3. Yellen on rates
When it comes to tightening credit availability, banks might just do the job for the Federal Reserve, according to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. The Fed has been raising its benchmark rate since last year, seeking to cool the economy and bring down decades-high rates of inflation. But since the collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank last month – and the ensuing turmoil in the system – there’s pressure on the Fed to cool it with the rate hikes and avoid a hard landing for the economy. “Banks are likely to become somewhat more cautious in this environment,” Yellen, herself a former Fed chair, said in an interview with CNN that aired over the weekend. “We already saw some tightening of lending standards in the banking system prior to that episode, and there may be some more to come.”
4. Waiting in Wilmington
The keenly anticipated Dominion-Fox defamation trial was supposed to start Monday morning in Wilmington, Delaware, but the court announced Sunday evening that it would be delayed until Tuesday. A formal announcement on the delay is expected at 9 a.m. ET on Monday, and observers will be looking for clues about why the kickoff was postponed. Multiple outlets reported that the two sides were involved in late settlement talks. Dominion is suing Fox Corp. and its cable networks for $1.6 billion for airing false claims that the voting machine company helped rig the 2020 presidential election against Donald Trump. Fox has pushed back on the claims, saying it is protected by the First Amendment.
5. Big pharma deal
Merck is looking to beef up its immunology offerings with a $10.8 billion deal to buy Prometheus Biosciences. The $200-a-share agreement represents a 75% premium to where Prometheus stock closed Friday. Shares of Prometheus surged about 70% in premarket trading Monday. The deal will also give Merck access to an experimental treatment for ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, which the company believes could end up making billions of dollars. “We’ve been watching their clinical development program for a while,” Merck CEO Robert Davis told Reuters.
— CNBC’s Mike Calia wrote this newsletter. Brian Evans, Kevin Breuninger and Lillian Rizzo contributed.
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