1. — Stocks Rise Modestly, Nasdaq Sets Record Close
U.S. stock futures were rising modestly on Tuesday, June 5, while traders continued to snap up tech stocks following a record closing high for the Nasdaq.
Contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 28 points, futures for the S&P 500 gained 3 points and Nasdaq futures were up 14.75 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed Monday, June 4, at a record high of 7,606.46, surpassing its previous all-time closing high of 7,588 set on March 12.
Stocks in Europe and Asia traded mostly to the upside, with investors maintaining a relatively cautious stance ahead of this weekend’s G-7 summit in Quebec City that could mark a key development in global trade talks.
The U.S. economic calendar on Tuesday includes includes the ISM Non-Manufacturing Index for May at 10 a.m. ET and the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey for April at 10 a.m.
Navistar International Corp. (NAV) rose 7.8% in premarket trading on Tuesday after swinging to a profit in its fiscal second quarter and after lifting guidance for the fiscal year.
2. — Apple Sets Itself Apart
Apple Inc. (AAPL) made it clear during its developer conference on Monday that it is no Facebook Inc. (FB) or Alphabet Inc.’s (GOOGL) Google, wrote TheStreet’s Francesca Fontana.
Apple announced its latest mobile operating system update, iOS 12, during its Worldwide Developer Conference on Monday, revealing upgrades to security, privacy and digital health services that seemed to target some of its biggest competitors.
“Today it was more clear than ever that they really wanted to draw a hard line between where they stand vs. where Google and Facebook stand,” said Loup Ventures analyst Gene Munster.
Apple also unveiled its new macOS Mojave, for instance, and revealed greater protections on apps and tools that use personal data. The company also unveiled an enhancement to Safari that prevents data companies from tracking users through social media plugins and comment fields, which happens to be a way that sites such as Facebook use to collect data on users when they’re not on their platforms.
The new features Apple announced also build and improve upon iOS 11.4’s existing capabilities such as augmented reality and Siri’s voice commands, and center around improving the user experience.
3. — Elon Musk Faces Investor Challenges at Tesla Meeting
Amid pressure from CtW Investment Group, Tesla Inc. (TSLA) shareholders will vote Tuesday on whether to boot Elon Musk as chairman and wave goodbye to three directors.
Working against Musk is a struggling stock price, ongoing Model 3 production woes and a month’s long tweet-storm that has called into question Musk’s ability to lead.
Former hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson got caught on the wrong side of the trade in shorting Tesla a few years ago and he warned in an interview with TheStreet that the time for Tesla’s stock to take a tumble is fast-approaching.
Tilson said Tesla will need to raise a lot of capital, and access to that capital may be in short supply.
“My gut instinct is that after the last conference call, Musk’s increasingly erratic behavior has shaken the confidence of analysts at big firms like Fidelity that sort of make the recommendation to put more capital into Tesla,” Tilson said. “It’s now a career risk for people like that to be recommending Tesla, which means they could have trouble accessing capital. And they are going to need to access a lot of capital at the rate they are burning it.”
Watch what former hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson had to say about Tesla.
4. — Howard Schultz Is Leaving Starbucks
Howard Schultz is stepping down as executive chairman of Starbucks Corp. ( SBUX) and in an interview with The New York Times said he was considering a run for president.
Schultz, who has been with the company for about 36 years, will be given the honorary title of chairman emeritus. He is being succeeded by Myron Ullman, Starbucks’ lead independent director and a former chairman and CEO of J.C. Penney Corp.
Schultz stepped down as CEO of Starbucks in April 2017. His last day with the company will be June 26.
As for running for president – he has been rumored before as a potential Democratic candidate – Schultz told the Times: “I want to be truthful with you without creating more speculative headlines. For some time now, I have been deeply concerned about our country – the growing division at home and our standing in the world.”
5. — Twitter Spikes After Being Added to S&P 500
Twitter Inc. (TWTR) shares rose 4.1% in premarket trading on Tuesday after index provider S&P Dow Jones Indices said the social media group would be added to the benchmark S&P 500 later this week.
Twitter will replace Monsanto Co. (MON) in the index after the company’s $63.5 billion merger with German chemicals group Bayer AG closes on Thursday, June 7.
Twitter Shares Spike as Investors Prep for S&P 500 Debut
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