Morning Brief: Top Financial Stories Dominating on Friday, June 3

CNBC

New York Passes Bill To Ban Certain Bitcoin Mining Operations To Preserve Environmental Impact

Friday early morning, New York lawmakers passed legislation banning certain bitcoin mining firms from using carbon-based energy sources. The bill now goes to Governor Kathy Hochul’s desk, where she will either sign it or veto it.
If signed, it would make New York the first state in the country to ban blockchain technology infrastructure, according to Perianne Boring, founder and president of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, reported CNBC.
According to industry insiders, it might have a domino effect across the United States, which is currently at the forefront of the global bitcoin mining sector, accounting for 38% of the world’s miners.

Reuters

Elon Musk Wants To Slash 10% Tesla Jobs, Freeze Hiring Worldwide Due To ‘Super Bad Feeling:’ Report

After sternly asking employees to come back to the office and ditch remote work, Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk has reportedly warned of job cuts at the electric vehicle company.
Musk wrote an email titled “pause all hiring worldwide” to Tesla executives on Thursday, wherein he suggested he has a “super bad feeling” about the economy and wants to cut 10% of jobs at Tesla, Reuters reported, citing an internal email.
This would equate to about 10,000 personnel, given the company employed about 100,000 people at the end of 2021, according to its 10-K filing.

Diagnostic Companies Focus On Monkeypox Tests Following Outbreak; Experts Do Not Count It As Next COVID Yet

Diagnostic companies aggressively developed tests for monkeypox as governments struggle to trace the world’s first major viral infection outbreak beyond Africa, Reuters reports.
However, the demand for monkeypox tests will be a fraction compared to COVID as monkeypox is neither as contagious nor as fatal as COVID, which contributed to a multibillion-dollar boon for test makers.
Analysts did not expect the new outbreak to make up for the anticipated slowing of COVID diagnostic sales.

Panasonic Disclosed Finalizing US Site For Tesla’s New Battery Plant

Panasonic Holdings Corp (OTC: PCRFY) was finalizing its decision regarding the U.S. site for its new battery plant, Reuters reports citing Panasonic Energy CEO Kazuo Tadanobu at a round table event.
The Tesla, Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) battery maker explored potential factory sites in Kansas and Oklahoma to supply the batteries to the U.S. EV maker’s Texas plant.
Recently Tadanobu disclosed having shipped samples of its more powerful ‘4680’ format electric car battery to Tesla.

Burger King Faces Difficulty In Exiting Russian JV

Restaurant Brands International Inc (NYSE:QSR) owned Burger King is finding it difficult to close its joint venture in Russia, Reuters reported.
The fast-food chain has been having a hard time exiting its partnership and about 800 franchised locations after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Restaurant Brands intended to dispose of its Burger King joint venture ownership stake in Russia.

Wall Street Journal

Sycamore, Franchise Group Submit Bids for Kohl’s: WSJ

Kohl’s Corp (NYSE:KSS) has received takeover bids form from private-equity firm Sycamore Partners and retail holding company Franchise Group, Inc (NASDAQ:FRG), the Wall Street Journal reported.
Sycamore proposed $50 a share, and Franchise Group offered $60 per share, the report noted, valuing the company between $7 billion - $8 billion.
The bidders had previously said they intended to lower their offer by at least 10% - 15%.

McDonald’s To Deploy Third-Party Firm To Evaluate Diversity Initiatives

McDonald’s Corp (NYSE:MCD) is planning to deploy a third party to evaluate its effort on diversity, equity, and inclusion, the Wall Street Journal reported.
In a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing, the company said about 274 million shares of the company’s common stock were voted in favor of the third-party civil rights audit at the shareholders’ meeting held recently. About 217 million shares were voted against the proposal, and 5.6 million shares were abstained from voting.
A group of Black franchisees has demanded that the company should aid its minority franchisees who face discrimination in pay on the basis of gender and color.

Bloomberg

Citi’s Fat-Finger Gaffe Could Cost It Over $50M

Citigroup, Inc (NYSE:C) could cough up losses of over $50 million following a London-based worker’s fat-finger trade, causing a flash crash in European stocks in May, Reuters reports.
Citi is still tallying losses from the erroneous trade, and the final figure could further mount.
A trader in the London’s Delta One trading unit mistakenly punched an extra zero to trade early in European market hours while working from home during a bank holiday on May 2.

Walmart Targets Faster Deliveries Via 4 Fulfillment Centers, Intensifies Rivalry With Amazon

Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT) plans to build four new e-commerce fulfillment centers using an automated system to speed deliveries firing up rivalry with Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN).
Walmart will open its first warehouse in Joliet, Illinois, this summer.
Walmart will build additional centers in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Texas over the next three years.

Benzinga

Apple In ‘Winner’s Circle’ For NFL Sunday Ticket Rights Versus Amazon, Says Analyst

Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) analyst Dan Ives said the tech giant snagging the NFL Sunday Ticket Package could be a landmark deal.
The Apple Analyst: Ives maintained his “outperform” rating on Apple with a 12-month price target of $200.
Apple’s Golden Ticket: Ives said in a recent note, seen by Benzinga, that by not choosing to purchase a movie studio, Apple is clear that it is opting to bet on live sports programming for future success.

Palantir To Help Ukraine’s Army Resist Russian Invasion, CEO Meets Zelenskyy

Data analytics company Palantir Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:PLTR) has pledged support to help war-torn Ukraine as it continues to fight the ongoing Russian invasion.
Palantir CEO Alex Karp visited Ukraine on Thursday and met President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, vice premier, and Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov said in a tweet.
The two parties have agreed to open Palantir’s office in Ukraine.

Frontier, Spirit Airlines Amend Merger Agreement - See What’s The Change

Spirit Airlines Inc (NYSE:SAVE) and Frontier Group Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:ULCC), the parent company of Frontier Airlines, Inc., amended their previously announced merger agreement.
In the unlikely event the combination is not consummated for antitrust reasons, Frontier would pay a reverse termination fee of $250 million, or $2.23 per share, to Spirit under the provisions of the amended merger agreement.

Nio’s ES7 To Start Selling In China: What That Means For EV Startup

Nio, Inc.’s (NYSE:NIO) newest SUV, the ES7, could arrive on time despite the supply and logistics challenges in the wake of the COVID-19 disruptions.
Nio’s ES7 has been confirmed to be in the catalog of models allowed for public sale that was released by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Thursday, the CnEVPost reported.
The ministry released a preliminary list in early May to allow public opinion on the proposed models.

Dogecoin Creator Says Every Token On Binance Chain Is ‘Garbage’

Dogecoin DOGE/USD co-creator Billy Markus doesn’t see value in tokens built on the Binance Chain BNB/USD, formerly known as Binance Smart Chain (BSC).
“There is no such thing as a “bscgem,” he said on Twitter, adding “that every token on that chain is garbage.”
According to him, every account that mentions BSC gems is likely a scam bot, a scumbag or an idiot.

Ford Mach-E Monthly Sales Hit Record High, Race Past Gas Mustangs Yet Again

Ford Motor Co (NYSE: F) sold the most Mustang Mach-E electric vehicles in May since it went on sale more than a year ago, outperforming sales of the gas-powered version for a second time.
Mach-E Vs Mustang: The Dearborn, Michigan-based company sold 5,179 Mach-Es in May, a 166% jump year-on-year and a 36% rise over April.
Mach-E’s April sales of 3,806 units were its second-best since Ford began selling the all-electric crossover in December 2020.

Coinbase To Rescind Several Job Offers Amid Bearish Crypto Market

Major cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:COIN) plans to extend its hiring freeze and rescind a number of accepted job offers.
In a blog published on Thursday, the company said that it has become evident it needs to “take more stringent measures” to slow its headcount growth.
Coinbase said it intends to pause hiring for the foreseeable future or as long as the current macro environment requires.

GM’s Cruise Becomes California’s First Driverless Ride Service

General Motors Co’s (NYSE:GM) robotaxi venture Cruise said on Thursday it had secured a commercial permit to charge a fare for driverless rides, much ahead of rivals such as Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) and Alphabet Inc’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Waymo.
Cruise said the California Public Utilities Commission granted it the Driverless Deployment Permit in the city, after months of trial runs in San Francisco.
“We’ll begin rolling out fared rides gradually, expanding in alignment with the smoothest customer experience possible,” Cruise said.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons