Raphael Stevens

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    Hertz is bringing thousands of EVs and chargers to the city of Denver in a broad new partnership

    Hertz is teaming up with the city of Denver to build out its EV-charging infrastructure.
    The rental car company will add more than 5,000 electric vehicles to its Denver fleet, will install public EV chargers and will offer tools and training in and around the city.
    Hertz hopes to strike similar deals with other cities around the country.

    Tesla Model 3 electric vehicles at a Hertz airport location.
    Photo by E.R. Davidson

    Hertz is teaming up with the city of Denver — and soon, it hopes, with other cities — to build out its charging infrastructure to support the ongoing transition to electric vehicles.
    The partnership is a big step toward helping rental car drivers, including those who may be renting an EV for the first time or in an unfamiliar area, to navigate the often-daunting task of finding a charge. It’ll also see Denver boost availability and education around EVs in a first-of-its-kind effort.

    As part of the program, called “Hertz Electrifies,” the rental car company plans to add more than 5,000 EVs to its Denver fleet for daily customers as well as for ongoing rentals to drivers for ride-sharing services like Uber. To support those who rent the EVs, Hertz and its partner BP Pulse, the EV-charging network owned by oil giant BP, will also install public EV chargers at Denver International Airport and at sites around the city, with a focus on underserved communities.
    That latter point is key to the deal. In addition to building chargers in lower-income neighborhoods, Hertz will provide EVs, tools and training to the city’s technical high school — and will offer summer job opportunities through Denver’s Youth Employment Program.
    “Public private partnerships are very powerful vehicles,” said Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr in an interview with CNBC. “We see what’s happening in mobility, we see the direction of travel. And therefore we can be a force along with a very powerful city and mayor, to sort of move this forward in the way in which I think all of us would like to see, which is broad participation in electrification.”
    Scherr said that Hertz plans to share anonymized location data from its rental EVs with the city to help Denver officials determine where to install new charging stations. He expects that some of that data will point to sites in the city’s less affluent neighborhoods, where ride-share drivers using Hertz EVs tend to live.
    Denver’s mayor, Michael Hancock, said the city’s goal is to reduce its carbon emissions 80% by 2050, and to completely electrify the city’s own buildings and fleet by the end of this decade. He told CNBC that Hertz’s plan to focus on underserved neighborhoods and to train local students to service EVs could make this deal a “game-changer” for the city.

    “I’m always worried about equity and how communities are left behind,” Hancock said in an interview. “Electrification is, I think, one advance in the move towards sustainability that’s going to move faster.”
    Hertz previously announced plans to purchase up to 340,000 electric vehicles from Tesla, Polestar and General Motors by 2027. The company currently has about 40,000 Teslas and Polestars available for rental, Scherr said. He expects that number to double by year-end as EVs from GM join the company’s fleet.
    Last fall, Hertz and BP Pulse announced they would partner to install thousands of high-speed EV chargers at Hertz locations across the U.S. Some of those chargers will be for the rental car giant’s exclusive use, but many — as in the Denver program — will be open to the public.
    Hertz hopes to strike similar deals with other cities around the country. Scherr said the Denver partnership will serve as a template, one that he and Hancock plan to discuss at the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ winter meeting in Washington, D.C., this week.
    “This is powerful to have a company like Hertz step up and say we want to do this so that we spread the opportunity in this new revolution in this industry,” Hancock said. “That’s a powerful deal. It’s a big deal for Denver, and it’s going to be a big deal for the nation as it spreads about.”
    A Hertz spokesperson confirmed that the company is already in active discussions with other U.S. cities, but declined to be more specific.
    “We obviously have a motive, which is to see our business grow,” Scherr said. “To the extent that that is in line with what a city like Denver wants to see, which is advancing sustainability, to put more electric vehicles on the street, to create new jobs in a very fast changing world of mobility, and advance electrification, in kind of a broadly distributed way across neighborhoods around a given city like this one, it’s good for the business of Hertz, it’s good for the city of Denver.”

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    Top pharma CEO says Covid likely to become endemic, urges investment in pandemic preparedness

    “I think what we’re going to settle into is more of an endemic environment with respect to coronaviruses and the Covid virus specifically,” Vas Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis, told CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
    Narasimhan, who has previously warned that future pandemics are inevitable, made clear that world leaders must make sure to learn from the coronavirus crisis to be in a better place for future pandemics.
    His comments come shortly after U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the world’s failure to prepare for future pandemics is “straining credulity.”

    Novartis said in August that it plans to spin off its generics unit Sandoz to sharpen its focus on its patented prescription medicines.
    Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    The chief executive of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis on Thursday warned the coronavirus pandemic will likely settle into an endemic phase and renewed calls for policymakers to sufficiently finance pandemic preparedness.
    “If you look over the last two years, we have populations that have built up immunity, you have a virus that’s continuing to make shifts, but I think what we’re going to settle into is more of an endemic environment with respect to coronaviruses and the Covid virus specifically,” Vas Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis, told CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

    “That will mean we will have sporadic outbreaks, we will have populations at risk that need to continue to be vaccinated but I would expect as it has been the case with other coronaviruses over the last centuries that the human populations will adapt and will come to a kind of resolution with this virus.”
    Narasimhan, who has previously warned that future pandemics are bound to happen, made clear that world leaders must learn from the coronavirus crisis to be in a better place for future pandemics.
    “I think what is really important now is we turn our attention to pandemic preparedness for the future,” Narasimhan said.

    “I’m not sure we have learned our lessons of the past that we need to invest in [research and development], we need to invest more in preparedness to be ready for the next pandemic — and I think that should be on the global agenda,” he added.

    ‘Straining credulity’

    His comments come shortly after U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the world’s failure to prepare for future pandemics is “straining credulity.”

    Speaking at WEF on Wednesday, Guterres said, “Somehow — after all we have endured — we have not learned the global public health lessons of the pandemic. We are nowhere near ready for pandemics to come.”
    Last month, China abruptly ended most Covid-19 controls, leading to a surge in infections among the population of 1.4 billion.
    Beijing reported on Saturday that almost 60,000 people with Covid had died in hospital since the country dropped its strict Covid restrictions last month, a sharp increase from previous figures.
    Asked whether it makes pharmacological sense for some governments to take a tough line on the entry of Chinese citizens into their country following Beijing’s reopening, Narasimhan replied, “I think from an epidemiological standpoint, you can certainly call it into question because in the end, we’ve learned the hard way these viruses will move regardless, and they don’t really pay attention to national borders.”
    “I continue to believe open borders and open economies are the right solution for the global order,” he added. More

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    Snow forces Britain’s Manchester Airport to shut runways

    The U.K.’s Manchester Airport said it has briefly shut both runways Thursday following heavy snow.
    Manchester falls within one of the several U.K. regions placed under a yellow snow and ice warning.

    MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM – JANUARY 28: A passenger aircraft landing at Manchester International Airport approaches the runway on 28 January, 2008, Manchester, England.
    Christopher Furlong | Getty Images News | Getty Images

    The U.K.’s Manchester Airport said Thursday it has temporarily closed both runways following a period of “heavy snow fall.”
    “Health and safety will always be our top priority and operations will resume at the earliest opportunity,” it said.

    The U.K. has been seized by a cold snap this week, with the meteorological Met Office issuing several snow and ice yellow warnings across the country, including Manchester.
    The notices, which expire at 12 p.m. Thursday, signal potential road and railway travel disruptions.
    The office forecasts maximum temperatures of 4 degrees Celsius ( 39.2 Farenheit ) on Thursday.

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    China tightens media control with tiny stakes in two Alibaba units

    Government-backed stakes in two Alibaba subsidiaries primarily affect the company’s video platform and web browser business.
    The two subsidiaries both fall under Alibaba’s entertainment and culture arm, which accounts for 4% of overall revenue.
    Along with media, finance and energy are the two other industries that Beijing is inclined to control, said Liqian Ren, leader of quantitative investment at WisdomTree.

    Alibaba completed its acquisition of video platform operator Youku Tudou in 2016. Pictured here is an old version of the Youku logo.
    Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

    BEIJING — State-backed entities have taken tiny stakes in parts of two Alibaba subsidiaries that oversee a video platform and web browser.
    News of the holdings in the last week raised concerns about Beijing’s influence over the U.S.-listed e-commerce giant. However, the affected subsidiaries are just two of several units under the company’s digital media and entertainment arm — an arm that accounts for 4% of Alibaba’s revenue.

    Alibaba shares have gained slightly over the last five trading days.
    The state-backed stakes reflect a progression of government directives over the last decade to increase control of media in China. The so-called golden shares, or special management shares, generally allow the state-backed entity to install a board member with the power to veto decisions — for the company the entity has taken a 1% stake in.
    It will likely take a couple months to see what level of influence the state has gained, said Liqian Ren, leader of quantitative investment at WisdomTree. “So far most of the stakes announced (including in other Chinese companies) seem to be highly concentrated on media companies and media subsidiaries.”
    “It’s very natural for the Chinese government to want to control how information is disseminated,” she said, “particularly if you believe China has entered a period where there will be much more frequent protests.”
    Groups of Chinese held public demonstrations in late November to protest stringent Covid controls. Reports of other protests in the last several months include some Tesla owners upset with price cuts, people at a provincial capital protesting frozen bank deposits and disgruntled workers at certain factories.

    Since 2020, business records show state-backed entities have taken 1% stakes in popular social media or short-video apps Weibo, ByteDance’s Douyin and Kuaishou. That’s on top of censorship that often deletes articles or freezes accounts over words deemed sensitive.
    Along with media, finance and energy are the two other industries that Beijing is inclined to control, said WisdomTree’s Ren. Her firm has a fund for investing in Chinese companies that aren’t state-owned.
    Alibaba is the largest holding in that fund. Ren said WisdomTree isn’t making changes to that holding at this time, because it recently completed its annual review and because it only considers state-owned enterprises as those with government ownership of more than 20%.
    SoftBank is by far the largest holder of Alibaba’s U.S.-listed shares, at nearly 24%, according to S&P Capital IQ. Vanguard and BlackRock are next, each with holdings of less than 3%, the database showed.
    About two-thirds of Alibaba’s annual revenue of about $125 billion comes from China commerce.

    How small are the stakes?

    Here’s where state-backed entities have bought in to Alibaba, according to business database Tianyancha:

    Guangzhou Lujiao Information Technology is connected to a group of subsidiaries under Alibaba’s media arm that operate the UCWeb browser. A fund — ultimately backed by China’s cybersecurity regulator and finance ministry — took a 1% stake in Lujiao in January, leaving an Alibaba subsidiary with 99% ownership. Lujiao more than tripled its registered capital to 35 million yuan ($5.16 million) this month.
    Youku Yingshi, which has 70.7 million yuan in registered capital, owns Youku, one of the three major video streaming platforms in China. A provincial state media group completed a 1% investment in September, leaving Alibaba’s media arm with 99% ownership.

    Records showed each subsidiary also gained a new board member with the same name as an individual connected with the respective state-backed stakeholder. It was not immediately clear if they were the same person.

    Read more about China from CNBC Pro

    “Our digital media and entertainment business (such as Youku) brought in a state-owned multimedia entity as a minor strategic investor for a consolidated entity,” Alibaba said in its fiscal year report published July 26.
    “This shareholder has the right to appoint a director of the relevant consolidated entity and other rights including certain veto rights over the content review processes,” the company said, warning of the impact on trading prices from market perception — and the potential of more state oversight on its content-related businesses.
    Alibaba declined to comment. The Financial Times and Reuters previously reported on the government-linked stakes.

    Signs of a regulatory shift

    The news of the state-owned stakes comes as Alibaba shares try to recover from two years of sharp losses in the aftermath of the abrupt suspension of affiliate Ant’s IPO in November 2020. International investors have become more wary of Chinese stocks after increased regulation of China’s once freewheeling internet industry.
    “There is no government as ambitious in regulating big tech as the Chinese government,” said Rogier Creemers, professor at Leiden University, and author of the paper “The Great Rectification: A New Paradigm for China’s Online Platform Economy.”
    He said China has finished its big changes for tech regulation, and expects other countries will be pushing out their own regulation of big tech companies.

    Chinese bank and insurance regulator head Guo Shuqing told state media this month that the “rectification” of the financial businesses of 14 platform companies has been basically completed.
    “Minimal, non-controlling government ownership in Chinese tech firms may be an indication that Beijing is done with tightening regulation is shifting to oversight and enforcement,” said Brian Tycangco, analyst at Stansberry Research. “It also means the government now shares, albeit minimally, in the future success of the business.”
    Ant in the last few weeks also got approval to expand its consumer finance business — along with investment from a Hangzhou city-backed entity.
    Didi said this week it had resolved regulatory concerns and could start to accept new user registrations.
    One of the primary regulators is the Cyberspace Administration of China, which ordered a cybersecurity review of Didi shortly after its U.S. IPO. The administration has its roots in propaganda and censorship work, according to Stanford’s DigiChina Project.

    State ownership of local media

    “Politically speaking, China’s really unpredictable,” Creemers said. “But in terms of policy China is really predictable. It tells us what it wants to do. The problem is we confuse the one for the other. I think it is much more transparent on policy than we give it credit for.”

    In the case of golden shares, public information indicates Chinese policy discussion of such special management shares began in late 2013 to help state-owned media companies to become more competitive — and better influence public opinion — while retaining government control.
    The following year, authorities approved a new plan for culture and ideology work, which said special management shares for non-state-owned media would be tested. In late 2021, authorities said non-state capital would be banned from owning domestic news outlets in China.
    As the government tries to balance out its role with the market, the state will likely become more apparent, said Bruce Pang, chief economist and head of research, Greater China at JLL. “The government will continue to monitor, regulate and re-train private capital to ensure its healthy development. The ‘golden shares’ is just one of the latest evidences of the updated policy stance.”

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    Ripple CEO is optimistic the crypto firm will get ruling on XRP lawsuit soon, slams ’embarrassing’ SEC

    Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of crypto company Ripple, said he is optimistic that a ruling on its legal dispute with the Securities and Exchange Commission will be reached in 2023, potentially in the first half of this year.
    The lawsuit relates to whether XRP should be treated as a security has important implications for both Ripple and the broader crypto market.
    Garlinghouse sternly rebuked the SEC’s legal battle with his firm Wednesday, saying the conduct of the agency so far had been “embarrassing.”

    The head of cryptocurrency and blockchain company Ripple, Brad Garlinghouse says he is hopeful a resolution will be reached in its spat with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission within the first half of 2023.
    “Judges take however long the judges will take,” Garlinghouse, who is a defendant in the legal drama, said in an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “We’re optimistic that this will certainly be resolved in 2023, and maybe [in] the first half. So we’ll see how it plays out from here. But I feel very good about where we are relative to the law and the facts.”

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission initiated a lawsuit against Ripple in 2020, alleging that the company and its executives illegally sold XRP — a cryptocurrency created in 2012 — to investors without first registering it as a security.
    Ripple disputes the claim, saying that the token should not be considered an investment contract and is used in its business to facilitate cross-border transactions between banks and other financial institutions.
    In December, Ripple and the SEC submitted their final round of briefs seeking a summary judgment to the case, respectively accusing each other of stretching the law.
    The judge could make a ruling in favor of either side, avoiding a trial, or put the matter before a jury.

    Read more about tech and crypto from CNBC Pro

    Garlinghouse said that he expects a ruling to arrive “some time in the coming single digit months” — potentially as soon as June. He added that he doesn’t expect the company will settle the case, although he remains open to the prospect.

    “We have always said that we would love to settle, but it requires one very important thing, and that is that, on a go-forward basis, it’s clear that XRP is not a security,” Garlinghouse said. “The SEC and Gary Gensler has very outwardly said he views almost all crypto as a security. And so that leaves very little space in the Venn diagram for settlement.”
    At a September event organized by the Practising Law Institute, Gensler said that the “vast majority” of cryptocurrency tokens are securities.
    He subsequently hinted that ether may also qualify as a security. Without referring to it by name, Gensler told reporters in September that crypto “staking” mechanisms — which reward users who deposit their tokens to secure blockchain networks with interest-like payments — should count as securities offerings, since “the investing public is anticipating profits based on the efforts of others.” Ethereum, the network behind the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, switched to such a model last year.
    The only cryptocurrency that the agency has made clear it doesn’t view as a security is bitcoin. Gensler previously stated that the world’s biggest cryptocurrency has “no group of individuals in the middle,” meaning investors aren’t “betting” on an intermediary.

    The XRP case has important implications for both Ripple and the broader crypto market.
    A judgment pronouncing XRP a security could potentially impose much stricter curbs on Ripple with respect to the token. This could include requirements for transparency disclosures and greater investor protections, akin to those imposed on regulated broker-dealers.
    It may also set a precedent for dozens of other crypto and blockchain projects that could potentially be classified as securities.
    Stressing the significance of the lawsuit’s outcome, Garlinghouse said on Wednesday, “Something I’ve heard here in Davos repeatedly is how important this is not just to Ripple… but also, really, the whole crypto industry in the United States.”
    He added, “I keep reminding people that outside the United States, crypto is still thriving, Ripple’s still thriving, and we should make sure we’re continuing to engage non-U.S. regulators as well.”

    ‘Embarrassing’ behavior

    In a separate fireside discussion with CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal Wednesday, Garlinghouse issued a stern rebuke of the SEC’s legal battle with his firm, saying the conduct of the watchdog so far had been “embarrassing.”
    “From the beginning, I thought it was very clear that the facts were on our side, that the law was on our side,” he said. “And I think as you have seen this play out, as you have seen the filings in the court, that the judge certainly is hearing our arguments.”

    He went on, “The SEC’s behavior in some of it has been embarrassing as a U.S. citizen. Just some of the things that have been happening, like you’ve got to be kidding.”
    He said the U.S. is “notably absent” from the list of regulators developing crypto-friendly rules. The United Arab Emirates, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland and U.K. are some of the forerunners in this respect, in his view.
    As part of the legal proceedings, Ripple fought to obtain documents related to a June 2018 speech from former SEC official Bill Hinman, which it says have aided the case. In the speech, Hinman says that sales of rival ether “are not securities transactions.”
    XRP was once the third-largest cryptocurrency, commanding a $120 billion market value in early 2018. It has dropped sharply since, amid U.S. regulatory scrutiny and a wider downturn in bitcoin and other digital currencies. XRP now has a market capitalization of roughly $20 billion, according to CoinMarketCap data. More

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    Cramer’s lightning round: TransMedics is a total winner

    Monday – Friday, 6:00 – 7:00 PM ET

    It’s that time again! “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer rings the lightning round bell, which means he’s giving his answers to callers’ stock questions at rapid speed.

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    SoFi Technologies Inc: “There was a report that came out earlier this week that said that they are, like many other banks, struggling with the idea that [interest] rates went up really fast, much quicker than they were ready for. I don’t know.”

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    BHP Group Ltd: “Wait a couple of days, then … pull the trigger.”

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    Unilever PLC: “I think it’s a very well-run company. … But it’s not going to run overnight.”

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    Floods devastate Philippines as president declares ‘state of calamity’

    The Philippines has grappled with heavy rain, flooding and landslides since the beginning of January, conditions that have prompted President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to declare an official “state of calamity” in Misamis Occidental province.
    At least 28 people have died in January, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, and more than 211,000 people have been displaced.
    The Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,100 islands, is ranked among the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate-related disasters.

    Members of the Philippine Coast Guard wade through floods during a rescue operation, in Isabela City, Basilan province, Philippines, January 11, 2023.
    Philippine Coast Guard | via Reuters

    The Philippines has grappled with heavy rain, flooding and landslides since the beginning of January, prompting evacuations and spurring President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to declare an official “state of calamity” in the southern province of Misamis Occidental.
    At least 28 people have died in January, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, and more than 211,000 people have been displaced. Torrential rains have occurred nearly every day this month and have destroyed homes, agriculture and infrastructure across the country.

    The downpours are happening even though the Philippines is normally in its cool, dry season from December to February. Misamis Occidental, the Northern Mindanao region and the Eastern Visayas in central Philippines are among the affected areas.
    The Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,100 islands, is ranked among the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate-related disasters, but it is a minor contributor to global climate change.
    The Philippines is typically hit with 20 typhoons each year and roughly six to nine storms that make landfall annually. The country also experiences frequent landslides and floods that are partly a result of the increasing intensity of tropical cyclones.

    More from CNBC Climate:

    The president, who was recently overseeing aid distribution in Misamis Occidental, said there must be a long-term solution to the flooding in the country.
    “We are looking at everything to find a solution,” Marcos said last week. “But in the long term, we need to think about how we can do it so that this never happens again.”
    The deadly flooding this month has prompted fears over how climate change is triggering more frequent and intense extreme weather across the country. Typhoons, sea level rise and storm surge, all of which put the Philippines’ urban and coastal populations at high risk, are expected to intensify as climate change worsens.

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    Charts suggest the S&P 500 is at a make-or-break moment, Jim Cramer says

    Monday – Friday, 6:00 – 7:00 PM ET

    CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Wednesday said that the benchmark S&P 500 is at a crossroads, poised to either tumble further or roar higher.
    “The charts, as interpreted by Jessica Inskip, suggest that we’re at an important moment where the S&P 500’s found an equilibrium,” he said.

    CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Wednesday said that the benchmark S&P 500 is at a crossroads, poised to either tumble further or roar higher.
    “The charts, as interpreted by Jessica Inskip, suggest that we’re all at a very important moment where the S&P 500 found an equilibrium between the floor of support and a ceiling of resistance. At this point, something has to give,” he said.

    related investing news

    6 hours ago

    Stocks tumbled on Wednesday after fresh December retail sales data renewed fears of a recession. Investors also took profits on gains from earlier this month, spurred by soft economic data that suggested the Federal Reserve is winning its fight against inflation.
    The S&P 500 fell to its lowest level in about a month, while the Nasdaq broke a seven-day streak of gains.
    To explain the analysis from Inskip, who is the director of product and education at OptionsPlay, Cramer examined the daily chart of the S&P 500 dating back to November 2021.

    Arrows pointing outwards

    The chart shows that earnings season is often a time of volatility marked by strong rallies and declines. It also shows that the S&P 500 has been on a downtrend for over a year, with the downtrend line acting as a ceiling of resistance for the market since the Federal Reserve began its battle against inflation in November 2021, according to Cramer.
    Inskip notes that the ceiling has never been breached even after powerful rallies from the last two earnings cycles, he added.

    But while the past two earnings seasons started with the index at levels close to the low end of its trading end, the current fourth-quarter earnings season saw the S&P 500 start right below the ceiling, Cramer said.
    “Good [earnings] numbers could give us more upside than we’ve seen from the last few quarters, but bad ones might mean the S&P heads right back down to the low end of the range,” he said.
    For more analysis, watch Cramer’s full explanation below.

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