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With Elon Musk's SpaceX IPO ahead, retail investors are rushing into space-themed ETFs including NASA which offers direct access to the rocket company. View More

In this articleNASAUFOROKTARKXSPRXFLYORBXRONBXOVRWARPMARSFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT watch nowVIDEO4:4904:49How ETF investors are getting in on SpaceX IPO and boom in space investingETF Edge Retail investors are rushing into the space investing trade ahead of the SpaceX IPO, and one ETF has cashed in on the excitement.Tema ETFs' Space Innovators ETF, which launched on March 30 and trades under the ticker symbol NASA, crossed $1 billion in assets in just 37 trading days, and by the end of this past trading week, had reached over $2.6 billion in assets. That rapid rise is due in part to retail investors hunting for exposure to SpaceX before it goes public.While SpaceX has taken an unusual approach to its offering, setting up access for retail investors through brokerage firms at a level atypical in new deals typically dominated by institutions, the NASA fund is another alternative for investors to gain access to Elon Musk's rocket company. It already holds privately traded SpaceX shares directly. It is one of the few investment vehicles available to retail investors that does, with SpaceX currently representing around 7.5% of the fund. "If we're going to invest in space ... We have to offer exposure to SpaceX," said Maurits Pot, Tema ETFs founder and CEO on CNBC's "ETF Edge" on Wednesday.Pot said there is no plan to sell shares once the IPO occurs. "The IPO for us is simply a remarking of the position to market price," he said. Stock Chart IconStock chart iconNASA 1 M NASA isn't the only ETF that has access to SpaceX, though the options are limited. Mutual fund manager and billionaire Ron Baron, a long-time Tesla and SpaceX investor, owns the rocket company through his First Principles fund (RONB). Tesla is the top holding in the RONB ETF, at over 14%, while holding close to 2% of the fund's assets in SpaceX. The ERShares Private-Public Crossover ETF (XOVR), which offers access to late-stage private companies, also owns shares of SpaceX, which it says are worth close to $300 million based on an expected IPO value of over $1.5 trillion.Setting a precise valuation for the SpaceX deal remains a point of contention in the market and among investors ahead of the deal's pricing.Mike Akins, founding partner at ETF Action, said on "ETF Edge" that the ETF structure itself is what makes this kind of access possible for the everyday investor. "Ten, twenty years ago, you talked about a space theme like this, an investor would have to go out and look up all these companies. Now there's a ticker," Akins said.Todd Sohn, chief ETF strategist at Strategas, noted that several new space ETFs have launched over the past few months, including the Van Eck Space ETF (WARP), the Global X Space Tech ETF (ORBX), and Roundhill Investments' Space & Technology ETF (MARS), which is itself a signal that retail investors are expected to pursue the theme as they have with other recent thematic trades playing off tech innovation, from AI to quantum computing. "That to me is usually a pretty good read that the industry expects space to be the next big thing," Sohn told CNBC. "It's a very similar idea to what AI was a few years ago and continuing on."Six space-themed ETFs in all debuted over the past three months. But Sohn cautioned that not all funds are created equal. "It all depends on how pure or watered down the ETF is. So the due diligence for this is really important now," he said.There are other ETFs branded under the space investing theme that have been in the market for years already, building portfolios of stocks that include pure-play, high-risk space exploration companies, satellite companies, and broader aerospace and defense sector names.The Procure Space ETF (UFO), which launched in 2019 and has over $1.2 billion in assets, holds Rocket Lab, Firefly Aerospace, and Planet Labs among its top holdings. The SPDR S&P Kensho Final Frontiers ETF (ROKT), which launched in 2018, also holds Intuitive Machines and Redwire. Stock Chart IconStock chart iconFive-year performance of UFO ETF which invests in space and aerospace stocks. The ARK Space and Defense Innovation ETF (ARKX) is a good example of how the definitional set of top stocks can range far across the market, with its portfolio also including Amazon and Deere.Sohn says investors interested in these ETFs and the space investing theme should consider how much overlap there is in a portfolio with more classic defense industry names, as well as how concentrated the fund is in a small group of high-risk stocks."There's only so many companies who are doing this that are public," Sohn said. "Some of them may have 30 holdings, some of them may have closer to 50 or so," he said of the current crop of space ETFs. "I have a feeling once SpaceX is public and trading for some time, you're going to see some of these funds morph into more concentrated bets, depending on how they are managed," he said.That's another factor for investors to consider: NASA, for example, is an actively managed fund, rather than tracking an existing index of stocks designed to represent the theme, which is the approach of UFO, ORBX, ROKT and others. Investors will pay more for an actively managed approach from a stock picker in space: NASA has an annual net expense ratio of 0.87%, while ORBX charges 0.50%, and ROKT's expense ratio is 0.45%.It is clear that Elon Musk is going to be a big winner from the SpaceX IPO and likely the world's first trillionaire. But both Akins and Sohn said the biggest risk for retail investors getting in on the space theme is volatility.The risks in the space market were made vivid this week with the launchpad explosion of Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket. "Expect volatility. That is usually what happens with very early-stage industries. There will be companies that outperform and companies within ETFs that fall apart because the business model doesn't make sense," Sohn said. Sign up for our weekly newsletter that goes beyond the livestream, offering a closer look at the trends and figures shaping the ETF market. Disclaimer Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Even as Americans confront higher costs, millions of people have lost Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program food benefits. View More

Cars line up outside a food pantry in North Carolina, April 3, 2026.Lindsey Nicholson | UCG | Universal Images Group | Getty Images Consumers are facing price pressures as the costs of groceries and gas rise. The pace of inflation is expected to increase in the coming months, according to the Survey of Professional Forecasters, a quarterly macroeconomic survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.Meanwhile, there has been a "remarkable increase in food insecurity," the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in a recent blog post, as people cope with higher costs and the loss of federal aid.A new analysis shows that nationwide almost 9% of individuals — more than 3.5 million — who were beneficiaries of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides food benefits to low-income families, lost those benefits between July, when President Donald Trump signed his "big beautiful bill" into law, and February. The analysis was conducted by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan research and policy institute. That legislation included more stringent rules to qualify for SNAP, particularly regarding work requirements. In addition, the law shifted some administrative and cost responsibilities to states. Ahead of the law's passage, proponents said the changes to SNAP, formerly known as food stamps, would reduce waste and provide accountability.Almost 42 million people nationwide received SNAP benefits in fiscal year 2025, according to the most recent figures from the Department of Agriculture.As states implement the changes, some are already experiencing dramatic declines in SNAP participation, according to CBPP, which used data from the Department of Agriculture and state programs. Read more CNBC personal finance coverageTrump Accounts app launches — here's how to get startedMore workers are raiding their 401(k)s as average balances fall, Fidelity saysMillions of people lose food stamp access as 'big beautiful bill' cuts take effectRoth IRA owners may need a second retirement account to claim the Saver's MatchCNBC's Financial Advisor 100: Best financial advisors, top firms ranked Arizona lost 51% of its SNAP beneficiaries, according to CBPP, based on recent state data. Arizona already faced issues with food benefits, including understaffing, that contribute to the higher coverage loss rate it's seeing now, according to Joseph Llobrera, senior director of research on the food assistance team at CBPP. State data suggests that 20% of SNAP beneficiaries in Louisiana have lost benefits, according to CBPP, while almost 16% in Tennessee and nearly 15% in Virginia have lost benefits. SNAP participation has declined in every state, CBPP found, yet the unemployment rate has held steady at about 4% since July. Consequently, it's "very unlikely" that reduced need is prompting SNAP participation to fall, CBPP said in its report. Changes to SNAP under Trump's 'big beautiful bill' Republicans' One Big Beautiful Bill Act included $187 billion in cuts to SNAP, according to the Congressional Budget Office. At the time, CBPP called it the "biggest cut in the program's history."The new law requires states to help pay for SNAP benefits, which were previously a federal obligation.To limit how much they must contribute, states can bring down their error rates — that is, underpayments or overpayments of SNAP benefits. However, curbing those error rates may result in individuals losing access to SNAP, according to CBPP. A display on the National Mall, with the U.S. Capitol in the background, references Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits, following the longest U.S. government shutdown in history, Nov. 14, 2025.Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters The OBBBA also created stricter rules for people accessing SNAP benefits. Previously, certain individuals were limited to three months of SNAP benefits every three years unless they worked 20 hours per week or they qualified for an exemption.The legislation expands those work requirements to individuals ages 55 through 64; parents of minor children ages 14 and up; and people who are homeless, veterans or former foster youth. Certain legal U.S. residents who are not citizens are now ineligible for SNAP benefits.The size of SNAP benefit payments is based on a "relatively complicated" calculation that takes into account the number of people in a household and their income and expenses, Llobrera said. A 'mountain of paperwork' to qualify for SNAP Arizona resident Rhonda Keene, 60, told CNBC that she applied for SNAP benefits for the first time in February, since her declining health means she can no longer work full-time.Since then, she said, she has responded to multiple requests from the state for more documentation to support her application. Yet she still has not received any SNAP support."I've never been in this situation," Keene said. "It's pretty humiliating."Keene said she is relying on financial support from her family and odd jobs. She said her retirement savings has dwindled and she worries that she could lose her home. She has also applied for Social Security disability and retirement benefits, she said, but has been told that that application will also take time to process. Experts say Keen's situation is not unusual."There's this mountain of paperwork that households are being required to submit" for SNAP, as states seek to lower their payment error rates, Llobrera said. "People are getting cut off because they can't get through, their paperwork isn't being approved, or they're being improperly denied." watch nowVIDEO2:1702:17Despite signs of a resilient economy, US consumers haven't regained confidenceCNBC Digital Original Video Around 400,000 Arizonans have lost access to SNAP due to the recently enacted federal rules, according to Claudio Rodriguez, deputy chief of community development at the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona. For many people, deciding to seek help is already difficult, Rodriguez said, and some aren't coming back to reapply for benefits."They just don't want to ask for that kind of help," he said. "It's also — people have to jump through a lot of hoops to get these benefits."The average SNAP recipient in Arizona receives about $168 per month, Rodriguez said. For some, it can be difficult to justify the hours of paperwork and phone calls necessary in order to qualify for those benefit sums, he said. The Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, which serves five counties, saw its donations increase 17% in its recent food drive, according to Rodriguez. "It just shows that people are definitely knowing that their neighbors are in need and that they want to help and support," he said. Yet Rodriguez and other experts say that food banks won't be able to replace the lost federal SNAP support.Because SNAP provides nine meals for every one meal a food bank provides, it will be impossible for food banks to make up for those benefit losses without additional financial help, according to Jared Call, director of public policy and advocacy at the California Food Banks, a nonprofit with 43 member food banks. California 'bracing for impact' as SNAP changes loom Since some states have yet to fully implement the changes, experts say SNAP participation rates are likely to fall further."We are bracing for impact," Call said.California is poised to implement the new expanded three-month time limit on benefits starting June 1. The cuts for those who don't meet the new requirements after three months will likely start around October, when an estimated 55,000 to 60,000 Californians per month may lose benefits, Call said.California saw a more than 6% decline in SNAP participation from February 2025 to February 2026, CBPP's data shows.California Food Banks is serving 6 million people per month, Call said, which is more than at the height of the Covid pandemic, when it served 4.5 million people per month. "We kind of never got back to normal after the pandemic," he said. A recipient carries away food boxes at a large-scale food distribution in Exposition Park in Los Angeles, in response to the federal government shutdown and SNAP/CalFresh food benefits delays, Nov. 11, 2025.Mario Tama | Getty Images The higher need for food assistance that Call and other experts have observed comes amid increases in food and energy costs and follows the 2025 federal government shutdown, which caused a temporary lapse in food assistance in the fall. In New York, 'the worst is yet to come' The new expanded work requirements went into effect in New York on March 1, which means beneficiaries may reach the three-month time limit on June 1, according to Krista Hesdorfer, director of public affairs at Hunger Solutions New York, a nonprofit focused on reducing food insecurity. "We know that the worst is yet to come in a lot of states, including New York," Hesdorfer said.SNAP participation has decreased by about 150,000 beneficiaries in New York state as of February, before the implementation of the new federal rules, she said. About 300,000 to 400,000 New Yorkers are expected to be affected by those rules, she said."We are deeply concerned that many folks will lose access to vital food benefits right when they are struggling with rising grocery costs, but also costs increasing for everything from housing to healthcare to childcare," Hesdorfer said. Advocates fighting hunger look to Congress for help An ad referencing SNAP benefits is displayed in the window of the now-closed Daily Table Community Grocery Store in Boston's Nubian Square, Nov. 4, 2025.Lane Turner | Boston Globe | Getty Images Advocates say they are hopeful lawmakers will take action to mitigate the potential damage of the SNAP cuts."We should be working to make sure that everybody has access to SNAP if they need it to help put food on the table," said Crystal FitzSimons, president of the Food Research and Action Center, a nonprofit organization focused on fighting poverty-related hunger in the U.S.Putting time limits on benefits in an effort to encourage work can be "problematic," FitzSimons said, particularly in communities with high unemployment rates, where it can be difficult for people to meet the new standards. Because people's work schedules can shift, particularly with the gig economy, it can also be difficult to consistently demonstrate compliance with the required number of work hours, FitzSimons said. Congress may look to shore up funding for SNAP in the new farm bill being considered by the Senate.The American Public Health Association, an advocacy organization, is pushing for restoration of the $187 billion that was cut from SNAP, as well as reversing the "big beautiful" law's changes to the program, including the expanded work requirements, according to Tia Williams, director of APHA's Center for Public Health Policy.  The Center for American Progress, a liberal public policy and research organization, estimates the SNAP coverage losses due to the new work requirements could lead to 70,000 deaths nationally by 2040. "These cuts and the impact they will have on both individual and community health will be devastating, and they're incongruent around the goals of reducing chronic disease," Williams said.  Are you having difficulty accessing SNAP benefits and willing to share your story for a future article? Email lorie.konish@cnbc.com. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has seriously challenged freedom of navigation in the sea lane, raising questions about the future. View More

watch nowVIDEO8:4508:45Wall Street wants the Iran war to end, but it's also the reason why it isn’t ending: Amos HochsteinSquawk Box The oil market might face a new reality after the Iran war in which exports through the Strait of Hormuz do not return to the levels once considered normal, as shipowners now have to weigh the risk that fighting could abruptly break out in the volatile Persian Gulf. And Western commercial ships will likely hesitate to sail through Hormuz if it remains under Iran's de facto control, especially if they have to coordinate with the Revolutionary Guard, putting them at risk of violating U.S. sanctions. It is a scenario with consequences that are difficult to foresee given the vital role that Hormuz plays in global energy markets. Freedom of navigation through the strait was never seriously challenged until Iran basically closed the sea lane in response to the war launched by the U.S. and Israel on Feb. 28. Iran's blockade of Hormuz has triggered the largest oil supply disruption in history, putting pressure on the U.S. to make a deal as the threat to the global economy grows by the day. Tehran appears intent to use this leverage to consolidate control over the strait in a settlement that ends the war. Middle East leaders believe that Iran has already taken control of Hormuz, said Amos Hochstein, who served as a senior energy and national security advisor to former President Joe Biden. "No matter what happens, the Iranians will control the Strait of Hormuz for the foreseeable future," Hochstein told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Thursday. "It doesn't even matter what the deal says. Everybody in the region believes that." Oil tanker traffic through Hormuz before the war might represent the high point for transits for the foreseeable future, said Helima Croft, head of global commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets. "Any end to the conflict that leaves Iran exercising operational control and influence over the Strait will result in appreciably lower flows through the waterway in our view," Croft told clients in a Thursday note. Traffic under this scenario might return to 60% to 70% of prewar volumes with China-affiliated ships moving freely while passage for Western vessels require bilateral agreements with Iran, said Richard Meade, editor-in-chief of Lloyd's List, in a briefing on May 21. "This doesn't trigger a recession in the way that some of the doomsday scenarios that we've talked about before might suggest, but it does not allow the prewar rebound," Meade said. Lloyd's List is one of the oldest shipping industry trade journals in the world."It produces something more insidious," Meade continued. "A permanently bifurcated strait where access is a function of political alignment, not freedom of navigation." The Red Sea crisisThe crisis that throttled ship traffic through the Red Sea shows how geopolitical instability can disrupt trade chokepoints for much longer than originally expected. Houthi militants in Yemen that are allied with Iran started attacking commercial ships in November 2023 in response to Israel's war in Gaza. The attacks began on Nov. 19 with the hijacking of a cargo ship and continued with missile and drone attacks for two years. Daily traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, collapsed by more than half from 75 ships on Nov. 19, 2023 to 31 vessels by January 30, 2024. More than two years later, traffic through the strait still has not returned to the levels once considered normal. One of the major lessons from the Red Sea crisis is that "you don't need a massive navy in order to create major disruption in a maritime chokepoint," said Tomer Raanan, a maritime risk analyst at Lloyd's List.The Houthis have not attacked a vessel in the Red Sea since the end of last year but that has not been enough for ship traffic to return to levels seen in 2023, said Jack Kennedy, head of Middle East country risk at S&P Global Market Intelligence. It is uncertain whether the collapse in traffic through Hormuz will last as long as the disruption in the Red Sea. Shipowners will have to decide whether they believe a U.S.-Iran deal, if one is actually cemented, provides sufficient security gaurantees for commercial vessels. The current ceasefire is likely to hold for now as the Trump administration seems to be prioritizing increased access for commercial ships through Hormuz, Kennedy said. watch nowVIDEO4:1404:14Skeptical and not paying much attention to latest Iran-U.S. ceasefire news, Kpler's Matt SmithPower Lunch Even if Iran agreed to open Hormuz without any conditions on transit, it would likely take a long time to return to prewar levels of traffic, Kennedy said. There will be safety concerns, for example, about mines that may have been laid in the strait, he said. And there is a severe risk that the war could resume over the next year unless a permanent resolution is found to Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, Kennedy said. These are the key issues, particulary from an Israeli national security perspective, that led up to the war, the analyst said. The ship operators will have to weigh whether they are willing to risk their vessels and assets being trapped on one side of Hormuz for months if war does erupt again, Kennedy said.Few Hormuz alternativesBut the Red Sea is also different in key ways to Hormuz, said Raanan and Kennedy. One reason Red Sea traffic remains depressed is because ships can bypass it and avoid the security risk altogether by sailing around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. Hormuz, by contrast, is truly a chokepoint without any equivalent alternatives, the analysts said.Hormuz is also much more important to global energy markets than the Red Sea, they said. About 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas supplies passed through Hormuz before the war. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are using pipelines to divert millions of barrels of oil per day from the Persian Gulf to export terminals on the Red Sea and Gulf of Oman. These pipelines have eased the supply disruption but they do not fully compensate for Hormuz. watch nowVIDEO4:3804:38Brent prices will stay elevated through Q4 due to loss of supply, says Goldman Sachs' StruyvenClosing Bell: Overtime "You can get some stuff out of pipelines, but not everything can go through a pipeline," Raanan said. "We're not just talking oil that needs to come out of Hormuz." The whole point of LNG as a product, for example, is it can be loaded onto ships and transported around the world. Hormuz is also crucial for fertilizer and other commodities. In the absence of alternatives, shippers may have to accept and adapt to conditions in Hormuz in ways they did not in the Red Sea. Still, Middle East exporters are looking for more alternatives. The UAE, for example, is accelerating the construction of a second pipeline that bypasses Hormuz. It is scheduled to become operational in 2027.U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright believes the importance of Hormuz to the global energy market will decline after war, as Gulf nations like the UAE build more pipelines to avoid it. "This is a card you can play once," Wright said of Iran's blockade. "There'll be other routes for energy to get out of the Persian Gulf.""We will see a decreasing importance from the Strait of Hormuz, but not a decreasing importance of those nations' energy production and energy supply," he said. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Stocks have boomed while consumers have paid the costs of high energy prices. View More

In this article.SPX@LCO.1Follow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT A driver refuels a vehicle with regular gasoline at a Shell gas station in Hercules, California, May 21, 2026.David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images For some Americans' finances, the Iran war was over almost as soon as it began. Those with access to stocks — a majority of Americans have some, though the ultrawealthy have most — saw the S&P 500 dip about 8% when the war started, only for it to bounce 19% starting in late March, more than making up its losses. The index is now up 10.7% for the year, which if it held would make for the fourth consecutive year of double-digit stock increases.President Donald Trump has been quick to trumpet these gains. "We have 401(k)s at their all-time high, highest they've ever been, and that goes along with the stock market, which is the highest it's ever been," Trump said at a televised Cabinet meeting this week, repeating a refrain he has adopted to celebrate market wins. That is all despite the war, he said. But as Trump — along with anyone who has to put gas into their car — also knows, the real economic weight of the war is much heftier than lofty stock prices would suggest. The war is heightening an already historic disconnect between those who can share in the affluence spun off by U.S. financial markets and those who can't. That is aggravating Americas' frustrations with the president's economic performance, and likely will weigh on his fellow Republicans' performance in November's midterm elections. Trump won a return to the White House in large part because of his promises to rein in consumer prices, a pledge voters may feel is unfulfilled when they head to the ballot box. Read more CNBC politics coverageMichael Dell courted Trump early. His company has reaped rewardsTrump DOJ ‘lawfare’ fund temporarily blocked by judge as suit proceedsBondi defends handling of Epstein files to House panel A slew of new economic data shows the U.S. economy struggling to shrug off the effects of the war. Americans' purchasing power is falling, according to data released Thursday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Americans' real disposable income fell 0.2% in March and another 0.5% in April. Americans are getting through the energy crunch due to the war by slashing savings. The personal savings rate hit a dismal 2.6% last month, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis data showed. Growth in the first quarter was revised downward to just 1.6%. But the economy hasn't stalled out, in part because of that disconnect between the top and bottom halves of the population. Big U.S. companies are doing just fine — that, after all, is what makes up the S&P 500. It is workers, in aggregate, who are having a tough go of things. Although corporate profits are booming, labor's share of gross domestic income has fallen to 51%, the lowest in 79 years that records have been kept, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Iran war didn't create American inequality, but it hasn't helped. Researchers at the New York Federal Reserve found that since the war began, people in the Northeast earning less than $40,000 a year have cut back on gas purchases by nearly 10%, while those making over $125,000 have driven on with more disposable income. Nationally, those who can cut back are the lucky ones: Drivers in the Northeast are more likely to be able to switch to public transit than in many parts of the country. Elsewhere, people are more likely to have to have to close their eyes when they swipe their cards at the pump. Americans have spent an extra $447.19 on average on energy costs since the war began, according to analysis from Moody's.Gas prices did fall in recent days after the Memorial Day holiday and summer travel season kickoff. The average cost of a gallon of gas declined by 16 cents on average nationwide this week, to $4.39, according to AAA, as the U.S and Iran seemed to circle a deal. A tenuous new agreement between the U.S. and Iran would reopen the flow of oil tankers from the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz. With both the U.S. and Iran refusing to allow vessels to transit the strait, some 100 million barrels a day of oil aren't reaching global markets. The U.S. produces more oil than any country in the history of the world, but it is hooked into the price-setting global markets. That is a double-edged sword. When the closure of the strait stopped shipments of jet fuel from gulf producers to Europe, American market ingenuity stepped in to fill the gap. U.S. refineries switched from gas for automobiles to jet fuel. Global supply catastrophe was avoided, at some cost to U.S. consumers.Trump on Friday said he was making a final decision on a potential deal with Iran. Markets welcomed the news, with futures contracts for Brent crude oil falling about $1.70 to just below $92 a barrel. Stocks continued their rise.But financial markets can adapt in seconds to changes that will take months to work out in the real economy. There are some 2,000 ships trapped inside the Persian Gulf. First, mines need to be cleared, then those ships need to be directed through the strait."You need weeks and weeks" to get those ships out, Chevron CEO Mike Wirth said Friday in an interview with Bloomberg. Other ships that have diverted to take energy supplies from the U.S. market to Asia and elsewhere will need to be diverted again. "It will take months," Wirth said. Companies and governments, including energy-hungry China, will need to rebuild their depleted inventories. Oil demand will be higher than it was before the war. Prices will rise compared with prewar days to meet this demand. And that all assumes a deal. If one doesn't come soon, prices are likely to resume their upward march. Much can change by November, but for now it is hard to see how Trump's party can escape the political consequences. Some 60% of Americans disapprove of his handling of the presidency, versus 37% who approve, according to polling aggregator Strength in Numbers.But midterm politics is probably too narrow a frame to think about the consequences of increasing inequality. It is likely to scramble Democrats, too, as foreshadowed in the party's divides between its rising anti-corporate, progressive wing and the waning power of Clinton- and Obama-era free marketeers. The depth and bitterness of the divides between Americans who find themselves prospering in an artificial intelligence-driven stock boom and those who remain shut out is far more real to many Americans than the consequences of a war that is playing out half a world away. Of course, it is that alienation from the realities of U.S. power that made it so easy for Trump to go to war to begin with. The deepening of the politics of inequality will play out in ways we can't yet foresee. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Gen Zers like affordable, social experiences and are driving demand for anime and video game titles at the theaters. View More

In this articleSONYCMCSAAMCWBDSONYFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT watch nowVIDEO4:3504:35Gen Z is fueling the box office comebackCNBC Digital Original Video Hollywood can breathe a sigh of relief: Generation Z is not only going to the movies, it's driving box office growth.During the pandemic, when theaters shut down and streaming became a dominant force in the media landscape, fears rose that this young cohort would shun the big screen as they matured into more engaged consumers. However, this generation, which ranges from around 14 to 29 years old, is one of the most active moviegoing demographics and attends more films per year than some older generations, according to data from Fandango.In 2025, members of Gen Z saw an average of seven movies in theaters — matching average viewership among millennials — while members of Generation X and baby boomers saw around six movies on average, Fandango found. "Gen Z is driving moviegoer trends today, and I think people are shocked," said Jason Dorsey, president and co-founder of The Center for Generational Kinetics and co-author of "Zconomy." "They're like, 'Oh, Gen Z doesn't want to leave their house.' That's not true. Gen Z absolutely wants to leave their house — probably more than you know."Gen Z accounted for nearly 40% of all movie audiences in North America in 2025, according to data from Comscore.As teens and 20-somethings become the dominant generation at the box office, they're also shaping the future of moviegoing — and studios and movie theaters are taking note."Not only are we seeing a bigger and bigger percentage of Gen Z make up our overall audience, but their frequency is increasing year over year," Carrie Trotter, senior vice president of marketing at AMC, told CNBC. "So they have become one of the most important audiences for us, and I see that in the future, it may become the absolute most important audience for us." Building loyalty among Gen Z Helping to fuel Gen Z's affinity for the movies is the fact that it remains one of the more inexpensive forms of entertainment."Ticket pricing has gone up, as it does, but when you compare it to the year-over-year inflation rate, it's on par, if not less," said Steve Buck of EntTelligence, a movie data firm. "When you think about Gen Z, they are cost-conscious, but they're opening up their wallet."Gen Zers came of age around the time of Covid, which Dorsey called a "generation-defining experience." This cohort doesn't know a time without social media or smartphones and is incredibly cost-conscious, having grown up in a time of great uncertainty, he said."Covid uprooted all of their plans," Dorsey said. "They were going to school, going to college ... everything got turned upside down and it lasted for a long period of time. So, we see them much more fiscally conscious. I'll say it generally, like they're really conservative with their money in general, much more thrifty than we would expect for somebody at their age."This has led a significant portion of Gen Z to opt for loyalty programs at movie theaters, like AMC's A-list, Regal Unlimited and Cinemark's Movie Club, that reward them for money spent or allow them to see multiple films a month for a subscription fee."Gen Z over-indexes in the AMC A-List tier, and their participation has grown triple since the pandemic," Trotter said, noting that AMC's program also allows customers to book tickets for other loyalty members that are part of their friend group."We're trying to make it as frictionless as possible so we can encourage as much moviegoing and this social atmosphere," she said.At Rutgers Cinema in Piscataway, New Jersey, general manager Alex DelVecchio is keeping ticket prices low for the the students at nearby Rutgers University. Students who show a school ID pay just $5 for matinee screenings and $9.50 for all other general admissions. That's quite a bit cheaper than the nationwide average of nearly $13.50, according to EntTelligence."We try to keep it as cheap as we can," DelVecchio said. But it's not all about affordability. DelVecchio said he also runs promos like free slushies on Wednesdays and looks for ways to engage his predominantly college-age consumer.For the release of Warner Bros.' "It: Chapter One" in 2017, DelVecchio said the company put a clown in every theater, posted red balloons all over campus and had a staff member wear a yellow jacket and play with a paper boat outside to mimic iconic scenes from the movie."We started selling everything out," he said. "And, then, once you get the momentum you can keep it as long as you keep playing what they want." Tashi-delek | E+ | Getty Images While Gen Zers are selective about their spending, they are willing to shell out for experiences, particularly social activities they can do with their friends that give them an excuse to disconnect from their phones."This is a way for them to come and spend time with their friends and their family, and that social experience really outweighs the movie itself that they're seeing," Trotter said. "But also there's a little bit of FOMO [fear of missing out], like they want to be part of the excitement and their fandom of that fuels their desire to be the first to see these movies and be part of the conversation as it's happening."And while Gen Z enjoys staying off their phones during the movie, they still use social media to share their thoughts on films and see what others think of new and old titles. Letterboxd, an online platform where moviegoers can track movies they've watched and post reviews, has become so ubiquitous with this generation that Hollywood has come to refer to Gen Z interchangeably as the Letterboxd generation. The site currently has more than 29 million users, with more than half of that base under the age of 35. Through Letterboxd, Gen Z is relying more on community reviews than those of official movie critics when choosing what movies to see in theaters. What Gen Z wants to watch Of course, Gen Z has some genre-specific preferences, and Hollywood appears to be playing to them. Similar to their elders, this age group often flocks to cinemas for horror films and R-rated fare. But they diverge from previous generations in their interest in anime and video game adaptations based on games they played growing up. Gen Zers have also shown a penchant for older, rereleased titles, leaning into the nostalgia of moviegoing.In 2025, "A Minecraft Movie," based on the popular online game, was the most attended film by Gen Z, according to data from EntTelligence. The Warner Bros. film generated more than $424 million domestically during its theatrical run, the second-highest take of the year, and tallied $960 million globally. Meanwhile Sony and Crunchyroll's "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba — The Movie: Infinity Castle" saw the largest percentage of Gen Z in its audiences, with 42% of tickets being sold to this members of the generation. Jack Black, Jason Momoa and Sebastian Hansen in Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment's "A Minecraft Movie."Warner Bros. So far in 2026, Universal's "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie" is the most attended film by Gen Z. It's secured $425 million domestically, the highest-grossing film of the year so far, and $982 million globally. Box office analysts expect films like Disney and Pixar's "Toy Story 5," Universal's "Minions & Monsters," Sony's "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" and Marvel's "Avengers: Doomsday" to see a significant portion of ticket sales from Gen Z audiences."I think theaters have a real opening right now to be that in-person social experience for Gen Z," Dorsey said. "It's still fragile, the generation is still finicky, but there's a massive opportunity for them to be able to build on the fact that they can create these wonderful in-person experiences and in a more affordable way."Disclosure: Versant is the parent company of Fandango and CNBC. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

The Philippines is going to be locked in a long-term struggle with China over the South China Sea, the country's national defense secretary tells CNBC. View More

Philippines' Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro Jr. (C) attends a plenary session of the 23rd Shangri-La Dialogue summit in Singapore on May 30, 2026. (Photo by JAM STA ROSA / AFP via Getty Images)Jam Sta Rosa | Afp | Getty Images The Philippines' maritime struggle with China is getting increasingly intense, according to national defense secretary Gilberto Teodoro.The two countries have been locked in a struggle around some disputed territory in the South China Sea. China claims almost all of the sea, including areas that overlap with exclusive economic zones from countries like the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia, and has been building out structures on some shoals in recent years to bolster its claims.China "continues its acts unabated, and they're unrepentant with their expansionism," Teodoro said in an interview with CNBC's Sri Jegarajah on the sidelines of the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. "We are in for a long-term struggle.""It's our exclusive economic zone," Teodoro continued, "and future Filipinos need it in a 7,600-island archipelago with a big population which is subject to the ravages of climate change." Teodoro noted that the Philippines has tried to resolve the issue through negotiations, and previously filed an arbitration case on it under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.When asked what success would look like on that front, Teodoro said it "would be stopping China's further advancement" and any construction of artificial islands in the area. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

The Thailand Rescue Diver Facebook page also posted that “rescue officials were able to bring out four more people trapped” at about 3:10 pm (0810 GMT) on Saturday. View More

With ties to the Trump family, Foundation Robotics Labs is aiming to deploy humanoid robots in the military in the next 12 to 18 months. View More

Foundation Future Industries, a start-up founded in 2024, aims to leverage humanoid robots for military and industrial work, rather than household tasks and the service sector.Foundation Future Industries As Silicon Valley races to build humanoid robots that can fold laundry and pour a latte, at least one start-up sees a very different use for the technology: war or other potentially hazardous and deadly jobs. Meet Foundation Future Industries, a San Francisco-based robotics company with ties to the Trump family, developing 'dual-use' autonomous humanoid robots for both heavy industrial environments and military applications. While the robots sound like something out of a Terminator-esque science fiction movie, they are nearing reality, with early iterations undergoing tests in Ukraine for potential use in Kyiv's war against Russia. Core to the company's mission is the belief that humanoid robotics should be put towards humanity's greatest challenges rather than household chores and service roles, Foundation CEO Sankaet Pathak told CNBC."I'm convinced the technology is reaching a level where it can replace jobs that are dangerous for humans to perform, and if you can do that, it's the highest net good you can create out of all applications of robotics," Pathak said.  Sankaet Pathak, CEO and founder of Foundation, a company that builds a humanoid robot Phantom-01, poses for a photo during an interview with Reuters at his company's factory in San Francisco, California, U.S., February 4, 2026. Aleksandra Michalska | Reuters Though Foundation operates in an increasingly crowded humanoid field, its explicit embrace of potential military uses for its technology has set it apart.But the start-up has set ambitious targets for itself, with Pathak planning to scale production to thousands of units this year, and to begin frontline testing with the U.S. military within the next 18 months.The plans and the firm's growing ties to Washington represent yet another example of how artificial intelligence and robotics are beginning to transform modern warfare and become a focus of national security.  From Silicon Valley to Ukraine Pathak is best known for previously leading Synapse, a controversial fintech platform that declared bankruptcy in 2024. Soon after, he started Foundation with Arjun Sethi, former CEO of Tribe Capital and Mike LeBlanc, a co-founder of Cobalt Robotics.Pathak's latest venture has also attracted some scrutiny after the company suggested it had close ties to General Motors and could receive investment from the automaker, claims GM later rejected.Foundation would eventually gain more global recognition earlier this year when it sent two of its Phantom MK-1 units to Ukraine for a pilot demonstration, marking what the company described as the first known deployment of humanoid robots in a combat theater.The ongoing tests, backed by the U.S. government and conducted with Ukrainian officials, focused on logistics in hazardous areas. Foundation Future Industries, a start-up founded in 2024, aims to leverage humanoid robots for military and industrial work, rather than household tasks and the service sector.Foundation Future Industries Ukraine was a natural debut, as its ongoing conflict with Russia has already emerged as a major test bed for robotics and AI in combat. The war, now in its fifth year, has seen the use of ground robots to deliver supplies to the front line, and autonomous and AI-augmented drones for precision strikes and reconnaissance.According to Pathak, the MK-1 testing in Ukraine has already proved the robot's potential to perform supply pickups, which often expose soldiers to danger. But while the MK-1s help demonstrate the utility of the core technology, they are far from super soldiers, carrying only about a 44-pound payload, and lacking waterproofing and sufficient battery life to be deployed at scale.  Foundation aims to send new and improved robots to Ukraine this year in the form of its Phantom 2, which Pathak says will come with "superhuman abilities" and double the payload capacity of Phantom 1.The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine declined to comment on the matter, while the U.S. Department of Defense did not respond to an inquiry. Alignment with Washington Foundation expects its tests in Ukraine to inform future work with the U.S. military. The start-up has already received government research contracts totaling $24 million for feasibility testing in inspection, logistics, and weapons handling across the Army, Navy and Air Force.Pathak said conversations with government officials had shifted from research to how to scale the use of the robots. The CEO is aiming for Foundation to deploy its technology with the U.S. military and, if needed, on the front lines of conflicts within the next 12 to 18 months. Notably, that goal will be carried out with Eric Trump, the second son of the sitting president, who recently joined the company as its chief strategy advisor — a move that has drawn scrutiny from Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, who alleged the firm's government contracts were "corruption in plain sight." A Foundation spokesperson told CNBC that Eric Trump had been an investor in the firm before stepping in as an adviser, with the two parties having a shared vision of bringing manufacturing back to the U.S. Phantom-01, a humanoid robot developed by San Francisco-based startup Foundation for military purposes, sits at the company's factory in San Francisco, California, U.S., February 4, 2026. Aleksandra Michalska | Reuters Foundation has heavily leaned into its alignment with Washington's interests, framing the importance of its tech in the broader geopolitical competition between the U.S. and China. The goal is to deliver "the best robots we can build" to the U.S. military — better than anything China has," Pathak said. While several American companies are working with the U.S. government to deploy autonomous robots for military applications, the Pentagon has yet to disclose the deployment of a humanoid robot for such purposes. China, which has a number of leading humanoid robot companies, has also publicly funded and supported initiatives for the technology, primarily focused on industrial and economic applications. While Chinese military researchers have released reports on the potential of humanoid robots in the military, the extent of their trials remains unclear. China's military has previously showcased early iterations of AI-powered robotic dogs for combat, as well as motion-controlled humanoid robot soldiers.  The age of autonomous war Proponents of humanoid technology in military and industrial fields argue that human-like robots are generally better suited than other forms of robotics to navigate real-world construction sites, logistics centers and war zones.Kateryna Bondar, a senior fellow with the Wadhwani AI Center at CSIS, told CNBC that humanoid robots could theoretically provide certain upsides on the battlefield due to their autonomy and human-like dexterity."Modern urban combat spaces — where there are stairwells, ladders, basements and narrow corridors — were created for human movement, which could give humanoid systems an advantage over tracked or quadruped robots in certain scenarios," Bondar said. Still, there remain questions about the complexity and costs of manufacturing humanoids compared to other systems. As humanoid robots move towards the battlefield, the technology has raised ethical concerns, particularly around the use of autonomous decision-making in combat when human lives are at stake. Though most weaponized uses of the Phantom robots will retain some human confirmation in the decision loop, Pathak said Foundation's robots will need to make fully autonomous decisions in certain time-critical scenarios. Foundation Future Industries, a start-up founded in 2024, aims to leverage humanoid robots for military and industrial work, rather than household tasks and the service sector.Foundation Future Industries Still, the U.S. military has already shown a willingness to adopt AI models, with the technology reportedly used to inform strikes and decision-making in its ongoing conflict with Iran.A bigger hurdle for companies such as Foundation could be proving that their human-like robots can be more practical and cost-effective for military applications than other alternatives on the market — something many experts doubt. "Making robots look like humans is a complex and expensive engineering challenge, and what Ukraine has taught us is the opposite — that we need the ability to adapt rapidly and manufacture quickly and cheaply," said Melanie Sisson, a senior fellow with the Brookings Foreign Policy program. What experts seem to agree on is that, regardless of shape or size, the age of AI robots in war is near."I expect tracked, flying and underwater robots to replace human forces," said Toby Walsh, chief scientist at The University of New South Wales's AI Institute. However, it might be a "science fiction trope to expect humanoid terminator-style robots," he said. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

The report stated that the near-term outlook for the Indian economy is one of cautious resilience View More

Analysts see 2026 as a period of consolidation for the sector, as excitement over Europe's increased defense budget is replaced by company-specific drivers.  View More

German Rheinmetall MAN tactical military transport vehicles parked in the Edvard Peperko military barracks.Luka Dakskobler | Lightrocket | Getty Images European defense stocks enjoyed a bumper 2025, fueled by a sharp increase in state military spending targets in response to growing geopolitical instability. This year, however, the sector's fortunes have plateaued somewhat, with the Stoxx Europe Aerospace & Defence index down 1.2% year-to-date, compared with a 4.8% return in the broader Stoxx 600 index. But analysts see 2026 as a period of consolidation for the sector, in which bullishness over Europe's increased defense spending is replaced by greater scrutiny of individual companies' performance and fundamentals. "Investors are becoming very picky and very selective," said Loredana Muharremi, equity analyst at Morningstar. "What investors want to see now are earnings and cash flows, and we believe that we're going to see some upside towards the second part of the year when the orders come, when the down payments from governments come, when the deliveries come — but it will definitely take a while for stock prices to get back to where they were."Shares of defense companies initially held up well after the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran on Feb. 28, as concerns emerged that the conflict would escalate into a full-blown war engulfing the entire Middle East region. watch nowVIDEO3:5403:54Aerospace & defense sector to dominate IPO listings: Euronext CEOSquawk Box Europe But since then, gains for the industry's biggest names have been muted. Vehicles such as the WisdomTree Europe Defence ETF and the iShares Europe Defence ETF, as well as the more globally-tilted VanEck Defense ETF, all sit below their pre-war levels.Sentiment weakened further in the spring after a set of underwhelming first-quarter earnings reports. Missed earnings estimates from industry bellwether Rheinmetall led investors to start questioning the potential for further upside in the sector, amid lofty valuations. Rheinmetall's eye-watering 400% gain over the past 3 years, and 150% gain across 2025, is an example of investor sentiment pricing for more years of sustained growth."When shares are trading on such high multiples and such high growth is already baked in, it's hard to work out exactly the right multiple to value Rheinmetall," Matthew Dorset, equity research analyst at Quilter Cheviot, told CNBC over the phone.Dorset also sees potential for companies to struggle to adapt to the dynamic nature of warfare and its changing equipment needs as a factor that could hold back the industry in the future."Which products are going to be used in five or ten years?" he added. "One of the lessons from Ukraine is that it's clearly a drone and counter-drone war, a very static war. Do we actually need that many land vehicles, tanks and artillery?"Morningstar's Muharremi said companies that are more diversified in their product offering, particularly those with a strong suite of electronic components, will fare better than companies that are predominantly land-based. Tailwinds ahead There may be further tailwinds to come from the broader geopolitical environment, albeit on a smaller scale. European defense stocks rallied on Thursday and Friday after Ukraine's parliament ratified a 90 billion-euro ($104.6 billion) loan agreement with the EU.Reuters reported on Thursday that Zelenskyy and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will jointly announce an agreement to provide Ukraine with Gripen fighter jets, citing an anonymous source.The pair signed a letter of intent last October that could see Sweden sell as many as 150 Saab Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine.Saab topped the Stoxx 600, with the Swedish fighter jet maker closing the day 7.4% higher.German tank parts maker Renk advanced 5.4%, while France's Exail Technologies and Germany's Rheinmetall popped 13.2% and 4.2%, respectively. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.