Inspector General, the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Inspector General, and the Inspector General for the Federal Reserve and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are all working the case. Darren Lian of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Los Angeles office said agents traced the money through layered transfers and shell companies.
The October scare put a spotlight on a soft spot in the financial system. Regional banks tend to lend within a single region and lean heavily on commercial real estate, an area under pressure as office values fall and loans come due. When one borrower turns out to have hidden the truth about collateral, it raises a worry that costs everyone money: that other loans on other banks’ books may be weaker than they look. That fear is what drove the sell-off, even though analysts at the time argued the Cantor losses looked specific to a few borrowers rather than a system-wide crack.
For ordinary customers and businesses, the stakes are practical. Healthy regional banks are the lenders behind much small-business credit, local mortgages and construction projects. Losses on the scale alleged here force banks to tighten standards, which can make borrowing harder and costlier across a community.
A criminal complaint is only an allegation, and Makhijani is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. If convicted, he faces a maximum of 30 years in federal prison. The investigation is continuing.
JBizNews Desk — United States
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JBizNews2 days ago
JBizNews2 days agoMeta announced Tuesday that it has signed an agreement with Reliance Industries to lease its first artificial intelligence data center in India, according to a statement released through the company’s newsroom and comments from Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Meta, and Mukesh D. Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited.
The plant will be built in Jamnagar, a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. Under the agreement, Reliance will construct the facility while Meta leases the computing capacity inside it. The first phase is expected to operate at 168 megawatts of power, with room for future expansion.
Here is the simplest way to understand the arrangement. Meta operates platforms used by billions of people worldwide, including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, and requires vast computing power to run its growing artificial intelligence systems. Rather than building its own facility from the ground up in India, Meta will pay Reliance to build and operate the infrastructure while leasing the computing resources it needs.
India is central to the strategy. It is one of Meta’s largest and fastest-growing markets, and the company said locating computing power within the country will allow AI products and services to run faster for local users. Zuckerberg said the Jamnagar facility will strengthen Meta’s global AI infrastructure while deepening its long-term investment in India.
The partnership builds on an existing relationship. In 2020, Meta invested $5.7 billion in Jio Platforms, Reliance’s telecommunications and digital subsidiary, in a move aimed at expanding internet access and helping small businesses across India. The companies later worked together to make Meta’s open-source AI models available to Indian businesses and developers. The new data center extends that partnership into the physical infrastructure powering artificial intelligence.
The facility has been designed around two of the largest operating costs in data centers: energy and water. Reliance is developing what it describes as one of the world’s largest data center campuses in Jamnagar, with access to the significant power resources required for AI computing. The site will run on renewable energy and use desalinated seawater for cooling rather than freshwater supplies. Meta said it will cover the full cost of the energy and water needed to operate the center.
Ambani described the agreement as a milestone for India’s digital infrastructure, saying that building the country’s first custom-designed data center for a technology company of Meta’s scale demonstrates India’s readiness to play a leading role in the global AI economy.
Meta also announced a major clean-energy expansion in India. The company said it has contracted nearly 1 gigawatt of new solar and wind generation through two energy providers.
CleanMax will supply 837 megawatts from new projects in Rajasthan and Karnataka, bringing Meta’s total announced capacity with the company to more than 900 megawatts. Fourth Partner Energy will provide an additional 88 megawatts from projects across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh.
The business implications are significant. AI data centers have become one of the largest areas of spending across the global technology sector, influencing employment, construction activity, power demand, and local infrastructure investment. By having Reliance build and operate the facility, India retains ownership of the underlying infrastructure while keeping related energy and water spending within the country.
For Reliance, the agreement helps transform Jamnagar—long known as a major refining and energy hub—into a destination for AI and cloud-computing customers. The company has signaled its intention to host AI infrastructure for outside firms, and securing a customer the size of Meta represents a major validation of that strategy.
The deal also highlights a broader trend across the technology industry as major American companies race to secure computing capacity around the world rather than relying solely on domestic infrastructure.
For users in India, the immediate goal is straightforward: faster AI services and digital applications powered by servers located closer to where they live and work.
Neither company disclosed the financial terms of the lease agreement or provided a firm timeline for when the Jamnagar facility will begin operations.
JBizNews Desk — Asia
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JBizNews2 days agoGovernor Tiff Macklem’s warning that Canada’s economy remains weak sent government bond prices higher as investors increased bets on future rate cuts.
The Bank of Canada left its key interest rate unchanged on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, and Governor Tiff Macklem described the country’s economy as “weak,” a message that sparked a rally in Canadian government bonds and reinforced expectations that future interest-rate cuts remain possible.
The central bank held its benchmark overnight rate at 2.25%, marking the fifth consecutive meeting without a policy change. The decision was widely expected by economists and financial markets.
Speaking in Ottawa alongside Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers, Macklem acknowledged that economic conditions remain sluggish.
“The economy is weak, but it is not clearly in recession,” Macklem said, adding that policymakers expect growth to improve during the second quarter.
Bond markets reacted immediately.
Canada’s benchmark two-year government bond yield fell to approximately 2.84% shortly after the announcement after trading near 2.88% earlier in the day. Bond yields move inversely to prices, meaning investors were buying government debt following the central bank’s comments.
The move reflected growing market expectations that the Bank of Canada’s next policy adjustment is more likely to be a rate cut than a rate increase.
In its policy statement, the central bank highlighted the difficult balancing act facing policymakers.
“Economic activity in Canada has been weak and uncertainty about U.S. trade policy persists,” the bank said.
Officials also pointed to continuing tensions in the Middle East and elevated oil prices. However, the bank emphasized that it intends to look through temporary energy-driven inflation pressures and “will not let higher energy prices become persistent inflation.”
The statement underscores the competing forces currently shaping Canada’s economy.
Higher oil prices can push inflation upward, which would normally support higher interest rates. At the same time, weak economic growth and soft business activity argue for lower borrowing costs to stimulate demand.
Caught between those competing risks, policymakers chose to remain on hold.
The decision comes as Canada continues to flirt with recession.
The economy recorded a second consecutive quarterly contraction during the first quarter of 2026, meeting the traditional definition of a technical recession. Despite that, Macklem stopped short of formally describing the economy as being in recession, arguing that conditions could improve as growth rebounds during the spring and summer months.
For consumers and businesses, the decision has direct implications.
The Bank of Canada’s overnight rate influences borrowing costs throughout the financial system, including variable-rate mortgages, lines of credit, business loans, and consumer lending products.
By leaving rates unchanged, the central bank maintained existing borrowing costs for millions of Canadians.
Fixed mortgage rates operate differently because they are heavily influenced by government bond yields. As a result, Wednesday’s rally in Canadian bonds could eventually help reduce pressure on fixed-rate borrowing costs if lower yields persist.
The current pause follows one of the most aggressive easing cycles among major central banks.
Between June 2024 and October 2025, the Bank of Canada reduced its benchmark rate by 2.75 percentage points, lowering it from 5.0% to 2.25%. Since then, policymakers have adopted a wait-and-see approach, weighing slowing economic activity against lingering inflation risks.
Economists generally interpreted Macklem’s comments as supportive of future easing rather than tightening.
Ali Jaffery, Chief Economist at KPMG Canada, described the central bank’s tone as dovish, arguing that inflation risks remain manageable given the economy’s weakness.
Andrew Grantham, Senior Economist at CIBC, characterized the Bank of Canada as “very patient” and said policymakers appear comfortable waiting to see whether current rates can support a modest recovery.
Several major financial institutions, including CIBC, BMO, and Royal Bank of Canada, currently expect the benchmark rate to remain unchanged through the remainder of 2026.
A major variable remains trade policy.
The upcoming review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in July could significantly affect Canada’s economic outlook. Any changes to trade arrangements would have direct implications for manufacturing, exports, investment, and cross-border supply chains.
Until there is greater clarity on trade negotiations and the trajectory of economic growth, the Bank of Canada appears content to keep rates at 2.25%, monitor incoming data, and wait for stronger evidence that either inflation or economic weakness is gaining the upper hand.
JBizNews Desk — Canada
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JBizNews2 days agoColumbia University anti-Israel student activist Mohsen Mahdawi appealed on Wednesday an immigration court order to deport him to Jordan, according to his legal representation American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
Mahdawi, who was arrested last April for undermining US foreign policy and government counter-antisemitism efforts with his pro-Palestinian campus activism, had been ordered removed to Jordan by an immigration judge last Wednesday.
The ACLU and other legal representatives on Wednesday appealed to the First Circuit US Court of Appeals. They have also petitioned on Wednesday to the Second Circuit, where his habeas petition is being deliberated. His legal team argued that his detention and censorship was punitive and served no legitimate purpose.
Mahdawi said that in a statement that as someone who was born in a Palestinian “refugee camp,” he thought he would be able to build his life in the US with the rights he ostensibly lacked there.
“Now the administration is abusing immigration law to silence me for speaking the truth about Palestinian suffering and genocide. When a government weaponizes immigration to punish speech, millions of immigrants and citizens feel that blow,” said Mahdawi. “This fight belongs to all who believe in democracy and every person willing to stand together in defense of the First Amendment. I take this fight to the First Circuit with love and faith – because the First Amendment is sacred, and I refuse to be silenced.”
Deportation proceedings had been reinstated against Mahdawi in early May after the US Board of Immigration Appeals overturned a February decision by a US immigration judge to reject the government’s efforts to deport him, arguing that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) failed to prove he was removable.
“The original immigration judge correctly dismissed Mohsen’s immigration case before she had been fired, and the government cynically appealed the case within the Trump administration-controlled immigration court system knowing that the BIA would reverse,” Mahdawi’s attorney Cyrus Mehta said in a Wednesday statement with the ACLU. “We look forward to vindicating Mohsen’s First Amendment rights in the First Circuit Court of Appeals as well as the First Amendment rights of all other noncitizens living in the United States.”
The 34-year-old green card holder was arrested by DHS agents while he was attending a citizenship interview, with his deportation sought under the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act.
“The secretary of state has determined” that his “presence and activities in the United States would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences and would compromise compelling US foreign policy interests,” was the explanation given for the move.
A judge ruled on the same day of his arrest that Mahdawi could not be removed from Vermont while the petitions against his arrest were being considered.
Petitions against Mahdawi’s detainment have argued that his arrest was a punitive measure over his activism, in violation of a resident’s First Amendment right to protected speech and due process.
The government said that its actions were legitimate under the INA and that the Vermont court lacked jurisdiction over the matter.
Mahdawi has been a student and activist at various universities in the West Bank and the US since 2014. He was the head of the Fatah Student Movement at Birzeit University in the West Bank, and at Columbia, he was one of the leaders of pro-Palestinian protests. However, Mahdawi said that he stepped back from the role in March 2024.
Mahdawi reportedly co-founded the Dar: Palestinian Student Society alongside activist Mahmoud Khalil, a leader at Columbia University’s Apartheid Divest whose own deportation order is still being challenged.
ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project Deputy director Nate Freed Wessler said that “Mohsen should never have been detained for his speech.”
“The government’s continued persecution of our client for his beliefs should send a chill down the spine of everyone in this country, because once we start allowing exceptions to the First Amendment for speech the current government doesn’t like, there’s no telling where the censorship will stop.”
JBizNews2 days agoSilver has plunged nearly 47% from its January peak as rising inflation, higher interest-rate expectations and renewed Middle East tensions trigger another sharp selloff in one of 2026’s most volatile assets.
Silver prices fell sharply on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, sliding to around $64 per ounce on the COMEX exchange, their lowest level since late March and nearly 47% below the record high of $121.67 per ounce reached in January.
The latest decline caps a painful month for investors in what had been one of the market’s hottest trades.
The iShares Silver Trust (SLV), the largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund and one of the most popular ways for individual investors to gain exposure to silver, has fallen roughly 20% over the past month.
The immediate catalyst was a combination of geopolitical and economic pressures.
The United States launched fresh military strikes against Iran following the reported downing of an American helicopter, sending oil prices higher. At the same time, the latest Consumer Price Index report showed annual inflation rising to 4.2%, its highest level since April 2023, while core inflation climbed to a seven-month high.
Ordinarily, geopolitical uncertainty can support precious metals.
However, markets focused instead on what higher inflation means for interest rates.
Stronger inflation increases the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will maintain elevated rates—or potentially raise them further. That creates a challenge for silver because, unlike bonds, savings accounts and many other investments, it generates no income.
When interest rates rise, investors often move toward assets that offer yield, reducing the appeal of non-income-producing metals.
Despite the sharp decline, silver remains significantly higher than it was a year ago.
In June 2025, silver traded near $36 per ounce. Even after the recent collapse, prices around $64 still represent a gain of approximately 76% over the past twelve months.
The current selloff therefore represents a retreat from extraordinary highs rather than a return to historical norms.
The rally that preceded the collapse was remarkable.
Silver surged to approximately $121.67 per ounce on January 29, 2026, more than tripling from levels seen during 2025. The following day, the metal suffered its largest one-day decline on record, dropping as much as 35% intraday.
That selloff, combined with simultaneous weakness in gold, erased trillions of dollars in value across precious-metals markets and marked the beginning of a prolonged correction.
Analysts had warned for months that prices had become detached from fundamentals.
Colin Steel of HSBC described silver as fundamentally overvalued despite maintaining a positive long-term outlook. Suki Cooper, head of commodities research at Standard Chartered, similarly warned that silver had entered heavily overbought territory.
Other analysts argued that speculative trading had become the dominant force in the market, pushing prices beyond levels justified by actual industrial or investment demand.
Silver’s volatility stems from its unusual dual role.
It functions both as a precious metal and as an industrial commodity.
Silver is widely used in:
Because of that dual identity, silver prices are influenced by both investor sentiment and industrial demand.
Recently, industrial demand growth has shown signs of slowing. Solar manufacturers, one of the largest consumers of silver, continue developing technologies that reduce the amount of silver required per panel, limiting future demand growth.
For investors, the decline serves as another reminder that silver can be considerably more volatile than gold.
Many investors own silver through ETFs such as SLV or through physical coins and bars purchased as inflation hedges. Those who entered near January’s highs are facing substantial losses, while longer-term holders remain well ahead despite the correction.
The impact extends beyond financial markets.
Lower silver prices can eventually reduce costs for solar developers, electronics manufacturers and medical-device producers. At the same time, falling prices can pressure the profitability of silver miners and companies tied closely to precious-metals production.
Gold also moved lower Wednesday, trading near $4,160 per ounce, down more than 2% on the day.
Not everyone has turned bearish.
Some investors view the correction as a buying opportunity, citing long-term supply constraints and expectations for growing industrial demand over the coming decade. Supporters of that view argue that global silver supplies remain tight and that emerging technologies could drive future consumption.
For now, however, markets are focused on inflation, interest rates and geopolitical uncertainty.
The next major event for traders arrives on June 17, when new Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh is scheduled to hold his first post-meeting press conference. Investors will be looking for clues about how aggressively the central bank intends to respond to rising inflation.
If policymakers signal a more cautious approach, pressure on precious metals could ease.
Until then, rising oil prices, elevated inflation and expectations for higher interest rates continue to create a difficult environment for silver—even after one of the largest corrections in its history.
JBizNews Desk — Markets
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JBizNews2 days agoSilver has plunged nearly 20% in a month as rising inflation fears, higher interest-rate expectations and renewed conflict in the Middle East trigger a sharp reversal in one of 2026’s hottest trades.
Silver prices tumbled on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, falling below $65 per ounce on the COMEX exchange and reaching their lowest level since March. The decline caps a brutal month for a metal that had been among the strongest-performing assets of the year.
The selloff has been particularly painful for investors in the iShares Silver Trust (SLV), the largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund. The fund closed at $59.01 on June 9 and has fallen approximately 19% over the past month.
The latest drop came as the United States launched fresh military strikes against Iran following the reported downing of an American helicopter, escalating concerns about inflation and energy prices.
At first glance, the reaction may seem counterintuitive.
Precious metals are often viewed as safe-haven assets during geopolitical crises. However, the market’s focus has shifted toward the inflationary consequences of rising oil prices and what that could mean for interest rates.
Higher inflation increases the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates elevated—or potentially raise them further.
That creates a problem for silver.
Unlike stocks, bonds, or savings accounts, silver generates no income. It pays no dividends and no interest. When investors can earn higher returns from cash or fixed-income investments, non-yielding assets such as silver become less attractive.
The decline has been dramatic, but it follows an equally extraordinary rally.
Even after the recent selloff, silver remains approximately 77% higher than a year ago and has more than doubled over the past five years.
Earlier in 2026, silver surged above $100 per ounce, reaching levels not seen in modern trading history before reversing sharply.
On January 30, silver experienced its largest one-day decline on record, falling as much as 35% intraday. Combined with a simultaneous plunge in gold prices, the selloff erased trillions of dollars in market value across precious-metals markets.
Analysts have been warning for months that silver prices had become disconnected from underlying fundamentals.
Colin Steel, an analyst at HSBC, recently described silver as fundamentally overvalued despite maintaining a constructive long-term outlook. Other market observers argued that speculative trading had overwhelmed traditional supply-and-demand factors.
When markets become dominated by momentum-driven investors, sharp corrections often follow once sentiment changes.
Silver’s volatility stems from its unique position in the global economy.
Unlike gold, which is primarily an investment asset, silver serves both as a precious metal and as a critical industrial commodity.
It is widely used in:
That dual identity means silver prices are influenced by both investor psychology and industrial demand.
Recently, the industrial side of the equation has weakened.
Solar-panel manufacturers, one of the largest consumers of silver, have steadily reduced the amount of silver used in each panel through technological improvements. Those efficiency gains have reduced demand growth and removed one of the strongest supports for higher prices.
For investors, the latest plunge serves as a reminder that silver is often far more volatile than many people assume.
While often grouped with gold as a defensive asset, silver has historically experienced much larger price swings. Investors who purchased near this year’s highs are now facing substantial losses, while longer-term holders remain well ahead despite the correction.
The decline also carries implications for businesses.
Lower silver prices can eventually reduce costs for manufacturers that rely heavily on the metal, including renewable-energy companies, electronics producers and medical-device manufacturers.
Silver mining companies face the opposite challenge.
When silver prices fall sharply, profit margins can compress quickly, placing pressure on mining stocks and future investment in production capacity.
Not everyone believes the selloff will continue.
Some investors view the correction as a buying opportunity, citing long-term concerns about mine supply, growing industrial applications and potential shortages of above-ground inventories.
Supporters of the bullish case argue that increasing demand from clean-energy technologies and emerging industrial applications could eventually tighten supplies.
For now, however, markets are focused on more immediate concerns.
A widening conflict with Iran, rising oil prices and renewed inflation fears have shifted investor attention toward interest rates rather than precious metals.
Whether silver stabilizes or falls further will depend largely on three factors: the path of the Middle East conflict, the direction of energy prices and future signals from the Federal Reserve.
After one of the most volatile years in its history, silver remains one of the market’s most unpredictable assets.
JBizNews Desk — Markets
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JBizNews2 days agoThe Massachusetts senator is urging regulators to slow what could become the largest IPO in history, warning that valuation concerns, concentrated control and index-fund exposure could put ordinary investors at risk.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren is asking federal regulators to delay what would be one of the most closely watched stock-market debuts ever.
In a letter released Wednesday, June 10, 2026, the Massachusetts Democrat urged Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins to postpone the planned initial public offering of SpaceX, arguing that investors need more transparency before the company begins trading.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., better known as SpaceX, is expected to debut on the Nasdaq on Friday under the ticker SPCX. The company is reportedly targeting a valuation of approximately $1.77 trillion and could raise as much as $75 billion, potentially making it the largest IPO in U.S. history.
Investor demand appears enormous.
Reports indicate orders for shares have exceeded $250 billion, more than three times the amount of stock expected to be sold in the offering.
An IPO marks the first time a private company offers shares to the general public, allowing retail and institutional investors to buy ownership stakes through public markets.
In her 12-page letter, Warren outlined three primary concerns.
The first centers on valuation.
Warren argued that SpaceX’s proposed valuation appears difficult to justify based on publicly disclosed financial information. She pointed to reported 2025 revenue of approximately $18.67 billion and a net loss of $4.94 billion.
At a valuation of $1.77 trillion, the company would be worth roughly 94 times annual revenue, a level Warren described as potentially disconnected from financial fundamentals.
She urged regulators to ensure investors receive sufficient information and cited concerns about what she called the possibility of an “inaccurate or misleading accounting of valuation.”
Her second concern involves corporate governance.
According to the letter, Elon Musk would retain approximately 82.4% of voting power through a dual-class share structure that grants enhanced voting rights to certain shares.
Warren argued that the structure would leave outside shareholders with limited influence over company decisions. She also cited provisions involving mandatory arbitration, restrictions on shareholder proposals and the company’s incorporation under Texas corporate law as factors that could further reduce investor influence.
The third concern could affect millions of Americans who do not directly purchase SpaceX shares.
Several major stock indexes have recently reviewed rules governing how quickly newly public companies can be added to benchmark indexes.
The Nasdaq-100 finalized expedited entry rules on May 1, while similar discussions have occurred among managers of other major indexes.
The issue matters because index funds automatically purchase stocks included in the indexes they track. Millions of Americans own such funds through retirement accounts, pension plans and 401(k) programs.
If SpaceX were added quickly to a major index, passive investors could gain exposure to the company even if they never actively chose to buy the stock.
Warren argued that regulators should closely examine whether accelerated index inclusion could expose retirement savers to excessive risk.
Notably, the committee overseeing S&P Dow Jones Indices reportedly indicated this week that it would not alter its rules specifically to accelerate inclusion of SpaceX or other large IPOs.
In her letter, Warren said the offering appears to present substantial risks for ordinary investors while potentially creating enormous gains for company insiders.
She asked the SEC to delay approval of the final registration process until her concerns are fully addressed.
The timing is tight.
With the planned listing scheduled for Friday, regulators have limited time to respond. An SEC spokesperson confirmed receipt of the letter but declined further comment.
Supporters of the IPO point to strong market demand.
The reported $250 billion-plus order book suggests investors are eager to own shares despite the company’s losses and governance structure. Reports also indicate that SpaceX plans to allocate as much as 30% of the offering to retail investors, a larger share than many major IPOs reserve for individual buyers.
Importantly, Warren’s letter does not accuse SpaceX of fraud or wrongdoing. Rather, it argues that investors should receive greater scrutiny and transparency before the company enters public markets.
For investors, the practical implications vary.
Those who buy individual stocks can decide for themselves whether SpaceX fits their risk tolerance and investment goals. But investors holding broad market index funds could eventually gain indirect exposure if the company is added to major benchmarks.
That possibility is at the center of Warren’s request: slowing the process long enough for regulators to examine whether one of the largest IPOs ever brought to market deserves additional scrutiny before trading begins.
JBizNews Desk — Markets
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JBizNews2 days agoThe General Services Administration (GSA) on Wednesday announced the sale of the Old Post Office Building located at 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C.
The building was previously the Trump International Hotel from 2016 to 2022 until the Trump family firm sold the leasing rights for $375 million. The hotel reopened later in 2022 as the Waldorf Astoria Washington D.C., under the management of Hilton.
GSA said that its sale of the building included terms that “permanently secured public access to the iconic clock tower while establishing strong protections for the building’s architectural heritage through a binding preservation covenant.”
The deal also includes a dedicated fine arts covenant that will retain the American public’s ownership of artwork within the facility, including Robert Irwin’s “48 Shadow Planes” and a historic Benjamin Franklin Statue.
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GSA’s sale is moving forward under the terms of the existing ground lease, which gives BDT MSD Partners, a merchant bank, the right of first offer.
The Wall Street Journal reported that BDT & MSD Partners acquired the building and land for $80 million, according to people familiar with the matter. The report noted the bank is discussing selling the property for a total of $400 million.
Hilton currently has a long-term agreement in place with the hotel to operate it as the Waldorf Astoria, and that arrangement would continue with a new leaseholder, the Journal reported.
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The Old Post Office Building was completed in 1899 and originally served as the headquarters for the U.S. Post Office Department and the post office for Washington, D.C.
It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and its Romanesque Revival architecture makes it one of the most recognizable buildings on Pennsylvania Avenue, featuring a prominent clock tower and atrium. The facility is also located near the White House and other Washington, D.C. landmarks.
According to GSA’s announcement, before the property was redeveloped into a hotel, taxpayers were absorbing about $6 million a year in losses on the building.
Since then, there has been over $250 million in private sector capital invested in the property and taxpayer revenues in the last decade, including the current sale, are expected to exceed $110 million.
GSA has listed dozens of other federally-owned properties for sale since early last year as the Trump administration looks to reduce federal spending on underutilized office space and real estate.
JBizNews2 days agoMexico’s World Cup kickoff is set for Thursday, but demonstrations, road blockades and uncertainty over a major fan festival are casting a shadow over one of the country’s biggest tourism and economic events in years.
Mexico City is hours away from kicking off the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Thursday, but the celebration is colliding with protests that have blocked roads, toppled tournament displays and put the country’s biggest fan party in doubt. On Wednesday, President Claudia Sheinbaum said she could not yet guarantee that the capital’s free fan festival would go ahead because a teachers’ protest camp had sealed off access to the main square where it is meant to take place.
The opening match pits host Mexico against South Africa at Estadio Azteca, the Mexico City stadium that anchors a tournament jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada. Kickoff is set for Thursday afternoon following a star-studded opening ceremony, with Colombian singer Shakira among the scheduled performers.
Sheinbaum will not attend the match. She said she gave away her ticket and would instead remain focused on monitoring the protests and security situation surrounding the event.
The stakes extend far beyond soccer.
The Mexican Football Federation estimates the tournament will generate roughly $3 billion for hotels, restaurants, transportation providers, sports venues and other tourism-related businesses. Mexico is hosting 13 World Cup matches across Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey during the tournament’s 39-day run.
For many businesses, Thursday’s opener represents the most important single day of the competition. Organizers expect the match and surrounding festivities to attract one of the largest audiences of the entire tournament, making it a showcase event for the country’s tourism and hospitality industries.
That economic opportunity is also fueling some of the protests.
The National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE), a powerful teachers’ union, has spent more than a week demonstrating in the capital. Union leaders argue that the government devoted significant resources to stadium upgrades, transportation improvements and tourism infrastructure while failing to adequately address teacher pay, school funding and public services.
The union established a large encampment in the Zócalo, Mexico City’s historic central plaza, where officials had planned to host the tournament’s primary FIFA Fan Festival. Government estimates suggest the encampment could house approximately 6,000 protesters, effectively limiting access to the square.
The disruptions have spread beyond the city center.
Earlier this week, demonstrators blocked sections of a major highway near the stadium. Police erected barriers to prevent protesters from reaching key tournament sites, and several World Cup-themed statues and promotional installations were vandalized.
Mexican authorities say approximately 19 social movements are expected to stage demonstrations during opening-week activities, with at least seven separate marches planned for Thursday alone.
Not all of the demonstrations focus on economic issues.
Groups representing families of Mexico’s missing persons have organized peaceful marches timed to coincide with the tournament opener. The groups hope to draw international attention to the more than 130,000 people reported missing in Mexico, most of them over the past two decades.
Amnesty International this week called for protections for the women leading many of those search efforts, arguing that the global spotlight surrounding the World Cup provides a rare opportunity to raise awareness of the issue.
Despite the tensions, Sheinbaum has sought to project confidence.
She has repeatedly stated that authorities will not be provoked into confrontation and has pledged that the opening match and related activities will proceed peacefully. The government has deployed large numbers of security personnel, including members of the National Guard, throughout the host cities.
The security presence follows a wave of cartel-related violence earlier this year in one of the World Cup host cities, an incident that raised concerns among tournament organizers and international visitors.
For businesses, however, uncertainty carries its own costs.
Hotels, restaurants, retailers and street vendors near both Estadio Azteca and the Zócalo have spent months preparing for large crowds. Road closures, transportation disruptions and the possibility of a canceled or relocated fan festival could reduce the foot traffic many businesses expected to generate significant opening-week revenue.
While one disrupted day is unlikely to derail a tournament lasting more than a month, it could affect perceptions among tourists deciding whether to travel to Mexico for later matches.
The timing is also politically sensitive.
Sheinbaum is preparing for important trade discussions with the United States later this summer. Those talks are expected to influence key manufacturing and supply-chain sectors that tie the two economies closely together.
A World Cup designed to showcase Mexico as a global tourism and business destination is instead opening amid images of protests, road blockades and heavy police deployments — a contrast critics have highlighted in recent days.
Tournament organizers remain confident that the opening match will proceed as scheduled. Whether the surrounding festivities and economic benefits unfold as planned remains the question hanging over Mexico City as the first whistle approaches.
JBizNews Desk — Mexico
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JBizNews2 days agoIn an age of next-day delivery, one of the most sought-after weapons on earth still moves at a crawl.
A single Patriot PAC-3 interceptor takes more than two years to build and passes through a network of more than 400 companies before it ever reaches a battlefield. That bottleneck is now under enormous strain as wars and security threats drive demand to record levels, revealing how modern defense manufacturing really works.
The pressure became official this year.
On January 6, Lockheed Martin announced a seven-year agreement with the Pentagon aimed at increasing annual production of PAC-3 interceptors to 2,000 missiles per year, up from roughly 600 annually.
Tripling production sounds simple on paper.
Building the factories, supply chains, and workforce needed to make that happen is anything but simple.
A Patriot missile is not built by a single company.
Lockheed Martin manufactures the PAC-3 interceptor itself.
Boeing produces the advanced seekers that guide the missile to its target.
Raytheon, a division of RTX, builds the radar systems and launchers that make the Patriot system work.
Behind those well-known defense giants sits a vast network of more than 400 suppliers, each responsible for specialized components.
Every part must arrive on schedule, meet military specifications, and pass extensive testing before final assembly can proceed.
If a single supplier experiences delays, the entire production chain can slow down.
The challenge stems partly from how the defense industry evolved over the past three decades.
Manufacturers increasingly adopted practices common throughout the private sector:
Those strategies reduce costs during peacetime.
But they create vulnerabilities when demand suddenly surges.
That is exactly what is happening today.
The Patriot missile has become one of the world’s most heavily used air-defense weapons.
It has played a central role in Ukraine’s defense against Russian missile attacks and has been heavily utilized throughout conflicts in the Middle East.
Recent attacks involving Iran generated what defense officials described as the largest operational use of Patriot systems in history.
The result is a growing backlog.
The current order book exceeds 4,300 Patriot interceptors from more than a dozen countries, including:
At current production rates, that represents roughly seven years of manufacturing demand.
In one April 2026 contract, approximately 94% of the funding came from foreign governments purchasing through U.S. military sales programs.
The financial stakes are enormous.
According to a Congressional Research Service briefing, each Patriot interceptor costs at least $4 million.
In September 2025, Lockheed Martin received a $9.8 billion contract covering 1,970 missiles, the largest Patriot order ever placed.
Those long-term commitments are critical because they give manufacturers confidence to:
Without multiyear contracts, companies are reluctant to make such expensive investments.
Progress is happening, but slowly.
Lockheed Martin increased PAC-3 production by more than 60% over two years and delivered approximately 620 interceptors during 2025.
Meanwhile, Boeing is expanding its seeker-manufacturing facilities by roughly 30%, but the additional capacity is not expected to come online until 2027.
Building new factories takes time.
Installing equipment takes time.
Training skilled workers takes time.
None of those constraints can be solved immediately.
Even with planned expansions, some analysts worry production may still lag demand.
According to Fabian Hoffman, a missile expert at the University of Oslo, global Patriot interceptor production currently runs at roughly 850 to 880 missiles annually and could rise to around 1,130 per year by 2027.
The challenge is that air-defense forces frequently launch two or three interceptors against a single incoming threat to maximize the chances of a successful interception.
Meanwhile, many adversaries can manufacture offensive missiles more quickly and at lower cost.
Producing more Patriots helps.
It may not completely close the gap.
Most people see the visible side of air defense: a missile launching into the sky.
The invisible side is a vast industrial network involving:
National security ultimately depends on that industrial foundation.
The short-term story is a record production ramp, with billions of dollars flowing to Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and RTX as governments rush to strengthen air defenses.
The longer-term story is more challenging.
The United States and its allies are attempting to transform a defense industry optimized for efficiency into one capable of sustaining wartime production levels.
Until that transition is complete, the biggest obstacle to getting more Patriot missiles into the field may not be technology or funding.
It may simply be the factory floor.
JBizNews Desk — Defense & Manufacturing
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JBizNews2 days agoSoccer fans hoping to watch the World Cup in person may need a housing-sized budget.
The tournament kicks off Thursday in Mexico City, launching a six-week event expected to draw between 5 million and 6 million fans across 16 North American host cities. But for many U.S. fans, getting inside the stadium has become a major financial hurdle, according to Realtor.com.
In five of the 11 U.S. host cities, the cheapest available World Cup tickets for late-stage tournament matches cost more than the average monthly mortgage payment in that market, Realtor.com reported, citing real estate research firm PropertyShark.
That means fans in Miami, Dallas, Atlanta, Kansas City and the New York area could spend the equivalent of a mortgage payment — or more — for a single seat. The figure does not include airfare, hotel stays, food, parking or merchandise.
The steepest prices are for the July 19 final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The least expensive seats are listed at $7,256, far above New York’s average monthly mortgage payment of $4,096 and average rent of $4,872, according to Realtor.com.
In Dallas, the cheapest tickets for the July 14 semifinal are listed at $2,391, slightly above the city’s average mortgage payment of $2,351. In Atlanta, the lowest-priced semifinal tickets are $2,208, above the average mortgage payment of $2,149, the outlet reported.
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Kansas City’s cheapest seats for a July 11 match are $1,567, compared with an average mortgage payment of $1,477. In Miami, the lowest-priced tickets for Colombia versus Portugal on June 27 are $2,700, nearly matching the city’s average mortgage payment and rent, according to Realtor.com.
Some consumers have already been priced out. A LiveSportsonTV survey of 1,008 U.S. soccer fans found that 52% had given up on buying World Cup tickets because of high prices.
“We’re seeing unprecedented prices for events like the World Cup because of supply and demand, to put it simply,” Mark Sanaiha of Macallan Capital said in a statement. “For years, the experience economy has outpaced wage growth, and younger generations aren’t planning to change that trajectory.”
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The pricing has also drawn scrutiny from state officials. Attorneys general in Texas, New York, New Jersey and California have launched probes into World Cup ticket pricing and packaging policies, Realtor.com reported.
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“Being honest about ticket sales is not complicated,” New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said in a statement. “But FIFA has turned buying a ticket to the World Cup into a gauntlet of confusion, fake scarcity, and impossibly high prices — all at the expense of consumers and hardworking New Jerseyans.”
JBizNews2 days agoCHICAGO — Some of America’s largest food manufacturers continue trimming their workforces in 2026 as higher costs, changing consumer habits, and growing automation reshape one of the nation’s most important industries.
From snack foods and packaged meals to beverages and meat products, companies across the food sector are eliminating jobs, consolidating operations, and investing in technology as they adapt to slower consumer spending.
Among the most notable moves, PepsiCo confirmed the closure of a longtime Frito-Lay facility in Orlando, Florida, affecting hundreds of workers. The company said the decision is part of a broader effort to improve efficiency and modernize operations.
PepsiCo is far from alone.
Major food and beverage companies including Kraft Heinz, General Mills, Hormel Foods, Archer-Daniels-Midland, Heineken, and Beyond Meat have all announced layoffs, restructuring initiatives, or operational changes during the past year.
The common thread is pressure on profit margins.
Consumers facing higher grocery bills and rising household expenses are increasingly trading down to lower-cost alternatives, purchasing fewer discretionary items, and showing greater sensitivity to price increases.
That creates challenges for food manufacturers that spent years relying on brand loyalty to support premium pricing.
Store brands are gaining market share.
Private-label products sold by grocery chains often cost significantly less than nationally advertised brands, making them increasingly attractive to budget-conscious shoppers.
The result is growing competition for shelf space and consumer dollars.
At the same time, technology is changing how food is produced.
Modern manufacturing facilities require fewer workers than previous generations thanks to automation, robotics, and advanced production systems. Tasks once performed manually can now be handled by machines operating around the clock.
For companies facing rising labor costs and pressure from investors to improve efficiency, automation offers an attractive solution.
For workers, however, the consequences can be severe.
Factory jobs have historically provided stable middle-class wages, often without requiring a college degree. Plant closures can affect entire communities, reducing economic activity and eliminating opportunities for workers whose skills are closely tied to manufacturing.
The broader economic impact extends beyond the factory floor.
Every major food-processing facility supports suppliers, transportation companies, maintenance contractors, local businesses, and surrounding communities. When facilities close, those effects can spread throughout a region.
Food manufacturers also face pressure from higher transportation and ingredient costs.
Fuel prices remain elevated, packaging costs have increased, and supply-chain disruptions continue affecting portions of the industry. Companies are attempting to balance those expenses while avoiding excessive price increases that could drive customers elsewhere.
Investors generally support efficiency initiatives.
Wall Street often rewards companies that reduce costs and improve productivity, particularly during periods of economic uncertainty. That dynamic creates additional pressure for executives to streamline operations and reduce headcount where possible.
Yet the long-term challenge remains unresolved.
Food companies must find ways to protect profits while maintaining customer loyalty in an environment where consumers are increasingly focused on affordability.
For shoppers, the impact may not be immediately visible.
Store shelves remain stocked, products remain available, and the food system continues functioning. Behind the scenes, however, fewer workers are producing many of the products Americans consume every day.
The trend highlights a broader reality emerging across multiple industries.
Companies are learning how to operate with leaner workforces while relying more heavily on technology, automation, and data-driven decision-making.
For now, America’s food supply continues moving from factories to store shelves.
It is simply being done by fewer hands than before.
JBizNews Desk
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