Author: MWN

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is no fan of unions, but at the moment he might be quietly cheering on Shawn Fain. The United Auto Workers leader shows no signs of backing down from Detroit’s Big 3 automakers as he pushes “audacious” contract demands. If no deal is struck, about 146,000 UAW workers will likely go on strike on Friday. That would help Tesla at a time when traditional automakers are pushing more aggressively into electric vehicles. “If a strike happens then ultimately production and the EV roadmap could be pushed out into 2024 and delays would be on the horizon…

Oil prices rose to their highest level of the year last week as concerns mounted about tight crude supplies after Saudi Arabia and Russia announced the extension of production cuts. Prices for the two leading oil benchmarks – Brent crude and U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) – reached their highest levels since November 2022 last week. Brent futures rose 0.8% to settle at $90.65 on Friday, while WTI rose 0.7% to settle at $87.51 after closing higher on Wednesday. Both benchmarks were up about 2% last week after significant gains the week before of about 5% for Brent and roughly…

Oil prices dipped on Monday after fresh Saudi and Russian crude output cuts had driven prices to 10-month highs last week. Saudi Arabia and Russia last week announced that they will extend voluntary supply cuts of a combined 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) until the end of the year. Brent crude fell by 40 cents, or 0.44%, to $90.25 a barrel by 0848 GMT on Monday while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude lost 65 cents, or 0.74%, to $86.86. The supply cuts overshadowed continuing concern over Chinese economic activity last week, but investors looked to be focusing on demand…

Arm Holdings Ltd. is considering raising the price range of its initial public offering after meeting investors for what would be the world’s largest listing this year, according to people familiar with the matter. The SoftBank Group Corp.-owned chip designer’s share sale is about six times subscribed, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. Deliberations are ongoing and no final decision has been made, the people said. Arm filed for its IPO at $47 to $51 a share, which would have valued the company at $54.5 billion at the high end of the…

Jif peanut butter maker J.M. Smucker is nearing a deal to buy Hostess Brands, the owner of Twinkies snack cakes, for close to $5 billion, sources familiar with the matter said on Sunday. The deal value excludes Hostess’ net debt of about $900 million, the sources told Reuters, requesting anonymity because the matter is confidential. Hostess has a market capitalization of about $3.73 billion, according to LSEG data, after a nearly 27% jump in its stock since Aug. 25, when Reuters reported the company was exploring a sale after fielding takeover interest from major food makers. Hostess and J.M. Smucker…

There was red ink across the crypto market Monday morning in Asia as Bitcoin dipped below the resistance level of US$26,000. Ether also fell to near the US$16,000 mark after a hack on the X account of Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin. Other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies logged losses. Solana’s SOL led the losers with a 24-hour slide of over 6%. Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX could soon get the greenlight to liquidate its US$3.4 billion in crypto holdings, adding to selling pressure in the market. U.S. stock futures traded higher after Wall Street logged weekly losses Friday. Investors now look ahead…

Alibaba’s stock lost more than 4% in Hong Kong on Monday after ex-group CEO Daniel Zhang quit just two months after concentrating his focus on cloud computing, raising concern over the unit’s spin-off plan and possibility of discord at the top. New group CEO Eddie Wu will concurrently become acting CEO and chairman of a unit grappling with weak sales growth ahead of an initial public offering (IPO) penned for next year. “We have mixed thoughts on this news,” said Morningstar analyst Chelsey Tam in a client note. “We think this latest change was not planned back in June and…

Gold prices rose on Monday, supported by a sharp retreat in the dollar as investors look forward to U.S. inflation data that could sway the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates later in the year. Spot gold jumped 0.5% to $1,927.09 per ounce by 0749 GMT, while U.S. gold futures rose 0.4% to $1,950.80. Gold should be supported above the $1,900 level if we see the U.S. dollar continue to decline on bets that the Fed are indeed done with their tightening cycle, said Matt Simpson, a senior analyst at City Index. Gold had found support around its 200-day moving…

Tesla’s Dojo supercomputer could power a near $600 billion jump in the automaker’s market value by boosting the adoption of robotaxis and its software services, Morgan Stanley analysts said. The electric-vehicle maker (EV) started production of the supercomputer used to train artificial intelligence (AI) models for self-driving cars in July and plans to spend more than $1 billion on Dojo through next year. Dojo can open up new addressable markets that “extend well beyond selling vehicles at a fixed price,” Morgan Stanley analysts, led by Adam Jonas, said in a note on Sunday. “If Dojo can help make cars ‘see’…

Almost everyone has a checking account, but the amount of money people keep in their checking accounts varies widely. Checking account balances tend to vary with income, age and other factors. Deciding how much money to keep in your personal checking account requires looking at more than your paycheck and birth certificate, however. Here’s what you need to know. If you need more financial help beyond checking, a financial advisor can work with you to create a plan for your savings and investments. Understanding the Role of Checking AccountsMost people with checking accounts use them regularly for spending, often multiple…