3. GM at a crossroads
General Motors is set to report earnings Tuesday, and investors will be looking for indications that the Detroit automaker is making progress in its quest to go all-electric. So far, GM, like its legacy rivals, lags far behind Elon Musk’s Tesla. Yet while Tesla’s market share is expected to continue slimming in the U.S. as competitors ramp up EV production, GM has fallen behind other rivals as well. Crosstown rival Ford expanded its share this year, as has South Korea’s Hyundai, while GM’s declined. CEO Mary Barra is undeterred, though. “No one has as many vehicles as we are going to have by 2025,” she told CNBC’s Michael Wayland earlier this year.
4. War and wheat
The world is wary about the state of the wheat market after a Russian attack on the Ukraine port city of Odesa cast doubt on the export deal the two warring countries reached last week. The Kremlin said the attack targeted the Ukrainian military, but the timing of the strikes so soon after the pact raised alarms. Wheat futures prices early Monday morning rose as investors processed the news, but are overall down quite a bit since May. Follow live updates about the Russia-Ukraine war here.
5. Vince McMahon bows out ... sort of
In an epic Friday news dump, Vince McMahon, the longtime head of World Wrestling Entertainment, announced he would retire as CEO and chairman of the company he bought from his father about 40 years ago. He had already stepped away from the chief executive role weeks ago, handing the duties to his daughter Stephanie McMahon on an interim basis, as the WWE’s board probed millions of dollars in hush payments he reportedly paid several women over sexual misconduct claims through the years. On Friday, he handed the reins to Stephanie McMahon, who also became chairwoman, and WWE President Nick Khan, who’ll act as co-CEO. But even at age 76, McMahon is still the biggest shareholder in WWE − a point he made in announcing his retirement. Sports media experts see WWE as an acquisition target. Since McMahon is such a central part of the wrestling company’s brand and content, it could signal to potential suitors that his specific flavor of showmanship will be part of any package.
– CNBC’s Patti Domm, Peter Schacknow, Michael Wayland, Matt Clinch and Dan Mangan contributed to this report.
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