Mr. Musk's vague tweets on the subject have Twitter-watchers in a tither. This might not be such a bad thing: Recall Mr. Musk's 2019 Tesla Cybertruck demonstration, in which a metal ball was thrown at the truck's supposedly tough windows, only to smash them on public display. Seemingly every entrepreneur's nightmare, the failure hardly discouraged Mr. Musk. He later tweeted that the Cybertruck received hundreds of thousands of preorders for the model following the demonstration.
Venture Capitalists Seek to Buy Phoenix Suns With Potential Financing From Peter Thiel and Others
Two venture capitalists have submitted a bid to buy the Phoenix Suns and Mercury professional basketball teams for $3 billion, an offer that could include financing from tech mogul Peter Thiel, according to people familiar with the matter and an offer sheet reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The group is one of a handful of potential buyers, according to the people.
The bid was submitted by Jack Selby, the managing director of West Hollywood, Calif.-based investment firm Thiel Capital, which was founded by Mr. Thiel, and Jason Pressman, the managing director of Menlo Park, Calif.-based venture firm Shasta Ventures.
Albertsons' $4 Billion Dividend Payout Remains Blocked
A Washington state judge on Friday extended a temporary restraining order blocking a $4 billion dividend that Albertsons Cos. planned to pay its shareholders amid its plans to be bought by Kroger Co.
Judge Ken Schubert for the King County Superior Court in Washington sided with Albertsons and Kroger, allowing Albertsons to pay the dividend. The ruling came after the state's attorney general filed a lawsuit in November against the companies to block the dividend.
Slowing Growth Edges Out Inflation as Top Concern
Stocks and bonds have headed in opposite directions to start December, a sign that investors' worries about slowing growth have started to eclipse their fears of persistent inflation.
Equity traders have taken the darker view, deepening this year's double-digit losses for the S&P 500 and on Friday snapping a two-week winning streak for the major stock indexes. Meanwhile, a rally this month has erased some of this year's fixed-income rout in a bet that bond prices have already fallen far enough to reflect the full brunt of expected Federal Reserve interest-rate increases.
Hopes Fade for Year-End Tax Deal in Congress to Aid Companies, Children
WASHINGTON-Lawmakers are struggling to reach bipartisan agreement on a year-end tax deal, and businesses and antipoverty advocates both look unlikely to get what they want.
Republicans and many companies want to reverse, prevent or delay some tax increases on businesses that were scheduled in a GOP-backed 2017 tax law and that began taking effect this year. Democrats, who control the House and Senate, have expressed openness to some changes, but they want to expand the child tax credit at the same time.
UK Economy Rebounded More Than Expected in October But Recession Looms
The U.K. economy swung to expansion in October as services activity was boosted by an additional working day after September's bank holiday, but activity is set to take a downturn in the months ahead.
The U.K.'s gross domestic product grew by 0.5% in October on month after a 0.6% contraction in September, according to data from the Office for National Statistics released Monday.
Interest-Rate Paths for U.S., Europe Set to Diverge
FRANKFURT-The Federal Reserve's aggressive campaign against high inflation dominated global financial markets this year. Starting this week, the action shifts to Europe, where inflation could prove stickier and harder to tame. That shift is likely to reverse some of the key market dynamics of 2022, most significantly a superstrong dollar.
At monetary-policy meetings this week, the Federal Reserve's key rate is expected to rise by 0.5 percentage point, the European Central Bank's by 0.5 to 0.75 point, and the Bank of England's by 0.5 point.
Investors Grow More Confident Fed Will Pull Off a Soft Landing
A few months ago, Wall Street rebuffed the idea that the Federal Reserve would be able to pull off a soft landing.
Now, a growing crowd is betting on exactly that happening.
SoftBank, Tencent Lead Way as Asia's Tech Investors Become Stock Sellers
Some of the world's most influential institutions are selling shares of Asia's technology giants after owning them for years, a troubling sign for investors after what has already been a painful market selloff.
In recent months, Japan's SoftBank Group Corp. has pared its stakes in the Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and the Indian mobile-payments company Paytm, in both cases following declines in their share prices. Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Warren Buffett's company, has been gradually reducing its stake in BYD Co., a Chinese electric-vehicle maker that it has owned shares in since 2008.
Bond Investors Swap Mutual Funds for ETFs at Record Pace
Worn down from record losses, investors have fled bond mutual funds en masse. But many aren't quitting on bonds-they are just turning to exchange-traded funds.
One main reason: taxes. Some investors sell beaten-down positions in bond funds to harvest tax losses. In many cases this year, investors have opted to put cash into similar ETFs to maintain bond exposure in their portfolios. As long as the securities within the ETF aren't nearly identical to those in the mutual fund, swapping the so-called wrapper around the holdings allows investors to stay invested, while capitalizing on tax benefits.
Fed Rate Increases Are Squeezing Consumer-Finance Companies
Consumer spending in the U.S. is going strong. Consumer lending, not so much.
The financial squeeze that started about six months ago for companies that lend to ordinary Americans is getting worse, contrasting sharply with recent rallies in stocks and corporate bonds. The main reason: These finance companies have lost access to easy money.
Congress Faces Deadline for Keeping Government Funded
WASHINGTON-Congressional leaders are set to return to the Capitol on Monday under pressure to negotiate a spending bill that would fund the federal government's operations beyond Friday.
Negotiators have days to reach a deal on a full-year spending bill or pass a short-term measure delaying the deadline to avoid a partial government shutdown. To reach a longer-term deal, they will have to break the partisan deadlock between Republicans and Democrats, who are split over $26 billion in nondefense spending in talks to craft an omnibus bill.
Florida Lawmakers to Tackle Ballooning Property-Insurance Crisis
Florida lawmakers are set to begin a special legislative session Monday to address the state's deepening property-insurance crisis, which is raising premiums for homeowners, driving some carriers to insolvency and threatening to stifle the housing market.
Among the issues the Republican-led legislature plans to address are a highly litigious environment in Florida, the availability of reinsurance-backup coverage insurers buy-and the ballooning size of the state's insurer of last resort, according to a proposed bill released late Friday.
Write to paul.larkins@dowjones.com TODAY IN CANADA
Earnings:
None scheduled
Economic Calendar:
1540 Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem fireside chat at Business Council of British Columbia event
Stocks to Watch:
Brookfield Successfully Completes Distribution of 25% Interest in Its Asset Management Business
Expected Major Events for Monday
00:01/UK: Nov UK Regional PMI
00:01/UK: Dec Rightmove Monthly House Price Index
06:00/JPN: Nov Preliminary Machine Tool Orders
07:00/UK: Oct Index of production
07:00/UK: Oct UK trade
07:00/UK: Oct Index of services
07:00/UK: Oct Monthly GDP estimates
11:00/FRA: Oct OECD Harmonised Unemployment Rates
12:30/UK: Nov NIESR Monthly GDP Tracker
19:00/US: Nov Monthly Treasury Statement of Receipts & Outlays of the U.S. Govt
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Expected Earnings for Monday
Allied Healthcare (AHPI) is expected to report for 1Q.
Avaya Holdings Corp (AVYA) is expected to report $-0.85 for 4Q.
Blue Bird Corp (BLBD) is expected to report $0.02 for 4Q.
Champions Oncology Inc (CSBR) is expected to report $-0.03 for 2Q.
Coupa Software Inc (COUP) is expected to report $-1.14 for 3Q.
Enservco Corp (ENSV) is expected to report for 3Q.
Fluence Energy Inc (FLNC) is expected to report for 4Q.
Inotiv Inc (NOTV) is expected to report for 4Q.
JOANN Inc (JOAN) is expected to report for 3Q.
Mesa Air Group Inc (MESA) is expected to report $-0.26 for 4Q.
Oracle Corp (ORCL) is expected to report $0.70 for 2Q.
Riley Exploration Permian Inc (REPX) is expected to report for 4Q.
SeaChange International Inc (SEAC) is expected to report $-0.07 for 3Q.
Sonnet BioTherapeutics Holdings Inc (SONN) is expected to report for 4Q.
Steel Connect Inc (STCN) is expected to report for 1Q.
Technical Communications Corp (TCCO) is expected to report for 4Q.
Universal Technical Institute Inc (UTI) is expected to report $0.01 for 4Q.
Value Line (VALU) is expected to report for 2Q.
Virco Manufacturing Corp (VIRC) is expected to report for 3Q.
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ANALYST RATINGS ACTIONS
Alcoa Cut to Equal-Weight From Overweight by Morgan Stanley
Beyond Meat Cut to Sell From Hold by Argus Research
Blue Apron Cut to Hold From Buy by Lake Street
Capital Southwest Raised to Buy From Neutral by B. Riley Securities
Carvana Cut to Hold From Buy by Needham
Coinbase Cut to Underperform From Neutral by Mizuho
DocuSign Raised to Neutral From Underweight by Piper Sandler
Equitable Cut to Hold From Buy by Jefferies
Fidelity National Cut to Hold From Buy by Jefferies
GMS Cut to Hold From Buy by Loop Capital
(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires
12-12-22 0617ET
