TerchCrunch : FTC Chair Lina Khan on startups, scaling, and ”innovations in pote

FTC Chair Lina Khan on startups, scaling, and ”innovations in potential lawbreaking”

FTC Chair Lina Khan was the youngest person appointed to her position when she assumed the job in 2021. But once her term ends in September – after which she’ll stay until a successor is named – her age might be the last thing that people remember about her reign.

It’s more likely that Khan’s legacy will be taking on Big Tech – and doing it very publicly. Unlike her decidedly low-flying predecessors, Khan talks routinely with the media about how the FTC executes on its mandate of both enforcing antitrust laws and protecting consumers, putting today’s tech giants on constant notice.

The strategy is all the more notable given how small the FTC really is, with just 1,300 employees who work roughly 150 cases simultaneously and are backed by an annual budget of just $400 million. That’s a drop in the ocean for some of the outfits the agency investigates.

We talked with Khan about her approach – and what she thinks Silicon Valley misunderstands about it – in a sit-down earlier this week at one of TechCrunch’s more intimate StrictlyVC events, this one held in Washington, D.C. Outtakes from that conversation have been edited for length below. You can listen to the talk in its entirety here.

Over the last two decades, Washington has become dominated by massive players like Google and Microsoft. I was hoping we could start with the Wall Street Journal’s report that federal regulators are moving forward with an investigation of some of these big players – Microsoft, OpenAI, and Nvidia – if there’s anything you can say about your plans.

You’re right that there is a lot of interest across D.C. and making sure that we are able to harness the opportunity and potential that these tools present while also making sure that these markets stay open and fair and competitive, rather than allowing certain types of bottlenecks or choke points to emerge in ways that could undermine that competition and that opportunity and that innovation . . . I was out in Silicon Valley a few months ago, and it was really interesting to hear from those founders in particular about how right now there is a whole lot of opacity around who’s getting access to some of these key inputs, be it compute, be at the models, be it whether there is any guarantee that you’re not effectively feeding back proprietary information. And so I think, there’s a lot of excitement, but we’re also hearing some weariness that can emerge when you realize there’s a lot of power already concentrated, and then that power being concentrated could foreclose innovation and competition.

It also seems like some of the people that you are trying to regulate are getting more creative about the deals that they’re striking, like Microsoft’s deal with Inflection AI, an AI company whose co-founder and employees were hired by Microsoft back in March and that is now being paid a $650 million licensing fee by Microsoft so it can resell [InflectionAI’s] technology. It’s not technically a merger. Did they talk to your agency or other regulators about what they were doing?

I’m limited in what I can say about some of these specific deals or specific potential matters. I will say that we are interested in being vigilant to make sure that we’re not seeing evasion of the existing laws. We’ve been really clear that all of the existing laws still apply: the laws prohibiting mergers that may substantially lessen competition, the laws that ban price fixing and collusion. Whether you’re doing that price fixing through an algorithm or through a handshake, both are still illegal. So across the board, we’re trying to scrutinize and make sure we’re not seeing some of these innovations in potential lawbreaking. We want to make sure that everybody’s playing by the same rules.

I will say that earlier this year, we also launched an inquiry into some of these strategic partnerships and investments to make sure we were understanding what was really going on here. We’d heard some concerns about, for example, whether some of these partnerships and investments could be resulting in privileged access for some or exclusionary access for others . . and that work is still ongoing as well.

Apple also made a lot of announcements [this week at WWDC]. It said it’s integrating OpenAI into some of its offerings; it said it is also open to working with other third parties, including potentially Google Gemini. It seems like a lot of the partnerships are among the same players that are probably a bit concerning to you right now. What did you think of what came out of that event?

We’ve seen that some of the most significant breakthrough innovations have historically come from the startups and the entrepreneurs and the small guys who are able to just see things differently, see an opening in the marketplace, and really disrupt in ways that disintermediate the big guys . . .

It’s true that right now, what we could be saying is that some of the existing incumbents may be controlling access to the inputs and the raw material that’s needed for some of these innovations. And so we need to be vigilant to make sure that that moment of competition and innovation and disruption is not going to be coopted by the existing incumbents in ways that we’ll close off the market, and prevent us from really enjoying the innovations and competition that have historically kept our country ahead . . .

I know you don’t buy this argument that these companies have to be protected [from antitrust action] because if they’re slowed down in any way, it weakens the U.S. as a country. And on the one hand, plenty of people agree; they want to see things broken up so that startups can breathe. Others might say, ‘This technology moves much faster than anything we’ve ever seen before. Autonomous weapons can incorporate this technology.’ How do you lay out the case for breaking things up while also not putting the country at any risk?

Even 40 or 50 years ago, as the Justice Department was investigating AT&T, it was the Defense Department that stepped in and said, ‘Hey, we really need to tread carefully here because taking antitrust action against AT&T could pose a national security risk.’ And so even back then, we were hearing a lot of these analogous arguments.

There are some natural experiments. At various moments, we faced a choice as to whether we should protect and coddle our monopolies or instead whether we should protect the laws of fair competition. And time and time again, we chose the path of competition. And that is what ended up fueling and catalyzing so many of these breakthrough innovations and so much of the remarkable growth that our country has enjoyed and that has allowed us to stay ahead globally. If you look at some other countries that instead chose that national champions model, they’re the ones who got left behind. I think we need to keep those lessons of history in mind as we again choose a path.

There are founders and VCs in this audience who have mixed feelings about you because they want their companies to thrive, and they’re worried that you’ve been so vocal about having your eye on Big Tech that companies aren’t making any [acquisitions]. Exits are a huge path for VCs and for founders; how do you make them comfortable that you’re doing what’s best for them in both the short and long term?

Certainly, we understand that for some startups and founders that acquisition is a key exit path that they’re interested in. Really, what the law prohibits is an exit or an acquisition that’s going to fortify a monopoly or allow a dominant firm to take out a nascent threat and a competitive threat. . . Just to step back, in any given year, we see up to 3,000 merger filings that get reported to us. Around 2% of those actually get a second look by the government, so you have 98% of all deals that, for the most part, are going through.

I’ll also say that if you are a startup or a founder that is eager for an acquisition as an exit, I would think that a world in which you have six or seven or eight potential suitors is a better world than one where you have just one or two.

There are 1,500 people at the FTC?

Around 1,300, which is actually 400 fewer people than in the 1980s, even though the economy has grown 15 times over so . . we’re a small agency, but definitely punch above our weight.

I don’t know if you’re taking more actions than your predecessors, or if you’re just more visible about it. Do you know if you’re moving at a faster pace than your predecessors in the role?

You can look at the numbers and there are some upticks there. But to my mind, counting the number of lawsuits or the number of investigations is only one way to try to capture impact. The types of cases you’re bringing is also important. One thing that’s been important for me is to make sure that we’re actually looking at: where do we see the biggest harm? Where do we see players that we think are more systematically driving some of these problems in illegal behaviors? So in the same way that being able to go after the mob boss is going to be more effective than going after some of the henchmen at the bottom, you want to be effective in your enforcement strategy. That’s why we have been looking upstream and taking on lawsuits that can really go up against some of the big guys; we think if we’re successful, [it will] have a really beneficial effect in the marketplace.

When it comes to deterrence, I think we’re already seeing some of that. We hear routinely from senior dealmakers, senior antitrust lawyers, who will say pretty openly that as of five or six or seven years ago, when you were thinking about a potential deal, antitrust risk or even the antitrust analysis was nowhere near the top of the conversation, and now it is up front and center. For an enforcer, if you’re having companies think about that legal issue on the front end, that’s a really good thing because then we’re not going to have to spend as many public resources taking on deals that we believe are violating the laws.

To scale your relatively small office, which has a fairly constrained budget, are you using AI?

We are thinking about: are there ways, especially with some of our economic analysis, to be benefiting from some of these tools? Obviously, being able to do that requires pretty significant compute upgrades, which we’re asking Congress for more funding to be able to [secure].

FT : Nike faces uphill climb in sneaker wars

Nike faces uphill climb in sneaker wars
Overreliance on retro brands, insufficient innovation and neglecting the athletics market have hampered the shoemaker

Nike has lost its stride. Once the pace setter in the $150bn a year global trainers market, the US sportswear giant is in the midst of its worst sales slowdown in decades. The company is expected to eke out only a 1 per cent increase in annual sales when it reports its fiscal 2024 results this month. Excluding the pandemic and the 2009 global financial crisis, that would be the company’s worst showing since 1999. Nike needs to return to its roots as a maker of innovative footwear.

The stock, down nearly 50 per cent from their 2021 peak, shows how far Nike has veered off track. A valuation of 25 times forward earnings is also well below its five-year average of 33 times.

Competition is one problem. Cautious consumers in its two key markets — North America and China — are another. But Nike has also made plenty of strategic mistakes of its own: chief among them is an overreliance on retro sneaker sales, insufficient investment and innovation in new products and neglecting the athletics market.


Under John Donahoe, chief executive since 2020, Nike leaned into the retro trend. It has substantially increased the number of new Air Jordans and Air Force 1 releases in recent years. The strategy worked to the extent that the Jordan brand pulled in $6.6bn in wholesale revenue in fiscal 2023, a 29 per cent jump from the year before.

The flipside is that Nike runs the risk of saturating the market. Jordan-driven sales growth has blinded Nike to growing competition in the performance products category that caters to casual and serious athletes.

In running, Nike has lost ground to Hoka. The high-performance running shoes, with their signature giant sole, generated more than $1.8bn in sales last year for parent company Deckers Brands, a 28 per cent increase from the previous year.

At On, an upstart running brand from Switzerland, sales grew by nearly 50 per cent to SFr1.8bn ($2bn) last year. Shares in Deckers and On are up 103 per cent and 44 per cent over the past year, compared to Nike’s 17 per cent decline.


Peddling in-demand brands to affluent customers means Deckers and On command pricing power. Gross margins at the two increased to 55.6 per cent and 59.6 per cent, respectively, last year. Nike’s margins hover around 45 per cent.

This battered stock offers plenty of potential. With annual revenues of $51bn, Nike remains one of the world’s most recognisable consumer brands. Profit is growing again thanks to cost cutting. But confronting new upstart rivals will require a faster pace of change.

FT : Yoox Net-a-Porter exits China to focus on more profitable markets

Yoox Net-a-Porter exits China to focus on more profitable markets
Luxury ecommerce platform’s decision comes at a time of weaker economic momentum in the mainland

Luxury clothing sales platform Yoox Net-a-Porter is closing its China operations, highlighting its struggle to compete in a vast ecommerce market where high-end retailers face a weaker economic backdrop.

The decision was made “in the context of a global Yoox Net-a-Porter plan aimed at focusing investments and resources on its core and more profitable geographies”, said a spokesperson for Richemont, the Swiss luxury group that owns the retailer.

Yoox Net-a-Porter operated in China under a joint venture with Chinese ecommerce group Alibaba, which will be liquidated, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Profitability in China’s luxury market, a crucial source of sales for big international groups, has come into sharp focus this year as a prolonged property slowdown and lagging consumer demand have weighed on the world’s second largest economy. 

François-Henri Pinault, chair of French luxury group Kering, in April pointed to “sluggish market conditions, notably in China” as a factor in its worsening performance in the first quarter.

Gucci, one of the group’s main brands, has suffered flagging sales in the mainland, where growth at LVMH, the world’s largest luxury group, has also come under pressure, though other brands such as Hermès have defied the gloom.

Net-a-Porter, which launched in London in 2000 and became well-known in Europe as an online platform for luxury clothing, merged with Italy’s Yoox in 2015. It entered China in 2013 and the combined group’s owner, Richemont, in 2018 entered a partnership with Alibaba to “bring its retail offerings . . . to Chinese consumers”. At that time, it said it distributed 950 luxury brands in the country.

A year later, YNAP launched a store on Tmall, an ecommerce platform owned by Alibaba and the largest of its kind in China.

Jacques Roizen, managing director at Shanghai-based consultancy Digital Luxury Group, said that the business model “never really made sense in the Chinese consumer market dominated by Tmall and JD[.com]”, referring to Alibaba’s chief competitor, adding that Alibaba “invested in the joint venture to enhance its luxury credentials”.

Richemont has been seeking to offload its majority stake in YNAP for years, but a sale to online rival Farfetch fell through at the end of 2023.

The world is not just China and the US’: luxury industry confident despite headwinds

Last month, the Swiss luxury group, which also owns brands such as Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, said that “discussions are ongoing with potential buyers” and that it “expects to be in a position to disclose more before the end of the year”.

China’s wider retail market has also showed signs of pressure. Uniqlo, which has grown dramatically in the mainland over recent years, is scaling back new store openings from 80 to 55 this financial year, its parent company Fast Retailing said.

In the luxury market, Roizen suggested that ultra-high end brands were more resilient to economic pressure.

“The brands that have been fuelling their growth with the rise of the middle class are the ones that are exposed to the current economic environment in China,” he said.

Barrons : Starbucks Will Get a Jolt. Its Stock Is a Buy.

Starbucks Will Get a Jolt. Its Stock Is a Buy.
Starbucks is growing at a rapid pace, and continues to adapt with greater efficiency and diverse products.

Starbucks is brewing plans for a turnaround after surprisingly weak second-quarter earnings.

Same-store sales at the world’s largest coffee chain declined 3% in North America and 6% in international markets, the result of soft demand and more competition in China.

The stock, which has slumped almost 17% this year, now looks oversold. Starbucks is still growing at a rapid pace and continues to adapt through smaller stores, greater efficiency, and diverse products to attract new customers. If those measures are successful, the stock could see a big bounce.

Americans are also drinking coffee more than ever. The National Coffee Association reports that two out of three adults in the U.S. this year had coffee in the past day. The share of consumers who bought from coffee shops in the past day nearly doubled to 15% in 2024 from 8% the year before.

The U.S. coffee shop market grew 8% over the past year to nearly $50 billion, now standing 4% above prepandemic levels, according to the Project Café USA 2024, an industry report from coffee consulting firm World Coffee Portal. And Starbucks, with more than 16,000 outlets in the U.S., remains the leader, with a 40% market share.

“It’s tough to keep growing the same-store sales, but Starbucks remains a formidable brand that’s operating at an unprecedented scale in the global coffee market.” says Jeffrey Young, CEO of Allegra Group, the parent company of World Coffee Portal.

But Starbucks is facing some headwinds. Inflation has curtailed consumers’ willingness to spend. Boycotts stemming from its position on the Israel-Hamas war, and workers’ unionization efforts are taking a toll. Boutique coffee shops and smaller chains like Dutch Bros and Scooter’s Coffee are growing quickly, elbowing in on Starbucks’ business.

Instead of getting a cheaper item on the menu, consumers often stop buying from Starbucks entirely and get their fix at convenience stores or at home. And, Starbucks doesn’t get the trade-down business from higher-end brands because it’s already the premium player in the coffee market.

“The casual drinker who might stop by for an afternoon cold brew or weekend Frappuccino has fallen off the map,” says Morningstar analyst Sean Dunlop.

Still, Starbucks continues to grow. In the past four quarters, it added nearly 600 new stores in North America and 1,700 overseas. In emerging markets like India, Southeast Asia and Latin America, penetration is still low, presenting room for growth.

This could help buffer any short-term weakness in the domestic market. Despite the expanding footprint, there is little sign of cannibalizing. Average annual sales for company-owned stores continue to rise, reaching $2.3 million in fiscal 2023.

“They are the dominant player of an addictive product. You really can’t get a better business model than that,” said Burns McKinney, a portfolio manager at NFJ Investment Group , which owns the stock.

Beyond the unparalleled scale, what’s kept Starbucks ahead is its ability to continuously innovate its business model and products.

The company has gone through a major shift toward cold beverages in the past decade; those now accounts for over 60% of its drink orders. Many are customized with flavored syrups and extra espresso shots, which not only differentiate the brand from competitors but also are more expensive.

And Starbucks continues to roll out new products to attract younger customers, who are increasingly looking for interesting flavors and textures. Lavender-flavored drinks, which made their debut this spring, have been hits, according to the firm.

Starbucks also has launched drinks with soft jelly balls—so-called “pearls”—and new energy beverages are on the way. Those could help boost sales in the afternoon, says Eric Strange, a portfolio manager at Bahl & Gaynor, whose fund owns the stock.

While Starbucks prides itself as a “third place” outside of work and home for social gatherings, it’s quickly turning into a convenience-focused brand. Much of its new stores in the past few years came with drive-through lanes, and mobile orders now make up 31% of total transactions.

The ballooning number of orders and special customer requests have brought some operational challenges. In the latest earnings call, management noted that a midteens percentage of Starbucks’ mobile orders weren’t completed, likely due to long waiting time.

The company is taking steps to become more efficient, adopting, for instance, a compact workstation that eliminates the need for baristas to move back and forth when making a cold drink. It’s also rolling out machines to brew coffee more quickly and keep food warm and ready for pickup.

“As consumers start to feel better, Starbucks will get a transaction lift from some of these investments they’re making now,” says Morningstar’s Dunlop.

“Our team is working hard to reaccelerate growth and momentum in our U.S. business,” Starbucks told Barron’s.

A social media boycott, which stems from Starbuck’s dispute with the Workers United union, hurt sales, according to the company, which maintains that misinformation was a cause of the boycott.

But management has been negotiating a contract with the union since April, and thawing relations could help quell some of the negative media sentiment about the company. “It looks like Starbucks and the union have come to an agreement not to drag each other through the mud in public,” says BTIG analyst Peter Saleh. “Instead, they’ll negotiate privately, which is probably a good thing for sales in the near term.”

The stock is down to around $80, 29% below its recent peak in April 2023. Shares are now trading at 20 times next fiscal year earnings, much lower than the five-year average of 28 times. It’s a rare opportunity for investors to buy now.

Among analysts polled by FactSet, the average target price is $88, indicating a 9% gain. But the upside can be much larger: Earnings are estimated to grow 13% year-over-year to $4.07 per share in fiscal 2025. If the valuation recovers to the five-year average, the stock could breach $114.

The headwinds likely won’t disappear in one or two quarters. Flattish sales and elevated capital expenditures could squeeze earnings and cash flow in the short term, but the issues seem more transitory than structural.

“You have to be patient, but if you can, you’re getting a premium brand name at a discount,” says NFJ Investment’s McKinney.

Barrons : Nvidia Is the Pricey AI Play. These 7 Stocks Are Real Bargains.

Nvidia Is the Pricey AI Play. These 7 Stocks Are Real Bargains.
Companies in emerging markets are important players in AI—and they are cheaper than many U.S. counterparts.

Nvidia and a handful of other U.S. stocks have become almost synonymous with artificial intelligence. But investors willing to venture into emerging markets can find companies that are also critical for making AI a reality—at bargain prices compared with many stateside options.

Companies cashing in on AI include those in Taiwan, South Korea, and parts of southeast Asia. “If you are looking for AI, emerging markets is the place to look,” says Anthony Sassine, senior investment strategist for Krane Funds Advisors. He says that some of these companies have significant competitive advantages in the design, manufacturing, and packaging of chips. They are also a lot cheaper, with some trading at roughly half that of companies like Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, and ASML Holding.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, which is responsible for about 90% of the world’s super-advanced semiconductors, is among the most well known and widely owned AI plays outside the U.S. At 23 times next 12-month earnings, it trades at about a 33% discount to Nvidia.

The stock is “tremendously cheap for an enabler of all the AI enthusiasm,” says Ben Durrant, an investment manager on Baillie Gifford’s emerging markets equity team, which has long held the stock. Part of that discount comes from the geopolitical cloud that looms over Taiwan, as the island nation remains a hot-button issue in the U.S.-China rivalry.

Many of the companies critical for transitioning the world to use AI go through Asia—and demand has already been a boon to supply chains through the region. For those who want to stick with megacap companies, two South Korean giants offer a way into AI. SK Hynix (ticker: 000660.Korea) is a leader in the high-bandwidth memory required by the latest processors from Nvidia and peers to power AI.

After inventory-related concerns last year, the memory company’s shares are up about 50% this year as demand for its AI-related chips begins to show up in its financials. While no longer a bargain at 1.8 to two times book value, it is still cheaper than some U.S. peers, and fund managers still see upside. The reason: AI-related products account for just 5% of last year’s sales, but SK Hynix says that could hit 60% by 2028. Rondure Global Advisors founder Laura Geritz has a more conservative expectation for AI sales but still sees further opportunity for the stock as AI—and high-bandwidth memory—powers a new leg of earnings growth for years to come.

For those looking for a better-known option, SK Hynix rival Samsung Electronics is one of the cheapest AI-related plays in Asia, says Hiren Dasani, Singapore-based co-head of global emerging markets equity at Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Samsung trades at 1.2 times book value, about 30% cheaper than SK Hynix.

Samsung comes with some baggage—including weakness in the other facets of its business, including smartphones, and lingering criticism that the founding family prioritizes control over shareholder returns.

Samsung is also lagging behind SK Hynix on high-bandwidth memory. Dasani sees a potential catalys t as the company tries to become qualified to be part of Nvidia’s supply chain over the next few months. If it succeeds, Dasani says it could change the market’s perception of Samsung into an AI play as it catches up to SK Hynix.

Korean companies have another potential catalyst as South Korea embarks on efforts to nudge companies to boost shareholder returns. Korea stocks have long been stuck because of governance-related issues, in part to its history of family-controlled business groups, or chaebols. Those concerns could recede as the government looks for reforms and a governance makeover similar to the one that Japan has implemented over the past decade, says Phillip Wool, global head of research for quantitative asset manager Rayliant Global Advisors.

MSCI Taiwan, an index that tracks Taiwan stocks, trades at about 19 times forward earnings, well below the 30 times earnings the Nasdaq Composite fetches. The MSCI Korea is far cheaper, at 10 times. Rayliant’s Wool attributes the gap to the Korea discount for complex corporate structures, messy governance with family-owned chaebols dominating the market, and a dismal record for shareholder rights. Details are still sparse, and it could take a while, but a reduction in the Korea discount offers another catalyst to stocks like Samsung.

There’s also opportunity in smaller companies integral to the overall AI-supply chain or the buildout of infrastructure needed to support it. That includes companies such as Alchip Technologies (3661.Taiwan), which makes specific use of application specific integrated circuits, or ASICs, for the likes of Amazon.com, Intel, and Li Auto. These chips are smaller, more efficient, and less energy intensive than generalist central processing unit, or CPUs, and graphics processing unit, or GPUs, which makes them more attractive as the AI revolution increases energy demand. As a more direct bet on chips, AIchip is pricier than less pure-play AI opportunities. But at 27 times forward earnings, Wool notes that it is still cheaper than market-darlings like Nvidia and ASML.

One backdoor into AI is through companies engaged in cooling servers as the increased computer power for AI increases the need for liquid cooling rather than traditional air, which is several times more expensive. As Nvidia launches its new GB200 chip and server architecture, Todd McClone, a manager on William Blair’s emerging markets equities strategies, says it could draw more than double the electricity compared with current leading-edge products.

Server cooling could become a $10 billion market in two years, growing at a 30% compounded annual growth rate, according to McClone. One way in is through Asia Vital Components (3017.Taiwan), which provides these cooling technologies. While the shares have soared, with the stock valuation hitting mid-20s, McClone still sees opportunity, noting that the market is still underestimating the earnings potential and the speed of adoption of its solutions.

McClone and others are also looking at power-related stocks as another way to play AI, given the surging energy demands. Data centers could contribute to 7% of global power demand by 2035 as they try to support AI, a reason that some companies are investing aggressively in electrification and energy-efficient technology.

That benefits the likes of HD Hyundai Electric in Korea, which in the first quarter made up almost 40% of its full-year sales forecast. Given the strong growth, McClone says he expects further double-digit increases in sales and earnings, which justifies its current valuations. Plus, the stock trades at about a 14% discount to other global grid equipment options. The stock trades for under 20 times 2025 earnings.

Rajiv Jain, chief investment officer at global asset manager GQG Partners, owns Malaysia’s YTL Power International (YTLP.Malaysia). The company stands to benefit from a host of reforms in Malaysia of its power sector as it sees a data center boom and the country tries to become a regional hub, exporting power to Singapore and other parts of southeast Asia.

At 12.6 times next year’s earnings, valuations in Malaysia are still relatively attractive. “No one is paying attention to the sleepy market,” Jain says.

Barron's : Large-Cap Value Stocks Will Power the Market Rally From Here, This St

Large-Cap Value Stocks Will Power the Market Rally From Here, This Strategist Says
Savita Subramanian of BofA Securities also favors companies generating free cash flow and those becoming “labor light.”

The S&P 500 has gained almost 14% this year, and the Nasdaq 100, 16%, mostly due to monster rallies in a handful of megacap tech stocks. All the more reason for investors to increase their exposure to value stocks in cyclical industries, says Savita Subramanian, head of U.S. equity and quantitative strategies at BofA Securities. The biggest stocks have run up so much, she says, that it could be increasingly difficult for them to meet, or exceed, investors’ expectations.

The S&P 500 has gained almost 14% this year, and the Nasdaq 100, 16%, mostly due to monster rallies in a handful of megacap tech stocks. All the more reason for investors to increase their exposure to value stocks in cyclical industries, says Savita Subramanian, head of U.S. equity and quantitative strategies at BofA Securities. The biggest stocks have run up so much, she says, that it could be increasingly difficult for them to meet, or exceed, investors’ expectations.
Subramanian has been following markets for more than two decades, and has earned a reputation for prescient investment calls. Her work marries quantitative research with fundamental analysis, and draws on the precepts of behavioral finance. A dual major in mathematics and philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley, she joined Merrill Lynch in 2001 after a stint at Scudder Kemper Investments, now owned by Deutsche Bank.

Subramanian moved to BofA in 2008 when Bank of America bought Merrill in the teeth of the financial crisis. She was named head of U.S. equity strategy in 2011.

In March, she raised her S&P 500 year-end price target to 5400 from 5000, then one of the most bullish calls on Wall Street. The index topped that level on June 12 after the release of the consumer price index for May, which indicated that inflation had cooled, but she isn’t planning to change her target now. “There are parts of the S&P where we’re more constructive but our directional conviction is lower given that market sentiment has moved from bearish to more neutral,” she said.

Barron’s spoke with Subramanian on June 9, and via email on June 12, about her favorite market segments, her concerns about tech stocks, and her career. An edited version of the conversation follows.

Barron’s: The S&P 500 rose 24% last year, and is up again this year. Can stocks keep climbing from recent levels?

Savita Subramanian: If I were going to buy one kind of investment for the next 12 to 24 months, it would be large-cap value. That’s where you’re going to get the most bang for your buck. That’s what will lead over the next few years, given the macro environment.

What worries me about the market is that at the beginning of the year, there was tremendous skepticism around the longevity of the rally. Today, there is far more bullish sentiment. At the beginning of the year, it was much easier to be bullish because there were a lot more bears. And at this point, I feel like a lot of the bears have capitulated.

Do you blame them? Valuations seem lofty, with the market trading at 22 times next year’s expected earnings.

I’m not worried about equities from a valuation perspective because these multiples are sustainable. We’re moving from a period of uncertainty. Prior to the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates by more than five percentage points, nobody knew how we were going to escape zero rates. Today, interest rates are well above that. The Fed has done a lot of the hard work already.

Inflation volatility has subsided. This is where clients probably disagree with me the most, but I feel that what the Fed does now is less important because it has already done the extreme process of hiking.

How many rate cuts do you expect this year?

We could see one cut in December. But the risk is, if the Fed doesn’t cut, what happens? There is a high probability that the Fed holds rates steady for the rest of the year. And if inflation comes back with a vengeance, the Fed could be forced to hike. What happens in that scenario?

Until we get to that moment where the Fed says we’re at peak rates, inflation is coming down, and we can be more accommodative, you want to hold inflation-protected sectors such as energy, materials, and financials. These are more cyclical than defensive sectors.

Is inflation still the biggest concern for investors and the Fed, or is it secondary to fears about the economy and job market?

The monthly and weekly economic data are noisy. Over a three- or four-month time period, they look worrisome because they’re all softening. But when you look at them from a longer-term time horizon, they look fantastic.

When we were in more of an inflationary environment, we wrote about how the best environment for equities was 2% to 4% inflation. That’s where we are right now. The best environment for equities is when real wage growth is positive and nominal sales growth is at reasonable levels.

There is the potential for a cyclical recovery. Even though the recent ISM manufacturing data wobbled a bit, the numbers aren’t as low as a couple of months ago. We are looking at things through the wrong end of the telescope. Every week there is cause for recession or stagflation concerns. But in the grander scheme of things, we’re seeing economic data normalize from very hot levels after the Covid pandemic and all the fiscal stimulus to levels that are good for equities, especially cyclical companies.

We keep hearing that this rally will broaden out. Meanwhile, Microsoft, Apple, and Nvidia account for 20% of the market valuation of the S&P 500. Are you concerned about that concentration?

I’m not concerned because it isn’t a negative signal. But I am surprised by how narrow the market has become. I would have expected a broadening out to have happened earlier.

The earnings of the megacap tech cohort are so high that we are more likely to see a deceleration than an acceleration. Another reason to expect a broadening out is that we got positive guidance across the board, and not just from tech companies, during first-quarter earnings season. The other major market sectors were all posting more positive than negative guidance.

A couple of years ago, you mentioned in an interview that you liked big, old, boring U.S. companies. Is that still the case?

I don’t know if I would say I still like big, old, boring companies. I like a mix of companies that are generating strong free cash flow and enjoying the benefits of this tech revolution, but also companies that are potentially becoming more labor light. If you think about the areas that could benefit from generative artificial intelligence, it’s banks, legal services, and IT [information technology] services.

And if you think about cash flow, it isn’t just tech but also utilities, power, infrastructure, and energy companies that are generating substantial amounts of cash. Some are exciting, and some are boring. But they are mostly big. That’s where I differ from a lot of other bulls. I don’t think you want to buy all small-caps, because while some of them are economically sensitive and will benefit from better gross-domestic-product growth in the U.S., others are morphing into smaller-cap companies because they used to be large.

I also like companies like Alphabet and Meta Platforms that have decided to start paying dividends. These are stocks that will probably show up in value benchmarks in a year. What I don’t like are companies that don’t make any money and might not be able to hack a higher-for-longer rate environment.

How nervous should investors be about the U.S. elections in November?

In the U.S., elections are less important than they might be in other regions of the world. We’ve seen contentious races, and the outcome has been somewhat of a nonevent. Former President Donald Trump’s win in 2016 was OK for stocks and the economy even though we initially thought there could be big changes.

The differences between Trump and President Joe Biden are around things like healthcare spending, immigration policy, and maybe the regulatory landscape. We aren’t going to see massive corporate regulations levied, especially at techs or banks, because these are the two sectors that are critically important for the U.S. to retain its position of primacy. You can’t choke off all the lending at the banks with regulations, because the economy would come to a halt. The regulatory backdrop is potentially less punitive than it might have been in prior election cycles.

The fact that both candidates agree that they want to bring back manufacturing from China and other regions of the world to the U.S. has created more jobs. While these policies are protectionist and inflationary, they are also pro-growth.

You’ve been at BofA and its predecessor company, Merrill Lynch, for more than 20 years. What has it been like to work in one place that long, both personally and from the standpoint of an investment strategist?

It has helped me become a better investment strategist. At some level, I find it easier to forecast things that I’ve lived through.

The credit crisis taught us that leverage can be evil. Short-term debt can be evil. But in a weird way, that created an environment much more suited to managing higher rates. We all took our lumps during the financial crisis, and now big corporations don’t have massive leverage risk. The lessons learned in 2008 prepared the economy for what is happening now. It is good to live through different types of shocks and see how companies and consumers adapted to those crises.

What has surprised you most about how the investment world has changed during your tenure?

Time horizons have gotten faster. Technology has gotten better. But it might not be an easier or a harder time to be a strategist. It’s easier because there is more data, but it’s harder because you have to filter out more irrelevant information.

Right now is the most interesting time to be a market strategist, in my opinion. We’re back to a more rational market. When we were in a zero-interest-rate, massive-stimulus-driven market, it was hard to forecast what would happen next. Events were in the hands of central bankers.

Today, inflation volatility has subsided. It is interesting to see how companies are recalibrating, and what the lay of the land is in each region of the world and each sector. The outlook depends less on central bankers, and more on corporations and consumers.

FT : Boeing and Airbus bought plane sections with falsely certified metal

Boeing and Airbus bought plane sections with falsely certified metal
US air safety regulators are investigating scope and impact of issue that started with titanium originating in China

Boeing and Airbus have included parts in their jets made with titanium whose certification documentation was counterfeit, the two companies acknowledged Friday.

Both manufacturers said the planes in service containing the parts were safe.

The companies bought fuselages and wings from Spirit AeroSystems, the Kansas supplier that has struggled with quality issues over the past year. The metal originated in China, where the documentation reportedly was falsified, before working its way through the global supply chain to be used in parts installed in jets made by the duelling plane makers.

The news, reported earlier by The New York Times, is another setback for an industry with a years-long backlog of orders and customers eager for new planes. Titanium is used to make critical components for aircraft, including landing gears and fasteners for the pylons that join an engine to a wing. The NYT said the transactions may have occurred as far back as 2019.

Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems have been scrutinised in recent months by regulators, following a door panel blowout during a commercial flight in January. US Federal Aviation Administration administrator Mike Whitaker told a US Senate subcommittee on Thursday that the agency’s previous approach to regulating Boeing was “too hands-off”. An audit of the two companies found examples of them failing to meet requirements for manufacturing and quality control.

US Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, on Friday said he would launch a congressional oversight inquiry into both Boeing and the aviation regulator over the blowout, noting in a letter that “while Boeing’s actions had deadly consequences, the FAA’s oversight failures allowed for it to occur”.

Boeing said it would remove the titanium parts from planes that are awaiting delivery but it has not paused deliveries, and the in-service fleet can continue flying.

Boeing declined to say which aircraft the parts were used on. Spirit makes the fuselage for the 737 Max and the nose and leading edge of the wing for the 787. The US group builds parts for several Airbus jets, including the wings and engine pylons for the A220 jet. 

Airbus said it is “aware” of the situation. The European plane maker said “numerous tests” had been performed on parts coming from the same source of supply, which showed the “A220’s airworthiness remains intact”. The company said it was working with its supplier. 

The FAA said it is now investigating the scope and impact of the problem, which Boeing voluntarily reported.

The metal tested shows “the correct titanium alloy was used”, Boeing said, even though the documentation was falsified.

All the suspect parts have since been removed from Spirit’s production, said spokesperson Joe Buccino, and “more than 1,000 tests have been completed to confirm the mechanical and metallurgical properties of the affected material” to ensure the planes already delivered with these parts are safe to fly. 

Boeing said the titanium in question comes from “a limited set of suppliers”. The bulk of the titanium the company purchases is unaffected by the counterfeit documentation.

>>> Tenaris - To commences Fourth Tranche of its $1.2 Billion Share Buyback Prog

To commences Fourth Tranche of its $1.2 Billion Share Buyback Program

announced today the completion of the third tranche and the commencement of the fourth tranche of its USD1.2 billion Share Buyback Program announced on November 1, 2023 (the “Program”).

During the third tranche, which ran from May 13, 2024, to (and including) June 13, 2024, the Company purchased a total of 18,080,524 ordinary shares for a total consideration of EUR276,630,414, or USD300 million.

As of June 14, 2024, the Company held in treasury 34,447,527 ordinary shares (including 16,367,003 ordinary shares bought in the second tranche), equal to 2.96% of the total issued share capital.

On June 14, 2024, Tenaris entered into a non-discretionary buyback agreement with a primary financial institution (the “Bank”) for the execution of the fourth tranche of the Program, covering up to the remainder amount of the Program. This fourth tranche shall start on June 17, 2024, and end no later than October 31, 2024, and will cover an amount of up to USD300 million.

The Bank will make its trading decisions concerning the timing of the purchases of Tenaris’s ordinary shares independently of and uninfluenced by Tenaris and will act in compliance with applicable rules and regulations, including the Market Abuse Regulation 596/2014 and the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052 (the “Regulations”). Under the buyback agreement, purchases of shares may continue during any closed periods of Tenaris in accordance with the Regulations.

>>> Weekly Market Update

Weekly Market Update: Better inflation data in the US overshadows more cautious Fed policy forecast and political jitters in France

This week opened and ended with political turmoil in Europe weighing on markets there. Specifically, President Macron’s call for a snap election led to a surge in the polls for both the both the far-right and far-left in France, squeezing Macron’s centrists. The French CAC came under pressure along with EU banks in general. The spreads between French and German government bond yields widened to levels not seen since 2017. The Euro slumped to the lowest levels in more than a month. Macron’s Finance Minister exacerbated uneasiness with pre-election rhetoric warning of potential financial crisis if the election were to force France to exit the EU. Separately, the G-7 met in Italy and agreed on a plan to support Ukraine with frozen Russian assets.

The S&P and NASDAQ broke out to fresh all-time highs on Wednesday after annualized core CPI rose at the slowest pace in three years. Notably, some of the softness was due to declines in categories such as airfares and auto insurance that do not carry over to the PCE calculations. Meanwhile, the critical shelter cost components remained sticky, but the closely followed supercore fell m/m. The data was welcomed by the Fed and Chairman Powell, and overshadowed the latest iteration of the dot plot which took officials' prior projection of three rate cuts this year down to just one. In his press conference, Powell reiterated that policy remains squarely data dependent and that the Fed is still ready to adjust policy once it has more confidence inflation is on track to move down towards the 2% target. The following session, PPI was negative m/m and core was flat, supporting a resurgent disinflation narrative. Also, weekly jobless claims jumped to the highest reading since last August, causing some to argue that the FOMC’s overall message was a bit more hawkish than needed given the increased signs of softening. By Friday, US Treasury yields fell to the lowest levels since early August while the US dollar index was at a 1-month high. For the week, the S&P gained 1.6%, the DJIA slipped 0.5%, and the Nasdaq surged 3.2%.

In corporate news this week, largecap tech continued to show its muscle, driven by the mad dash to upgrade AI systems. Oracle and then Broadcom were the latest AI-related companies to see their stock accelerate to new highs on the back of strong earnings reports. Oracle touted its Remaining Performance Obligation up 44% to $98B, while Broadcom noted that in FY24 it expected revenues from AI at over $11B, more than 20% of overall revenues. Buyers came back into Apple after it announced its stepped up AI effort called ‘Apple Intelligence’, which will rely in part on integrating ChatGPT into Siri and MacOS and iPhoneOS platforms. That collaboration sparked outraged comments from Elon Musk who called it an “unacceptable security violation.” Meanwhile, Tesla shares saw a small relief rally as stockholders gave in to Musk’s compensation demands, and he reaffirmed his vision for producing an army of humanoid robots as the next pillar of Tesla’s growth plan. Separately GM indicated the auto industry remains strong, announcing expectations that Q2 earnings will show sequential improvement. Industrial tools supplier MSC Industrial injected a note of caution to the space, issue much lower than expected Q3 guidance. And in M&A news, National Amusements said it was not able to reach deal terms with Skydance Media, sending Paramount shares plunging.


MON 06-10
(EU) EU Parliament Elections Summary: French Pres Macron called for snap elections after his party losing to Marine Le Pen's National Rally (first snap elections for France since 1997); German Chancellor Scholz’s SPD party had its worst ever result, coming third behind the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD); Belgium PM Croo resigned
(EU) EURO ZONE JUN SENTIX INVESTOR CONFIDENCE: +0.3 V -1.7E (1st positive reading since Feb 2022); Notes its inflation barometer indicates an unfavourable inflation environment
(RU) Russia Pres Putin said to visit North Korea and Vietnam in coming weeks - Russia press
(US) Citi Mid-June Economic Surprise Index -5.5 v -4.1 prior (update)
AAPL Announces 'Apple Intelligence' suite of AI features – WWDC
AAPL Elon Musk: If Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS level, then Apple devices will be banned at my companies; This is an unacceptable security violation
UUUU Achieves commercial production of separated neodymium-praseodymium ("NdPr") at its White Mesa Mill in Utah; Simultaneously advancing Uranium production, preparations are being made to commence a uranium ore and alternate feed uranium-bearing material processing campaign in Q3 2024

TUES 06-11
(CN) CHINA MAY CPI Y/Y: 0.3% V 0.4%E
(CN) China official: EU's probe into EVs is trade protectionism
(CN) US Indo-Pacific chief Paparo: I want to turn Taiwan Strait into ‘unmanned Hellscape’ if China invades; US has plans to deploy thousands of lethal drones if mainland China invades Taiwan – SCMP
(CN) US reportedly weighs more limits on China's access to chips for AI - press
(FR) French Pres Macron: Election result will not affect my position
(FR) Follow Up: A person close to French Pres Macron camp reportedly denies earlier reports of his potential resignation – press
(FR) French Pres Macron said to be discussing potential resignation with his close circle in case of possible right-wing victory in early parliamentary elections - French radio
OPEC Monthly Oil Report (MOMR)
(US) BOFA INSTITUTE: MAY TOTAL CARD SPENDING +0.7% Y/Y V +1.0% AVERAGE IN APR; Notes consumer spending momentum continues to appear soft but stable; There are signs of increased financial pressures for some in the younger generations
(US) Data provider to homebuilders Zonda: May/early June trends below April; According to Zonda's survey, 33% of builders said demand is on track with expectations in May v 57% in March
(US) International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) union representing dockworkers at East and Gulf Coast container ports has suspended labor contract negotiations set for Tue, June 11th due to the automation issue - press (update) [**Note: current ILA contract set to expire on Sept 30th, 2024]
(US) TREASURY'S $39B 10-YEAR NOTE REOPENING DRAWS 4.438% V 4.560% PRIOR; BID-TO-COVER RATIO: 2.67 V 2.34 PRIOR AND 2.48 OVER LAST 8 REOPENINGS
GM CFO: Expects Q2 earnings better q/q (implies >$2.62 v $2.59e) - DB conf
ORCL Guides Q1 EPS $1.31-1.35 ($1.33-1.37 cc) v $1.32e, Rev +5-7% (+6-8% cc) v +7.2%e; Have increased confidence that revenue will grow and accelerate - earnings call
ORCL Reports Q4 $1.63 v $1.64e, Rev $14.3B v $14.6Be; Expect double digit Rev growth in FY25 with acceleration every Q; In Q4 alone, signed over 30 AI sales contracts totaling >$12.5B
PARA National Amusements said to stop discussions with Skydance – press
WMT Exec: Still seeing consistent consumer overall; Market remains a bit more promotional - Oppenheimer's 24th Annual Consumer Growth and E-Commerce Conference

WED 06-12
(AU) AUSTRALIA MAY EMPLOYMENT CHANGE: +39.7K V +30.0KE; UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 4.0% V 4.0%E
(FR) France Fin Min Le Maire: France could face a ‘Liz Truss scenario’; France would be plunged into a debt crisis if far-right leader Marine Le Pen were to win snap elections and implement her economic program (update)
(FR) French Pres Macron: Absurd to think I will resign before 2027; EU vote was clear, could not be ignored; Snap elections was only way possible
(IN) INDIA MAY CPI Y/Y: 4.8% V 4.9%E
(US) Atlanta May Sticky-CPI annualized 2.4% v 4.6% m/m, Core 2.2% v 4.6% m/m (update)
(US) Adobe Analytics May Digital Price Index (DPI) -0.6% m/m v -0.5% prior (update)
Comparative Analysis of current vs prior FOMC statement: Saw modest progress on inflation target (vs 'a lack of further progress' in May); Rest of the statement is unchanged
(US) DOE CRUDE: +3.7M V -1ME; GASOLINE: 2.6M V 0ME; DISTILLATE: 0.9M V +1ME
(US) Fed Chair Powell: Today was certainly a better inflation report than most anyone expected; Hope we have more like it, not able to give specific number of good reports needed - Q&A
(US) MAY CPI M/M: 0.0% V 0.1%E; Y/Y: 3.3% V 3.4%E (lowest annual pace since Feb 2024 and first flat M/M print since Oct 2023)
(US) FOMC SUMMARY OF ECONOMIC PROJECTIONS (SEP) FOR JUNE: Raises long run rate forecast for second consecutive time; Cuts median forecast projection to 25bps of rate cuts in 2024 (prior 75bps)
(US) USDA WORLD AGRICULTURAL SUPPLY AND DEMAND ESTIMATES (WASDE) CROP REPORT
AXP CFO: Seeing relative strength in the consumer space; Q2-to-date trends are similar to Q1 - conf comments
DIS Central Florida Tourism Oversight District said to give Co locked-in, long-term plan for expanding Disney World; Said to reach agreement with Gov Desantis – NYT
IEA Monthly Oil Report (OMR); Cuts 2024-2025 global oil demand growth forecasts citing muted economy
JPM Exec Rohrbaugh: Q2 Investment banking rev could be up by 25-30% y/y (prior expected ~mid-teens y/y); Q2 trading rev is tending slightly better than mid-single digit growth guidance - MS conf
OXM Reports Q1 $2.66 v $3.78 y/y, Rev $398M v $420M y/y; Cuts FY guidance citing consumer sentiment has dropped meaningfully from early 2024 and has driven the consumer to become more cautious; Q2-to-date comp sales trend is positive
PLAY Reports Q1 $1.12 v $1.56e, Rev $588M v $614Me
TSLA CEO Musk: Both Tesla shareholder resolutions are currently passing by wide margins - X post
UMI.BE Cuts FY24 Adj EBITDA €760-800M (prior €900-950M); Notes slowdown in EV growth significantly impacts 2024 and volumes for a Chinese battery OEM not materializing in 2024; Started a process of re-assessing growth projections post 2024
VRA Reports Q1 -$0.21 v -$0.09 y/y, Rev $80.6M v $94.4M y/y; Notes reduced visits and spending across "all household incomes and channels at Vera Bradley, especially in the under $75K households", To unveil strategic plan Project Restoration in mid-July

THRS 06-13
TTN Research Alert: At yesterday presser. Powell said there are continuing financial pressures on low-income people; Which US firms would agree with him during last few weeks?
(FR) France left wing parties say they have agreed to unite and create a new 'Popular Front' to contest the upcoming snap parliamentary election
(IS) Biden administration has reportedly grown extremely concerned that escalating violence between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah in recent days will deteriorate into an all-out war - Axios
(JP) BANK OF JAPAN (BOJ) LEAVES TARGET RANGE UNCHANGED BETWEEN 0.0-0.10%; AS EXPECTED
(JP) BOJ ON GOVT BOND PURCHASES; TO BUY JGB's IN ACCORDANCE WITH MARCH 2024 DECISION UNTIL JULY MEETING (JULY 31st) [**Note: Most analysts expected a cut to JGB purchases at this meeting]
(US) BOFA INSTITUTE: WEEK-TO-JUNE 8TH TOTAL CARD SPENDING +1.6% Y/Y V +0.7% AVERAGE IN MAY; Card spending appears to be off to a solid start in June
(US) Medicare to recalculate quality ratings of Medicare Advantage Plans in an effort that could be announced as soon as today - WSJ
(US) MAY PPI FINAL DEMAND M/M: -0.2% V +0.1%E; Y/Y: 2.2% V 2.5%E (1st negative M/M print since Dec)
(US) TREASURY $22B 30-YEAR BOND REOPENING DRAWS 4.403% V 4.671% PRIOR; BID TO COVER 2.49 V 2.37 PRIOR AND 2.43 OVER LAST 8 REOPENINGS
(US) Tier1 analysts June Spending Survey (conducted June 6-10th): Plans to buy a New Home over the next 12 months remain at 20%+ levels despite the slight decline to 24.0% from 24.3% last month; New Vehicle next 12-month spending expectations remain at an elevated level since last month's sharp increase
(US) S&P Global: GEP Global Supply Chain Volatility Index breaks into positive territory for the first time in 14 months as global manufacturers report stretched capacity; Factory purchasing in Asia rising at the fastest rate since Dec 2021, driven by India, China and South Korea
1929.HK Reports Q1 Mainland China SSS -27.6% y/y (v -2.7% prior), HK/Macau SSS -32.0% y/y (v +4.5% prior)
MA Judge said to likely reject $30.0B Mastercard/Visa swipe-fee deal with retailers; Official decision expected in the coming days - US financial press
MSM Reports prelim Q3 $1.32-1.34 v $1.57e, Rev $978-980M v $1.03Be; Cuts FY24 Guidance due to "ongoing heavy manufacturing softness", slower than anticipated ramp in Core Customer and increased product and customer mix headwinds and unexpected dilution from our web price realignment
Ocean Freight Volumes continue to be very strong and above last year’s numbers on Transpacific while we see structurally blank sailings due to Cape of Good Hope routings and port congestion in Asia and North America. - Flexport
SNOW Reportedly to close hacking probe after attack targeted clients – press
SIG Reports Q1 $1.11 v $1.78 y/y, Rev $1.51 B v $1.67B y/y; Notes notable acceleration from a sluggish Feb to the top half of expectations, with an even stronger May; Sees positive same store sales inflection in H2 FY25

FRI 06-14
(JP) BOJ Gov Ueda: Rate hike in July is naturally possible depending on data
(RU) Russia Pres Putin: Sets out Russia pre-conditions for talks with Ukraine and "complete ending of the conflict"; Demands Ukraine pull out of four Eastern regions entirely - comments ahead of Ukraine's Peace summit in Switzerland
(US) MAY IMPORT PRICE INDEX M/M: -0.4% V -0.1%E; Y/Y: 1.1% V 1.3%E
(US) JUN PRELIMINARY UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN CONFIDENCE: 65.6 V 72.0E
(US) Tier1 week-to-June 13th US Truckload Demand Indicator at 53.1 v 53.4 prior (below 54 avg freight recession level)
NUE Guides Q2 $2.20-2.30 v $3.02e, cites lower average selling prices at steel mills segment
TSCO.UK Q1 Trading Update: LFL UK & ROI +3.6% v +3.4%e; Affirms guidance; Trends in line with expectations