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    Ford reveals new Explorer EV for the European market

    Ford Motor on Tuesday unveiled its first all-new electric vehicle exclusively for the European market and said it plans to leverage the well-known Explorer nameplate to gain traction.
    The EV crossover is part of Ford’s plans to transition its European lineup to be entirely electric by 2030.
    Ford has no plans to offer the midsize electric crossover in the U.S., the company said.

    Ford revealed the electric 2023 Explorer for Europe on March 21, 2023.

    DETROIT — Ford Motor on Tuesday unveiled its first all-new electric vehicle exclusively for the European market and said it plans to leverage the well-known Explorer nameplate to gain traction.
    The EV crossover is part of Ford’s plans to transition its European lineup to be entirely electric by 2030.

    Other than the Explorer name and some design attributes, the new vehicle shares little to nothing with the gas-powered SUV in the U.S., or a plug-in hybrid version that’s currently available in Europe. The naming is part of the company’s strategy to leverage its “most iconic” brands for EVs, including the Mustang Mach-E crossover and F-150 Lightning.
    Ford said it has no plans to offer the midsize electric crossover in the U.S. It is one of two vehicles expected for Europe that leverages the Volkswagen Group’s all-electric “MEB” platform at Ford’s factory in Cologne, Germany.

    Ford revealed the electric 2023 Explorer for Europe on March 21, 2023.

    Ford and Volkswagen first announced a broad collaboration on electric and autonomous vehicles in 2019. The collaboration on EVs was intended to speed up the process of getting vehicles to market as Ford works on its own dedicated platform.
    The Detroit automaker expects to produce 1.2 million electric vehicles using Volkswagen’s platform over six years, starting in 2023 — double its previous production plans. Those plans include 600,000 EVs a year in Europe by 2026.
    Ford said the Explorer EV will be offered in two trims: Explorer and Explorer Premium, with a starting price of less than 45,000 euros (about $48,250) when sales launch later this year. The company declined to disclose the expected range and other performance statistics.

    Ford revealed the electric 2023 Explorer for Europe on March 21, 2023.

    Ford has said it wants to reference its American roots more in the marketing and styling of European passenger cars, according to Automotive News.
    “Explorer is a trailblazer for a new breed of exciting Ford electric vehicles,” Martin Sander, general manager of Ford’s European EV business, said in a release. “Steeped in our American roots but built in Cologne for our customers in Europe, it is road trip-ready for the big adventures and fully loaded with everything our customers will need for their daily drives.”
    The push for EVs by Ford comes amid a restructuring of its European operations that thus far has included thousands of layoffs. Ford executives have said the automaker is looking toward a “leaner, more competitive cost structure” for the region.

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    Dodge resurrects controversial Challenger SRT Demon for final year of V8 muscle cars

    Dodge is resurrecting its controversial muscle car model, the Challenger SRT Demon, with a final special edition of the vehicle before production ends on the brand’s current V8 engine cars later this year.
    Dodge says the new car will deliver 1,025 total horsepower, 945 foot-pounds of torque and reach 60 mph from a rolling start in 1.66 seconds.
    The 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 will start at $96,666 but can top $120,000 with fees, options and accessories, according to Dodge.

    2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170

    DETROIT — Dodge is resurrecting its controversial muscle car model, the Challenger SRT Demon, as a final special edition of the vehicle before production of the brand’s current V8 engine cars ends later this year.
    The limited-edition drag racing car will be the fastest, most powerful version of the Dodge Challenger ever produced by the automaker. It builds upon a 2018 Challenger SRT Demon model that some criticized for being too powerful and barely street legal.

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    Dodge says the new car will deliver 1,025 horsepower and 945 foot-pounds of torque on E85 ethanol blend fuel. It can achieve 60 mph from a rolling start in 1.66 seconds. The vehicle’s performance falls slightly when using fuel with lower amounts of ethanol, but even on common E10 fuel it boasts 900 horsepower and 810 foot-pounds of torque.
    The 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 will start at the diabolically evocative price of $96,666 — the last three figures are a reference to the devil — but it can top $120,000 or more with fees, options and accessories, according to Dodge. Ordering for the vehicle opens on March 27.
    Dodge, owned by Stellantis, only plans to build as many as 3,000 of the vehicles for the U.S. and 300 for Canada, pending the availability of parts and supply chain problems. That would be similar to production of the 2018 model.

    2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170

    Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis declined to disclose the capital investment for the vehicle, which was revealed Monday, or its expected profit margins.
    “These cars are ending on a high,” Kuniskis said. He referred to the Demon 170 as “the new pinnacle of factory crazy.”

    When asked about the vehicle’s fuel economy, he said “it’s horrible,” but later called the car “eco-friendly” because fuel with high ethanol levels runs cleaner than traditional gasoline while also burning more quickly. The car will be subject to a $2,100 mandatory gas-guzzler tax.   
    The “170” moniker is in reference to a high proof of alcohol, as the car can run on ethanol fuel. Each owner will also receive a special glass decanter with their vehicle purchase.

    2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170

    The new car will be capable of popping wheelies, where the vehicle’s front tires lift off the ground due to the amount of power coming from the rear wheels.
    Dodge was expected to reveal the car earlier this year, but engineers were “blowing up” engines attempting to get as much performance as possible out of the car, Kuniskis said. The problems led engineers to develop a new supercharged engine for the vehicle.
    The 2023 Demon SRT is the seventh special-edition muscle car for Dodge as it celebrates the upcoming end of production of the current Challenger and Charger muscle cars. Dodge has sold more than 2 million of those vehicles since their introductions more than a decade ago.
    “You have to celebrate this end,” Kuniskis told CNBC, adding the Challenger serves as a “halo” model for the brand, attracting the attention of customers who go on to buy other vehicles. “We do crazy better than anybody.”

    2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 

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    JPMorgan advising First Republic on strategic alternatives, including a capital raise, sources say

    The alternatives may include a capital raise, the sources said, which could dilute current shareholders.
    A sale of the bank is also a possibility.
    JPMorgan and 10 other banks announced last week that they were depositing a combined $30 billion in First Republic.

    JPMorgan Chase is advising embattled First Republic Bank on strategic alternatives, sources told CNBC’s David Faber.
    The alternatives may include a capital raise, the sources said, which could dilute current shareholders. A sale of the bank is also a possibility.

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    First Republic shares dropped 47% in a volatile session, extending a dramatic decline in March. The stock is now down 90% month to date.
    The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that JPMorgan and its CEO, Jamie Dimon, were working with others in the industry on a solution for the bank, whose shares are down 87% this month.
    JPMorgan and 10 other banks announced last week that they were depositing a combined $30 billion in First Republic, which has suffered from large cash outflows in the wake of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. The move was meant to shore up confidence in First Republic and the regional banking sector as a whole, but First Republic’s stock has continued to fall.
    First Republic disclosed last week that it had borrowed tens of billions of dollars from the Federal Reserve and the Federal Home Loan Banks to help handle deposit outflows. First Republic had an abnormally high number of uninsured deposits on its books, which was part of the problem with the now-failed Silicon Valley Bank.

    Read more of CNBC’s coverage of the bank crisis

    The efforts by private banks to help out First Republic come after moves by federal regulators to ease pressure on the banking sector. That includes a Bank Term Funding Program that allows banks to more easily use their high-quality assets to raise cash.
    A sale of First Republic to a larger bank would be in line with what happened to some struggling banks during the 2008 financial crisis and with the UBS deal to buy Credit Suisse over the weekend. However, the potential losses in First Republic’s loans and bonds have limited the appetite for such a move, Faber previously reported.

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    Credit Suisse’s takeover causes turmoil in a $275bn bond market

    The hastily arranged purchase of Credit Suisse, a bank, by ubs, its great rival, is reverberating through financial markets. Investors are scrambling to understand the deal and identify knock-on consequences. One is already clear. The decision to write down around SFr16bn ($17bn) in Additional-Tier 1 (at1) bonds issued by Credit Suisse—while stockholders merely suffered enormous losses—is causing fury and pain elsewhere. Some observers fear it could even spell the end of the asset class.at1 securities are a form of “contingent-convertible” (coco) bonds, part of the toolkit created after the global financial crisis of 2007-09 to prevent future bail-outs. In good times, they act like relatively high-yield bonds. When things go sour and trigger points are reached—such as a bank’s capital falling below certain levels relative to assets—the bonds convert to equity, cutting the bank’s debt and absorbing losses. In a post-collapse pecking order, at1 bondholders should come between senior bondholders, who have a right to payouts first, and stockholders, who in theory take first losses.Credit Suisse has shaken the market for at1 bonds, now worth around $275bn, for two reasons. One is the size of the write-down, the biggest in the history of cocos by some way. The other is the fact that stockholders emerged above at1 bondholders in the pecking order. When Banco Popular, a mid-sized Spanish lender, failed in 2017, it took about $1.4bn of at1 bonds with it—less than 10% of Credit Suisse’s write-down. Crucially, Banco Popular’s shareholders were also wiped out. The bank was sold to Santander, a local rival, for the nominal price of €1 ($1.11). Credit Suisse’s debt-issuance documents seem to allow for stockholders coming out on top. They note that at1 bond buyers have waived any right to reimbursement in a “write-down event”. Yet the idea that stockholders may be left with something and coco holders with nothing is contrary to the understanding many buyers had about what they were purchasing: namely, a hybrid security somewhere between stocks and debt in the stack of capital. This is reflected in the sell-off in some forms of bank debt on March 20th. The weighted-average price of Deutsche Bank’s at1 bonds, for instance, fell by nearly 9.5%. Regular buyers of cocos may be the first to wobble. As recently as January, the investment committee of Union Bancaire Privée, a Swiss private bank, argued that the high yield on cocos made them an attractive investment in the context of strong balance-sheets at European banks. Private banks in Asia have historically been keen buyers, snapping up issuances for their ultra-wealthy clients. Commentary about the future of the asset class ranges from bleak to apocalyptic. Goldman Sachs has warned that it has now become difficult to assess the attractive-looking spread between yields on at1 bonds and different forms of high-yield credit, owing to a lack of clarity about how future resolutions would work. Others have taken a more extreme view. “Credit Suisse may not be the only thing that died today,” said Louis-Vincent Gave, co-founder of Gavekal, a research firm. “The terms of the Credit Suisse take-under is likely to kill the coco market.” Cocos have faced criticism before and survived. In 2016 the market kept going despite a near-death experience for at1 bonds issued by Deutsche Bank, when it was unclear if the German lender would be able to make interest payments. In 2020, during the collapse of Yes Bank, an Indian lender, at1 investors were zeroed while stockholders were allowed to limp on. This time round, on March 20th euro-zone regulators were quick to put out a statement saying that under their watch at1 bonds would be written down only after common-equity instruments absorbed losses, which should boost the bonds’ survival chances.Yet after the example of Credit Suisse investors have reason to doubt such fine words. And if regular coco buyers feel they have been burned, they will be far less likely to return to the market. At a time when banks are already facing pressure, the last thing they need is fewer willing investors. ■ More

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    Stocks making the biggest moves midday: First Republic, UBS, Virgin Orbit, Dell and more

    A person walks past a First Republic Bank branch in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S., March 13, 2023. 
    Mike Segar | Reuters

    Check out the companies making the biggest moves midday:
    First Republic — Shares tanked 47.11% after Standard & Poor’s cut First Republic’s credit rating to B+ from BB+. S&P first lowered the bank’s rating to junk status just last week. The rating remains on CreditWatch Negative.

    New York Community Bancorp — New York Community Bancorp jumped 31.65% after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation announced over the weekend that the bank’s subsidiary, Flagstar Bank, will assume nearly all of Signature Bank’s deposits and some of its loan portfolios, as well as all 40 of its former branches.
    UBS, Credit Suisse — U.S.-listed shares of Credit Suisse nosedived 52.99% after UBS agreed to buy Credit Suisse for 3 billion Swiss francs, or $3.2 billion. UBS’s “emergency rescue” deal is an attempt to stem the risk of contagion in the global banking system. UBS shares gained 3.3%.
    US Bancorp — The stock popped 4.55% following an upgrade by Baird to outperform from neutral. The Wall Street firm said US Bancorp could be a beneficiary as the bank crisis pushes depositors to move holdings to larger regional banks.
    Regional banks — While First Republic’s stock tumbled, other regional banks rallied as investors appraised the likelihood of expanded deposit insurance. PacWest’s stock jumped 10.78%, while Fifth Third Bancorp gained 5.05%%. KeyCorp advanced 1.21%
    Virgin Orbit— The stock fell 19.5% as the the rocket builder scrambled to secure funding and avoid bankruptcy, which could come as early as this week without a deal, according to people familiar with the matter. The company paused operations last week and furloughed most of the company, CNBC first reported on Wednesday.

    Dell — The PC maker added 3.57% after Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of the stock with a buy rating. The Wall Street firm said it expects the headwinds created by personal computer demand trends to subside soon.
    Enphase — Shares advanced 4.83% after Raymond James upgraded the stock to outperform from market perform, noting that there were technical and thematic arguments for liking the stock.
    TreeHouse Foods — Shares jumped 5.98% after UBS initiated coverage of TreeHouse Foods with a buy rating. The Wall Street firm said the food processing company, which has a wide-ranging portfolio of store brand items, is in the “early innings of a beat and raise cycle.”
    Foot Locker — Shares of the footwear retailer fell 5.68% even after the company’s earnings and revenue beat analysts’ estimates. Foot Locker said its comparable store sales increased 4.2% from a year ago, but it provided full-year guidance that missed expectations.
    Bed Bath & Beyond — The meme stock tumbled 21.12% after the retailer said Friday it was seeking shareholder approval for a reverse stock split. Bed Bath & Beyond said the move would enable it to rebuild liquidity, which would help it execute turnaround plans.
    Exelixis — The stock gained 4.44% after the biotech company announced a $550 million share repurchase program to run through the end of 2023.
    Fleetcor Technologies — The stock gained 6.35% after the global business payments company said it will undertake a review of its portfolio and business configuration and consider various strategic alternatives, which may increase the possible separation of one or more of its businesses.
    Amazon — Amazon’s stock slipped 1.25% after the e-commerce giant said it plans to cut 9,000 more jobs over the next few weeks. Amazon previously announced a round of layoffs in November that affected more than 18,000 positions.
    — CNBC’s Michael Sheetz, Sam Subin, Alex Harring, Pia Singh, Yun Li and Sarah Min contributed reporting.

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    Virgin Orbit scrambles to avoid bankruptcy as deal talks continue

    Virgin Orbit senior leadership held daily talks with potential investors through the weekend, people familiar with the matter told CNBC.
    One possible buyer balked at a proposed sale price of near $200 million, one person told CNBC — a price just below the company’s market value as of Friday’s close.
    Meanwhile contingency planning is underway for a potential bankruptcy filing as soon as this week.

    Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket on display in Times Square, New York.
    CNBC | Michael Sheetz

    Virgin Orbit is scrambling to secure a funding lifeline and avoid bankruptcy, which could come as early as this week without a deal, CNBC has learned.
    The rocket builder paused operations last week and furloughed most of the company, as CNBC first reported, while it sought new investment or a potential buyout.

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    Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart and other senior leadership held daily talks with interested parties through the weekend, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked to remain anonymous in order to discuss internal matters.
    During an all-hands meeting last week, Hart told employees that the company hoped to give an update on the situation as soon as Wednesday.
    Meanwhile top talent is already hitting the job market: Many of Virgin Orbit’s approximately 750 employees are looking elsewhere for openings. That talent ranges from executives to senior and lead engineers to program managers who are actively searching for and finding new jobs, according to a CNBC analysis.
    While a door remains open to avoiding bankruptcy, people close to the situation describe a sense of panic as the company struggles to get a deal done. One possible buyer balked at a proposed sale price of near $200 million, one person told CNBC — a price just below the company’s market value as of Friday’s close.
    At the same time, Virgin Orbit is bracing for a potential bankruptcy filing as soon as this week, one person said. Virgin Orbit hired a pair of firms — Alvarez & Marsal and Ducera Partners — to draw up restructuring plans in the event of insolvency, CNBC has learned. Sky News first reported the firms had been hired.

    A Virgin Orbit spokesperson declined to comment.
    Shares of Virgin Orbit have continued to fall since its pause in operations, with its stock slipping to close at $0.52 a share on Monday.
    The company developed a system for sending satellites into space that uses a modified 747 jet, which drops a rocket from under the aircraft’s wing midflight. Its last mission suffered a midflight failure, and its rocket failed to reach orbit.

    Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit, with a rocket under the wing of a modified Boeing 747 jetliner, takes off for a key drop test of its high-altitude launch system for satellites from Mojave, California, July 10, 2019.
    Mike Blake | Reuters

    The company was spun out of Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic in 2017 and counts the billionaire as its largest stakeholder, with 75% ownership. Mubadala, the Emirati sovereign wealth fund, holds the second-largest stake in Virgin Orbit, at 18%.
    But the company has struggled to sustain its cash coffers. It went public in December 2021 near the tail end of the SPAC craze and was unable to tap the markets for fundraising in the same way as its sister company Virgin Galactic, which built its cash reserves to more than $1 billion through stock and debt sales.
    Virgin Orbit aimed to raise $483 million through its SPAC process, but significant redemptions meant it raised less than half of that, bringing in $228 million in gross proceeds. The funds it did manage to raise came from Boeing and AE Industrial Partners, among others.

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    Virgin Orbit has been looking for a financial lifeline for several months. Branson was not willing to fund the company further, people familiar said, and instead shifted strategy to salvaging value.
    Since the fourth quarter, Virgin Orbit has raised $60 million in debt from the investment arm of Branson’s Virgin Group — giving it first priority over Virgin Orbit’s assets. Around the same time, Virgin Orbit hired Goldman Sachs and Bank of America to explore other financial opportunities, ranging from a minority-stake investment to a full sale.
    George Mattson, who sits on Virgin Orbit’s board of directors, has been heavily involved in the process of selling the company, people told CNBC. Mattson spent nearly two decades as a banker at Goldman Sachs, before co-founding the SPAC called NextGen, which took Virgin Orbit public at a $3.7 billion valuation.
    Virgin Orbit disclosed in a filing Monday that it had approved a severance plan for top executives, if they are terminated “following a change in control” of the company. The plan covers Hart, as well as Chief Strategy Officer Jim Simpson and Chief Operating Officer Tony Gingiss, and includes paying out base compensation and annual bonuses. In the event of termination, Hart would receive a cash severance equal to 200% of his base salary, which is $511,008, according to FactSet.

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    Foot Locker touts ‘renewed’ Nike relationship as it reports slide in holiday-quarter profit

    Foot Locker CEO Mary Dillon touted a “renewed” and revitalized relationship with Nike, including an emphasis on “sneaker culture.”
    Foot Locker also reported quarterly earnings and offered guidance for the fiscal year.
    Nike had moved away from its wholesale relationships so it could build out its direct to consumer channels, but ended up with a glut of inventory.

    Foot Locker plans to open dozens of Power stores across the U.S. over the next few years.
    Source: Foot Locker

    Foot Locker CEO Mary Dillon on Monday touted a “renewed” and revitalized relationship with Nike, including an emphasis on what she called “sneaker culture.”
    Shares of Foot Locker more than 5%. The sneaker and athletic-apparel retailer also reported quarterly earnings and issued soft guidance Monday morning. 

    During the holiday quarter, which ended Jan. 28, Foot Locker posted just under $2.34 billion in sales, slightly lower than a year earlier. Its profit for the period came in at $19 million, or 20 cents a share, compared with $103 million, or $1.02 a share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, earnings per share were 97 cents, down from $1.46.
    For the current fiscal year, which will include an extra week, Foot Locker expects sales and comparable sales to be down 3.5% to 5.5%, with adjusted earnings per share of $3.35 to $3.65.
    The retailer plans to close about 400 under-performing mall stores but said it will open around 300 new format stores.
    “Given how 2023 is more of a reset year and in the midst of a turnaround, there is some conservatism that the guidance had, so therefore I think the Street isn’t feeling as confident with what was given today,” said Jessica Ramirez, senior analyst at Jane Hali and Associates. “But in the big picture it makes sense, and I do think there are a lot of strong initiatives that Mary Dillon is bringing to the table.”
    Since Dillon took over as chief executive of Foot Locker in September, she’s spent a “great deal of time with Nike revitalizing our partnership” after Nike moved away from wholesale channels to focus on building out direct to consumer sales. 

    “Of course, Nike is our largest brand partner and the leader in the industry. From day one I’ve been welcomed to the industry by John and Heidi and their team,” Dillon said of Nike CEO John Donahoe and Heidi O’Neill, its president of consumer and marketplace.
    Dillon, the former chief executive of Ulta, said Foot Locker and Nike have “re-established joint planning, as well as data and insight sharing.” 
    “The fruits of our renewed commitment to one another will begin to show up in holiday this year as we build increasing momentum to 2024 and the 50th anniversary of Foot Locker,” Dillon said. 
    For the past several years, Nike has been working to grow its direct to consumer business and with it, cut partnerships with numerous wholesale accounts so it could grow its e-commerce channels and open new stores. 
    However, like other retailers, Nike was stuck with a glut of inventory brought on by pandemic-related supply chain challenges over the last few quarters and relied on those wholesale partners to move that product out. 
    During its fiscal-second quarter that ended Nov. 30, Nike’s wholesale revenue was up 19% for the quarter after it’d been effectively flat over the previous several quarters. 
    “We’ve been starving the wholesale channel for six to eight quarters because of supply constraints and so as we had supply constraints, we were prioritizing adequate inventory levels within NIKE Direct and so we’re seeing strong demand as we go back into our wholesale partners with available supply,” Matthew Friend, Nike’s chief financial officer, explained to investors during an earnings call in December.
    In January, when asked about Nike’s direct to consumer plans during an interview with CNBC, Donahoe spoke about the importance of an omnichannel model.
    “Our strategic wholesale partners, partners like Dick’s Sporting Goods or Foot Locker or JD, are very, very important because consumers want to be able to try on products, they want to be able to touch and feel,” Donahoe said. “And so we’ve invested in strengthening those strategic relationships.”
    While Nike was glad to get rid of that extra inventory during its last quarter, Foot Locker is now dealing with its own glut of shoes and apparel it’s struggling to get off the shelves. At the end of its fiscal fourth-quarter, inventories stood at $1.6 billion, about 30% higher than the year ago period, although down slightly from the fiscal third quarter.
    As part of its new strategy under Dillon, Foot Locker is revisiting its store footprint in a bid to drive revenue and acquire new customers. While it plans to close about 400 underperforming mall stores in North America, it plans to bolster its new format stores from about 120 to more than 400 by 2026.
    The new formats include Foot Locker’s community stores, power stores and its house of play concept.

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    First Republic continues tanking, but other regional banks are rallying on Monday

    S&P cut its credit rating to B+ from BB+ on Sunday after first lowering it to junk status just last week.
    The rating remains on CreditWatch Negative, said S&P.
    First Republic shares are down sharply this month as the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank caused investors to rethink other banks with large uninsured deposit bases.

    A trader works at the post where First Republic Bank stock is traded on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, March 16, 2023.
    Brendan McDermid | Reuters

    Shares of First Republic Bank, which have become the barometer of the regional bank crisis, slid once again Monday after Standard & Poor’s cut the credit rating of the San Francisco-based institution, but shares of rival banks were moving higher.
    S&P reduced its credit rating for First Republic to B+ from BB+ on Sunday after first lowering it to junk status just last week. The rating remains on CreditWatch Negative, said S&P.

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    The stock fell nearly 19% in premarket trading Monday, adding to a decline of more than 80% already this month that came as the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank caused investors to rethink other banks with large uninsured deposit bases.

    Stock chart icon

    First Republic Bank, 1-day

    Despite First Republic’s decline, the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF was slightly higher Monday, up 3% in premarket trading. PacWest Bancorp jumped 16%, while KeyCorp and Zions Bancorp climbed 4% each.
    And shares of New York Community Bancorp, which agreed to buy shuttered Signature Bank over the weekend, jumped more than 30% in premarket trading.
    On Thursday, a group of major banks agreed to deposit $30 billion in First Republic to shore up confidence in regional banks. But the bank also suspended its dividend and said it had just about $34 billion in cash through March 15, not counting the new deposits.
    “The deposit infusion from 11 U.S. banks, the company’s disclosure that borrowings from the Fed range from $20 billion to $109 billion and borrowings from the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) increased by $10 billion, and the suspension of its common stock dividend collectively lead us to the view that the bank was likely under high liquidity stress with substantial deposit outflows over the past week,” stated S&P in its note Sunday.

    UBS bought Credit Suisse over the weekend in a forced tie-up facilitated by Swiss regulators to stop the banking crisis from spreading globally. Credit Suisse executives noted that the U.S. regional bank turmoil caused enough instability that forced the already shaky institution to merge with its rival.
    This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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