9to5 : iPhone 15 release date: The latest news and what to expect

With WWDC now behind us, the next thing on Apple’s schedule for the year is the announcement and release of the iPhone 15 lineup. As of right now, the expectation is that the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro lineups will come out around the same time as iPhones do every year…but perhaps in very limited quantities.
When will the iPhone 15 come out?
Apple is expected to have an all-new lineup of iPhones this year, including the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max. As you can see below, the iPhone release schedule over the past seven years has been incredibly consistent. The iPhone X is a notable outlier in 2017, as is the iPhone 12 lineup, which was impacted by COVID-19 delays.
Here is a timeline of the latest iPhone release dates:
  • iPhone 14 Plus: October 7, 2022
  • iPhone 14: September 16, 2022
  • iPhone 13: September 23, 2021
  • iPhone 12: October 23, 2020
  • iPhone 11: September 20, 2019
  • iPhone XS: September 21, 2018
  • iPhone X: November 3, 2017
  • iPhone 8: September 22, 2017
  • iPhone 7: September 16, 2016
As we’ve seen in past years, the iPhone is Apple’s most important product release every year. This means the company will prioritize iPhone 15 production over all of its other products. If any supply chain challenges or hiccups were to emerge, Apple would delay other products before it would delay the iPhone 15 release date.
iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max shortages?
Apple has reportedly hit a speedbump in its production of the iPhone 15. According to a recent report, Apple is facing challenges scaling production of the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max due to its ambitious plans to significantly reduce the size of the bezels around the display.
As it stands right now, Apple isn’t planning on delaying the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. Instead, the company is planning to announce and release the devices as normal in September, just in limited quantities.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max is said to be more impacted by these problems than the iPhone 15 Pro, which means it might face far more “severe shortages” at launch.
What’s new with iPhone 15?
As a quick refresher, we’re expecting a number of different changes with the iPhone 15 lineup this year. Here’s a brief rundown:
  • USB-C for charging on all models.
  • Slimmer bezels across the entire lineup.
  • The Dynamic Island will expand to the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus.
  • A new titanium finish on the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
  • The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are expected to use a new A17 Bionic chip made using the 3nm production process. This will be the first time Apple has used 3nm production for chips, resulting in improved performance and improved efficiency.
  • iPhone 15 Pro Max will feature a periscope lens for improved optical zoom for the rear-facing camera.
You can keep up with the latest iPhone 15 news and rumors in our complete guide, which is updated daily with new stories.

Barrons : Russia Ends Ukraine Grain Deal. What It Means for Prices—and Putin.

Russia Ends Ukraine Grain Deal. What It Means for Prices—and Putin.

Vladimir Putin is signaling he really does mean to exit the Ukraine grain deal this time. The Black Sea Grain Initiative, as the accord is formally known, enabled Ukraine to maintain more-or-less normal exports of wheat, corn, and other foodstuffs over the past year, and tamed world prices that spiked after Russia’s February 2022 invasion.

Moscow quit the deal on July 17, claiming that the United Nations and Western partners ignored obligations to make it easier for Russia to export grain and fertilizer. Putin underlined the point with intensive bombing of Ukrainian ports. “The expiration of the deal risks holding global food security at ransom,” International Rescue Committee President David Miliband said.

Markets are also getting alarmed. Chicago-traded futures for wheat, of which prewar Ukraine supplied a tenth of world exports, have risen 6%. That’s hardly a panic in commodities terms, though. There’s still a good chance Russia will rejoin the deal.

From a cold business perspective, it’s a bad deal for Moscow, letting its wartime enemy earn billions while depressing the price of Russia’s own competing sales. But the grain accord benefits Putin’s two most important international friends remaining, China and Turkey. Beijing has been the top customer by far for the Ukrainian exports. Turkey brokers all the shipments and reaps global prestige.

“The grain deal is important to both Turkey and China, and Russia has no alternative to its dependence on them,” says Alexandra Prokopenko, a scholar at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center. Accidental damage that Russian missiles caused to the Chinese consulate in Odesa, Ukraine’s principal port, won’t ease relations with Beijing.

Putin may angle for a face-saving re-entry when he hosts an African leaders’ summit starting July 27, Prokopenko says, looking for positive PR in the Global South. Putin has previously dangled free Russian grain for “especially needy African countries.”

Second, Ukraine has rapidly developed its Plan B’s. It has increased capacity as much as eightfold at backup grain terminals near the mouth of the Danube River, says Michael Magdovitz, a senior commodity analyst at Rabobank. From there, exports can reach the Black Sea via neighboring Romania or Moldova. Overall, Ukraine can achieve about 80% of its prewar grain export through alternative routes shielded from Russian attack, Magdovitz figures.

Kyiv might keep shipping from its own Black Sea ports despite Russia’s muscle-flexing, says Oksana Antonenko, a global fellow at the Kennan Institute. “Russia’s military leverage is pretty tenuous,” she says. “It’s completely feasible to ‘run the blockade’ if Western allies can provide an insurance fund.”

Russia’s defense ministry aimed to squelch such talk with a warning that commercial ships bound for Ukraine will be viewed as “involved” in the war.

Markets have already factored in considerable war damage to Ukrainian agriculture, Magdovitz says. World prices for wheat are a quarter higher than prepandemic levels. Corn, Ukraine’s other strategic farm export, is up more than 40%. Some 15% of Ukraine’s grain capacity is offline because of proximity to combat zones.

“Ukraine was an ascendant heavyweight in world agriculture,” Magdovitz says. “Continued economic scarring for its farmers will raise the floor for grain prices.”

For that, no clear end is in sight.

Barrons : America’s Bet on Wind Power Is Running Into a Big Problem

America’s Bet on Wind Power Is Running Into a Big Problem
Higher costs and serious delays are plaguing offshore wind projects. Consumers, investors, and the environment will pay the price.

rane ships and construction barges have joined the pleasure boats floating off the coast of vacation hot spots Montauk and Martha’s Vineyard this summer. The hard hats working on them aren’t there to catch some rays. They’re driving steel cylinders deep into the seabed to build America’s first large-scale offshore wind farms, a milestone decades in the making. Both projects are set to start sending electricity to the shore by the end of the year.

Crane ships and construction barges have joined the pleasure boats floating off the coast of vacation hot spots Montauk and Martha’s Vineyard this summer. The hard hats working on them aren’t there to catch some rays. They’re driving steel cylinders deep into the seabed to build America’s first large-scale offshore wind farms, a milestone decades in the making. Both projects are set to start sending electricity to the shore by the end of the year.
Public officials in New York and Massachusetts toasted the news last month when the first turbine foundations were installed. “The windmills that will power hundreds of thousands of homes are beginning to emerge from the water,” said Massachusetts House Speaker Ronald Mariano. Offshore wind is a crucial technology to decarbonize large coastal population centers, including cities like Boston and New York that probably wouldn’t be able to go green without it. So, its arrival is a major milestone in the nation’s energy transition.

But behind the scenes, the news about wind power is more sobering. Financially, the industry is teetering, with a parade of companies planning to renegotiate or pull out of contracts, jeopardizing plans for projects that were expected to provide electricity for millions of homes. Inflation is erasing profits, causing some of the largest energy firms in the world to back away. “Returns on offshore wind are becoming more and more challenged,” Shell CEO Wael Sawan told Barron’s last month, just days after a Shell joint venture said it would pull out of a power contract in Massachusetts. Shell won’t build renewable projects that can’t earn initial returns of 6% to 8%, he said.

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At least eight multinational companies in three states have quietly started to back out of wind contracts, or ask to renegotiate deals in ways that will pass more costs to consumers. Beyond Shell (ticker: SHEL), they include BP BP 0.44% (BP), Denmark’s Orsted ORSTED 0.07% (DNNGY), Norway’s Equinor EQNR 0.68% (EQNR), Spain’s Iberdrola (IBDRY), Portugal’s Energias de Portugal (EDPFY), and France’s Engie ENGIY -0.06% (ENGIY) and state-owned Electricite de France. The projects those companies are building will collectively cost tens of billions of dollars to construct and connect to the grid. The cost problems they’re facing make offshore wind a dicey investment proposition today, with the potential for substantial write-downs ahead.

America’s pledge to decarbonize is at risk, too. President Joe Biden announced a goal in 2021 to have 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power installed by 2030, enough to power roughly 10 million homes, up from essentially zero today. “We’re going to make sure that the ocean is open for the clean energy of our future,” Biden said last year.

The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment, but other Biden administration officials dispute Freshney’s prediction. “The Biden-Harris administration remains committed to pursuing a goal of 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030, and we remain on track to meet that goal,” wrote a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which handles offshore leases. Combining two projects that are now under way and 16 other plans that it’s currently considering, the BOEM says there are 27 gigawatts of offshore wind projects that are in the pipeline. Most are along the East Coast from Maine to Virginia, but the government has also leased parcels off California and is preparing lease offerings in the Gulf of Mexico.

Offshore wind’s arrival in America has been a long time coming. Outside the U.S., 64 gigawatts of offshore wind had been installed as of the end of last year, a number expected to double by the end of 2025. While Europe started building farms in the 1990s, the U.S. has been much slower to adopt the technology, and some efforts have failed. A project off the coast of Cape Cod, Mass., announced in 2001, ended up snarled in litigation after local residents complained about the turbines spoiling their views. It died quietly in 2017. Today, there are only two operating offshore wind farms in the U.S.—one off Rhode Island and one off Virginia—generating a combined 42 megawatts, less than 0.1% of global offshore wind capacity.

The problems with launching offshore wind projects in the U.S. go beyond obstructed views. For years, the cost of installing the turbines was too high compared with the power that those turbines produced. Europeans have been less sensitive to higher prices because they already pay a premium for electricity compared with American consumers, who benefit from abundant coal and natural-gas reserves.

A decade ago, the U.S. government estimated the cost of electricity from a new offshore wind farm at more than $200 per megawatt-hour, twice as expensive as coal, and three times more than advanced natural-gas-fired plants. Since then, offshore wind costs have fallen dramatically—more than half, by most measures. The U.S. is also giving tax credits to qualifying projects that can be worth as much as $26 per megawatt-hour, bringing offshore wind costs to around $75—about $15 cheaper than a new coal plant.

One reason wind costs have declined is that turbines themselves are much larger and more efficient than they used to be. Turbines that companies were installing a decade ago were half as tall and about a quarter as powerful as today, says Christian Skakkebæk, senior partner at Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, a renewable-energy fund manager that’s a half-owner of the Martha’s Vineyard project. That project’s turbines will rise 837 feet, almost three times as tall as the Statue of Liberty. And because the turbines will be 35 miles off the coast, they are barely visible from oceanfront property.

Those towering turbines point to the industry’s potential. Offshore wind can solve problems that other forms of renewable energy can’t. Land-based wind power is cheaper than offshore and already accounts for 10% of U.S. electricity production, but it isn’t feasible in many areas. Developers need to negotiate with private landowners for space and often face opposition because of visual impacts. The turbines can’t be nearly as tall and powerful as the ones in the water. Wind gusts off the coast are also much steadier than they are onshore.

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The East Coast is particularly appealing for offshore turbines. The water is shallow, and the ocean floor is sandy rather than rocky, allowing steel to be installed directly into the ground instead of having to rely on more-expensive floating platforms. The wind is consistently strong. “That combination of robust wind and shallow waters could make Massachusetts the Saudi Arabia of wind,” says Massachusetts State Rep. Jeff Roy, the chairman of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy.

Offshore wind isn’t going to be the main solution to decarbonizing the U.S. power grid, but it solves key problems that have kept high-population areas from going green, says Skakkebæk. New York, for instance, has said its electricity will be carbon-free by 2040. For now, natural-gas power plants account for nearly 60% of its generating capacity. The state is unlikely to reach its goal without offshore wind.

FT : Slowdown in US shale patch spreads to oil services industry

Slowdown in US shale patch spreads to oil services industry
Companies report hit to earnings as drilling decreases in America’s energy heartland

Oilfield services groups are feeling the squeeze from a slowdown in activity in the US shale patch as companies scale back on oil and gas drilling.

The world’s biggest oilfield services providers, responsible for the industry’s grunt work from drilling wells to building roads, reported a hit to North American revenues this week amid dwindling demand.

“During the second quarter, we saw reduced frack activity that resulted in increased white space in our calendar,” said Chris Wright, chief executive of Liberty Energy, on a call with analysts.

Wright added that Denver-based Liberty, one of the country’s biggest providers of the hydraulic fracturing equipment used to blast open shale rock, could cut its number of fracking fleets in the second half of the year “if our customers’ scheduled work reductions become larger”.

The slide in business for oilfield services providers — seen as a bellwether for the health of the oil and gas industry — is the latest sign of a deceleration in activity in America’s energy heartlands that stretch from west Texas to North Dakota.

The tally of rigs and frack crews in the field has fallen consistently since late last year. Equipment has been offloaded at fire-sale prices and a recent survey carried out by the Dallas Federal Reserve reported the weakest sentiment since the depths of the coronavirus pandemic.

Each of the three big international oilfield services groups — SLB, Baker Hughes and Halliburton — this week reported a slowdown in their North American business during the second quarter.

Halliburton, which is the most exposed of the three to the US onshore market, saw North American revenues contract by 2 per cent on the back of decreased fracking activity, despite a strong offshore market in the Gulf of Mexico.

“The environment in North America has levelled off and we’re hearing some of the customers requesting discounts, particularly in the more commoditised markets like pressure pumping,” said Lorenzo Simonelli, chief executive at Baker Hughes.

The slowdown comes as many of the exuberant private operators that drove a surge in drilling over the past two years have either been swallowed by larger rivals or run out of inventory. Publicly traded groups had already been holding back as Wall Street imposed a strict regime of capital discipline and demanded spare cash be returned to shareholders.

The problem has been compounded by weak commodity prices. Brent crude settled at just less than $80 a barrel on Friday, down more than a third since last year. US gas prices, meanwhile, have plunged from more than $6 per million British thermal units a year ago to less than $3.

“You had this double whammy of slower private operator growth coupled with weaker gas markets that finally drove the rig count lower,” said Jim Rollyson, an analyst at Raymond James.

Services groups are banking on rising international and offshore demand offsetting the shale patch decline. SLB, which does about 20 per cent of its business in North America after offloading the bulk of its US fracking business in 2020, said international momentum was gathering.

“SLB’s global reach shields us from regional fluctuation, as we have recently seen in North America,” Olivier Le Peuch, the chief executive of the company formerly known as Schlumberger, told analysts this week. “We believe that the lack of exposure to pressure pumping at scale . . . has allowed us to continue to progress or to buffer some other activity decline.”

Halliburton boss Jeff Miller said he expected demand to continue to weaken in the second half of the year, but that an anticipated uptick in gas prices should improve matters in 2024.

While US oil output is still rising, growth is expected to be just 200,000 barrels a day over the next 12 months, well below the expansion of 2mn b/d reached between 2018 and 2019.

With producers vowing to stick to their newfound discipline even if prices rise, there is little expectation that the country will return to being the juggernaut of growth it became during the peak of the shale revolution.

“If you still believe the global demand picture for oil is higher over the coming years and the US isn’t growing the way it used to . . . everywhere else has to fill that void,” said Rollyson at Raymond James.

>>> US Close

Closing Stock Market Summary

The stock market closed out another mixed session. There wasn't any concerted selling interest, but there wasn't a lot of buying interest either as market participants looked ahead to a busy earnings reporting schedule next week that will feature results from Alphabet (GOOG 120.31, +0.78, +0.7%) and Microsoft (MSFT 343.77, -3.10, -0.9%) on Tuesday and Meta Platforms (META 294.26, -8.26, -2.7%) on Wednesday. Also, there will be policy meetings for the Fed, the ECB, and the Bank of Japan. The economic calendar, in turn, will feature a number of key releases highlighted by the Adv. Q2 GDP report and the June Personal Income and Spending Report that will include the Fed's preferred inflation gauge in the form of the core-PCE Price Index.

Still, the broader market held up well today in spite of some relative weakness in the mega cap space. The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (MGK) fell 0.2% while the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP) eked out a 0.1% gain. The market-cap weighted S&P 500 closed flat. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished just above the unchanged mark, which was good enough for its tenth consecutive gain. 

Today's price action featured a broadening out of buying interest that led to non-tech and value stocks outperforming. The Russell 3000 Value Index rose 0.2% while the Russell 3000 Growth Index fell 0.2%.

Semiconductor stocks were another pocket of strength, bouncing back from losses yesterday. The PHLX Semiconductor Index rose 1.0%. 

Dow component American Express (AXP 170.22, -6.89, -3.9%), on the other hand, was a notable laggard, registering a decent loss following its earnings report, which featured lower than expected revenues and a notable increase in the provision for credit losses.

Roughly half of the S&P 500 sectors closed with a gain led by utilities (+1.5%), health care (+1.0%), and energy (+0.8%). The communication services (-0.5%) and industrials (-0.5%) sectors resided at the bottom of the pack along with the financials (-0.3%) and information technology (-0.3%) sectors.  

Market breadth also reflected mixed action. Advancers were roughly in line with decliners at the NYSE while decliners had an 11-to-10 lead over advancers at the Nasdaq. 

As a reminder, the Nasdaq 100 special rebalance goes into effect before Monday's open.

  • Nasdaq Composite: +34.1% YTD
  • S&P 500: +18.2% YTD
  • Russell 2000: +11.3% YTD
  • S&P Midcap 400: +11.3% YTD
  • Dow Jones Industrial Average: +6.3% YTD

As a reminder, the Nasdaq 100 special rebalance goes into effect before Monday's open. 

There was no U.S. economic data of note today.

Looking ahead to Monday, market participants will receive the following economic data:

  • 9:45 a.m. ET: July S&P Global US Manufacturing PMI - Prelim (prior 46.3) and S&P Global US Services PMI (prior 54.4)

>>> Weekly Market Update

Weekly Market Update: Soft landing optimism remains ahead of key central bank meetings next week

Trading opened this week with the disinflation narrative well entrenched, keeping hopes alive that the Fed will be able to successfully engineer the illusive soft landing with just one more rate hike. On Monday, Ford announced significant price cuts to the F-150 Lightning lineup, while July Empire manufacturing data saw its prices paid component fall to the lowest level since August of 2020. A significant number of earnings reports started to roll in, and for the most part bested expectations. Importantly, regional banks found a bid as managements described a challenging environment, but perhaps not as dire as many had expected coming out of the turmoil in late Q1. US retails sales data was mixed but offered little to suggest the US economy is heading towards a recession, echoing what was said on many earnings conference calls. Chinese data overall remained disappointing, keeping the specter of government stimulus front-and-center in many investors’ minds. UK inflation data came in well below expectations, sparking a bid for both the FTSE and GILTS, while terminal BOE rates expectations slipped lower.

Thursday saw US equity markets experiencing the first real turbulence in weeks. Much of it was laid at the feet of earnings from key global technology companies. Taiwan Semi’s numbers disappointed and the chip manufacturer was forced to lower expectations for the second time this year, citing the macroeconomic landscape, particularly in China. Shares of Netflix and Tesla sent the NASDAQ spiraling lower after what were generally viewed as strong quarterly results, but perhaps unable to surpass unreasonably high bars. US Treasury yields moved up after surprisingly large drop in weekly initial jobless claims and the US dollar continued a bounce off the recent lows. The Yen weakened on a BOJ report that said it will not tweak Yield Curve Control (YCC) at next week's policy meeting. Wheat futures trended higher as Russia declined to renew the Black Sea grain deal and ratcheted up tensions by suggesting that commercial vessels in the region could become valid military targets. For the week, the S&P gained 0.7%, the DJIA rose 2%, and the Nasdaq slipped 0.6%.

Corporate news remained focused on bank and high tech quarterly reports. Bank earnings maintained the trend of the larger institutions mostly doing well, while the regionals had a tougher time making their numbers in the post ‘turmoil’ quarter. Among the bigger firms, Goldman Sachs was a notable exception, missing its EPS line as investment banking deals dried up. Tesla beat earnings expectations on the back of its better than expected unit sales, but shares fell as the EV maker’s aggressive price cuts put a big dent in margins. Taiwan Semi cut its fiscal year guidance, citing weaker than expected demand for traditional servers (non-AI) as big tech firms focus on building their AI capacity. Taking advantage of the current AI hype, Microsoft announces a price increase for AI products, while Apple is said to be stepping up development of its large language model program ‘Ajax’. In a fresh sign that wage inflation is still a significant factor, the United Airlines pilots union reached an agreement that will see wages go up around 40% over the next few years. The deal was so rich that pilots at American Airlines demanded a renegotiation of their contract so that it would be competitive. In M&A news, the Microsoft/Activision deal inched closer to the goal line as the firms agreed to extend the closing date of the merger to give them time to woo US and UK regulators with new remedy proposals.


SAT 7/15
UAL Pilots union reaches agreement in principal, will receive up to 34.5-40.2% pay increases over next years; New labor contract deal estimated at ~$10B - press

SUN 7/16
(CN) CHINA CONDUCTS CNY103B IN 1-YEAR MEDIUM-TERM LENDING FACILITY (MLF) AT 2.65% V 2.65% PRIOR [CNY100B IN 1-YEAR MLF FUNDS ARE MATURING]
(CN) CHINA JUN RETAIL SALES Y/Y: 3.1% V 3.3%E

MON 7/17
TSM Reportedly may cut its FY23 Rev guidance to -10% y/y (prior low-to-mid-single digit decline y/y), citing weaker-than-expected demand for traditional servers (non-AI), high chip inventories and slow demand for non-Apple smartphones - Taiwanese press
(RU) RUSSIA GOVT SPOKESPERSON PESKOV: FOR NOW BLACK SEA GRAIN DEAL IS HALTED; TO RETURN IMMEDIATELY TO GRAIN DEAL ONCE RUSSIAN CONDITIONS ARE MET
(SA) SAUDI ENERGY MINISTRY: REITERATES TO EXTEND VOLUNTARY OIL PRODUCTION CUTS UNTIL END 2024 (in line with June 4th's announcement and Russia's pledge)
(TW) Taiwan’s ruling DPP party presidential candidate Lai plans to visit US as a part of his trip to Paraguay in Aug; China firmly opposes the visit - press
(US) JULY EMPIRE MANUFACTURING: +1.1 V -3.5E
3333.HK Reports delayed H1 FY22 (CNY) Net -48.8B* v +14.4B y/y, Rev 89.3B v 154.1B y/y (1st reported results since early 2021); shares to remain halted until further notice
(CN) US aims to propose China investments rules by end-August; Confirms the outbound investment curbs to be narrowly focused on AI, chips and quantum sectors - financial press

TUES 7/18
NOVN.CH Reports Q2 Core EPS $1.83 v $1.67e, Rev $13.6B v $13.2Be; Raises outlook; Initiates up to $15B share buyback to be completed by end-2025; Sandoz spinoff expected to occur in early Q4 2023
(UK) Kantar announces 12 week grocery market share and sales: UK grocery price inflation rose by 14.9% y/y in the four weeks to July 9th v 16.5% prior (4th consecutive fall)
EUR/USD Euro rises against US dollar for the 9th straight session (longest such streak since 2004)
(KR) South Korea Official Kim: Agreed with US to deploy nuclear-based assets in South Korea more regularly, including nuclear-armed submarine 'USS Kentucky' (first time since 1980s)
(EU) ECB’s Knot (hawk, Netherlands, FSB Chief): Reiterates need to hike in July; Hikes beyond July are possible but not guaranteed; Lot of data between now and Sept
BK Reports Q2 $1.38 adj v $1.22e, Rev $4.45B v $4.38Be
PNC Cuts FY23 outlook; Guides Q3 average loans 'down 1%' q/q, NII -4% to -3% q/q, Rev +1% q/q, Net charge-offs $200-250M v $194M q/q - earnings slides
BAC Reports Q2 $0.88 v $0.84e, Rev $25.2B v $25.0Be; Continue to see a healthy US economy that is growing at a slower pace; Notes highest H1 sales and trading revenue in over a decade
LMT Reports Q2 $6.73 v $6.43e, Rev $16.7B v $15.9Be; Raises FY23 guidance
SCHW Reports Q2 $0.75 v $0.72e, Rev $4.66B v $4.64Be; During June it observed a 'continued and substantial deceleration' in the daily pace of cash outflows v prior months
PLD Reports Q2 Core FFO $1.83 v $1.67e, Rev $2.45B v $1.66Be
(CA) CANADA JUN CPI M/M: 0.1% V 0.3%E; Y/Y: 2.8% V 3.0%E (annual pace back within BoC target range for 1st time in 26 months)
(US) JUN ADVANCE RETAIL SALES M/M: 0.2% V 0.5%E; RETAIL SALES (EX-AUTO) M/M: 0.2% V 0.3%E (3rd straight M/M increase)
(JP) Japan BOJ Gov Ueda: Reiterates stance that still some distance to sustainably achieve the 2% inflation target in Japan
(US) JULY NAHB HOUSING MARKET INDEX: 56 V 56E
MSFT Announces price increase for AI products, to charge businesses $30 per user per month for copilot
WCH.DE Cuts FY23 Rev €6.5-6.8B (prior: €7-7.5B), EBITDA €0.8-1.0B (prior: €1.1-1.4B); Expects weak demand to continue in H2 2023
WAL Reports Q2 $1.96 v $1.98e, Net Rev $669.3M v $659Me
AAL American Airlines pilots union says that the new United pilots' contract has put the American labor deal in jeopardy - press
RIO.AU Reports Q2 Pilbara iron ore shipments: 79.1Mt v 79.9Mt y/y; Pilbara iron ore production: 81.3Mt v 78.6Mt y/y
EL Provides information on cybersecurity incident; The incident has caused, and expected to continue to cause, disruption to parts of the Company’s business operations

WED 7/19
ASML.NL Reports Q2 Net €1.94B v €1.41B y/y, Rev €6.90B v €6.73Be; Raises FY23 outlook, guides Q3 Rev strong, but says customers are currently more cautious and shape of recovery still unclear
ASML.NL CEO: Upcoming US measures against China will Not have major impact on previous guidance - post earnings comments
(UK) JUN CPI M/M: 0.1% V 0.4%E; Y/Y: 7.9% V 8.2%E (slowest annual pace since Mar 2022 and smallest M/M rise since Jan 2023)
- CPI Core Y/Y: 6.9% v 7.1%e (moves off 31-yrs highs)

(EU) EURO ZONE JUN FINAL CPI Y/Y: 5.5% V 5.5%E; CPI CORE Y/Y: 5.5% V 5.4%E (confirms 1st acceleration in Core CPI pace in 3 months)
(US) Reportedly two US antitrust agencies DoJ and Federal Trade Commission proposed merger guidelines to signal a tougher stance against private equity and the technology sector, although no particular sector has been singled out - FT
USB Cuts FY23 Rev $28.0-29.0B v $28.7Be, Total Noninterest expense $17.0B (prior $28.5-30.5B, Total Noninterest expense $17.0-17.5B) - earnings slides
BKR Market softness in North America is expected to be more than offset by strength in international and offshore markets, particularly in the Middle East and Latin America - prepared remarks
GS Reports Q2 $3.08 v $3.25e, Rev $10.9B v $10.8Be
(US) JUN HOUSING STARTS: 1.434M V 1.480ME; BUILDING PERMITS: 1.440M V 1.500ME
ATVI *DISCLOSES UPDATE ON MICROSOFT DEAL; EXTEND DEADLINE TO CLOSE DEAL BY 3 MONTHS TO OCT 18TH; TERMINATION FEE TO INCREASE BY $500M ON AUG 29TH AND BY $1B ON SEPT 15TH TO $4.5B - FILING
ELV CFO: Expect commercial membership growth to re-accelerate in back-half of 2023 and into 2024; affirms FY23 MLR costs - earnings call
GS CEO: Equity capital markets and M&A dialog are picking up; Citing meaningful headwinds to business, we are going into a period of lower results - earnings call comments
(US) DOE CRUDE: -0.7M V -2ME; GASOLINE: -1.1M V -1ME; DISTILLATE: +0.1M V +0.5ME
(RU) Russia Defense Ministry: Will consider all ships traveling to Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea as potential carriers of military cargo, effective July 20th - Russian press
AAL Union Memo: CEO acknowledged that significant improvements must be made to the tentative contract agreement
(US) TREASURY $12B 20-YEAR BOND REOPENING DRAWS 4.036% v 4.010% prior, BID-TO-COVER 2.68 v 2.87 PRIOR AND 2.64 OVER LAST 8 REOPENINGS
TSLA Reports Q2 $0.91 v $0.83e, Rev $24.9B v $24.9Be; Affirms FY23 guidance; Margins decline y/y
ZION Reports Q2 $1.11 v $1.13e, Rev $790M v $757Me; Guides FY24 NII "stable to up slighly"
AA Reports Q2 adj -$0.35 v -$0.59e, Rev $2.68B v $2.63Be
DFS Reports Q2 $3.54 v $3.69e, Rev $3.75B v $3.87Be; Pauses share repurchases do to internal review of card product misclassification from mid-2007
TSLA CEO: Q3 production will decrease slightly; Plan to increase spending on AI; We are taking Nvidia hardware as fast as they can deliver it - earnings call comments
BHP.AU Reports Q4 Waio Iron Ore Production: 72.7Mt v 71.7Mt y/y, Attributable Iron Ore Production: 65.3Mt v 64.2Mt y/y
(CN) CHINA PBOC MONTHLY 1-YEAR AND 5-YEAR LOAN PRIME RATE (LPR) SETTING; LEAVES RATES UNCHANGED; AS EXPECTED
(CN) CHINA PBOC RAISES PARAMETER FOR CROSS-BORDER FUNDING RATIO FROM 1.25 TO 1.5
(AU) AUSTRALIA JUN EMPLOYMENT CHANGE: +32.6K V +15.0KE; UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 3.5% V 3.6%E

THRS 7/20
2330.TW *CUTS FY23 REV -10% Y/Y IN USD TERMS (PRIOR TO DECLINE BY MID-SINGLE-DIGITS IN USD TERMS) [as speculated]
ABBN.CH Reports Q2 Net $906M v $873Me, Rev $8.16B v $8.13Be
VOLCARB.SE Reports Q2 (SEK) 1.12 v 3.00 y/y, EBIT 5.0B v 5.86Be, Rev 102.2B v 97.9Be; Sees supply and demand continue to normalise in the wider market
2330.TW Reports Q2 (NT$) Net 181.8B v 173.6Be, Rev 480.8B v 534.1B y/y; Q2 Rev from high-performance computing -5% q/q; Delays US Arizona N4 production by 1yr to 2025; Posts its 1st quarterly Net drop since 2019
AMD CEO: AI will be everywhere in 5 years; AI products market may hit $150B in 3-5 years; AMD prioritizes AI as a top area of its investment - Taiwanese press
ELUXB.SE Reports Q2 (SEK) adj Op -124M v +912Me, Rev 32.7B v 34.1Be; Guides Q3 net rev to turn negative; Expect market demand for FY23 to be negative for all regions, revise outlook for Asia-Pacific to negative from neutral
2330.TW *GUIDES Q3 REV $16.7-17.5B V $19.1BE, GROSS MARGIN 51.5-53.5% V 53.6%E, OP MARGIN 38-40% V 41.3%E
J Selected by Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation U.K. to support design and development of a new micro modular power reactor (MMR)
(CN) China Commerce Ministry (MOFCOM) holds meeting with Ukraine deputy economy minister; China willing to develop trade and economic cooperation with Ukraine - press
(TW) Taiwan Jun Export Orders Y/Y: -24.9% v -20.3%e (10th straight decline); Sees July orders between -20.7% to -17.1% y/y; Expects orders pick up in H2 on AI demand
(US) "FedNow" transaction network for instant payments, which has been in the works since 2019, set to go live as soon as today, July 20th
JNJ Reports Q2 $2.80 v $2.61e, Rev $25.5B v $24.7Be; Raises FY23 guidance
DHI Reports Q3 $3.90 v $2.81e, Rev $9.73B v $8.33Be; Raises FY23 outlook sharply
FITB Guides Q3 NII down 2-3% q/q; Affirms FY23 NII +3-5% y/y (prior +3-5%) - slides
KEY Guides Q3 NII -6% to -4% q/q; Deposits relatively stable q/q, Loans -3% to -1% q/q, Net charge-offs to average loans 20-25bps - earnings slides
TRV Reports Q2 $0.06** v $2.27e, Rev $10.1B v $10.1Be; Raises Quarterly dividend 7.5%
AAL CEO: We will take care of our pilots; We will match industry wages - CNBC
(US) Redfin: For four weeks ending July 16 home prices posted their biggest increase in over seven months
(US) JULY PHILADELPHIA FED BUSINESS OUTLOOK: -13.5 V -10.0E
SZG.DE Reports H1 Net €243M v €971M y/y, Rev €5.8B v €6.6B y/y
(US) JUN EXISTING HOME SALES: 4.16M V 4.21ME
(US) JUN LEADING INDEX: -0.7% V -0.6%E
SAP.DE Reports Q2 €0.62 (cont ops) v €0.54 y/y, Rev €7.55B v €7.46Be
(RU) Russian Ambassador to US: Not preparing to attack civilian ships in Black Sea despite US claims - Russian press
(US) US Central Command: US to deploy a Marine unit following Iran ship seizure attempts
(JP) JAPAN JUN NATIONAL CPI Y/Y: 3.3% V 3.2%E; CPI EX-FRESH FOOD (CORE) Y/Y: 3.3% V 3.3%E
(CN) Reportedly Ambassador Burns, other officials were hacked in China-linked spying operation - press
ISRG Raises FY23 procedure growth +20-22% y/y (prior: 18-21%), Saw a slower US growth rate in bariatric surgery during Q2 amid patient interest in new weight-loss drugs - earnings call
(US) US Central Command: US to deploy a Marine unit following Iran ship seizure attempts
(JP) JAPAN JUN NATIONAL CPI Y/Y: 3.3% V 3.2%E; CPI EX-FRESH FOOD (CORE) Y/Y: 3.3% V 3.3%E
(CN) China State Planner (NDRC): Issues measures to boost consumption of electronic products and automobiles - China press

FRI 7/21
(UK) JUN PUBLIC FINANCES (PSNCR): £12.0B V £3.7B PRIOR; PSNB (EX-BANKING GROUPS): £18.5B V £22.0BE
(US) Note: On Mon, July 24th, for 2nd time in 12 years and 3rd time in its history, NASDAQ 100 index to conduct a special rebalance
(JP) BANK OF JAPAN (BOJ) SAID TO SEE LITTLE NEED TO ACT ON YCC (YIELD CURVE CONTROL) NOW AND PREFERS TO WAIT FOR MORE DATA; LIKELY TO DISCUSS YCC CHANGE EVEN IF NO TWEAK AT JULY 28TH'S RATE DECISION - PRESS
SCHN.CH CEO: I think it is reasonable to say we expect more decline in volume in 2024 in China - post earnings comments
(US) Biden-Harris Administration secures voluntary commitments from leading Artificial Intelligence companies to manage the risks posed by AI; Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, Google, others pledge to watermark AI content for safety - White House
(CN) China Commerce Ministry (MOFCOM): Plans to relax rules for foreign firms to invest in asset management companies (AMCs) after it exchanged views on data flow and export rules at roundtable - press
(JP) JAPAN TOP FX DIPLOMAT KANDA: REITERATES EXCESSIVE FX MOVES ARE UNDESIRABLE; CONSIDERING ALL OPTIONS
(CN) China Pres Xi: Urging China military to strengthen party leadership; Reiterates call to focus on boosting combat readiness and capabilities to fight
CMA Reports Q2 $2.01 v $1.89e, NII $621M v $618Me; Consumer deposits continued to stabilize after March
AXP Affirms targets for FY24+ Rev growth >10%, EPS growth "mid-teens"; Reports Q2 Master Trust: Net Write Off Rate: 1.8% v 1.6% q/q - earnings slides
UPS Teamsters union confirms labor contract talks with UPS to resume July 25th
(US) Weekly Baker Hughes Rig Count: 669 v 675 prior (-0.9% w/w)
DIS Reportedly ESPN has held discussions with the NBA and NFL as potential strategic partners – CNBC
SPOT Reportedly plans price increases for premium plan in the US, as part of effort to be more consistently profitable - press

The Verge : People are getting fed up with all the useless tech in their car

People are getting fed up with all the useless tech in their cars / For the first time in 28 years of JD Power’s car owner survey, there is a consecutive year-over-year decline in satisfaction, with most of the ire directed toward in-car infotainment.

If you’ve ever let out a string of curses while fumbling to control your car’s air conditioning because it’s buried under several menus in a dang touchscreen, you’re not alone. At a time when car companies are racing to outdo each other by slathering more and more tech onto their products, people are getting increasingly fed up with their car infotainment systems.

According to JD Power’s Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study, overall satisfaction among car owners is 845 (on a 1,000-point scale), a decrease of two points from a year ago and three points lower than in 2021. That’s the first time in the 28-year history of the study that the consumer research firm registered a consecutive year-over-year decline in owner satisfaction.

Unsurprisingly, more people are choosing not to use their car’s native infotainment controls. Only 56 percent of owners prefer to use their vehicle’s built-in system to play audio, down from 70 percent in 2020, JD Power found. Less than half of owners said they like using their car’s native controls for navigation, voice recognition, or to make phone calls.

Naturally, it seems like most people are preferring to use smartphone-mirroring systems like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which have proven to be incredibly popular over the years. And indeed, there have been other surveys that indicate people prefer interacting with the apps on their phone than whatever cockamamie bullshit was cooked up by the company that made their car.

But it seems like people are warming up to native operating systems, as long as they’re developed by Google and not the automaker. JD Power found that models that have Android Automotive with Google Automotive’s operating system, AAOS, “score higher in the infotainment category than those with no AAOS whatsoever.”

But here’s where things get kind of weird: AAOS without Google Automotive Services (GAS) receives the lowest scores for infotainment of the three categories. Google Automotive Services refers to all the apps and services that come with the car when Google is built into the car — also known as “Google built-in.” Ford, GM, and Volvo have all said they will use GAS for their current and upcoming vehicles. Meanwhile, some Stellantis vehicles use Android Automotive but partner with other tech companies for their app services, like Amazon.

That’s surely music to GM’s ears, which recently made the controversial decision to block access to CarPlay and Android Auto in its future EV lineup in favor of a native Google infotainment system. If people are telling JD Power they like cars with GAS, or Google built-in, that could work in GM’s favor, depending on how they choose to move forward.

Moving outside the car for a moment, respondents to JD Power’s survey are having some serious trouble with exteriors. It is the factor with the largest year-over-year decline, decreasing to 888 from 894. Satisfaction with exterior styling on new models in 2023 is particularly unremarkable, scoring only three points above carryover models. Frankly, I get it: a lot of cars look weird and bad. Bring back the Dodge Stealth. And no, not like that.

In terms of powertrain, electric vehicles are closing the gap with gas-powered models. The top three models in the compact SUV segment, according to JD Power, are all battery-electric: the Kia EV6 and Nissan Ariya are tied for first place, with the Mustang Mach-E coming in second. And BMW’s iX and i4 models both ranked highly in their respective categories.

Tesla continues to rank above average, but satisfaction is declining. The company earned a score of 878, making it one of the higher-performing brands in the industry. However, Tesla’s score in 2023 is nine points lower than a year ago, when the company was first included in the study. And satisfaction scores for Tesla are trending downward year over year in all 10 factors. The company isn’t eligible for JD Power’s award ranking because it doesn’t give JD Power access to owner information in the states where that permission is required by law.

That said, Tesla has not fared as well in past JD Power surveys in terms of initial quality. Here’s the methodology from JD Power for the survey:

The 2023 U.S. APEAL Study is based on responses from 84,555 owners of new 2023 model-year vehicles who were surveyed after 90 days of ownership. The study was fielded from February through May 2023, based on vehicles registered from November 2022 through February 2023.

FT : Lars Windhorst hit with €150mn freezing order

Lars Windhorst hit with €150mn freezing order
German financier is trying to fend off litigation from a number of aggrieved creditors

Lars Windhorst has been hit with a €150mn freezing order by London’s High Court, raising the legal jeopardy facing the German financier who is trying to fend off litigation from a number of aggrieved creditors. 

A High Court judge made a “freezing injunction” against Windhorst this week after an application by Norwegian shipping magnate Kristian Siem and his companies, which are involved in long-running litigation against the financier over amounts related to a series of bond transactions they claim Windhorst has failed to pay. 

The court order states that Windhorst “must not” remove assets from England and Wales “up to the value of €150mn” or “in any way dispose of, deal with or diminish the value of any of his assets whether they are in or outside England and Wales up to the same value”.

It also states that if Windhorst disobeys the order he “may be held to be in contempt of court and may be imprisoned, fined or have . . . assets seized”. The document states that there will be a “further hearing in respect of this order” later this month. 

A spokesman for Windhorst and his Tennor Group of companies said: “This has no effect or consequences on the businesses of our group which in most areas continue to perform strongly, and we remain committed and very confident to repay all our creditors in the coming months as a result of that”.

Representatives of Siem did not respond to a request for comment. 

A judge last month found Windhorst in contempt of court for failing to appear at a previous enforcement hearing in a separate case brought by investment firms linked to Monaco-based cruise magnate Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio. The judge acknowledged, however, that the financier had provided a “sincere” apology to the court. 

Windhorst last week testified under oath in the High Court about his assets and financial arrangements, in a hearing on the Lefebvre d’Ovidio case.

During this hearing, Windhorst said it was “complicated” to give an estimate of his net worth and “difficult” to answer whether he was “balance sheet solvent”, denying that he was living a “billionaire lifestyle” while large debts to creditors remain outstanding.

Several of the assets that Windhorst discussed during that hearing are listed in the freezing order Siem obtained this week, including a mansion in Beverly Hills, a small yacht purchased for €2.2mn and a watch collection valued at €600,000.

Legal representatives of Siem’s business were present in the courtroom for last week observing proceedings.

In a previous hearing in Siem’s case last year, a judge warned Windhorst’s lawyer that he risked contempt of court in that case too and remarked that the financier was “living on borrowed time”.

Windhorst’s largest known creditor — H2O Asset Management — has not taken legal action against him, instead negotiating a series of repayment plans over debts in excess of €1bn. 

Windhorst told the court last week that he had provided a “personal guarantee” to H2O Asset Management for an “initial nominal amount” of liabilities of around €2.5bn.