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The takeaway was a split decision: Biden rambled and misspoke several times, but also displayed the confidence and depth of knowledge that his supporters had hoped to hear. Yet for many donors and Democratic officials, the performance wasn’t enough to settle the debate over whether he should stay in the race. Biden demonstrated his command of foreign policy at the news conference. Biden made two headline-making flubs: calling Vice President Kamala Harris “Vice President Trump,” and saying he followed the advice of his “commander in chief” — his own title — about military aid to Ukraine. (Earlier in the day, he introduced President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine as “President Putin” before quickly correcting himself.)

Persons: Biden’s, Biden rambled, Biden, Kamala Harris “, Trump, ” —, Volodymyr Zelensky, Putin ” Organizations: NATO, Democratic Locations: Russia, China, Ukraine, Gaza

A brutal 24 hoursPresident Biden and his allies may have thought they had stemmed a rebellion by fellow Democrats and donors after his debate debacle. Some Democratic lawmakers made clear that they weren’t falling into line behind Biden. She said she would back whatever decision he takes, but the equivocal comments were seen as offering other Democrats space to speak up. Hours later, Peter Welch of Vermont became the first Democratic senator to call on Biden to withdraw. “We can’t unsee what we saw” at the debate, Welch told The Times, adding that Donald Trump’s returning to power would be a “catastrophe.”

Persons: Biden, Nancy Pelosi, MSNBC’s, Joe ”, Peter Welch of, Welch, Donald Trump’s Organizations: NATO, Democratic, White, The Times, Peter Welch of Vermont, Times

Powell’s balancing actThe S&P 500 is on a six-day winning streak and closed at another record on Tuesday, as investors grow more confident that the Fed could cut interest rates soon. The market rally came after Jay Powell, the Fed chair, made encouraging comments about inflation and the labor market in his first of two days of testimony on Capitol Hill. Lowering rates prematurely could risk reigniting inflation, and doing so too slowly could undermine growth. “We’re very much balancing those two risks, and that’s really the essence of what we’re thinking about these days,” Powell told the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday. In something of a rarity in recent months, financial services stocks led the way on Tuesday.

Persons: Jay Powell, that’s, ” Powell, Powell Organizations: Capitol, Senate, Wall

Making them waitPresident Biden hasn’t let up on his aggressive defense against calls to step aside: Over the past 24 hours, he pushed back against Democratic lawmakers, the news media and top fund-raisers. But an attempt to mollify some of his biggest donors in a hastily arranged call started off poorly: It began more than 30 minutes late. For the Biden campaign, that may not be a big concern, given its highlighting of small-dollar fund-raising and attacking of corporate greed. Biden started the day lashing out at elite critics. After a weekend of campaigning in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, he sent a defiant letter to congressional Democrats pledging to stay in the race.

Persons: Biden hasn’t, Biden, DealBook’s Lauren Hirsch Organizations: Democratic Locations: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin

Wall Street’s game theoryAs more leading Democrats say privately that President Biden should withdraw from the presidential race, some of the party’s most prominent backers on Wall Street spent the holiday weekend debating what to do next. If they favor calling for him to step back, they discussed what their next moves should be. Wall Street is taking a different approach than Hollywood. (Many are also reportedly irate at Jeffrey Katzenberg, Biden’s campaign co-chair.) And many donors want to maintain their influence within the Democratic Party.

Persons: Biden, Larry Fink, BlackRock, Robert Rubin, Jon Gray, Blackstone, Peter Orszag, Lazard, Blair Effron, Robert Wolf, Barack Obama —, DealBook, Reed Hastings, Barry Diller, Rob Reiner, Abigail Disney, Jeffrey Katzenberg Organizations: Wall, Treasury, Centerview Partners, UBS, Hollywood, Netflix, IAC, Democratic Party

Plan B talks get louderThe Biden campaign’s attempts to soothe panicked Democrats and donors after the president’s calamitous debate appear to have cratered. One Democratic lawmaker has openly called on President Biden to withdraw from the race, while others are sharply criticizing his campaign’s response. And many party backers remain as nervous about sticking with him as they were last week — but also worry about the alternatives. The latest: Representative Lloyd Doggett of Texas became the first sitting Democrat to demand that Biden step aside. Democrats and foreign allies worry that Biden has increasingly seemed confused or listless, The Times reports.

Persons: Biden, Lloyd Doggett, Jim Clyburn, “, ” Barack Obama Organizations: Biden, Democratic, South Carolina, The Washington Post, Times Locations: Texas, South, NewsNation

Donors still on edgeThe shock waves from last week’s presidential debate are still reverberating, as President Biden and his aides sought to allay concerns from despondent Democrats and wealthy donors about his age and fitness for office. Donors are increasingly becoming reconciled to Biden remaining the Democratic nominee even after Biden’s disastrous performance. But some in the party, and in the markets, are increasingly expecting Donald Trump to win in November. Seventy-two percent of registered voters don’t believe Biden has the mental and cognitive health to serve as president, according to a CBS News poll published Sunday, compared with 65 percent in early June. With the odds for a Trump win rising after the debate, Wall Street analysts are recalculating what that could mean for the economy and the markets.

Persons: Biden, Donald Trump, don’t, Trump Organizations: Democratic, CBS, Trump, Wall Street

☆ Biden? Trump? The Politics of Talking About It at the Office.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-29 | by ( Sarah Kessler | Ravi Mattu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Offices across the nation — and Slack channels, the modern water cooler — were abuzz Friday morning with voluble opinions about the presidential debate from the night before. Should Biden step aside? How many times did Trump lie? Did Biden lie, too? For most chief executives, presidential elections are a nightmare — they create division inside teams, take up valuable time and can turn into a big distraction.

Persons: Biden, Kim Scott, ”, it’s Organizations: Google

Post-debate panicAfter a bruising 90-minute debate that underscored President Biden’s single-biggest weakness — concern about his age — Democratic donors exchanged panicked texts and emails with one question: What’s Plan B? The 81-year-old Biden’s halting, shaky performance against a confident (if sometimes misleading) showing by Donald Trump has set off alarm among Democrats with just seven weeks before the Democratic National Convention and four months before the November election. Some party faithful who were suppressing their doubts about Biden are now privately lobbying Democratic leaders and scouring rule books to figure out how to change the presidential ticket. “Disaster,” one unnamed Democratic donor told CNBC after the debate, reflecting the mood among the party’s moneyed class. Other reactions included “absolute train wreck” and “game over.” “Do we have time to put somebody else in there?” Mark Buell, a well-known Democratic donor, told The Times.

Persons: Biden’s, Donald Trump, Biden, ”, ” Mark Buell Organizations: Democratic National Convention, Democratic, CNBC, Times

Talking pointsAll eyes will be on CNN at 9 p.m. Eastern, when President Biden and Donald Trump face off in their first debate since 2020. Among the keenest watchers will be executives and investors looking for signs about how the candidates might handle the economy and business in a second term. There will be plenty to scrutinize in the 90-minute, audience-free debate, including what the candidates say and how they say it. What will Biden and Trump say about some of the key issues? In Thursday night’s debate, “markets probably care more about presentation than policy pledges,” Paul Donovan, an economist at UBS, wrote in a client note.

Persons: Biden, Donald Trump, Trump, ” David Bahnsen, DealBook, ” Paul Donovan, Elon Musk, There’s, J.D, Vance of, Doug Burgum, Marco Rubio Organizations: CNN, Bahnsen, UBS, Biden, Trump, Times, Gov Locations: Atlanta, Vance of Ohio, North Dakota, Marco Rubio of Florida

Quiet in the C-suiteThree years ago, corporate leaders openly spoke out against Donald Trump over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. But as the former president leads in many polls this time around, most in the C-suite are staying quiet. In 2021, C.E.O.s including Mary Barra of General Motors and Doug McMillon of Walmart publicly urged a peaceful transition of power. Only a handful of executives have publicly supported Trump, who was willing to go after perceived enemies in corporate American when he was in office. It’s highly unlikely that tally will reach 902, the number of times the topics were mentioned in 2020 during the same period.

Persons: Donald Trump, Mary Barra, Doug McMillon, Trump, Biden, It’s Organizations: Capitol, General Motors, Walmart

Nvidia’s fall to earthIt looks like another volatile day for Nvidia shareholders. And given the company’s enormous influence on the entire S&P 500, they may not be the only investors facing big swings. It closed Monday down roughly 16 percent from its intraday high on Thursday, shedding more than $550 billion in value — roughly the size of Tesla’s market capitalization — offering the markets a tough reminder that the A.I. Mary Daly, the president of the San Francisco Fed, warned Monday of a slowdown in the labor market hitting the U.S. economy. Another big piece of data comes out on Tuesday: The Conference Board is set to release its monthly consumer confidence index.

Persons: Mary Daly, San Francisco Fed, ” Organizations: Nvidia, San Francisco

The $3 trillion company is the first to be charged under the Digital Markets Act, a landmark 2022 E.U. Here are the E.U.’s accusations against Apple:The App Store violates so-called steering rules. Regulators say that app developers cannot easily inform their customers about new offerings, including cheaper deals, within Apple’s ecosystem. The fees Apple charges are excessive. products and services in Europe because of “regulatory uncertainties.”And the company already faces a $2 billion E.U.

Persons: Apple Organizations: Apple, European Union, Digital Markets, Google, Financial Times, Microsoft Locations: Apple’s, Europe

Musk’s mission to CannesAs advertising moguls traveled to southern France this week for the Cannes Lions festival — an annual rosé-filled celebration of their industry — the biggest guest was someone who had crudely told many of them to get lost. Elon Musk and his top lieutenant, Linda Yaccarino, were on hand to persuade brands to return to X in a bid to bolster their beleaguered ad business. A reminder: At the DealBook Summit, he lashed out at advertisers who had pulled back from X after he had endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory. of the ad giant WPP, asked Musk about the incident onstage on Wednesday, the X owner responded that he wasn’t referring to all advertisers. “Advertisers have a right to appear next to content that they find compatible with their brands,” Musk said.

Persons: Elon Musk, Linda Yaccarino, Musk, Mark Read, ” Musk Organizations: Cannes, Cannes Lions, WPP Locations: France

Stormy weatherBoeing’s boss, Dave Calhoun, will testify before a Senate panel on Tuesday, as yet another whistle-blower has come forward, alleging the planemaker was negligent in tracking hundreds of faulty parts. Calhoun will step down by December, but that hasn’t stopped lawmakers, investors and customers from hammering the company. Now, Boeing is reportedly struggling to find a successor, highlighting the scale of the challenge to fix an iconic American company. Calhoun will say that the culture is still “far from perfect.” He will be grilled on a range of issues hanging over the company, from multiple whistle-blower accusations to the events leading up to the midair blowout of a door plug on an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 jet in January.

Persons: Dave Calhoun, Calhoun, hasn’t Organizations: Boeing, Alaska Airlines, Max

A call to arms to rethink social mediaJust in: The U.S. surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, called for a warning label for social media platforms in a Times Guest Essay, advising parents that the technology may be helping fuel a mental health crisis among adolescents. It’s the latest effort by regulators to impose restrictions on social networks — particularly over their effects on children and teens — and is a reminder of the increasing scrutiny of global tech giants. In his guest essay, Murthy writes that the issue has become an emergency:Why is it that we have failed to respond to the harms of social media when they are no less urgent or widespread than those posed by unsafe cars, planes or food? Scrutiny of social media’s effects on teenagers has grown in recent years. The social psychologist Jonathan Haidt describes the 2007 release of the iPhone as an inflection point, with suicidal behavior and reports of despair among adolescents rising sharply since.

Persons: Vivek Murthy, —, Murthy, Jonathan Haidt Locations: The U.S, U.S

Shareholders in Tesla voted in favor of his two big asks, reaffirming a multibillion-dollar compensation package that a Delaware judge had nullified and approving the company’s reincorporation in Texas. “I think we’re not just opening a new chapter for Tesla, we’re starting a new book,” a jubilant Musk told shareholders at the company’s annual meeting. The vote doesn’t end Tesla and Musk’s legal fights in Delaware, including over the compensation plan. About 84 percent of votes cast, excluding the Musks’ shares, backed the reincorporation proposal. DealBook hears that Tesla succeeded in getting retail investors, who were overwhelmingly supportive of Musk, to vote in far greater numbers than they usually do.

Persons: Elon Musk, “, Tesla, ”, Musk, ” Musk, aren’t, Kimbal Organizations: Tesla, Wall Street, Vanguard, BlackRock Locations: Delaware, Texas

The markets and Fed diverge againThe bull market rally is continuing to run on Thursday. The S&P 500 is poised to set yet another record, as investors see inflation in retreat — even if Fed policymakers don’t quite see it that way. The gulf between investors and the central bank is widening again. That makes the Fed more hawkish than other central banks, especially those in Europe, that are expected to trim borrowing costs several times this year. He reiterated that inflation remained above the central bank’s 2 percent target and that U.S. households’ spending power had diminished over the past two years.

Persons: Jay Powell, ” Organizations: Fed Locations: Europe

A.I., the Apple wayAfter months of anticipation, Apple finally introduced its plan to infuse its products with artificial intelligence: Meet Apple Intelligence, which weaves the technology into core features of iPhones, iPads and Macs. But while the tech giant announced a slew of new features, the announcement reflected a very Apple-like cautious approach to A.I. Yes, the company will add OpenAI’s ChatGPT to Siri — but it’s leaving the door open for adding other chatbots. It all suggests that Apple is hedging its bets (or is simply behind its rivals), while slowly ramping up what A.I. iPhone users will be able to direct queries to the latest version of ChatGPT if Siri can’t handle them on its own.

Persons: Siri —, OpenAI, Siri can’t Organizations: Apple, Apple Intelligence, Worldwide

Apple tries to close the A.I. leaders, like Nvidia and Microsoft, have soared since OpenAI introduced ChatGPT in November 2022. Big Tech C.E.O.s have fallen over themselves to show they are in the race. But Apple hasn’t yet introduced a new A.I. (The New York Times has sued OpenAI and Microsoft over use of copyrighted articles related to A.I.

Persons: Apple, Tim Cook, Apple’s, OpenAI Organizations: Apple’s Worldwide, Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, Big Tech, Wall Street Journal, New York Times Locations: China

antitrust fight is comingNvidia has joined the $3 trillion valuation club as a blistering A.I. rally has turned it into the world’s second-most valuable company behind Microsoft. and Justice Department are set to proceed with antitrust investigations against the duo, and OpenAI, writes The Times’s David McCabe. is already looking into Microsoft, according to The Wall Street Journal, over how the company structured a deal with the start-up Inflection AI to avoid scrutiny. In March, Microsoft hired almost all of the start-up’s staff and agreed to pay around $650 million to license its technology.

Persons: David McCabe Organizations: Nvidia, Microsoft, Justice Department, Wall Street

Thursday is a big day for the European Central Bank. It is widely expected to lower interest rates by a quarter percentage point, its first cut since 2019 — and outpace the Fed in lowering borrowing costs. The big questions on our mind: Will Christine Lagarde, the central bank’s president, signal further cuts at its July and September meetings? The good news: Economists say the era of elevated rates around the world is coming to an end. But they add that sticky inflation will tie central bankers’ hands, limiting their ability to lower borrowing costs much.

Persons: Will Christine Lagarde, Holger Schmieding, DealBook Organizations: European Central Bank, Berenberg Bank Locations: Brussels

Betting on AckmanBill Ackman has gained new prominence in recent months for his outspoken presence on social media. But he has also made riches for his investors and himself — and now others are hoping he’ll continue to do so. His Pershing Square Capital Management has sold a 10 percent stake for just over $1 billion to an array of outside investors, giving the hedge fund a lofty valuation. The question is whether Ackman’s newfound fans on social media will follow him as he grows his empire, including through a new listed fund and, eventually, an I.P.O. That has bolstered Ackman’s paper worth to $8 billion, Bloomberg calculates, making him 333rd among the world’s wealthiest people.

Persons: Bill Ackman, —, he’ll, BTG, Marc Lasry, Doug Hirsch Organizations: Pershing, Capital Management, Arch Capital, Iconiq Investment Management, Bloomberg

MicroStrategy and its founder settle tax case for $40 millionThe attorney general for the District of Columbia has reached a $40 million settlement with the billionaire Bitcoin investor Michael Saylor and MicroStrategy, the software company he founded, over tax fraud, DealBook’s Lauren Hirsch is first to report. Officials say the agreement is the biggest-ever income tax fraud recovery in the district. The lawsuit accused Saylor of evading more than $25 million in income taxes. The attorney general sued the tech executive and MicroStrategy in 2022, saying he enlisted the company’s help to file fraudulent tax forms from 2005 through 2020. The lawsuit said Saylor and the company claimed that he lived in Virginia or Florida, states with significantly lower income tax rates.

Persons: Michael Saylor, DealBook’s Lauren Hirsch, Saylor Organizations: District of Columbia Locations: It’s, Virginia, Florida

Instead, Wall Street and Silicon Valley money is flowing into his re-election campaign following the ruling. “This verdict will have less than zero impact on my support,” Omeed Malik, the president of 1789 Capital and a co-host of a Trump fund-raiser last night at the Pierre hotel, told Bloomberg. “I haven’t heard anybody who gives a …,” he told CNBC of the conviction, using an expletive. Some big Silicon Valley names are doubling down. One who did is Shaun Maguire, a partner at Sequoia Capital, who gave $300,000 to the Trump campaign after the ruling, even though he acknowledged the decision could cost him friends and hurt business.

Persons: Donald Trump, ” Omeed Malik, Andy Sabin, ”, Biden, Bill Ackman, Trump, David Sacks, Shaun Maguire Organizations: Republican, Pierre, Bloomberg, CNBC, Trump, Sequoia Capital Locations: Silicon, San Francisco

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