Big Business This Week is a guided tour through the biggest market stories of the week, from winning stocks to brutal dips to the facts and forecasts generating buzz on Wall Street.
TENTATIVE UAW-FORD DEAL
There has been a breakthrough in the six-week strike that has caused disruptions at the Big 3 automakers. The United Auto Workers union says it reached a tentative deal with Ford on Wednesday. It would mean a 25 percent general raise plus cost-of-living increases. That is a big jump from Ford's initial offer of 9 percent. The union, 57,000 members strong, still has to ratify the deal.
GM LOST ITS LICENSE
GM didn't see much return on their investments in tech this week. On Tuesday California pulled the license for the company's Cruise robotaxis to operate in San Francisco. The driverless vehicles are now considered too dangerous for the road – just two months after another government agency gave them the freedom to operate 24/7. Meanwhile, the company announced it is going to pull back on EV production because of slowing demand.
NEW MR. STANLEY
Morgan Stanley has named Ted Pick as the new CEO and Wall Street rejoiced. The 30-year veteran of the company has served as co-president for the last two years and has support from outgoing CEO James Gorman. Pick will officially take over on January 1. Morgan Stanley stock started the week down, but things turned around on the announcement Thursday.
META SUED
It was a week of highs and lows for Meta. On Tuesday, attorneys general from most of the country sued the social media giant for allegedly working to get kids hooked on Facebook and Instagram and contributing to the mental health crisis among young people. The company says it has been working to offer "safe, positive experiences online." There was a rosier outlook when the company released its latest earnings report on Wednesday, though. Ad revenue picked back up last quarter, which led to a jump in profits. Of course, the additional cash also came at the expense of thousands of workers who were laid off.
CHEVRON BUYS HESS
Chevron announced early in the week that is is purchasing Hess. With oil prices on the rise, leading companies are flush with funds and looking to invest. While Chevron will pay $53 billion in stock to close the deal, it isn't the biggest purchase in the sector this month. Exxon Mobil announced two weeks ago that it will pay about $60 billion for Pioneer Natural Resources.
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
You'll just have to wait for interest rates (and prices) to go down. Plus, this deal's a steel, the big carmaker wedding is off, and bribery is back, baby!
