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NASA has tapped Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin for several contracts in the agency's Artemis return-to-the-moon program. View More

Fire during an explosion of the uncrewed Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket during a test on a launchpad in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., May 28, 2026, in this screengrab obtained from a handout video.NASASpaceflight.com | Reuters NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman on Monday told CNBC that it will "take some serious time" to restore the launchpad damaged last week by a Blue Origin rocket explosion.Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin was conducting a hot-fire test of its massive New Glenn rocket on Thursday at a Space Force launch facility in Cape Canaveral, Florida, when the rocket erupted into a fireball. Bezos confirmed that all Blue Origin personnel were safe following the incident, and pledged to rebuild, while calling it a "very rough day."A 2028 timeframe is "within the realm" of a possible launchpad recovery, Isaacman said in an interview at CNBC's CEO Council Summit. "We're all getting organized generally around the idea that we certainly want to see Blue Origin be very successful," Isaacman said. "So recovering, getting the pad recovered, providing subject matter expertise, root cause analysis for sure. Let's figure out what's broken, and then we got to keep moving forward."Isaacman, Bezos and Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp toured the launchpad and addressed the space startup's employees on Friday. Limp wrote in a Saturday post on X that Blue Origin has since regained some access to launchpad and developed a plan for rebuilding.NASA has several contracts with Blue Origin as part of the space agency's Artemis program, an effort to return American astronauts to the Moon's surface by 2028. It tapped Blue Origin to launch an uncrewed Blue Moon lander, known as MK1, atop New Glenn later this year. Getting the lander to the moon will require a rocket that can carry a significant amount of mass, Isaacman said. That will likely put NASA in "Falcon Heavy land," he said, referring to the super heavy-lift rocket developed by Elon Musk's SpaceX. "In terms of heavy lift, you know, real heavy lift, you've got SpaceX and Blue Origin, and obviously one of them is down a pad right now," Isaacman said. New Glenn was designed by Blue Origin to compete with SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, along with United Launch Alliance's Vulcan heavy-lift rocket. Blue Origin only has one New Glenn launchpad, making Thursday's explosion an especially devastating mishap. It plans to operate a New Glenn launchpad out of Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, but that pad remains in development."We've got a lot of data, in fact, it was one of the first things my team made available, is, hey, across history of human space flight, of every launch pad we've built, every launch pad we ever had to rebuild, here's the timelines," Isaacman said. "Even if you're moving at, you know, a pretty quick pace, that's going to take some serious time."The incident also impacts Blue Origin's other customers, including Amazon. Blue Origin was set to ferry 48 satellites for Amazon's nascent Leo internet-from-space venture this week, as part of several upcoming missions. Amazon, which Bezos founded in 1994, has a pending deadline by the Federal Communications Commission to deploy about half of its constellation by next month. It's also working to bring its Leo service online for commercial customers later this year, which aims to compete with SpaceX's Starlink. AST SpaceMobile, which is building a direct-to-device satellite system, also relies on Blue Origin for some rocket launches. The stock closed down more than 6% on Monday, after falling almost 17% on Friday. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Chinese companies are increasingly seeking Nvidia alternatives to develop self-sufficient systems, even if their own tech remains in the early stages. View More

In this articleGOOGL9660-HKNIOXPEV1211-HK1211-HKBABAFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT An iFlytek liquid-cooled server equipped with Huawei Kunpeng 920 chips and Ascend AI chips, on display at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, China on July 26, 2025. Cfoto | Future Publishing | Getty Images Hi, this is Evelyn, writing to you from Beijing. Welcome to the latest edition of The China Connection — a succinct snapshot of what I'm seeing and hearing from local businesses.China's tech self-sufficiency push is rapidly becoming a reality as companies focus on business questions that run deeper than geopolitics. What does that mean for Nvidia? The big story Robovan startup Zelostech plans to use multiple chip suppliers from China and elsewhere, over the next year or two, instead of relying only on Nvidia for its self-driving systems, the company told CNBC.A major factor is cost, said Shi Yunjian, director of finance and investment. Using China-made chips, for example, would cost far less than the two Nvidia Orin chipsets currently used in each vehicle, he said.That's a big deal because scale is becoming a competitive advantage. The more autonomous vehicles can deploy, the more operating data they can collect and the easier it becomes to convince regulators that the technology is ready for wider use.Zelostech claims it already has more than 25,000 vehicles operating in over 20 countries, with plans to expand rapidly. These don't carry people, and many are smaller than a mail truck. Most operate in mainland China, mostly for logistics companies delivering packages.By comparison, Alphabet-backed Waymo has just under 4,000 vehicles on the road, while Chinese rivals Baidu, WeRide and Pony.ai have yet to deploy fleets at a similar scale. Beyond Nvidia Zelostech is hardly alone in pursuing Nvidia alternatives.Waymo uses custom chips, while Chinese electric car giant BYD last week joined Nio and Xpeng in revealing their own semiconductors for driver-assist systems.This year, Nio said it's planning a fivefold increase in spending on computing power. When I asked whether that included Nvidia, CEO William Li said the company was no longer buying chips but renting compute power powered by a variety of processors.A vehicle Xpeng co-developed with Volkswagen is also using the Chinese company's "Turing chip," while the German automaker has partnered with China's Horizon Robotics to develop driver-assist systems in China — without Nvidia.Nvidia's driver-assist chips are not subject to the same U.S. export restrictions that apply to the more advanced semiconductors used to train and run AI models.Yet even after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang joined U.S. President Donald Trump on his trip to Beijing in May, it's clear China is not eager to let more Nvidia chips in.The shift extends beyond vehicles. Chinese AI developers have increasingly optimized their models to run on homegrown hardware, rather than Nvidia's widely used CUDA ecosystem.The latest MiniMax and Kimi models, along with DeepSeek's V4, are compatible with local Chinese semiconductors."We believe the pivot to domestic chips will accelerate over 2026E-28E," Goldman Sachs analysts said in a May 5 report. They pointed out that DeepSeek V4 works with eight China-made chips, including those from Huawei and Alibaba's T-head chip unit. A narrowing window Huawei last week also revealed that it's been using a new scientific approach to developing its chips, and plans to incorporate them in upcoming products. It's the latest sign of a comeback for the Chinese telecom giant, after years of U.S. restrictions.Kevin Xu, founder of hedge fund Interconnected Capital, expects Chinese companies to continue to need Nvidia chips for the next three to five years. But he argues Beijing has an incentive to limit that dependence sooner rather than later. China-made chips can only improve if companies use them in real-world scenarios, generating the feedback needed to make the technology useful for businesses. "The more Nvidia chips get into the ecosystem, the more dilution you have of that relationship," he said.Nvidia's revenue from mainland China and Hong Kong is shrinking anyway, even as the company doubles down on Taiwan with plans to spend as much as $150 billion a year there.That investment will likely reverse Taiwan's initial plan to limit AI data centers and nuclear power, said Chris Cottorone, president of TriOrient Investments and co-chair of the alternative assets committee at AmCham Taiwan. He also expects more local businesses to adopt AI.Nvidia's growing presence in Asia — but not in mainland China — is driving the chipmaker to find other ways to maintain technological leadership.The U.S. company is trying to keep its foot in China's world of "physical AI' by collaborating with Chinese humanoid startup Unitree on a research robot sold globally. Huang also has an eye on talent as he's reportedly joined a Tsinghua University board, which the company and school have yet to respond to requests for comment on.It's a sign that the tide is turning. China's technological ambitions are no longer defined by access to Nvidia, but by the companies that can build without it. Need to know China is 'losing a chance' by not being at the Shangri-La Dialogue: German defense chiefGermany's chief of defense General Carsten Breuer's comments came after China's defense minister Dong Jun skipped the conference for a second straight year, with Beijing sending a lower-level delegation.China industrial profits jump 24.7% in April, fastest gain in over two years despite headwindsFor the first four months of the year, industrial profits rose 18.2%, up from 15.5% growth in the first quarter. Computing and electronics equipment manufacturing, the largest sector by profit amount, saw earnings more than double from a year ago.European companies double down on China manufacturing despite EU de-risking pushMore European companies are maintaining or expanding their supply chains in mainland China to remain competitive globally, according to a survey released Wednesday by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China. Coming up May 31 - June 2: Brazil Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira to visit ChinaJune 1 - 3: UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper to visit China for 11th bilateral strategic dialogueJune 3: RatingDog China Services PMI (May)June 9: Trade data for May Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Alphabet said it plans to sell $80 billion in stock, including through a $10 billion investment by Berkshire Hathaway. View More

In this articleGOOGLGOOGFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks during the 2026 Google I/O technology developer conference in Mountain View, California, on May 19, 2026. Karl Mondon | AFP | Getty Images Alphabet said Monday it plans to sell $80 billion in stock, including through a $10 billion investment by Berkshire Hathaway.The Google parent company said in a statement that the capital will "fund investments in its world-class AI compute infrastructure to meet its unprecedented customer demand.""The company is experiencing strong demand for its AI solutions and services from enterprises and consumers, at levels that are exceeding the company's available supply," Alphabet said. "By scaling its investments, the company seeks to expand its foundational infrastructure to support the significant growth opportunity ahead."Google is significantly ramping up spending on artificial intelligence as it races to keep up with tech's other hyperscalers. The company in April revised its capital expenditure forecast this year to between $180 billion and $190 billion, up from its previous estimate of $175 billion to $185 billion. At the time, when asked what keeps Google executives up at night, CEO Sundar Pichai said "compute capacity." "Be it power, land, supply chain constraints, how do you ramp up to meet this extraordinary demand for this moment?" he said.Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon are expected to pour more than $700 billion combined this year into capex. Wall Street analysts estimate total AI capex could climb above $1 trillion in 2027.The debt markets have also been critical to the AI buildouts. Alphabet held a global bond issuance in excess of $30 billion in February, and went to the European market to raise roughly $11 billion in sterling and Swiss francs. That followed a $25 billion bond sale in November.  Alphabet's stock has more than doubled in the past year, outperforming all the company's megacap peers, as investors applaud its AI investments and the returns Google is seeing through its Gemini upgrades. The stock slipped in extended trading on Monday. In addition to the $10 billion from Berkshire, Alphabet plans $30 billion in underwritten offerings, including $15 billion in "depositary shares representing mandatory convertible preferred stock." The remaining $40 billion will come from an at-the-market offering program for Class A and Class C shares, expected to begin in the third quarter.Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley are acting as joint book-running managers for the underwritten offerings, and Goldman is the placement agent for the private placement.Berkshire has been building a position in Alphabet since the third quarter of last year. Prior to Monday's announcement, the investment company's stake in the search giant was worth about $20 billion, one of its top positions. When Berkshire revealed a $4.3 billion bet on Alphabet in November, it marked one of its most significant technology investments in years. Apple's is the firm's largest holding.WATCH: Alphabet unveils new AI model, smart glasses at Google I/O watch nowVIDEO2:3102:31Alphabet unveils new AI model, smart glasses at Google I/OFast Money Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

The retail industry saw strong first-quarter sales and profits, but high tax refunds and buy now, pay later helped mask underlying consumer weakness. View More

In this articleELFTGTWMTBBYBURLTJXWROSTFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT watch nowVIDEO3:2103:21Retail earnings may reveal cracks in the American consumerMorning Call The retail industry emerged from a choppy first quarter relatively unscathed, but higher than usual tax refunds and an uptick in buy now, pay later use likely helped to buoy spending.As Wall Street looks ahead to the second quarter, the period could offer a clearer view on consumer health and just how much high gas prices and persistent inflation have disrupted the economy and pressured already-strained household budgets. "Once you got through April and May, you're really not seeing the impact of tax refunds anymore, and those months were a little bit choppier, so there's a lot of moving pieces that maybe kept the consumer going for longer than we would have expected," said Janine Stichter, a retail analyst and managing director at BTIG."As you peel back these tax refunds, you might start to see some of the underlying weakness … the consumer has not yet fully fallen apart and that's why I think people are really looking to Q2 to say, 'All right, well, what does the health of the consumer actually look like?'"The period between February and May — which encompasses many retailers' fiscal first-quarter results — brought a fresh wave of concerns about household spending. President Donald Trump started a new conflict in the Middle East, which led to surging gas prices, plummeting consumer confidence and renewed concerns about the health of the U.S. economy. But when retailers reported their first-quarter results over the last few weeks, there were few cracks to be found as sales rose, profits grew and outlooks stayed consistent at many of the largest U.S. companies."It was a surprisingly robust quarter," said Neil Saunders, retail analyst and managing director at GlobalData. "Despite the rising gas prices, I think despite the choppiness in consumer sentiment, I think despite the uncertainty over the economy and everything else that's going on in the world, consumers still showed up and they opened their wallets and they spent." However, right around the same time the conflict in the Middle East began, tax refunds started trickling in. The number of people who received them, and the amounts they got, were higher than last year, which gave cash-strapped consumers some extra pocket money to go shopping. "That was a very helpful offset in terms of spending. I think without them there would have still been growth, but they really did provide the icing on the cake," said Saunders.Take Target, which said same-store sales jumped 5.6% during its fiscal first quarter, its first positive same-store sales number in five quarters with strength across all six of its core merchandising categories. But the strength wasn't just because of Target's turnaround efforts, as finance chief James Lee acknowledged higher tax refunds helped to fuel spending."That benefit will be fading over the rest of the year," Lee said last week. "While consumers have proven to be resilient so far, sentiment has been declining recently and we're keeping a close eye on their spending behavior."  watch nowVIDEO3:4503:45Why Walmart's stock is having its worst day since 2023The Exchange Similar trends were spotted at Best Buy, Burlington Stores, Ross and Wayfair. At Best Buy, comparable sales rose 2%, and executives acknowledged part of that growth came from higher tax refunds. Considering the overall electronics market grew by about 3.6% during the first quarter, Best Buy still underperformed and lost market share, even with extra stimulus in the economy, Saunders said in an emailed note last week. The impact was particularly acute in the off-price sector. Burlington estimated higher tax refunds were worth between 1.5 to 2 percentage points of its comparable sales growth, which was 6% during the quarter. Competitor Ross saw comparable sales jump a staggering 17%, beating expectations of 9%, and also attributed some of its outsize growth to extra stimulus. During a call with analysts in mid-May, Wayfair finance chief Kate Gulliver said tax refunds had helped "buttress" the impact of higher gas prices. "The consumer's been able to hang in there a little bit because of stimulus sort of helping," she said. Meanwhile, there was also an uptick in buy now, pay later use during the quarter, which could've helped fuel spending as well, said Stichter. During the first quarter, buy now, pay later adoption hit new highs across income cohorts, with an estimated 15% to 17% of those making up to $150,000 using the services, Stichter said in a May research note, citing transaction data from Consumer Edge. Among shoppers making over $150,000, adoption rose to just under 13%. "There probably is some level of either actual stress or kind of emotional pullback across all income cohorts on some level, we're just not really seeing it in the earnings results yet," she said. "Maybe it's that they're pulling back in other areas, maybe that they're finding other ways to make payments." That could start to change in the current quarter, as a range of retailers gave conservative guidance that suggested consumers may not be able to weather high gas prices as well as they did earlier in the year."Ross had a ridiculously good quarter, I mean, almost unprecedented in terms of the level of growth," said Saunders. "Even with that in the bank for the first quarter, their view going into the second quarter and the rest of the year is that things will still be good for them, but they will normalize."Walmart is another example. The mega retailer saw sales rise 7% during its fiscal first quarter, but only reaffirmed its full-year outlook, and issued weaker guidance for the second quarter than Wall Street expected.Walmart finance chief John David Rainey told CNBC the company's outlook was strong given everything happening in the economy, but said consumers may feel more strain as the effect of tax refunds fades in the second quarter."I think higher tax returns muted some of the pressure related to higher fuel prices," said Rainey. "As we're in a period of time right now where those tax refunds are largely not coming in, I think consumers are going to feel more of that pressure from higher fuel prices." TJX Companies also had a strong quarter – posting its biggest earnings per share beat since August 2021 as same-store sales jumped 6%, almost 2 percentage points above Wall Street expectations. Still, its second-quarter guidance for earnings per share and same-store sales came in short of estimates.Meanwhile, E.l.f. Beauty delivered sizable beats on the top and bottom lines but still issued a weaker-than-expected outlook. CEO Tarang Amin told CNBC the "consumer is suffering" and said the company plans to roll back some tariff-fueled price increases as a result. While retailers can at times be "more cautious in their guidance than the reality might suggest," executives and analysts generally agree they could see a more strained consumer in the current quarter and the rest of the year, said Saunders. "[That] tells you that retailers are kind of seeing the signs that some of this trough around the growth rate won't persist across the balance of this year," said Saunders. "Not that it will be terrible, but just the heat will come out of some of that momentum, and I think that is related to the fading impact of tax [refunds] and the picture of inflation that will probably pick up across the balance of this year." Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

McDonald's new growth plan comes as inflation and high gas prices mean restaurants are competing for a smaller pool of customers. View More

In this articleMCDFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT People walk by a McDonald's restaurant on March 11, 2026, in Las Vegas, Nevada.Kevin Carter | Getty Images McDonald's on Monday unveiled its latest global growth strategy to help the fast-food giant become customers' first choice as it faces new rivals and consumer spending stretched by high gas prices.A new restaurant design, better-tasting food and drinks, consumer-led innovation and improved customer service are the four cornerstones of the new plan, which the company calls "McDonald's > NEXT." Executives made the announcement at McDonald's biennial Worldwide Convention for franchisees, held this year in Las Vegas. The chain released its last global strategy, known as "Accelerating the Arches," in November 2020 as its sales bounced back from the pandemic. The growth plan comes as restaurants compete for a smaller pool of customers, and a new crop of chains, including Raising Cane's and 7 Brew Drive Thru Coffee, threaten McDonald's sales. So far, McDonald's, the largest U.S. restaurant chain by revenue, has managed to hold onto its dominant spot, with four straight quarters of same-store sales growth."Traditional competitors are upgrading their menus, and a new wave of specialists are emerging and redefining taste and quality across chicken, beef, and beverages," McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski wrote in a memo to the chain's global system."In a world where every restaurant is a swipe away, there is no such thing as second place," he added.To become diners' first option, McDonald's plans to focus on menu innovation that elevates taste and quality, like improvements to its McCrispy chicken line. For years, the chain has sought to improve and expand its chicken offerings as rivals like Chick-fil-A stole its customers. Plus, Americans have been eating more chicken than beef for the past 16 years, due to health concerns tied to the consumption of red meat and higher beef prices, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data."We're raising the bar for our menu by improving quality and consistency at scale and innovating in spaces where we see growth potential and know matter to our customers, like chicken, beef and beverages," said Jill McDonald, the chain's global chief restaurant experience officer. The chain also wants to "co-create" with customers by listening more closely to what consumers want and how they interact with brands. Recent examples include the popularity of its viral Grimace milkshake and its collaboration with "A Minecraft Movie."The new restaurant design will give McDonald's a recognizable look, but it should also ease employee headaches and improve kitchen operations. The company said back-end systems will be more intuitive and connected, for example.McDonald's is also testing automated order taking at five U.S. restaurants using a system it named ARCHY to let employees focus on other tasks. More broadly, the chain also said it wants to "redefine hospitality" by improving customer service and training employees to interact more with diners.In September, the company will hold an investor day that will include more details about the strategy and relevant financial targets. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

President Trump spoke with CNBC's Eamon Javers about the latest with the Iran war in an interview Monday. View More

watch nowVIDEO3:2203:22Trump to CNBC on U.S.-Iran negotiations: I don't care if they are overThe Exchange President Donald Trump on Monday shrugged off the possible collapse of peace negotiations with Iran, telling CNBC, "I don't care if they're over, honestly.""I really don't care. I couldn't care less," Trump told CNBC's Eamon Javers in a phone interview midday Monday, saying he thought the protracted discussions "started to get very boring." Trump had been asked about the prospect of Iran ending talks with the U.S. in light of reporting earlier Monday that Iranian negotiators would take that step — and also move to "completely block" the Strait of Hormuz — due to Israel's military operations in Lebanon against the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah.Asked if the Iranians told him that they are not going to negotiate further, Trump said, "No, they haven't." "If they're over, they're over ... frankly, I thought they started to get very boring."President Donald Trump Trump said he was "going to ask" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "what's going on with Lebanon." Trump said in a Truth Social post Monday afternoon that he "had a very productive call" with Netanyahu. "There will be no Troops going to Beirut, and any Troops that are on their way, have already been turned back," Trump wrote.He said in the same post that he spoke with Hezbollah "through highly placed Representatives," and "they agreed that all shooting will stop — That Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel."In another post, Trump wrote, "Talks are continuing, at a rapid pace, with the Islamic Republic of Iran."Netanyahu, in an X post later Monday, said he told Trump that "if Hezbollah does not cease attacking our cities and citizens—Israel will attack terror targets in Beirut." "This stance of ours remains unchanged. In parallel, the IDF will continue to operate as planned in southern Lebanon," Netanyahu wrote.In his call with CNBC, Trump said he wasn't worried about oil prices, which had spiked after Iranian state news outlet Tasnim reported earlier Monday that Tehran was halting negotiations and clamping down on the Hormuz Strait."I think the oil will be dropping like a rock in the very near, you know, the very near distance," Trump said.But he also insisted that Americans who understand the importance of halting Iran's nuclear ambitions will not mind higher gas prices as a result of the war."Once you explain that this is all about Iran having a nuclear weapon, people are willing to pay a little bit more," he said.Trump asserted that prices at the pump will drop "very quickly." But he also repeatedly signaled he was in no hurry to restart the stalled negotiations with Iran."If they're over, they're over. If they're not, you know, I think they took too much time. Frankly, I thought they started to get very boring," Trump told CNBC. 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 Asked if he believed it was time to formally end the U.S.-Iran ceasefire that is nominally still in place, Trump said, "Let's say I knew exactly what you're asking ... and I sort of do. Why would I tell you?"He also said that the U.S.' NATO allies "should come in and help us out" because they rely on the oil that flows through the Hormuz Strait more than the U.S. does."We don't need it, we have a lot of oil," he said.But when asked if he has reached out to NATO to participate in reopening the strait, Trump said, "They would if I wanted them to, but I'm not sure I want them to.""We don't need them. We don't need NATO. They were very, very weak and very sad, what they said," Trump said. "They said, 'We'll help you as soon as the war is over.'"Read the full transcript of Trump's call with CNBC:PRESIDENT TRUMPHello.EAMON JAVERSHello, Mr. President. It's Eamon Javers here with CNBC. How are you, sir? PRESIDENT TRUMPHello, Eamon. What's going on, Eamon? EAMON JAVERSWell, I see that markets are moving on this idea that the Iranians say they're not going to negotiate anymore, and I wonder if you can confirm?PRESIDENT TRUMPWhat does that mean they are moving?EAMON JAVERSWell the oil market, oil prices have moved dramatically more than 8% when that news crossed. So the idea is that oil is going to get more expensive if the war is not going to come to an end, because the Iranians won't negotiate. Have the Iranians told you that they're not going to negotiate, or what is your sense?PRESIDENT TRUMP  No, they haven't. They told you so, they only want to tell the fake news, Eamon. They only want to tell CNN, which, and you don't get any more fake than your company. Let's see I'm just looking at the prices, and oil went up 7%.EAMON JAVERS7%, yeah.PRESIDENT TRUMP Well, that's part of being a negotiator, but they don't have any cards, because a lot of people would be very happy. Stock market is just down a little bit. Yeah, it's alright. EAMON JAVERS Do you think the negotiations are over now, or is this a bluff?PRESIDENT TRUMP   I don't care if they're over, honestly. I really don't care. I couldn't care less. If they're over, they're over. If they're not, you know, I think they took too much time. Frankly, I thought they started to get very boring. They were giving us what we needed, but I think I think they handled the negotiations poorly. It took too long. I thought they were tapping us along that's all. Yeah, they were. EAMON JAVERSYou think they were stalling for time? PRESIDENT TRUMPYeah. I thought that, yeah, I did. EAMON JAVERSSo, what's the way forward now? Then, how do you get the strait open now? PRESIDENT TRUMPI'd say there's about now, well, the strait is already open. If you think all you have to do is take a look at the many boats that have gone out of there over the last week. You do know that, you know, boats have been leaving, and we have, and we have the blockade, we blockade them, they blockaded the strait, and then we blockaded them, and our blockade is a lot tougher than their blockade. As far as I'm concerned, they can, they can continue to lose $500 million a day, which is what they lose because of the blockade, they can continue to lose that. And so, what is their problem? Their problem is with Israel, right?EAMON JAVERS  It seems to be, they're saying that they're not going to negotiate until Israel stops attacking in Lebanon. Have you, have you talked to Netanyahu about that?PRESIDENT TRUMPNo, but I'm going to ask him what's going on with Lebanon. Been fighting a long time, they've been fighting a long time.EAMON JAVERS  Are you worried about oil prices—PRESIDENT TRUMPNoEAMON JAVERS Given the apparent breakdown of negotiations? No?PRESIDENT TRUMPNo, I don't worry about that, no.EAMON JAVERSAnd why not? Are you confident this will be over in a short time,PRESIDENT TRUMPYeah – EAMON JAVERSOr are you confident the oil market can ride it out? PRESIDENT TRUMPI think the oil will be dropping like a rock in the very near, you know, the very near distance. I think oil is going to come down very much. You have 1,700 boats right now that are loaded up with oil, and that's going to be like an oil gusher. So I'm not worried about it at all, and the people understand it, and the only thing I care about, the thing I care about, I care about everything, but the thing I care about most at this point in life is that Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. And if they want to try and have a new nuclear weapon, I will blow them up to kingdom come.EAMON JAVERSOne of the things that we've seen is a real concern out there about price of gas among Americans. What's your message to Americans about the price of gas?PRESIDENT TRUMPIt'll go down very quickly as soon as it's over, and Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. Once you explain that this is all about Iran having a nuclear weapon, people are willing to pay a little bit more, and but it'll, it'll happen very quickly, and as soon as that happens, gasoline will get down to $1.85 like it was in Iowa three months ago. I was in Iowa, was $1.85 a gallon, and when it was really getting low.EAMON JAVERS And you say when this is all over – so how do you bring this to an end now if negotiations are not happening and the ceasefire is in place? Is there, is it time to end the ceasefire?PRESIDENT TRUMP  Well we will see. Let's say, let's say I knew exactly what, you know, what you're asking to do now, sort of. And I sort of do. Why would I tell you?EAMON JAVERS Fair enough. Fair enough. I mean, I think just global markets watch this, and they're trying to figure out, you know, what's the end game here.PRESIDENT TRUMP Well, I think then NATO should come in and help us out, you know, because they're the ones we don't use the strait, we don't need it. We have a lot of oil, we have more oil than Saudi Arabia and Russia combined, times two, so we don't need the oil, but Europe does. We're out there doing a service for a lot of other people, primarily because we still don't think we can. We know we can't allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon, so that's why we're doing it. That's why I'm doing it.EAMON JAVERS  Have you talked to anybody in NATO about that? I mean, have they changed their tune on the strait?PRESIDENT TRUMPThey would, if I wanted them to, but they would. I want them to. We don't need them. We don't need NATO. They were very, very weak and very sad. What they said, they said we'll help you as soon as the war is over. NATO, Europe has lost its way. They have a tremendous immigration problem, and they have a tremendous energy problem, because all they want to do is build windmills all over the place, so anyway. Well, call me. You can call me tomorrow, and I'll talk to you about it. Let's see what's going on - okay?EAMON JAVERS Thank you, Mr. President. Really appreciate your time here. PRESIDENT TRUMPThank you very much. EAMON JAVERSOkay, bye bye.  Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

We concern ourselves far more with making sure we are investing in the right companies. View More

Here's our Club Mailbag email investingclubmailbag@cnbc.com — send your questions directly to Jim Cramer and his team of analysts. We can't offer personal investing advice. We will only consider more general questions about the investment process or stocks in the portfolio or related industries. This week's question: I'm a pretty recent Club member, but I have found your insights great. My question: With the S & P 500 continuing to rise, do you anticipate a bubble burst or a pullback? The economic indicators are not great, but the market seems to be gaining momentum, which can be a bad combination. — Jim We avoid making big calls on the market's direction. Corrections will happen, but their timing and duration are nearly impossible to predict. We don't pretend to have a crystal ball. Nobody does. Instead, our investment decisions are driven primarily by the fundamentals of the companies we own and the valuations the market assigns to them. Our job is to find great long-term stories and buy in when the stock prices appear undervalued, not attempt to time when others might start buying. We focus on investing in the right companies over the next six to nine months and beyond. We are always invested. Market moves A correction is defined by a decline of 10% or more from all-time highs. A bear market is measured by a drop of 20% or more from record highs. That's not to say fundamental investors should be ostriches, sticking their heads in the ground and avoiding the big picture and market trends. Instead, investors should always be prepared, understanding that corrections, even bear markets, are inevitable. And that starts and ends with our cash stake, and ensuring we have enough on hand to take advantage of buying and selling opportunities, depending on which direction the market moves. If the market has been hot, or if the backdrop has deteriorated, we'll increase cash levels. If the market has been in a rut or we expect good news, we'll look to get some cash to work. That's not so much about anticipation as it is about disciplined investing, characterized by booking profits and opportunistically reducing the cost basis, while acknowledging that with every move up or down, the risk/reward profile changes. For decades, Jim has used the Short Range S & P Oscillator to help navigate these choppy waters. Every time we mention the Oscillator, we're flooded with requests from Club members: "How can we access?" Well, we went directly to the source, our partners at MarketEdge, the data provider that publishes the Oscillator. We're excited to share that Club members can now get an exclusive discount for this helpful tool. Click here . To show why we are long-only investors who aim to buy low and sell high, let's look at the stock market over a 30-year timeframe. Our goal here is to zoom out and get a real sense of how long these painful pullbacks need to be tolerated. The past doesn't promise the same in the future. However, history often rhymes, barring the so-called Black Swan events such as the dot-com bubble bursting in the early 2000s or the 2008 financial crisis. We see in this chart of the State Street SPDR S & P 500 Trust ETF , commonly referred to by its ticker symbol SPY, periods of pain but an upward trajectory over time. The letters on the chart represent the approximate time periods to full recovery for the events listed here. A. Dotcom crash: It took about seven years to return to the pre-crisis level. Of course, we then walked right into the financial crisis and the Great Recession. B. Financial crisis: Getting back to the pre-crisis highs took just under six years. C. Chinese growth scare, Greek debt default, and end of quantitative easing : It took about a year to recover from the confluence of these events. D. 2018 Taper Tantrum : The result of hawkish commentary from then-Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell took about six months to recover from. E. Covid pandemic : It was one of the most volatile markets in history. However, it also recovered from some incredible losses within about six months. F. 2022 inflation and aggressive rate hikes : The lingering effects of Covid-related supply chain disruption caught up to the market and sparked the greatest bout of inflation in 40 years. That, in turn, catalyzed the most aggressive Fed rate-hiking cycle ever and a bear market. However, it got back to 2021 levels by the end of 2023. G. Trump's 2025 tariff announcement : The market round-tripped this sharp decline in about six months, and it has not looked back since. On average, over the past quarter-century, we need to be prepared for a roughly 2½-year downturn. Remove either the dotcom bust or the financial crisis, and the average time to get from one high, through a trough, and back to that old high drops to 1.8 years, or about 22 months. Another important takeaway is the time each market took to reach its bottom. Understanding the duration of market declines helps inform how much risk you are willing to tolerate. An investor in their 20s with decades of work ahead is likely to ride out even the worst market decline, whereas someone six months from retirement might want to play it more conservatively. A. Dotcom crash: 2¼ years to bottom out B. Financial crisis: 1½ years C. Chinese growth scare, Greek debt default, and end of quantitative easing : 8 months D. 2018 Taper Tantrum : 3 months E. Covid pandemic : 2 months F. 2022 inflation and aggressive rate hikes : 10 months G. Trump's 2025 tariff announcement : 2 months The bottom line: Expect downturns, prepare to buy high-quality companies as they get cheaper, and stay disciplined. As famed investor Peter Lynch once said: "Far more money has been lost by investors preparing for corrections, or trying to anticipate corrections, than has been lost in corrections themselves." (See here for a full list of the stocks INJim Cramer's Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

In an updated IPO prospectus, SpaceX said that up to 5% of stock being offered by the company in the offering will be available in a direct share program. View More

The launch tower at SpaceX Launch Complex at launch pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., April 6, 2026. Brendan McDermid | Reuters SpaceX has reserved up to 5% of stock being sold in its initial public offering for purchase by "certain employees and persons" in a direct share program, according to an amended filing out Monday. The offering is expected to bring in a record sum, in the range of $75 billion, after SpaceX was valued earlier this year at $1.25 trillion by Elon Musk, when he merged the company with xAI, his artificial intelligence startup. Only two tech companies — Facebook and Alibaba — have been valued at even $100 billion after their first day of trading on U.S. exchanges. Through direct share programs, companies can set aside a certain portion of the offering to employees, customers and even friends. SpaceX said in its filing that participants would be "selected based on the discretion of our executive officers" and that the stock would not be subject to lock-up restrictions. The provision allows certain individuals to reap the kind of benefits that are mostly accrued by large money managers with close relationships to their IPO underwriters.Companies including Airbnb, Uber and Rivian have included direct share programs in their offerings. And when Musk led Tesla through the IPO process in 2010, his electric vehicle maker included up to 1.28 million shares of the 13.3 million it sold in the IPO for "sale to business associates, directors, employees and friends and family members of our employees and Tesla customers who have received delivery of a Tesla Roadster from Tesla," according to its prospectus. Read more CNBC tech newsSpaceX skeptics have added reason for concern after Musk comments diverge from IPO filingInfighting, court battles could put long-hyped air taxi breakthrough in jeopardyBlue Origin rocket explodes on launchpad during ground testNvidia is investing billions into an emerging technology that could change the AI industry SpaceX's roadshow could start this week, with the company potentially debuting on the Nasdaq as soon as June 12. Goldman Sachs has coveted the lead left position for the offering, followed by Morgan Stanley. However, Morgan Stanley is administering the direct share program, the prospectus says. The company's amended IPO filing also added details about SpaceX's business relationship with Anthropic, which is now both a customer and competitor to the company's AI unit.The disclosure clarifies that a lucrative neocloud deal for SpaceX could end after just six months.The prospectus said that SpaceX is leasing "compute capacity" to Anthropic equivalent to "approximately 325,000 NVIDIA GPUs" at its Colossus and Colossus II facilities in Greater Memphis. After an "initial three-month period," the filing said, the agreements the companies made "may be terminated by either party upon 90 days' notice." Those agreements included Anthropic paying SpaceX $1.25 billion per month through May 2029, starting after a two-month "ramping up" period when it will pay a lower fee.Musk had revealed some of the previously undisclosed details in a post on X, the company's social network, before its amended filing was published. On Monday, Anthropic said it confidentially filed its own IPO prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission, setting up another potentially historic share sale for investors.WATCH: Ross Gerber on the impending SpaceX IPO watch nowVIDEO9:1009:10Ross Gerber on the impending SpaceX IPO: I plan to hold this for the long term nowSquawk Box Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Anthropic said it confidentially filed its IPO prospectus with the SEC, setting up a potentially historic share sale for investors ready to jump into AI. View More

watch nowVIDEO3:2603:26Anthropic confidentially files for IPOHalftime Report Anthropic said it confidentially filed its IPO prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission, setting up a potentially historic share sale for investors ready to jump into artificial intelligence. "This gives us the option to go public after the SEC completes its review," Anthropic said in a statement on Monday. "The proposed initial public offering will depend on market conditions and other factors."With its announcement, Anthropic is getting out ahead of rival OpenAI, which is readying its own confidential filing. Elon Musk's SpaceX has officially filed its prospectus and is gearing up for a roadshow this week, with plans to debut next week. Submitting a confidential prospectus doesn't lock Anthropic into a certain timeframe for going public. Its official prospectus just has to land in the hands of investors at least 15 days before the company begins a roadshow. SpaceX submitted its confidential filing on April 1 and disclosed its public prospectus on May 20.Anthropic was founded in 2021 by a group of executives and researchers who defected from OpenAI over concerns about the company's direction. Anthropic is best known for its family of AI models called Claude, which power products like its popular coding assistant, Claude Code. The company has experienced explosive growth this year, announcing in May that its revenue run rate has ballooned to $47 billion, up from $10 billion in annual revenue last year. Last week, it closed a funding round at a $965 billion valuation, topping OpenAI, which was valued at $852 billion in late March. Read more CNBC tech newsSpaceX skeptics have added reason for concern after Musk comments diverge from IPO filingInfighting, court battles could put long-hyped air taxi breakthrough in jeopardyBlue Origin rocket explodes on launchpad during ground testNvidia is investing billions into an emerging technology that could change the AI industry Anthropic captivated Wall Street and officials in Washington, D.C., this year by announcing a model called Claude Mythos Preview, which has advanced cybersecurity capabilities. The company released the model to a select group of companies as part of a cybersecurity initiative called Project Glasswing, and it's been engaging in conversations with senior members of the Trump administration about its capabilities. Mythos' popularity came as a relief to some investors and executives, who worried that Anthropic's growth would take a hit after a clash with the Department of Defense earlier this year. The company's models were blacklisted by the Pentagon after negotiations between the two sides collapsed. But while defense contractors dropped Anthropic to comply with the DOD's order, the company's growth in the private sector only accelerated, as more businesses adopted its models and AI coding tools. Anthropic also gained ground with consumers following the conflict, and Claude jumped to the No. 1 slot on Apple's chart of top U.S. free apps in late February. Anthropic sued the Trump administration to try and reverse its blacklisting, and that litigation is still ongoing. President Donald Trump told CNBC in April that a deal between Anthropic and the DOD is "possible." Anthropic's surging growth has caused the company to sign a number of major infrastructure deals in recent months to increase its capacity. It struck an agreement with rival SpaceX last month to use available compute at its Colossus 1 data center in Memphis, Tennessee.As part of the deal, Anthropic will pay SpaceX $1.25 billion per month through May 2029, according to SpaceX's prospectus. The agreement can be terminated by either company with 90 days of notice. WATCH: Anthropic raises $65B in latest funding round at $965B valuation watch nowVIDEO1:3501:35Anthropic raises $65B in latest funding round at $965B valuationPower Lunch Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

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