Brendan McDermid | Reuters Here are the most important news investors need to start their trading day:
1. Summer Friday report
Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty Images
3. The iPhone is coming
A customer holds the new green color Apple iPhone 13 pro shortly after its launch inside the Apple Store on 5th Avenue in New York, March 18, 2022. Fresh Mike | Reuters Apple shares rose in premarket trading after the gadget giant beat Wall Street expectations for quarterly profit and revenue. The kids of Cupertino can thank their pride and joy, the good reliable iPhone. The strong sales came even as the iPhone 13 is in the second half of its product cycle, meaning a new model is coming soon. “We had a record level of switches and saw double-digit growth for new iPhone customers,” said CEO Tim Cook. But while Cook said the company expects revenue growth to be strong in the current quarter, he cited “pockets of softness.” Slowing growth in Apple’s services is a potential area of concern, writes CNBC’s Kif Leswing.
4. JetBlue’s next destination
LaGuardia International Airport Terminal A for JetBlue and Spirit Airlines in New York. Leslie Josephs | CNBC It took months, a lot of back-and-forth sniping, a lot of bidding and a few late shareholder votes, but JetBlue finally got it done. The airline has convinced low-cost carrier Spirit to abandon its merger with fellow low-cost carrier Frontier and agree to be acquired by JetBlue in a $3.8 billion deal. Now comes the hard part for JetBlue and Spirit: getting the merger-skeptic Biden administration to sign off on the acquisition. For example, the Justice Department sued last year to block JetBlue’s Northeast alliance with American Airlines. The case will be heard in September. But JetBlue is optimistic and predicts regulators will sign off on the Spirit deal either late next year or early 2024, with the merger finalized in the first half of 2024. CNBC’s Leslie Josephs explains here.
5. Biden and Xi discuss a tense moment
US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by phone on Thursday. Pictured here is their virtual meeting on November 15, 2021. Mandel Ngan | Afp | Getty Images US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke for more than two hours on Thursday and began arrangements for their first face-to-face meeting since Biden’s inauguration. The lengthy discussion between the two superpower leaders came after the House sent Biden a bill to boost US competitiveness with China and as the world focuses on Taiwan, the self-governing island that China claims as its own. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has said she may visit Taiwan during a swing to Asia starting this week that could reignite relations between the US and China. Earlier this week, meanwhile, the New York Times reported that US officials are increasingly concerned that China may move against Taiwan in the next 18 months. Nevertheless, it appears that Biden and Xi had a constructive conversation, according to experts. Read CNBC reporter Evelyn Cheng’s coverage from Beijing here. – CNBC’s Jesse Pound, Annie Palmer, Kif Leswing, Leslie Josephs and Evelyn Cheng contributed to this report. — Join the CNBC Investing Club now to follow Jim Cramer’s every stock move. Follow the broader market action like a pro on CNBC Pro.
