The top 10 things to watch Friday, Oct. 20 1. Will the yield on the 10-year Treasury breach 5% Friday, and how will markets react? U.S. stocks are down in premarket trading, with S & P 500 futures falling 0.27%, potentially leading to another disappointing week for equities. Stocks have been held back by high bond yields and strengthening oil prices. 2. American Express (AXP) reports a big third-quarter earnings beat Friday, with earnings-per-share (EPS) of $3.30, ahead of analysts’ forecasts for $2.94 a share. Revenue climbs by 13%, boosted by travel-and-entertainment spending. Millennial and Gen-Z spending rises by 18% in the U.S. 3. Oilfield services firm Schlumberger (SLB) misses slightly on revenue expectations for the third quarter, but beats adjusted EPS estimates by a penny. The company has reported nine-consecutive quarters of double-digit, year-over-year growth in its international business, and expects sequential revenue growth in the fourth quarter. 4. UBS assumes coverage on a handful of drug stocks, including Club name Eli Lilly (LLY). The bank designates Eli Lilly a buy, with a price target of $710 a share, saying it expects “meaningful upward revisions” for diabetes-and-obesity treatment Mounjaro . 5. Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) reports a mixed quarter, as the company continues to see pressure on its bariatrics business due to the rise in GLP-1 obesity drugs. This used to be the company’s largest source of procedure growth. 6. General Motors (GM) is reportedly close to reaching a tentative agreement with the United Auto Workers union that would resolve a month-long strike, which has also engulfed Club name Ford Motor (F) and Stellantis NV (STLA), according to Bloomberg. 7. Deutsche Bank upgrades Union Pacific (UNP) to a buy rating, while slightly raising its price target to $258 a share, up from $257. The firm cites improving U.S. rail volumes and increasing confidence around new CEO Jim Vena. 8. Wolfe Research upgrades Club holding Morgan Stanley (MS) to a neutral-equivalent rating from underperform, without a price target. Meanwhile, Wednesday’s post-earnings sell-off of the bank stock was an overreaction. 9. JPMorgan reiterates Club holding Amazon (AMZN) as its best idea in the internet sector on the expectation that revenue growth at cloud unit Amazon Web Services will accelerate in the second half of this year, while North American retail margins expand. 10. Goldman Sachs lowers its price target on Club name Walt Disney (DIS) to $125 a share, down from $128, while maintaining a buy rating on the stock. The firm asks: is the stock is now at the point of peak uncertainty? Sign up for Jim Cramer’s Top 10 Morning Thoughts on the Market email newsletter for free . (See here for a full list of the stocks at Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
1. Will the yield on the 10-year Treasury breach 5% Friday, and how will markets react? U.S. stocks are down in premarket trading, with S&P 500 futures falling 0.27%, potentially leading to another disappointing week for equities. Stocks have been held back by high bond yields and strengthening oil prices.
2. American Express (AXP) reports a big third-quarter earnings beat Friday, with earnings-per-share (EPS) of $3.30, ahead of analysts’ forecasts for $2.94 a share. Revenue climbs by 13%, boosted by travel-and-entertainment spending. Millennial and Gen-Z spending rises by 18% in the U.S.
3. Oilfield services firm Schlumberger (SLB) misses slightly on revenue expectations for the third quarter, but beats adjusted EPS estimates by a penny. The company has reported nine-consecutive quarters of double-digit, year-over-year growth in its international business, and expects sequential revenue growth in the fourth quarter.
4. UBS assumes coverage on a handful of drug stocks, including Club name Eli Lilly (LLY). The bank designates Eli Lilly a buy, with a price target of $710 a share, saying it expects “meaningful upward revisions” for diabetes-and-obesity treatment Mounjaro.
5. Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) reports a mixed quarter, as the company continues to see pressure on its bariatrics business due to the rise in GLP-1 obesity drugs. This used to be the company’s largest source of procedure growth.
6. General Motors (GM) is reportedly close to reaching a tentative agreement with the United Auto Workers union that would resolve a month-long strike, which has also engulfed Club name Ford Motor (F) and Stellantis NV (STLA), according to Bloomberg.
7. Deutsche Bank upgrades Union Pacific (UNP) to a buy rating, while slightly raising its price target to $258 a share, up from $257. The firm cites improving U.S. rail volumes and increasing confidence around new CEO Jim Vena.
8. Wolfe Research upgrades Club holding Morgan Stanley (MS) to a neutral-equivalent rating from underperform, without a price target. Meanwhile, Wednesday’s post-earnings sell-off of the bank stock was an overreaction.
9. JPMorgan reiterates Club holding Amazon (AMZN) as its best idea in the internet sector on the expectation that revenue growth at cloud unit Amazon Web Services will accelerate in the second half of this year, while North American retail margins expand.
10. Goldman Sachs lowers its price target on Club name Walt Disney (DIS) to $125 a share, down from $128, while maintaining a buy rating on the stock. The firm asks: is the stock is now at the point of peak uncertainty?
(See here for a full list of the stocks at Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust.)
As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade.
THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY, TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER. NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
UAW Local 5960 member Kimberly Fuhr inspects a Chevrolet Bolt EV during vehicle production on May 6, 2021, at the General Motors Orion Assembly Plant in Orion Township, Michigan.
Steve Fecht for Chevrolet
DETROIT – General Motors said Tuesday it is delaying production of all-electric trucks at a Michigan plant by at least a year to “better manage capital investments” and implement improvements in an effort to make the new EVs more profitable.
GM now plans to begin construction of its next-generation EVs at Orion Assembly in suburban Detroit by late 2025, instead of next year. The factory currently produces Chevrolet Bolt EV models, which GM will cease producing at the end of this year.
The delay is the latest sign of potential trouble for the ambitious, multibillion-dollar plans of traditional automakers to move to electric vehicles. Adoption of EVs, which remain costly to produce and purchase, has been slower than many expected.
“General Motors today confirmed it will retime the conversion of its Orion Assembly plant to EV truck production to late 2025, to better manage capital investment while aligning with evolving EV demand. In addition, we have identified engineering improvements that we will implement to increase the profitability of our products,” the company said in a statement.
The change in plans is not connected to the company’s ongoing contract negotiations with the United Auto Workers union, according to a GM spokesman. However, the contentious talks do involve EVs, and current contract proposals by the company are expected to be more expensive than those in year’s past. The UAW, which represents workers at Orion Assembly, did not immediately respond for comment.
The production delay calls into question GM’s previously announced EV goals, including cumulative production of 400,000 EVs in North American from 2022 through mid-2024, which had already been pushed back. GM also has a goal to exclusively offer consumer EVs by 2035.
A GM spokesman late-Tuesday said there’s currently no change in plans to the company’s EV production targets.
New electric versions of the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra that were supposed to be produced at Orion Assembly will be assembled at GM’s Factory Zero in Detroit, the company said. Limited production of the Silverado EV is underway, while Sierra is scheduled to begin next year.
Alongside the Silverado EV, Factory Zero is currently building the GMC Hummer EV pickup and SUV and Cruise Origin shuttle.
In January 2022, GM announced it would invest $4 billion to convert Orion Assembly to produce electric trucks. The plant was expected to be its second U.S. assembly plant to exclusively produce EVs. GM said construction includes significant facility and capacity expansion at the site, including new body and paint shops and new general assembly and battery pack assembly areas.
Roughly 1,000 hourly workers at Orion Assembly will have the option to transfer to other Michigan facilities until the retooling at Orion Assembly is completed.
By most measures, Gary Black qualifies as a big supporter of electric-vehicle giant Tesla. The Chicago fund manager has had Tesla as his No. 1 or No. 2 holding since he opened his fund in 2021, and often appears on social media (and sometimesCNBC) to talk about it, usually supportively. But there’s one thing Black has had on his mind lately: That Tesla is wasting money on price cuts to keep growth rates high.
His once-lonely campaign has been picking up allies lately in a domain where Musk pays close attention — social media. An online poll run by @TroyTeslike, another active social-media Tesla fan, found half of the 8,000-plus respondents thought Tesla should start advertising, beating out growth strategies like more price cuts and adding technology to high-end Model S and Model X.
The investor pressure, or at least nudging, didn’t come out of nowhere. Last May at Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting, Musk looked surprised, if a little amused, when a shareholder challenged him on the issue about 70 minutes in, to the cheers of a crowd dominated by Tesla fanboys.
“525 bucks off of every car this year is half of Netflix’s ad budget, and 1000 bucks is the entire Netflix ad budget and I see their ads everywhere. Why not advertise these things you told us about here?” said Kevin Paffrath, who runs The Meet Kevin Pricing Power ETF in southern California. Hespecifically referred to safety features including airbag deployment technology as Tesla advantages that might appeal to consumers through advertising.
Musk expressed openness to the idea.
“There are amazing features and functionality about Teslas that people just don’t know about, although obviously a lot of people who follow the Tesla account and my account to some degree, it is preaching to the choir and the choir is already convinced,” Musk said.
Then Musk made a promise. “I think what you are saying does have some merit and I believe in taking suggestions and we’ll try a little advertising and see how it goes,” he said.
The shareholders erupted in cheers, to which Musk responded, “I wasn’t expecting that level of enthusiasm.”
If shareholders expected a major advertising push, they’d be disappointed today. In the months since, according to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, Tesla has spent very minor amounts on online and social advertising. At the same time, the major price cuts continue as Musk’s primary strategy to drum up more interest in Teslas.
Musk has been a firm proponent of cost-cutting first. As he said at this year’s annual meeting, Tesla’s goals include bringing electric transportation to mass-market consumers, and as he said, many Model 3s can be had in the U.S. market for less than the average cost of a new passenger vehicle.
Indeed, the average price of most Teslas has fallen about 20% since August 2022, according to Cox Automotive. The figures don’t include the restoration of the $7,500 federal tax credit for Teslas under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
But the most recent round of price cuts, announced over the past month, is costing Tesla an annual $2 billion a year, Black said. Overall, the price cuts over the past year have shaved revenue by much more, Ives estimated.
Black’s premise, in effect, is that Musk should reconsider how much Tesla relies on price cuts versus spending money on advertising to get the word out about features like the falling cost of EVs and safety features like over-the-air software updates. It becomes especially pressing considering that Tesla stock, while up about 140% this year, is still one-third below its 2021 peak and has trailed the S&P 500 over the last year.
“I don’t think that you get that much demand elasticity by cutting a Model Y to $48,000 from $55,000,” Black said. “Instead of a $2,000 price cut, let’s do $1,800 and try advertising more.”
CNBC reached out to Tesla multiple times. The company did not respond.
In effect, Black argues that Tesla price cuts are a de facto marketing expense, saying Tesla’s share losses among EVs by Tesla this year suggest price cuts alone aren’t working.
Indeed, Tesla’s U.S. market share among EVs has been slipping even as it cuts prices. Third-quarter deliveries were 435,059 units, up sharply from 343,830 a year earlier but below second-quarter unit sales of 466,140 and first-quarter sales of about 423,000. In a press release, Tesla blamed the third-quarter number, which missed analyst projections, on “planned downtime for factory upgrades.”
The lower prices are also showing up in Tesla’s gross margins, which dropped to 18% of sales in the second quarter from 25% in the second quarter of 2022, Ives said. That implies a $1.5 billion drop in potential gross profit, unless some of it is made up in higher sales volume, he said.
What a Tesla ad campaign might look like
It’s possible to guess at what an effective Tesla ad campaign might do, said Allen Weiss, CEO of MarketingProfs, a marketing research and training firm, who pointed to many features beyond just safety that consumers do care about.
“I would start by identifying what benefits customers are looking for, which are likely some [about performance] but others are [about] luxury and even others are symbolic, [being] a person who helps save the planet,” he said. “I would find out what these benefits are, target a segment of these buyers and put a great theme around these benefits. That way, you can have fun ideas but are connecting with the buyers on what they really care about.”
New Tesla electric vehicles fill the car lot at the Tesla retail location on Route 347 in Smithtown, New York on July 5, 2023.
Newsday Llc | Newsday | Getty Images
Tesla’s challenge is that, as it grows, it’s competing more directly with companies that are experienced marketers, Weiss said. Ford has already spent conspicuously to promote its F-150 Lightning pickup, and General Motors has run Super Bowl ads for the last three years. Weiss said Swedish EV maker Polestar also advertises, spending an estimated $20 million this year. Polestar and BMW have both touted EVs on the Super Bowl telecast, the most expensive U.S. TV buy, and industry data firm iSpot estimates that about a quarter of 2022 car ad spending was for EVs, a move Ives called a “tidal wave” that he predicts will grow.
“Other carmakers are used to focusing more on customer benefits, while Tesla is not,” Weiss said. “Go to Ford’s website and click on electric and you will immediately see words like head-turning design, impressive performance and thrill. Go to BMW’s electric vehicles page and you see ‘cutting edge performance and luxury.’ Go to Tesla’s site and you see, well, price.”
Musk himself conceded at the annual meeting that he is often confronted by people who tell him that EVs are too expensive.
“I’ve talked to lots of people who still think Teslas are, like, super-expensive,” Musk said. “I’m like, no, the [average selling price] of a Tesla is lower than the average selling price in the U.S.”
Tesla doesn’t need to spend as much as Ford or GM do on advertising, Ives said, arguing that a focused campaign could zero in on specific Tesla or EV advantages.
“There are differentiations to Tesla that people don’t know about,” he said. Advertising can also be deployed to sustain Tesla’s luxury brand image even as the average cost of its cars falls, he said. “You start to change perceptions.”
The “name of the game” at Tesla as it reaches its full scale is volume and operating margins, Ives said. Black argues that it’s worth finding out, soon, whether advertising more will help. Even Musk may be convincible, and the irony of his longstanding reluctance to advertise wasn’t lost on him at the annual meeting:
“I think it’s ironic that Twitter [X] is highly dependent on advertising and here I am ‘never use advertising’ and now have a company that’s highly dependent on it. I guess I should say advertising is awesome and everyone should do it.”
United Auto Workers members strike the General Motors Lansing Delta Assembly Plant on September 29, 2023 in Lansing, Michigan.
Bill Pugliano | Getty Images
DETROIT – A shift in strategy by the United Auto Workers union this week has some analysts wondering if the parties are — perhaps, counterintuitively — getting closer to a deal.
On Wednesday the union initiated a surprise work stoppage at Ford Motor’s Kentucky Truck Plant. The strike involves 8,700 workers and affects the most crucial plant, by far – responsible for $25 billion in revenue annually – that the union has walked out on since the strikes began Sept. 15. It’s expected to quickly have a ripple effect on other Ford plants and suppliers.
It also ushered in what UAW President Shawn Fain characterized as a “new phase” of strikes and contract negotiations with Ford, General Motors and Chrysler-parent Stellantis, giving the union the element of surprise to keep the automakers on edge during the ongoing negotiations, Fain told members in a Friday presentation.
“We’re entering a new phase of this fight and it demands a new approach,” Fain said Friday. “We’re done waiting until Fridays to escalate our strike.
“We are prepared at any time to call on more locals to stand up and walk out,” he said.
Until this week, Fain had announced all of the union’s new strikes on Fridays, during what has become a weekly livestreamed update for union members.
Some Wall Street analysts and industry experts think this week’s shift in strategy could be a sign that UAW leaders feel a deal with Ford is close, and that they’re increasing pressure as a tactic to get the deal over the finish line — and to help sell a potential tentative deal to their members.
“We continue to believe the escalation at [Ford] this week is a sign the talks may be coming to an end. KY Truck is likely Ford’s most profitable plant, and therefore the strike is the highest level of escalation, aside from a national strike,” Wells Fargo analyst Colin Langan wrote in a Friday note. “This escalation would likely be done to push for final terms.”
But the UAW’s leaders may be looking one more step ahead, to the process of selling a tentative deal with Ford to their members. The thinking is that to convince members to ratify a potential new contract, UAW President Shawn Fain and the union’s leadership will need to convince autoworkers that the union has fought as hard as possible to have their demands met. Striking Ford’s most profitable factory might be one way to do that.
Wolfe Research’s Rod Lache argued the Kentucky strike may allow UAW leadership to claim that they did all that could be done, especially if it leads to one or two more concessions from Ford.
“In another week or two, Fain should be able to credibly announce that he has forced Ford into one last capitulation (battery plants?), and that UAW members have secured the last few ounces of wage, benefits, and job protection concessions that they can get,” Lache wrote Thursday to investors.
Factory workers and UAW union members form a picket line outside the Ford Motor Co. Kentucky Truck Plant in the early morning hours on October 12, 2023 in Louisville, Kentucky.
Only about 34,000 U.S. automakers with the companies, or roughly 23% of UAW members covered by the expired contracts with the Detroit automakers, are currently on strike.
“Hitting a very high-dollar, high-profitable plant, it certainly gets Ford’s attention very quickly,” said Art Wheaton, a labor professor at the Worker Institute at Cornell University. “It also sends a huge message to Stellantis and General Motors.”
Wheaton argues the escalation in Kentucky may just be the beginning. There are plenty more plants the union could hit for each of the automakers, including the full-size pickup truck plants owned by all three and large SUV plants at GM and Stellantis.
GM avoided a strike at its most profitable SUV plant in Texas last week with a last-minute offer to include battery cell plant workers under the company’s national agreement, however details regarding how that will be done are believed to be still being negotiated.
While Fain declined to expand strikes against GM and Stellantis Friday, Wells Fargo’s Langan thinks that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re spared.
“The lack of GM & STLA strike today, even though both have not matched F’s offer, would be consistent with the UAW holding out the most profitable plants for a final push,” he wrote in a Friday note.
All of that tea-leaf reading aside, rapid escalation-turned-resolution is just one potential outcome.
Another includes the automakers holding out for the union to deplete its resources, specifically its strike and defense fund. Or, the UAW could continue rotating strikes or filing additional unfair labor practice charges against the companies. Yet another outcome could see the sides seeking mediation or legal resources.
“I think they’ve got to be getting close to some sort of an agreement, or you just have to conclude a reasonable deal is not in the making — and that this is really more a matter of a test of will than anything else,” said Marick Masters, a business professor at Wayne State University in Detroit who specializes in labor issues.
An automaker also could submit what’s known as a “last, best and final offer,” which, as it states, is typically a final proposal when bargainers have reached an impasse.
Ford may be close to that point. An executive said Thursday the automaker was “at the limit” of what it can offer UAW in terms of economic concessions.
The Detroit automakers have largely given into many of the union’s demands, but not all of them.
The companies haven’t waved the white flag on demands for a 32-hour workweek — which was always a nonstarter for the companies and which has largely fallen out of union talking points — and a 40% wage increase.
Ford was up to a record 23% wage increase in its recent contract proposal, with the others not far behind.
Then there’s the outstanding issues of benefits for retirees as well as a return to traditional pension plans and future battery plant jobs and workers.
Industry experts and sources familiar with the talks believe regardless of the outcome, the contracts will have ripple effects on the companies potentially in the way of reorganizations, cost cuts and future investments and jobs.
A former high-ranking bargainer for one of the automakers told CNBC that it’s nearly guaranteed that the companies will cut union jobs through product allocation, plant closures or other means to offset increased labor costs once the contracts are set.
“They’re going to have to pay up. The question is how much,” said the longtime bargainer, who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity. “This ends up with fewer jobs. That’s how the automakers cut costs.”
Healthcare workers strike in front of Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center, as more than 75,000 Kaiser Permanente healthcare workers go on strike from October 4 to 7 across the United States, in Los Angeles, California, October 4, 2023.
Aude Guerrucci | Reuters
More than 85,000 health workers reached a tentative labor agreement with Kaiser Permanente on Friday that will avoid more strikes after the Biden administration intervened in the negotiations.
President Joe Biden praised the health workers and reiterated his support for organized labor in a statement Friday.
“Health care workers and support staff kept our hospitals – and our nation– going during the dark months of the pandemic,” Biden said in a statement Friday. “They had our backs during one of our nation’s toughest times. We must continue to have theirs.”
“I always say that collective bargaining works,” Biden said. “It works for UPS drivers and dock workers, writers, and millions of American workers who exercise their right to participate in a union.”
Biden has touted himself as the most pro-union president in American history. He recently joined the picket line in Detroit to support the United Auto Workers in their strike against Ford Motor, General Motors and Stellantis.
Tens of thousands of health workers walked out of Kaiser hospitals and facilities last week to protest short staffing and demand better pay. The strike lasted three days in California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington state. The walkout was said to be the largest health-care worker strike in U.S. history.
The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions had threatened additional strikes if management did not meet their demands, particularly over short staffing and the outsourcing of jobs.
Julie Su, acting labor secretary, arrives to testify during the House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing titled “Examining the Policies and Priorities of the Department of Labor,” in Rayburn Building on Wednesday, June 7, 2023.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
The union coalition and Kaiser executives met for bargaining sessions this week. The sides reached a tentative labor contract to avoid further strikes after the intervention of acting Labor Secretary Julie Su.
The agreement includes a 21% pay hike over four years, a minimum wage of $25 in California and $23 in other states, protections against outsourcing, and numerous investments to address short staffing.
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Su flew to California on Thursday evening to help facilitate the deal, according to the union coalition. Sarah Levesque, secretary-treasurer of OPEIU Local 2, said Su was instrumental in brokering the deal.
“We’re incredibly grateful to acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su and the Biden administration for supporting workers’ right to collective bargaining,” Levesque said.
Biden also praised Su’s role, “She continues to play an integral role helping my administration and workers across this country build an economy that works for everyone,” the president said.
My top 10 things to watch Friday, Oct. 13 1. U.S. stocks edge up in premarket trading Friday, with the S & P 500 rising 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite inching up 0.7%, keeping both indices on track for weekly gains. Bond yields pull back slightly, with that of the 10-year Treasury just below 4.6%. Oil prices, meanwhile, surge by more than 4%, as West Texas Intermediate crude reaches for $87 a barrel. 2. Bank of America reiterates Club holding Nvidia (NVDA) as a “top pick” following a product-line update around its graphics processing unit (GPU) accelerator. The firm also reiterates a $650-per-share price target and buy rating on Nvidia shares. 3. KeyBanc raises its price target on Club name Palo Alto Networks (PANW) to $315 a share, up from $300, while maintaining an overweight rating on the stock. The firm cites the cyber company’s ability to be a “long-term consolidator of security.” 4. KeyBanc also raises its price target on Club holding Alphabet (GOOGL) to $155 a share, up from $145, while maintaining an overweight rating on shares. The firm notes a slight improvement in the ad market moving into the fourth quarter, along with strength in retail and e-commerce. 5. Club name Wells Fargo ( WFC) on Friday delivers a third-quarter beat , as earnings season gets underway . The bank “benefited from higher rates and the investments we are making in our businesses,” according to Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf. 6. JPMorgan Chase ‘s (JPM) third-quarter profit surges 35% year-over-year, to $13.15 billion, as the bank beats analysts’ expectations on earnings and revenue. The firm generates more interest income than expected, while credit costs come in lower than expected. 7. Barclays lowers its price target on General Motors (GM) to $42 a share, down from $46, while maintaining a hold-equivalent rating on shares. The firm cites weak investor sentiment, saying third-quarter results for automakers “could be a buy-the-news quarter.” 8. Wolfe Research downgrades Netflix (NFLX) to a neutral-equivalent rating, from outperform, without a price target. The firm predicts a future shortfall in gross ads. 9. Mizuho says it likes the risk-reward on Club name Meta Platforms ( META) going into earnings season, with the tech giant’s advertising-revenue growth tracking ahead of consensus. The firm reiterates a buy rating on Meta stock and a $400-per-share price target. 10. JPMorgan initiates coverage on Post Holdings (POST) with an overweight rating and $100-per-share price target. The bank says the maker of cereal and pet foods generates strong cash flow that could help it reduce debt and buy back stock over the next two years. Sign up for my Top 10 Morning Thoughts on the Market email newsletter for free . (See here for a full list of the stocks at Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
1. U.S. stocks edge up in premarket trading Friday, with the S&P 500 rising 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite inching up 0.7%, keeping both indices on track for weekly gains. Bond yields pull back slightly, with that of the 10-year Treasury just below 4.6%. Oil prices, meanwhile, surge by more than 4%, as West Texas Intermediate crude reaches for $87 a barrel.
2. Bank of America reiterates Club holding Nvidia (NVDA) as a “top pick” following a product-line update around its graphics processing unit (GPU) accelerator. The firm also reiterates a $650-per-share price target and buy rating on Nvidia shares.
3. KeyBanc raises its price target on Club name Palo Alto Networks (PANW) to $315 a share, up from $300, while maintaining an overweight rating on the stock. The firm cites the cyber company’s ability to be a “long-term consolidator of security.”
4. KeyBanc also raises its price target on Club holding Alphabet (GOOGL) to $155 a share, up from $145, while maintaining an overweight rating on shares. The firm notes a slight improvement in the ad market moving into the fourth quarter, along with strength in retail and e-commerce.
5. Club name Wells Fargo (WFC) on Friday delivers a third-quarter beat, as earnings season gets underway. The bank “benefited from higher rates and the investments we are making in our businesses,” according to Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf.
6. JPMorgan Chase‘s (JPM) third-quarter profit surges 35% year-over-year, to $13.15 billion, as the bank beats analysts’ expectations on earnings and revenue. The firm generates more interest income than expected, while credit costs come in lower than expected.
7. Barclays lowers its price target on General Motors (GM) to $42 a share, down from $46, while maintaining a hold-equivalent rating on shares. The firm cites weak investor sentiment, saying third-quarter results for automakers “could be a buy-the-news quarter.”
8. Wolfe Research downgrades Netflix (NFLX) to a neutral-equivalent rating, from outperform, without a price target. The firm predicts a future shortfall in gross ads.
9. Mizuho says it likes the risk-reward on Club name Meta Platforms (META) going into earnings season, with the tech giant’s advertising-revenue growth tracking ahead of consensus. The firm reiterates a buy rating on Meta stock and a $400-per-share price target.
10. JPMorgan initiates coverage on Post Holdings (POST) with an overweight rating and $100-per-share price target. The bank says the maker of cereal and pet foods generates strong cash flow that could help it reduce debt and buy back stock over the next two years.
(See here for a full list of the stocks at Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust.)
As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade.
THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY, TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER. NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
General Motors Co.’s stock ended at its lowest in three years on Thursday following a news report saying that the carmaker may face a massive recall in connection with defective air-bag inflators.
GM stock fell 2.4% to close at $30.31, its lowest since Sept. 30, 2020, when it closed at $29.59. The stock has been down for five straight sessions, and off more than 8% in the period.
The report, citing people familiar with the matter, said that GM would be among the “most exposed” automaker to the recall, which involves 52 million inflators made by ARC.
At least two people have been killed and several others injured after the inflators exploded with too much force during a crash, sending shrapnel flying, the report said.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has not yet released how many vehicles would be in the recall, or the specific models that would be affected, it said.
United Auto Workers members strike the General Motors Lansing Delta Assembly Plant on September 29, 2023 in Lansing, Michigan.
Bill Pugliano | Getty Images
DETROIT – General Motors’ stock price fell below $30 a share Thursday for the first time in more than three years amid ongoing strikes by the United Auto Workers union and a report of a potentially costly airbag recall for the automaker.
Since the UAW union’s targeted strikes began Sept. 15, shares of the Detroit automaker have fallen by more than 10%. The stock closed at $33.66 a share a day before the work stoppages began.
The most recent share decline occurred midday Thursday following The Wall Street Journal reporting GM has at least 20 million vehicles built with a potentially dangerous air-bag part that the government says should be recalled before more people are hurt or killed.
The potential recall of roughly 52 million air-bag inflators from Tennessee-based auto supplier ARC Automotive had been reported about previously, but the number of affected GM vehicles had not.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration held a public meeting Thursday on its determination that the air-bag parts are defective and should be recalled, according to the report. Automakers, including GM, have until later this year to file responses on the matter.
GM’s stock since Oct. 1, 2020
GM has recalled about 1 million vehicles due to the problem. The company reiterated Thursday that it “believes the evidence and data presented by NHTSA at this time does not provide a basis for any recall” beyond the ones the company has already done.
“Neither the affected automakers nor NHTSA, despite eight years of study and investigation, have identified a systemic design or manufacturing defect in ARC frontal airbag inflators,” the company said in an emailed statement. “If GM concludes at any time that any unrecalled ARC inflators are unsafe, the company will take appropriate action in cooperation with NHTSA.”
GM said it “will continue to work collaboratively with NHTSA, other manufacturers, and ARC to monitor and investigate the long-term performance and safety of ARC airbag inflators.”
While many Wall Street analysts have said a strike by the UAW was already priced into GM shares, the automaker’s stock has only experienced five positive trading days out of 14 sessions.
GM confirmed Thursday it had made a counteroffer to the union, marking its sixth since the start of negotiations. It comes a day after the automaker said the strike cost it $200 million in lost production during the third quarter.
“We believe we have a compelling offer that would reward our team members and allow GM to succeed and thrive into the future. We continue to stand ready and willing to negotiate in good faith 24/7 to reach an agreement,” the company said Thursday in an emailed statement.
The last time shares of GM dropped below $30 a share during intraday trading was on Oct. 2, 2020, according to FactSet.
DETROIT – General Motors secured a new $6 billion line of credit as the automaker braces for additional strikes by the United Auto Workers union.
“The facility that we announced today is a $6 billion line of credit that I think is prudent in light of some of the messages that we’ve seen from some of the UAW leadership that they intend to drag this on for months,” CFO Paul Jacobson told CNBC’s Phil LeBeau in an interview on “Halftime Report.”
The targeted strikes already cost the automaker $200 million during the third quarter, GM said Wednesday.
A GM spokesman said the $200 million strike cost is due to lost production on wholesale volume, largely due to the UAW’s initial Sept. 15 strike at GM’s midsize truck and full-size van plant in Wentzville, Missouri. The strike has since expanded to GM’s parts and distribution facilities nationwide and, as of last Friday, a crossover plant in mid-Michigan.
As a result of the strike in Missouri, GM also idled its Fairfax Assembly Plant in Kansas, where it builds the Cadillac XT4 SUV and the Chevrolet Malibu sedan, and laid off nearly 2,000 workers.
Both GM CEO Mary Barra as well as Ford Motor CEO Jim Farley have publicly criticized UAW President Shawn Fain and the union’s strike strategy, claiming Fain is not actually interested in reaching deals for 146,000 workers with GM, Ford and Chrysler parent Stellantis.
Members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 230 and their supporters walk the picket line in front of the Chrysler Corporate Parts Division in Ontario, California, on September 26, 2023, to show solidarity for the “Big Three” autoworkers currently on strike.
Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images
“It’s clear that there is no real intent to get to an agreement,” Barra said in an emailed statement Friday night. “It is clear Shawn Fain wants to make history for himself, but it can’t be to the detriment of our represented team members and the industry.”
Fain has consistently said the union is available to negotiate 24/7 and has in turn accused the automakers of slow-walking negotiations.
GM’s newly announced line of credit will require the automaker to maintain at least $4 billion in global liquidity and $2 billion in U.S. liquidity. The terms of the credit agreement also restrict GM from mergers or sales of assets and limits on other, new debt. As of June 30, GM’s total automotive liquidity was $38.9 billion.
The credit line comes more than a month after Ford obtained a $4 billion line of credit to help it manage through “uncertainties” in the market.
A woman crossing a normally busy stretch of downtown San Francisco suffered serious injuries Monday night after a hit-and-run driver struck her, throwing her into the path of an oncoming driverless Cruise car, which then ran her over, according to video recorded by the autonomous vehicle that Cruise showed to the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit.
Courtesy NBC Bay Area
A San Francisco woman was seriously injured after a hit-and-run driver struck her Monday evening, hurling her underneath the autonomous Cruise vehicle.
Police responded around 9:30 pm to a hit-and-run incident at the intersection of Fifth and Market Streets, San Francisco police told CNBC. The force of the impact hurled the pedestrian in front of a Cruise vehicle, which applied the brakes “aggressively” and remained in place at the request of police, a Cruise spokesperson and San Francisco police said.
Police rendered aid at the scene before medics transported the woman to the hospital, the police said.
“Our heartfelt concern and focus is the wellbeing of the person who was injured and we are actively working with police to help identify the responsible driver,” a Cruise spokesperson told CNBC. The Cruise vehicle did not have a passenger in it.
Police haven’t found witnesses as of Tuesday morning, NBC Bay Area reported, but Cruise vehicles have numerous cameras inside and outside the vehicle and captured much of the incident. CNBC reviewed footage from the incident, which shows both the Cruise vehicle and the hit-and-run car driving along Fifth Street.
A woman crossing a normally busy stretch of downtown San Francisco suffered serious injuries Monday night after a hit-and-run driver struck her, throwing her into the path of an oncoming driverless Cruise car, which then ran her over, according to video recorded by the autonomous vehicle that Cruise showed to the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit.
Courtesy NBC Bay Area
The hit-and-run driver struck the pedestrian as both cars were crossing Market Street. The pedestrian did not appear to be using a marked crosswalk. The woman was thrown across the hit-and-run vehicle into the right lane where the Cruise vehicle was driving. The Cruise vehicle came to an immediate stopafter the impact. NBC Bay Area reported that the woman was trapped underneath the left rear axle of the vehicle and that San Francisco Fire was forced to use the “jaws of life” to extricate her.
First responders told NBC Bay Area that the woman suffered multiple traumatic injuries and was transported to Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. San Francisco police said the pedestrian’s status is unknown.
Members of the United Auto Workers union picket outside the Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan, on Sept. 26, 2023.
Matthew Hatcher | AFP | Getty Images
DETROIT — The United Auto Workers union is holding up negotiations with Ford Motor over future electric vehicle battery plants, Ford CEO Jim Farley said during a press briefing Friday.
“I believe we could have reached a compromise on pay and benefits, but so far the UAW is holding the deal hostage over battery plants,” he said after the UAW announced it would expand strikes to two additional assembly plants — one each for Ford and General Motors.
Farley criticized the union for its targeted strike strategy, saying he feels the actions were “premeditated” and insinuating the union was never interested in reaching a deal before a Sept. 14 deadline.
“We have felt from the very beginning, between all the lines of our comments, that the original strike was premeditated and that everything is taking way too long,” he said. “That actual events are predetermined before they happen. It’s been very frustrating.”
Farley’s public criticism of the union is uncharacteristic for Ford, which is historically viewed as the most union-friendly company of the Detroit automakers.
Farley said the company isn’t “at an impasse” with the union but warned that day “could come if this continues.”
GM CEO Mary Barra echoed much of Farley’s criticisms of Fain and the UAW’s strike strategy.
“It’s clear that there is no real intent to get to an agreement,” she said in an emailed statement Friday night. “It is clear Shawn Fain wants to make history for himself, but it can’t be to the detriment of our represented team members and the industry.”
UAW President Shawn Fain fired back at Farley, saying the CEO hasn’t been present at the bargaining table and that he’s “lying about the state of negotiations.”
“It could be because he failed to show up for bargaining this week, as he has for most of the past ten weeks. If he were there, he’d know we gave Ford a comprehensive proposal on Monday and still haven’t heard back,” Fain said in a statement Friday afternoon. “He would also know that we are far apart on core economic proposals like retirement security and post-retirement healthcare, as well as job security in this EV transition, which Farley himself says is going to cut 40 percent of our members’ jobs.”
Multibillion-dollar EV battery plants — and their thousands of expected workers — are crucial to the automotive industry’s future and uniquely positioned to have wide-ranging implications for the UAW, automakers and President Joe Biden’s push toward domestic manufacturing.
Current and former union leaders previously told CNBC that the battery plants will have to be a priority for the labor organization, regardless of whether they’re directly discussed in the national agreement, for the long-term viability of the union.
However, they’re considered a “wild card” issue in the contract negotiations. Many of the battery plants that have been announced cannot legally be included in the current talks, as they are joint venture facilities.
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain addresses picketing UAW members at a General Motors Service Parts Operations plant in Belleville, Michigan, on Sept. 26, 2023, as U.S. President Joe Biden joined the workers.
Jim Watson | Afp | Getty Images
Ford has announced four future battery plants, including three joint ventures and a wholly owned subsidiary using battery technology licensed from Chinese auto supplier CATL. Ford earlier this week paused construction on the latter plant in Marshall, Michigan, due to the union negotiations, Farley said.
“We can make Marshall a lot bigger or a lot smaller,” Farley said Friday.
GM is the only Detroit automaker with a joint venture battery plant in operation and unionized — making it the first in the country to face this particular negotiating dynamic and a landmark plant to set standards for the industry.
Farley noted that some of the battery production won’t even be covered under the timeline of the deals that are currently being negotiated. He also defended the company’s prior offers, which include more than 20% hourly wage growth, reinstatement of cost-of-living adjustments, job protections and other benefits.
“If the UAW’s goal is a record contract, they have already achieved this,” Farley said. “It is grossly irresponsible to escalate these strikes and hurt thousands of families.”
DETROIT — The United Auto Workers is expanding strikes to 38 parts and distribution locations across 20 states, targeting General Motors and Stellantis, UAW President Shawn Fain said Friday morning.
The union will not initiate additional strikes at Ford Motor, as the company has proven it’s “serious about reaching a deal,” Fain said in a Facebook Live comment.
“We still have serious issues to work through, but we do want to recognize that Ford is showing that they’re serious about reaching a deal,” said the outspoken union leader. “At GM and Stellantis, it’s a different story.”
Fain said the union and Ford have made progress on issues including eliminating some wage tiers, reinstating cost-of-living adjustments and an improved profit-sharing formula.
He also said the union won the right to strike over plant closures during the term of the deal as well as an immediate conversion of temporary, or supplemental, workers — those with at least 90 days of employment — upon ratification.
Ford said the company is “working diligently with the UAW to reach a deal,” but “we still have significant gaps to close on the key economic issues.”
(L-R) Supporter Ryan Sullivan, and United Auto Workers members Chris Sanders-Stone, Casey Miner, Kennedy R. Barbee Sr. and Stephen Brown picket outside the Jeep Plant on September 18, 2023 in Toledo, Ohio.
Sarah Rice | Getty Images
“In the end, the issues are interconnected and must work within an overall agreement that supports our mutual success,” Ford said in a statement Friday.
The strikes at the GM and Stellantis parts suppliers will add roughly 5,600 autoworkers, including roughly 3,500 employees at GM, to the UAW’s ongoing strikes at the Detroit automakers.
“Today’s strike escalation by the UAW’s top leadership is unnecessary,” GM said in a statement. “We have now presented five separate economic proposals that are historic, addressing areas that our team members have said matters most: wage increases and job security while allowing GM to succeed and thrive into the future.
“We will continue to bargain in good faith with the union to reach an agreement as quickly as possible,” the automaker said.
Stellantis said in a statement it questions “whether the union’s leadership has ever had an interest in reaching an agreement in a timely manner.”
Roughly 12,700 UAW workers went on strike a week ago at the following locations: GM’s midsize truck and full-size van plant in Wentzville, Missouri; Ford’s Ranger midsize pickup and Bronco SUV plant in Wayne, Michigan; and Stellantis’ Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator plant in Toledo, Ohio.
Parts distribution centers have been a major point of concern during these talks, especially at Stellantis. The automaker has proposed consolidating 10 “Mopar” parts and distribution centers, which are scattered across the country, into larger Amazon-like distribution centers.
GM has agreed to eliminate the wage differences at its parts and components plants, according to Fain. He commended the Detroit automaker for that action but condemned it for resisting further measures that Ford has agreed to with the union.
Targeting the parts and distribution centers is a unique strategy. It does not affect the production and assembly of vehicles but rather the distribution of parts to dealers.
The new work stoppages, if prolonged, could cause significant disruption for dealers, which could in turn delay fixes for customers. Repair wait times have already been problematic due to recent supply chain issues.
“This will impact these two companies repairs operations,” Fain said. “Our message to the consumer is simple: The way to fix the frustrating customer experience is for the companies to end price gauging. Invest these record profits into stable jobs and stable wages and benefits.”
Many, including Wall Street analysts, expected the union to expand work stoppages to full-size truck plants of the Detroit automakers, which are crucial to the profitability of the companies.
The affected facilities for GM include 18 plants in 13 states: Michigan, Ohio, Colorado, Wisconsin, Illinois, Nevada, California, Texas, West Virginia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee and Pennsylvania.
For Stellantis, the extended strikes affect 20 facilities in 14 states: Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Colorado, Illinois, California, Oregon, Georgia, Virginia, Florida, Texas, New York and Massachusetts.
“This expansion will also take our fight nationwide,” Fain said. “We will keep going, keep organizing and keep expanding the stand-up strike as necessary.”
UAW began targeted strikes after the sides failed to reach tentative agreements by the expiration of the previous contracts at 11:59 p.m. Sept. 14.
The additional plant strikes come despite record contract offers from the automakers, including roughly 20% hourly wage increases, thousands of dollars in bonuses, retention of the union’s platinum health care and other sweetened benefits.
Stellantis said on Friday it had made a “very competitive offer” that would see current full-time hourly employees earning between $80,000 and $96,000 a year by the end of the contract, constituting a 21.4% compounded increase; a long-term solution for an idled factory in Belvidere, Illinois; and, “significant product allocation that allows for workforce stability through the end of the contract.”
“We still have not received a response to that offer,” the company said.
The union has demanded 40% hourly pay increases, a shortened workweek, a shift back to traditional pensions, the elimination of compensation tiers and a restoration of cost-of-living adjustments, among other improvements.
United Auto Workers members and supporters rally at the Stellantis North America headquarters on September 20, 2023 in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
Bill Pugliano | Getty Images News | Getty Images
The additional strikes come a day after The Detroit News Thursday night reported leaked messages involving UAW communications director Jonah Furman that raised questions about the union’s motives for the work stoppages.
In the undated private group messages, viewed by CNBC, Furman describes UAW’s strategy and targeted strikes as causing “recurring reputations damage and operational chaos.”
Furman, who did not respond for comment, said if the union “can keep them wounded for months they don’t know what to do.”
Fain did not address the messages on Facebook Live beyond discussing the union’s strategy of “doing things differently” to “win record contracts.”
— CNBC’s Gabriel Cortes and John Rosevear contributed to this report.
The United Auto Workers on Friday expanded its strike to 38 General Motors Co. and Stellantis NV auto-parts distribution centers in 20 states, hobbling the two carmakers’ repair networks.
UAW President Shawn Fain said that the union has made “some real progress” in negotiations with Ford Motor Co. F, +1.89%,
which agreed to cost-of-living increases, some job protections and other concessions, and it won’t be striking at additional Ford plants.
“Ford is showing us they are serious about reaching a deal,” Fain said.
Nearly 13,000 UAW members have been on strike since last Friday at a Missouri GM plant making GMC Canyons and Colorados, an Ohio Stellantis plant making Jeep Wranglers and Gladiators, and portions of a Michigan Ford plant making Broncos and Rangers.
Joining them are 3,475 workers at 18 GM fulfillment centers and 2,150 workers at 20 Stellantis centers across the U.S. The workers at the auto-parts distribution centers started to walk off at noon Eastern on Friday.
GM said that the strike’s “escalation” was “unnecessary.”
“We have contingency plans for various scenarios and are prepared to do what is best for our business, our customers, and our dealers,” the company said in a statement Friday. “We will continue to bargain in good faith with the union to reach an agreement as quickly as possible.”
Stellantis said later Friday that it made a “very competitive offer” on Thursday that included a pay raise of 21% over the four-year life of the contract for some of its full-time hourly workers and a “significant product allocation that allows for workforce stability through the end of the contract.”
“And yet, we still have not received a response to that offer. We look forward to the UAW leadership’s productive engagement so that we can bargain in good faith to reach an agreement that will protect the competitiveness of our company and our ability to continue providing good jobs,” said Stellantis, which was formed in 2021 with the merger of Fiat Chrysler and France’s Groupe PSA and is headquartered in the Netherlands.
Meanwhile, Wall Street seemed encouraged by the progress with Ford negotiations.
That was “encouraging,” suggesting that the Big Three could “perhaps reach a labor agreement sooner than some have been expecting,” measured in days and weeks and not months, Citi analyst Itay Michaeli said in a note Friday. The new strikes at auto-parts distribution facilities would likely immediately impact “a relatively smaller yet high-margin revenue stream” for GM, Michaeli said.
A potential parts shortage could add pressure on the carmakers to reach an agreement sooner, he said. Compared with the possibility of strike at full-size truck plants, at the heart of the automakers’ profits, however, “today’s update seems somewhat more encouraging.”
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives called the UAW action “an aggressive move that essentially goes at the hearts and lungs of auto operations for GM and Stellantis.”
A settlement with Ford is likely over the coming week, Ives said. “The UAW and GM/Stellantis now have crossed the invisible line and the UAW strike is about to get a lot nastier.”
Since the strike began, the union and the automakers have said they are engaging in constant talks as they try to reach a compromise on a new national contract.
The union is demanding wage increases, an end to tiers, the restoration of pensions and cost-of-living adjustments and other concessions. Although both the union and companies have claimed progress during talks, GM President Mark Reuss said in a recent opinion piece in the Detroit Free Press that the UAW’s demands are “untenable.” That’s in line with Ford President Jim Farley’s characterization of the union’s wage proposal as “unsustainable” for the company before the strike deadline.
Fain mentioned Reuss’s “untenable” comment in his update Friday via webcast. GM and Stellantis “are going to need some serious pushing” to meet union demands, he said.
The United Auto Workers on Friday expanded its strike to 38 General Motors Co. and Stellantis NV auto-parts distribution centers in 20 states, hobbling the two carmakers’ repair networks.
UAW President Shawn Fain said that the union has made “some real progress” in negotiations with Ford Motor Co. F, +1.89%,
which agreed to cost-of-living increases, some job protections and other concessions, and it won’t be striking at additional Ford plants.
“Ford is showing us they are serious about reaching a deal,” Fain said.
Nearly 13,000 UAW members have been on strike since last Friday at a Missouri GM plant making GMC Canyons and Colorados, an Ohio Stellantis plant making Jeep Wranglers and Gladiators, and portions of a Michigan Ford plant making Broncos and Rangers.
Joining them are 3,475 workers at 18 GM fulfillment centers and 2,150 workers at 20 Stellantis centers across the U.S. The workers at the auto-parts distribution centers started to walk off at noon Eastern on Friday.
GM said that the strike’s “escalation” was “unnecessary.”
“We have contingency plans for various scenarios and are prepared to do what is best for our business, our customers, and our dealers,” the company said in a statement Friday. “We will continue to bargain in good faith with the union to reach an agreement as quickly as possible.”
Stellantis said later Friday that it made a “very competitive offer” on Thursday that included a pay raise of 21% over the four-year life of the contract for some of its full-time hourly workers and a “significant product allocation that allows for workforce stability through the end of the contract.”
“And yet, we still have not received a response to that offer. We look forward to the UAW leadership’s productive engagement so that we can bargain in good faith to reach an agreement that will protect the competitiveness of our company and our ability to continue providing good jobs,” said Stellantis, which was formed in 2021 with the merger of Fiat Chrysler and France’s Groupe PSA and is headquartered in the Netherlands.
Meanwhile, Wall Street seemed encouraged by the progress with Ford negotiations.
That was “encouraging,” suggesting that the Big Three could “perhaps reach a labor agreement sooner than some have been expecting,” measured in days and weeks and not months, Citi analyst Itay Michaeli said in a note Friday. The new strikes at auto-parts distribution facilities would likely immediately impact “a relatively smaller yet high-margin revenue stream” for GM, Michaeli said.
A potential parts shortage could add pressure on the carmakers to reach an agreement sooner, he said. Compared with the possibility of strike at full-size truck plants, at the heart of the automakers’ profits, however, “today’s update seems somewhat more encouraging.”
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives called the UAW action “an aggressive move that essentially goes at the hearts and lungs of auto operations for GM and Stellantis.”
A settlement with Ford is likely over the coming week, Ives said. “The UAW and GM/Stellantis now have crossed the invisible line and the UAW strike is about to get a lot nastier.”
Since the strike began, the union and the automakers have said they are engaging in constant talks as they try to reach a compromise on a new national contract.
The union is demanding wage increases, an end to tiers, the restoration of pensions and cost-of-living adjustments and other concessions. Although both the union and companies have claimed progress during talks, GM President Mark Reuss said in a recent opinion piece in the Detroit Free Press that the UAW’s demands are “untenable.” That’s in line with Ford President Jim Farley’s characterization of the union’s wage proposal as “unsustainable” for the company before the strike deadline.
Fain mentioned Reuss’s “untenable” comment in his update Friday via webcast. GM and Stellantis “are going to need some serious pushing” to meet union demands, he said.
U.S. stocks ended modestly lower Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling for a fourth consecutive day in its longest daily losing streak since June. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq each logged a third-straight weekly decline as rising bond yields rocked equities in the wake of the Federal Reserve meeting on Wednesday.
How stock indexes traded
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA
fell 106.58 points, or 0.3%, to close at 33,963.84.
The S&P 500 SPX
shed 9.94 points, or 0.2%, to finish at 4,320.06.
The Nasdaq Composite COMP
dropped 12.18 points, or 0.1%, to end at 13,211.81.
For the week, the Dow fell 1.9%, the S&P 500 dropped 2.9% and the Nasdaq Composite slumped 3.6%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq each booked their biggest weekly percentage drop since March, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
What drove markets
Stocks slipped after two days of selling sparked by the Federal Reserve projecting its policy interest rate would remain above 5% well into next year.
The notion in markets that the Fed would be cutting rates soon was “offsides,” leading to a “knee-jerk reaction” in bond markets that hurt stocks, said Michael Skordeles, head of U.S. economics at Truist Advisory Services, in a phone interview Friday. In his view, the central bank may cut its benchmark rate just once in the second half of next year, if at all, as inflation remains too high in a “resilient” U.S. economy with a “still fairly strong” labor market.
Rapidly rising Treasury yields have been blamed for much of the pain in stocks. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note BX:TMUBMUSD10Y
climbed 11.7 basis points this week to 4.438%, dipping on Friday after on Thursday rising to its highest level since October 2007, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
Senior Fed officials who spoke Friday voiced support for the more aggressive monetary policy path signaled by Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday.
Boston Federal Reserve President Susan Collins said rates are likely to stay “higher, and for longer, than previous projections had suggested,” while Fed Gov. Michelle Bowman said it’s possible the Fed could raise rates further to quell inflation. The latest Fed “dot plot,” released following the close of the central bank’s two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, showed senior Fed officials expect to raise rates once more in 2023.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 finished Friday logging a third straight week of declines, with consumer-discretionary stocks posting the worst weekly performance among the index’s 11 sectors by dropping more than 6%, according to FactSet data.
“Markets weakened this week following an extended period of calm, as the hawkish tone adopted by Fed Chair Powell following the FOMC meeting caused the decline,” said Mark Hackett, Nationwide’s chief of investment research, in emailed comments Friday. “Bears have wrestled control of the equity markets from bulls.”
Economic data on Friday showed some weakness in the U.S. services sector, while manufacturing activity recovered slightly but remained in contraction, according to S&P U.S. purchasing managers indexes.
Still the U.S. economy has been largely resilient despite a hawkish Fed, with “strong economic growth driving fears of continued inflation pressure,” said Hackett. He also pointed to concerns that a “too strong” economy and “developing clouds” such as strikes, a potential government shutdown, and student loan repayments “will impact consumer activity.”
Jamie Cox, managing partner at Richmond, Virginia-based wealth-management firm Harris Financial Group, said by phone on Friday that he’ll become concerned about the impact of a government shutdown on markets if it stretches for longer than a month.
“I’m only worried if it goes past a month,” said Cox, explaining he expects “little” economic impact if a government shutdown lasts a couple weeks.
“We’re seeing strike after strike,” which overtime could fuel wage growth that’s already “robust,” said Truist’s Skordeles. That risks adding to inflationary pressures in the economy, he said. And while U.S. inflation has eased “dramatically,” said Skordeles, “it isn’t down to where it needs to be.”
Companies in focus
Activision Blizzard Inc. ATVI, +1.70%
rose 1.7% after the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority said that Microsoft Corp.’s MSFT, -0.79%
revised proposals to modify its Activision acquisition makes it possible for the $75 billion deal to be cleared. Under the revised deal, Activision would sell cloud-gaming rights to French videogame publisher Ubisoft Entertainment SA UBI, +4.47%,
whose shares rose in Paris.
(L-R) Supporter Ryan Sullivan, and United Auto Workers members Chris Sanders-Stone, Casey Miner, Kennedy R. Barbee Sr. and Stephen Brown picket outside the Jeep Plant on September 18, 2023 in Toledo, Ohio.
Sarah Rice | Getty Images
DETROIT — With a deadline for expanded strikes by the United Auto Workers against the Detroit automakers closing in, the “serious progress” called for by the union seems all too elusive.
The UAW and General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis are all holding their ground on demands, and it appears likely the union will strike additional plants at some, if not all, of the automakers at noon Friday — as it’s warned.
While talks are ongoing, there has been little reported movement in proposals since the strikes were initiated on Sept. 15 at assembly plants in Michigan, Ohio and Missouri. Sources familiar with the talks describe a “big” gap in demands and the parties being “far apart.”
Headline economic issues and benefits such as hourly pay, retirement benefits, cost-of-living adjustments, wage progression and work-life balance remain central to the discussions. All issues play into one another and can change based on demand priorities.
Each automaker has its own unique issues, but overall the companies want to avoid fixed costs and what they’ve called “uncompetitive practices” such as traditional pensions. The union, in contrast, is attempting to regain benefits lost during past talks and secure significant increases to pay and other benefits, while retaining platinum health care for members.
In the end, it comes down to money, and how much a deal will cost the companies. Wall Street is currently expecting record costs to come from a settlement, though still below the $6 billion to $8 billion in demands the union would like, according to Wells Fargo.
Here’s a general overview of where the union and companies stand on key issues.
Union leaders have been highly transparent during collective bargaining this year with the automakers. However, they’ve largely been quiet on any potential for compromise around a demand of 40% wage increases over four and a half years.
Media reports indicate the union has adjusted that demand to the mid-30% range. UAW President Shawn Fain last week said the union has not made an offer below 30%.
The automakers have countered with wage increases of around 20% over the length of the contract — what would still be a record — to a top wage of more than $39 per hour for a majority of workers.
Sources familiar with the talks say if the companies do increase hourly wages beyond that 20% level, they’re likely to lower other benefits or reduce jobs in the future to try to make up the difference.
A Ford source said the company’s current proposals would offer entry-level employees starting salaries of about $60,000, potentially increasing to $100,000 or more during the life of the deal. That includes base pay, expected overtime, profit-sharing and other cash bonuses.
Under GM’s latest proposal, President Mark Reuss said about 85% of current represented employees would earn a base wage of about $82,000 a year. That’s compared with the average median household income of $51,821 in nine areas where GM has major assembly plants, he said.
Wage tiers — putting autoworkers into distinct pay ranges or classifications — is a tricky, moving target.
The companies and union have defined tiers differently during past negotiations as well as during the talks this year. Tiers can signify the following scenarios: workers doing the same job for different pay and benefits; similar but different job responsibilities; or differences between workers at assembly and components plants, depending on the talks.
The UAW has called broadly for “equal pay for equal work.” It’s a cornerstone of the group’s platform, while automakers have historically argued for pay to be based on seniority, job classification and responsibilities.
So-called tiers were established in 2007 as a concession by the union to allow lower wages and benefits for workers hired after the contracts were ratified that year — what became known as a second tier. The starting pay of these workers was roughly half that of the incumbent workers, and they would not be eligible for the same active health-care benefits, pensions or retiree health-care coverage.
The union has won some similar benefits back for newer workers compared to veteran, or “legacy” ones, but there remains different classifications of workers and pay tiers that amount to “in-progression” wages, in which a worker earns more the longer they’re employed.
For this year, the automakers have largely proposed cutting an existing eight-year pay progression in half and eliminating some pay discrepancies between workers who do similar jobs such as parts and components.
The union would like to eliminate the in-progression pay structure entirely and have workers across the contract earning the same wage (after a 90-day adjustment period) including temporary, or supplemental, workers.
One source familiar with the talks said there’s a “philosophical difference” between the sides. Ford, which utilizes the fewest temporary workers, has agreed to move all current temps with 90 days of work to full-time employees.
The UAW suspended cost-of-living adjustments in 2009, as the companies attempted to cut costs. COLA helps employees maintain the value of their compensation against inflation.
The union now wants to reinstate COLA, especially following a period of decades-high inflation. But the automakers, in general, have proposed either lump-sum payments or suggested utilizing calculations based on inflation levels that the union argues wouldn’t be sufficient to offset increased costs.
Automakers have further argued that profit-sharing payments that have traditionally been based on North American profits of the companies have assisted in offsetting inflation.
The companies are attempting to change or lower profit-sharing payments to offset other increased costs, while the union would like an enhanced formula.
The UAW previously outlined a calculation of providing $2 for every $1 million spent on share buybacks and increases to normal dividends.
The union has proposed better work-life balance, including a potential 32-hour workweek for the pay of 40 hours. It has argued that salaried workers are allowed remote or hybrid work, giving them more time at home with their families.
A shorter workweek has been a non-starter for the automakers, which have countered with additional vacation time, added holiday pay such as for Juneteenth and two-week paternal leave, in some cases.
For the UAW, product commitments equal jobs, meaning more members for the union.
UAW leaders are specifically concerned with vehicle production commitments at Stellantis, which has proposed closing, selling or consolidating 18 facilities. The locations included its North American headquarters, 10 parts and distribution centers and three manufacturing components facilities (two of which have already been fully or partially decommissioned).
A source familiar with the talks said GM has committed product to all of its facilities, following three closures four years ago.
The UAW has demanded a “significant” increase in pay for retired workers. The union last week said the companies had rejected all such increases. However, GM CEO Mary Barra said the automaker included in its offer a lump-sum cash payment of $500 for retirees.
A Ford source said the company’s current offer includes a health-care retirement bonus program with lump sums of either $50,000 or $35,000, upon retirement, based on seniority, for newer workers.
Automakers also have pushed back on returning to traditional pensions in lieu of 401(k) plans.
A proposal last week by Ford included a 6.4% contribution from the company and $1 per hour for every hour worked, with a previous cap removed, according to a company source.
GM also offered an unconditional 6.4% company 401(k) contribution for employees who are not eligible for pensions.
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain said Monday that if the union has not made substantial progress toward reaching an agreement with the Big Three automakers by Friday at noon Eastern time, it is prepared to call for additional strikes. About 13,000 auto workers from three UAW plants in three different states are currently on strike at Ford Motor F, -2.14%,
General Motors GM, -1.80%
and Stellantis STLA, -1.61%,
and the union has said it is prepared to call on more workers to walk off their jobs if necessary. “We’ve been available 24/7 to bargain a deal that recognizes our members’ sacrifices and contributions to these record profits,” Fain said in a livestreamed update. “Still the Big Three failed to get down to business.” A GM spokesman said “we’re continuing to bargain in good faith with the union to reach an agreement as quickly as possible for the benefit of our team members, customers, suppliers and communities across the U.S.” An earlier Stellantis statement said the company resumed negotiations with the union Monday, which the union confirmed. “We continue to listen to the UAW to identify where we can work together and will continue to bargain in good faith until an agreement is reached,” the statement said. Ford did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Demonstrators during a United Auto Workers (UAW) practice picket outside the Stellantis Mack Assembly Plant in Detroit, Michigan, US, on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023.
Jeff Kowalsky | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Stellantis said Saturday that its most recent proposal to the United Auto Workers includes raises of nearly 21% over the course of the contract, including an immediate 10% pay increase, and the end of wage tiers for some workers, the latest development in a historic showdown between the big three Detroit automakers and the union.
The Jeep maker’s proposal, which is in line with proposals from Ford and General Motors, would also continue to offer profit sharing to workers, according to new details on the offer released by the company Saturday.
“The teams have been very, very careful to listen, very careful for us to come up with best offers that we can do that also protect … the company,” COO Mark Stewart said on a Saturday call with reporters.
The standoff between the UAW and major automakers Stellantis, Ford and General Motors reached a fever pitch Friday, with the union starting work stoppages after an agreement wasn’t met by a Thursday night deadline. The so-called stand-up strike started with walkouts at three key plants — one for each automaker — with the possibility that the UAW can call on more of its members to join the strike if needed.
The union has been seeking 40% hourly pay increases, a reduced 32-hour workweek, a move back to traditional pensions, the elimination of compensation tiers and a restoration of cost-of-living adjustments, among other items. The UAW didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the proposal.
Meanwhile, Ford and GM resumed negotiations Saturday after no talks occurred between the union any of the automakers the previous day. Stellantis said it planned to pick up talks again Monday.
UAW President Shawn Fain said earlier this week that Stellantis had previously offered a 17.5% increase.
Under the new proposal, starting pay for supplemental employees would increase by $4.22, or nearly 27%, to $20 an hour.
The company also said it would cut the timeline for ascending the hourly wage scale in half to four years, meaning all full-time hourly employees would reach the top before the contract expires. Under the offer, the wage-tier system would be eliminated entirely for its Mopar division, which is known for service, parts and customer interfacing.
Stellantis also offered an inflation protection measure within compensation. The company said it has committed more than $1 billion for improvements in the pension and retirement savings plans for current employees and retirees.
Stellantis leadership also pushed back against the union’s descriptions of the automaker’s plans to close or sell 18 facilities. The company has said it aims to run parts distribution centers more efficiently and continue shifting resources toward electric vehicles. Jobs in these plants would be persevered, the company said.
The automaker also stressed its commitment to bargaining and reaching an agreement that is financially feasible, echoing concerns raised by Ford and GM leadership. Ford CEO Jim Farley said in a CNBC interview Friday that the UAW demands would force the company to “choose bankruptcy over supporting our workers.” Stellantis’ leadership noted that the company needs to stay competitive with automakers that don’t have unionized employees.
“It’s not about warfare, it’s about win-win,” Stewart said. “It’s about us finding something that is great for our folks today, able to keep a future for tomorrow … for our company to be able to continue the investment path we have for electrification, and for our U.S. operations to be strong so we can compete against the transplants and we can compete against the new entrants.”
President Joe Biden said Friday that the companies should improve their current offers to ensure a strong contract is agreed on amid a period of record profits.
— CNBC’s Michael Wayland contributed to this report.
DETROIT — The United Auto Workers strike is bringing a blue-collar versus billionaire battle to the Motor City, just as UAWPresident Shawn Fain wanted.
The outspoken union leader has weaponized striking — historically a last resort for the union — after less than 24 hours into a work stoppage arguably better than any UAW president has in modern times.
It wasn’t by accident.
Fain, a quirky yet emboldened leader, has meticulously brought the UAW back into the national spotlight after decades of near irrelevance. He wants to represent not just union members but also America’s embattled middle class, which UAW helped create.
United Auto Workers union President Shawn Fain joins UAW members who are on a strike, on the picket line at the Ford Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan, September 15, 2023.
Rebecca Cook | Reuters
To do so, he has leveraged a yearslong national labor movement and a growing disgust for wealthy individuals and corporations among many Americans — starting with his first time addressing the union’s more than 400,000 members during his inauguration speech in March.
“We’re here to come together to ready ourselves for the war against our only one and only true enemy, multibillion-dollar corporations and employers who refuse to give our members their fair share,” Fain said at the time. “It’s a new day in the UAW.”
Fain’s comments Friday morning as he joined UAW members and supporters picketing outside a Ford plant in Michigan — one of three facilities the company is currently striking — echoed everything he said during that first speech.
“We got to do what we got to do to get our share of economic and social justice in this strike,” Fain said outside the Ford Bronco SUV and Ranger pickup plant. “We’re going to be out here until we get our share of economic justice. And it doesn’t matter how long it takes.”
Fain’s upbringing plays into his strong unionism and religious beliefs, which he has growingly talked about with members as he emphasizes “faith” in the UAW’s cause.Two of his grandparents were UAW GM retirees, and one grandfather started at Chrysler in 1937, the year the workers joined the union. Fain, who joined the UAW in 1994, even keeps one of his grandfather’s pay stubs in his wallet as “a reminder” of where he came from.
National media and others really started paying attention to Fain when he said the union would withhold a reelection endorsement of President Joe Biden, who has called himself the “most pro-union president in history.” Fain and Biden have spoken and met, but the union leader has not shown much support for the president. In response to comments by the president Friday, Fain said: “Working people are not afraid. You know who’s afraid? The corporate media is afraid. The White House is afraid. The companies are afraid.”
While many past union leaders have talked such talk, Fain has thus far delivered on his promises to members without batting an eye — causing General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis to go into crisis mode this week as the UAW follows through on that promise to members.
“We’ve never seen anything like this; it’s frustrating,” Ford CEO Jim Farley told CNBC’s Phil LeBeau Thursday as he criticized Fain and the union for what he said was a lack of communication and counteroffers. “I don’t know what Shawn Fain is doing, but he’s not negotiating this contract with us, as it expires.”
In a statement Friday, Ford said that the UAW’s partial strike at its Michigan Assembly Plant has forced it to lay off about 600 workers.
“This is not a lockout,” Ford said. “This layoff is a consequence of the strike at Michigan Assembly Plant’s final assembly and paint departments, because the components built by these 600 employees use materials that must be e-coated for protection. E-coating is completed in the paint department, which is on strike.”
GM CEO Mary Barra echoed Farley’s feelings Friday morning on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
“I’m extremely frustrated and disappointed,” she said. “We don’t need to be on strike right now.”
Both CEOs said everything they could to indicatethey believe Fain may not be bargaining in good faith without using those exact words, which could justify a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board.
The UAW in late August filed unfair labor practice charges against GM and Stellantis with the NLRB, alleging they did not bargain with the union in good faith or a timely manner. It did not file a complaint against Ford. GM and Stellantis have denied those allegations.
Several past union leaders and company bargainers who spoke to CNBC hailed the way Fain has been able to propel the UAW into the national spotlight, including pausing bargaining for a Friday rally and march with Sen. Bernie Sanders, the progressive lawmaker from Vermont. Sanders, whose surprise 2016 Democratic presidential primary win in Michigan helped cement his national prominence, has lent support to numerous labor movements around the country as he rails against the billionaire class.
“I think they’re just doing an outstanding job,” said respected former UAW President Bob King, who cited growing support for the union among the public and the union’s own members. “Both those measurements say that UAW communications has been outstanding.”
UAW members have taken notice — especially after many of them disdained union leadership during and after a yearslong federal corruption investigation that landed two past UAW presidents and more than a dozen others in prison.
“For all the years that I’ve worked here, it’s never been this strong,” said Anthony Dobbins, a 27-year autoworker, early Friday morning while picketing the Ford plant in Michigan. “This is going to make history right here because we are trying to get what we deserve.”
Dobbins, a UAW Local 600 union representative, balked at current record offers by the automakers that have included roughly 20% pay increases, thousands of dollars in bonuses, retention of the union’s platinum health care and other sweetened benefits.
“That’s not working for us. Give us what we asked for,” Dobbins said. “That’s what we want. We have to work seven days, overtime, just to make ends meet.”
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, center, poses with Anthony Dobbins, right, a 27-year autoworker, and others as the union pickets a Ford plant in Wayne, Michigan, Sept. 15, 2023.
Michael Wayland / CNBC
Key demands from the union have included 40% hourly pay increases; a reduced, 32-hour, workweek; a shift back to traditional pensions; the elimination of compensation tiers; and a restoration of cost-of-living adjustments. Other items on the table include enhanced retiree benefits and better vacation and family leave benefits.
Automakers have argued such demands would cripple the companies. Farley even said the company would have “gone bankrupt by now” under the union’s current proposals and members would not have benefited from $75,000 in average profit-sharing over the last decade.
Ford sources said the automaker would have lost $14.4 billion over the last four years if the current demands had been in effect, instead of recording nearly $30 billion in profits.
Such profits are exactly what Fain has said UAW members deserve to share in. But his strategy to get workers a larger piece of the pie carries great risks.
“This is not going to be positive from an industry perspective or for GM,” Barra said Friday.
Many outside the unionbelieve if Fain pushes too hard, it could lead to long-term job losses for the union. A former high-ranking bargainer for one of the automakers told CNBC that it’s nearly guaranteed the companies cut union jobs through product allocation, plant closures or other means to offset increased labor costs.
“They’re going to have to pay up. The question is how much,” said the longtime bargainer, who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity. “This ends up with fewer jobs. That’s how the automakers cut costs.”
Fain and other union leaders have argued that meeting the companies in the middle has led to dozens of plant closures, fewer union members and a growing divide between blue-collar workers and the wealthy.
So why not fight?
“This is about us doing what we got to do to take care of the working class,” Fain said Friday. “This isn’t just about the UAW. This is about working people everywhere in this country. No matter what you do for a living, you deserve your fair share of equity.”
Stocks ended lower Friday as investors assessed the start of a United Auto Workers strike against Ford F, -0.08%,
General Motors GM, +0.86%
and Stellantis STLA, +2.18%
and awaited next week’s Fed decision. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.83%
declined nearly 290 points, or 0.8%, to close near 34,619, according to preliminary data. The S&P 500 SPX, -1.22%
shed 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite COMP, -1.56%
slid 1.6%. The declines left the Dow with a weekly gain of 0.1%, while dragging the S&P 500 to a 0.2% drop and leaving the Nasdaq down 0.4%.
