Wells Fargo hikes S&P 500 target as U.S. tariffs get delayed again
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fast Company
a few seconds ago
- Fast Company
U.S. Steel plant explosion raises questions about its future
The fatal explosion last week at U.S. Steel's Pittsburgh-area coal-processing plant has revived debate about its future just as the iconic American company was emerging from a long period of uncertainty. The fortunes of steelmaking in the U.S. — along with profits, share prices and steel prices — have been buoyed by years of friendly administrations in Washington that slapped tariffs on foreign imports and bolstered the industry's anti-competitive trade cases against China. Most recently, President Donald Trump 's administration postponed new hazardous air pollution requirements for the nation's roughly dozen coke plants, like Clairton, and he approved U.S. Steel's nearly $15 billion acquisition by Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel. Nippon Steel's promised infusion of cash has brought vows that steelmaking will continue in the Mon Valley, a river valley south of Pittsburgh long synonymous with steelmaking. 'We're investing money here. And we wouldn't have done the deal with Nippon Steel if we weren't absolutely sure that we were going to have an enduring future here in the Mon Valley,' David Burritt, U.S. Steel's CEO, told a news conference the day after the explosion. 'You can count on this facility to be around for a long, long time.' Will the explosion change anything? The explosion killed two workers and hospitalized 10 with a blast so powerful that it took hours to find two missing workers beneath charred wreckage and rubble. The cause is under investigation. The plant is considered the largest coking operation in North America and, along with a blast furnace and finishing mill up the Monongahela River, is one of a handful of integrated steelmaking operations left in the U.S. The explosion now could test Nippon Steel's resolve in propping up the nearly 110-year-old Clairton plant, or at least force it to spend more than it had anticipated. Nippon Steel didn't respond to a question as to whether the explosion will change its approach to the plant. Rather, a spokesperson for the company said its 'commitment to the Mon Valley remains strong' and that it sent 'technical experts to work with the local teams in the Clairton Plant, and to provide our full support.' Meanwhile, Burritt said he had talked to top Nippon Steel officials after the explosion and that 'this facility and the Mon Valley are here to stay.' U.S. Steel officials maintain that safety is their top priority and that they spend $100 million a year on environmental compliance at Clairton alone. However, repairing Clairton could be expensive, an investigation into the explosion could turn up more problems, and an official from the United Steelworkers union said it's a constant struggle to get U.S. Steel to invest in its plants. Besides that, production at the facility could be affected for some time. The plant has six batteries of ovens and two — where the explosion occurred — were damaged. Two others are on a reduced production schedule because of the explosion. There is no timeline to get the damaged batteries running again, U.S. Steel said. Accidents are nothing new at Clairton Accidents are nothing new at Clairton, which heats coal to high temperatures to make coke, a key component in steelmaking, and produces combustible gases as byproducts. An explosion in February injured two workers. Even as Nippon Steel was closing the deal in June, a breakdown at the plant dealt three days of a rotten egg odor into the air around it from elevated hydrogen sulfide emissions, the environmental group GASP reported. The Breathe Project, a public health organization, said U.S. Steel has been forced to pay $57 million in fines and settlements since Jan. 1, 2020, for problems at the Clairton plant. A lawsuit over a Christmas Eve fire at the Clairton plant in 2018 that saturated the area's air for weeks with sulfur dioxide produced a withering assessment of conditions there. An engineer for the environmental groups that sued wrote that he 'found no indication that U.S. Steel has an effective, comprehensive maintenance program for the Clairton plant.' The Clairton plant, he wrote, is 'inherently dangerous because of the combination of its deficient maintenance and its defective design.' U.S. Steel settled, agreeing to spend millions on upgrades. Matthew Mehalik, executive director of the Breathe Project, said U.S. Steel has shown more willingness to spend money on fines, lobbying the government and buying back shares to reward shareholders than making its plants safe. Will Clairton be modernized? It's not clear whether Nippon Steel will change Clairton. Central to Trump's approval of the acquisition was Nippon Steel's promises to invest $11 billion into U.S. Steel's aging plants and to give the federal government a say in decisions involving domestic steel production, including plant closings. But much of the $2.2 billion that Nippon Steel has earmarked for the Mon Valley plants is expected to go toward upgrading the finishing mill, or building a new one. For years before the acquisition, U.S. Steel had signaled that the Mon Valley was on the chopping block. That left workers there uncertain whether they'd have jobs in a couple years and whispering that U.S. Steel couldn't fill openings because nobody believed the jobs would exist much longer. Relics of steelmaking's past In many ways, U.S. Steel's Mon Valley plants are relics of steelmaking's past. In the early 1970s, U.S. steel production led the world and was at an all-time high, thanks to 62 coke plants that fed 141 blast furnaces. Nobody in the U.S. has opened a new blast furnace in decades, as foreign competition devastated the American steel industry and coal fell out of favor. Now, China is dominant in steel and heavily invested in coal-based steelmaking. In the U.S., there are barely a dozen coke plants and blast furnaces left, as the country's steelmaking has shifted to cheaper electric arc furnaces that use electricity, not coal. Blast furnaces won't entirely go away, analysts say, since they produce metals that are preferred by automakers, appliance makers and oil and gas exploration firms. Still, Christopher Briem, an economist at the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Social and Urban Research, questioned whether the Clairton plant really will survive much longer, given its age and condition. It could be particularly vulnerable if the economy slides into recession or the fundamentals of the American steel market shift, he said.
Newsweek
a minute ago
- Newsweek
Trump Bill Student Loan Changes Spur New College-Goers to Reconsider Plans
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Since President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law on July 4, new federal loan limits are set to go into effect. The law also issued the elimination of certain repayment options and removal of Grad PLUS loans, prompting many college students to rethink whether and how they would finish their degrees, according to a new U.S. News survey. Why It Matters The One Big Beautiful Bill Act set new annual and lifetime borrowing limits for graduate and professional students that take effect for new loans beginning July 1 next year. The law also reduces the number of available federal repayment plans for some borrowers, creating immediate uncertainty for those planning graduate or professional degrees. Due to the changes, millions of current and prospective students might face higher out-of-pocket costs or reduced repayment flexibility, and experts say those shifts could alter enrollment, degree choices and reliance on private credit for education financing. Harvard graduates listen attentively to speakers during the commencement ceremony in Harvard Yard on May 29, 2025, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard graduates listen attentively to speakers during the commencement ceremony in Harvard Yard on May 29, 2025, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Libby O'Neill/Getty Images What To Know The U.S. News survey of 1,190 college students found 61 percent of students said they would be personally impacted by the law, and 35 percent said they were considering cutting back on schooling. Roughly 32 percent were considering pursuing a different degree, and 38 percent said they were considering using private student loans to fill funding gaps. "On social media, a lot of students feel like they've been sold a lie. Just a few years ago, coding was pitched as the next big career track. Now, many coders are already being replaced by AI, ironically by the very technology they built," Kevin Thompson, the CEO of 9i Capital Group and the host of the 9innings podcast, told Newsweek. "That's created real fear about pouring money and years into degrees that may not hold value." The survey also reported that student stress about paying for college increased after the law, with the share saying they felt "extremely" stressed rising from 24 percent to 31 percent. The majority of college students also said they don't support any of the law's changes, at 51 percent. The changes that gained the highest approvals were the borrowing caps or the elimination of certain income-driven repayment plans, at just around 20 percent. The exact ways college students will be impacted by the GOP law vary. In addition to around a third choosing to cut back on schooling or pursue a different degree, another 31 percent said they would consider going abroad to finish school, while 26 percent were thinking about joining the military to help pay for their college. "The American Dream has always been the freedom and opportunity to attain a better life, and there is no better path up the socioeconomic ladder than higher education," Drew Powers, the founder of Illinois-based Powers Financial Group, told Newsweek. "This law hurts student loan borrowers, which disproportionately hurts middle- and lower-income families, the same groups who need it the most." The One Big Beautiful Bill Act introduced various changes to the federal student loan borrower system, including annual and lifetime caps on federal borrowing for graduate and professional students and the elimination of the Grad PLUS program for future borrowers. The caps would limit graduate borrowing to $20,500 per year with a $100,000 lifetime cap, and professional programs such as medical or law school would face annual caps of $50,000 and a $200,000 lifetime cap for loans taken after July 1, 2026. "That means lower-income students will likely be priced out or pushed toward private loans that carry higher interest rates. Over time, that could widen the gap in access—especially for minorities trying to enter fields like medicine," Thompson said. "The government's hope is that by removing subsidies, tuition costs will eventually fall. But whether that actually happens remains to be seen." Newsweek reached out to the Department of Education for comment via email. What People Are Saying Drew Powers, the founder of Illinois-based Powers Financial Group, told Newsweek: "This law essentially forces student and parent borrowers out of the federal student loan system and into the laps of the banks, which have proven time and again they are not going to be friendly to borrowers. The mere existence of federal loans forced the banks to offer more competitive interest rates in return for the lack of protections on the federal loan side. Once borrowers have maxed out their federal loans under the new law, the banks will not have any incentive to offer any friendly terms." Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin, told Newsweek: "The changes coming to student loan distribution and repayment are significant, with the pathway to less expensive monthly payments and loan forgiveness becoming a more difficult one, if not impossible for students who are already in certain income brackets. "Changes to loan distribution in 2026 could also make it more challenging to secure federally backed student loans for certain majors that fail to meet the new percentage income standards if those rules are strictly enforced. Combine all those new additions with currently high interest rates on new loans, and it's easy to see why students are cautious on their academic road ahead." What Happens Next The wide range of changes enacted by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act could mean falling enrollment at universities as more students opt for community colleges, Thompson said. "If tuition at four-year schools doesn't drop, demand for community colleges may push their prices up too," Thompson said. "If that shift plays out, the result could be a wider gap in white-collar careers, with lower-income students getting pushed more toward trades."
CNBC
a minute ago
- CNBC
CVS shares are breaking out to the upside after a 3-year bear market cycle, according to the charts
CVS Health (CVS) has a bullish turnaround underway after a three-year bear market cycle culminated in a shakeout of "weak" holders in December. Shakeouts are usually associated with investor capitulation, leaving major lows in their wake. Long-term momentum shifted meaningfully behind CVS in March, when the monthly MACD confirmed its first "buy" signal since September 2019. The turnaround phase comes within the context of a secular trading range that has had a hold since 2015. [Chart: CVS Health Corp. (CVS): Weekly Bar Chart + Cloud Model + Relative Strength vs. SPX] CVS broke out above resistance from the weekly cloud model (shaded area on the chart) in June, which confirmed that the cyclical downtrend had been reversed in a long-term bullish development. A higher low has been established relative to December, near the 200-day moving average (MA), giving the chart the look of a bullish inverse head and shoulders pattern. Looking at CVS relative to the broader market, the ratio versus the S & P 500 Index (SPX) also appears to be turning the corner per the flattening 40-week moving average, supporting outperformance in the months ahead. This is a departure from the stock's persistent underperformance in 2023 and 2024. Today, CVS is above a 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level resistance near $69 that defines the top of an intermediate-term trading range. A breakout would be confirmed with two consecutive weekly closes above that level and would likely result in acceleration in positive short-term momentum. Should CVS lift out of its trading range, as we expect, the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level near $85 would look achievable over the next several months. Support is well-defined by the 200-day MA, currently rising on the chart near $61. —Katie Stockton with Will Tamplin Access research from Fairlead Strategies for free here . DISCLOSURES: None. All opinions expressed by the CNBC Pro contributors are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, NBC UNIVERSAL, their parent company or affiliates, and may have been previously disseminated by them on television, radio, internet or another medium. THE ABOVE CONTENT IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY . THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSITUTE FINANCIAL, INVESTMENT, TAX OR LEGAL ADVICE OR A RECOMMENDATION TO BUY ANY SECURITY OR OTHER FINANCIAL ASSET. THE CONTENT IS GENERAL IN NATURE AND DOES NOT REFLECT ANY INDIVIDUAL'S UNIQUE PERSONAL CIRCUMSTANCES. THE ABOVE CONTENT MIGHT NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUR PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES. BEFORE MAKING ANY FINANCIAL DECISIONS, YOU SHOULD STRONGLY CONSIDER SEEKING ADVICE FROM YOUR OWN FINANCIAL OR INVESTMENT ADVISOR. Click here for the full disclaimer. Fairlead Strategies Disclaimer: This communication has been prepared by Fairlead Strategies LLC ("Fairlead Strategies") for informational purposes only. This material is for illustration and discussion purposes and not intended to be, nor construed as, financial, legal, tax or investment advice. You should consult appropriate advisors concerning such matters. This material presents information through the date indicated, reflecting the author's current expectations, and is subject to revision by the author, though the author is under no obligation to do so. This material may contain commentary on broad-based indices, market conditions, different types of securities, and cryptocurrencies, using the discipline of technical analysis, which evaluates the demand and supply based on market pricing. The views expressed herein are solely those of the author. This material should not be construed as a recommendation, or advice or an offer or solicitation with respect to the purchase or sale of any investment. The information is not intended to provide a basis on which you could make an investment decision on any particular security or its issuer. This document is intended for CNBC Pro subscribers only and is not for distribution to the general public. Certain information has been provided by and/or is based on third party sources and, although such information is believed to be reliable, no representation is made with respect to the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of such information. This information may be subject to change without notice. Fairlead Strategies undertakes no obligation to maintain or update this material based on subsequent information and events or to provide you with any additional or supplemental information or any update to or correction of the information contained herein. Fairlead Strategies, its officers, employees, affiliates and partners shall not be liable to any person in any way whatsoever for any losses, costs, or claims for your reliance on this material. Nothing herein is, or shall be relied on as, a promise or representation as to future performance. PAST PERFORMANCE IS NOT INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RESULTS. Opinions expressed in this material may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed, or actions taken, by Fairlead Strategies or its affiliates, or their respective officers, directors, or employees. In addition, any opinions and assumptions expressed herein are made as of the date of this communication and are subject to change and/or withdrawal without notice. Fairlead Strategies or its affiliates may have positions in financial instruments mentioned, may have acquired such positions at prices no longer available, and may have interests different from or adverse to your interests or inconsistent with the advice herein. Any investments made are made under the same terms as nonaffiliated investors and do not constitute a controlling interest. No liability is accepted by Fairlead Strategies, its officers, employees, affiliates, or partners for any losses that may arise from any use of the information contained herein. Any financial instruments mentioned herein are speculative in nature and may involve risk to principal and interest. Any prices or levels shown are either historical or purely indicative. This material does not take into account the particular investment objectives or financial circumstances, objectives or needs of any specific investor, and are not intended as recommendations of particular securities, investment products, or other financial products or strategies to particular clients. Securities, investment products, other financial products or strategies discussed herein may not be suitable for all investors. The recipient of this information must make its own independent decisions regarding any securities, investment products or other financial products mentioned herein. The material should not be provided to any person in a jurisdiction where its provision or use would be contrary to local laws, rules, or regulations. This material is not to be reproduced or redistributed absent the written consent of Fairlead Strategies.
