Raphael Stevens

The United States government has committed to ending the practice of anti-satellite missile tests, Vice President Kamala Harris announced on Monday.
Plans for the move were set late last year, after the Russian military destroyed a defunct satellite with an anti-satellite weapon.
To date, four countries — the U.S., Russia, China and India — have destroyed their own satellites in ASAT tests.

A Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) launches from the U.S. Navy’s USS Lake Erie at a non-functioning National Reconnaissance Office satellite on Feb. 20, 2008 as an anti-satellite weapons
U.S. Department of Defense

The United States government has committed to ending the practice of anti-satellite missile tests, Vice President Kamala Harris announced on Monday, urging other nations to follow its lead.
An anti-satellite weapons, or ASAT, test is a military demonstration in which a spacecraft in orbit is destroyed using a missile system. Countries performing ASAT tests historically have done so by targeting their own assets in space.

Plans for the move were set late last year, after the Russian military destroyed a defunct satellite with an ASAT on Nov. 15. The Russian test created thousands of pieces of debris in low Earth orbit, and sent astronauts on the International Space Station into shelter as it passed through the shrapnel field.
During Harris’ first meeting in December as chair of the National Space Council, the vice president directed the group to work with other agencies and create proposals that would establish new national security norms in space.
The U.S. ASAT commitment, which coincides with Harris’ tour of Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Tuesday, marks the first step of that effort. The White House stressed that “the United States is the first nation to make such a declaration” to end such testing.
To date, four countries — the U.S., Russia, China and India — have destroyed their own satellites in ASAT tests. The U.S. last destroyed a satellite in 2008, with the U.S. Navy launching a modified SM-3 missile that intercepted the malfunctioning National Reconnaissance Office satellite USA-193.
Separately, the White House has continued to promote the Artemis Accords, an international agreement on space cooperation drafted by NASA and the State Department during the Trump administration. To date, 18 countries have signed the accords, with nine joining since President Joe Biden took office.

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U.S. natural gas prices surged to the highest level in more than 13 years Monday as Russia’s war on Ukraine causes a global energy crunch and as forecasts called for cooler spring temperatures.
Futures jumped 10% to trade as high as $8.05 per million British thermal units, the highest since September 2008. The jump builds on recent strength, with natural gas coming off five straight positive weeks.

Prices later retreated slightly, with the contract ending the day 7.12% higher at $7.82.
“The impact of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia is likely to be long-lasting for North American natural gas markets,” said David Givens, head of natural gas and power services for North America at Argus Media.
EBW Analytics added that a “bullish weather shift” has sent the U.S. market into “overdrive.”
For the year, U.S. natural gas prices are now up 108%, which is adding to inflationary concerns across the economy. The move is less extreme than in Europe, where natural gas futures have risen to record levels as the bloc scrambles to move away from dependence on Russian energy.
The U.S. is now sending record amounts of liquefied natural gas to Europe, which is lifting Henry Hub prices.

“LNG exports have taken on more significance with geopolitics and demand from both power generation/ industrial usage are strong. The US role as an exporter continues to increase,” noted RBC. “There is a fundamentally constructive backdrop driven by record LNG outflows, strong Mexico exports, and producer discipline,” the firm added.
Amid the jump in prices producers have kept output under control, and inventory in storage is now 17% below the five-year average, according to OTC Global Holdings Senior Vice President and Chief Data Analyst Campbell Faulkner.
“[T]he US is starting to potentially look like Europe this time last year crushing the near-term seasonality and switching the curve to a constant demand scenario,” he said.
“Additional pressure on natural gas is also coming from the battle between Asia and Europe for spare LNG cargoes which will inevitably be diverted away from the US west coast and New England coming into next winter,” Faulkner added.
Still, not everyone believes the rally is here to stay. Citi raised its base case Henry Hub price target for 2022 by 40 cents to $4.60 per million British thermal units, significantly below where the contract currently trades.
“[A] combination of factors could raise demand and slow production growth, but the market might be over-estimating their impacts as prices have surged,” the firm said.
Shares of natural gas producers EQT Corp., Range Resources and Coterra Energy hit 52-week highs in trading Monday. Range and Coterra gained more than 4%, while EQT jumped nearly 7%.

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Billionaire and Wall Street veteran Nelson Peltz hosted a fundraiser for conservative Democrat Joe Manchin at his massive Florida estate last month.
At least 50 executives attended the lunch aimed at raising campaign contributions for the West Virginia lawmaker’s reelection campaign.
The fundraiser drew some big GOP donors, including Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman and Home Depot co-founders Ken Langone and Bernard Marcus.

Nelson Peltz, left, and Joe Manchin
CNBC; Reuters

Wall Street veteran Nelson Peltz hosted a $5,000-a-plate fundraiser for Sen. Joe Manchin at the billionaire’s sprawling Florida estate last month, where several top executives said they privately hoped the conservative Democrat would switch parties and run against President Joe Biden in the 2024 election, CNBC has learned.
Peltz, who is a co-founder of investment fund Trian Partners, hosted Manchin along with at least 50 executives for a lunch aimed at raising funds for the West Virginia lawmaker’s reelection campaign, according to someone who attended the event. They declined to be named in order to discuss the private event.

A spokeswoman for Peltz confirmed that the longtime finance executive hosted the fundraiser and reaffirmed the billionaire’s support for Manchin. Emails to Manchin’s campaign office and a call to his Capitol Hill office weren’t immediately returned. Manchin has previously said he has no plans to switch parties.
“Mr. Peltz supports Mr. Manchin. He believes Mr. Manchin is a rare elected politician from both sides of the aisle who puts country before party, something which Mr. Peltz believes is much needed in our country today,” Anne Tarbell, Peltz’s spokeswoman, said in an email to CNBC. Peltz told CNBC last year that he speaks to Manchin every week and has been personal friends with him for a decade.

After publication of this story, Sam Runyon, Manchin’s spokeswoman, told CNBC the West Virginia lawmaker is focused on helping those in his state and across the country. “With all the challenges facing us now – many of which he has repeatedly spoken out about – he will continue representing West Virginians to the best of his ability,” Runyon said in an emailed statement.
Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman, along with Home Depot co-founders Ken Langone and Bernard Marcus, who generally support Republicans, were among executives at the fundraiser, according to the person who attended the event. Longtime investor Leon Cooperman, who has contributed to legislators on both sides of the aisle, also attended the lunch. Representatives for Schwarzman, Langone, Marcus and Cooperman did not return requests seeking comment.
Over a lunch choice of chicken or fish, Manchin told the crowd of donors that he plans to run for reelection in 2024, according to the attendee. The senator has previously said that he’ll make a decision about running for reelection after the 2022 midterms.

Peltz’s estate in Palm Beach, Fla., is reportedly worth at least $95 million. Virtual Globetrotting, a website that tracks mansions owned by billionaires across the country, shows that Peltz’s oceanfront mansion boasts an outdoor swimming pool, a tennis court and a basketball court. The venue has been used to host other high-profile events, including a fundraiser for then-President Donald Trump as well as Peltz’s daughter Nicola’s wedding earlier this month to Brooklyn Beckham, the son of soccer superstar David Beckham and former pop star Victoria Beckham.
Manchin’s stance against key elements of his party’s and Biden’s agenda has previously led to an infusion of campaign donations from a plethora of special interests, including those on Wall Street and Silicon Valley. With the Senate split 50-50, Democrats rely on support from Manchin, who has become a swing vote on issues critical to both parties.
For example, Manchin opposed Biden’s $1.75 trillion social spending bill known as Build Back Better and has pushed back on the idea of raising corporate taxes from 21% to 28%. He has said he’s willing to allow corporate taxes to go up to a maximum of 25%, though. The legislator also has previously opposed his party’s proposal for a wealth tax. What’s more, he opposed Biden’s pick of Sarah Bloom Raskin for the Federal Reserve board; the climate change activist withdrew her name from consideration after CNBC reported Manchin’s opposition.
Federal Election Commission filings show Home Depot co-founder Marcus contributed two separate $2,900 checks to Manchin’s reelection campaign last month, while Cooperman gave $5,000 in February. Schwarzman and Langone are not listed as donors to Manchin on his latest filing. Langone previously donated to the West Virginia lawmaker’s reelection campaign and his political action committee late last year. Langone also lavished praise on Manchin during a previous interview with CNBC, adding he will host a fundraising event for him. Manchin’s campaign raised over $1.3 million from January through the end of March, and has just over $7 million on hand, the filing shows.
Although Manchin told the group he plans to run for reelection to the Senate as a Democrat, a small group of donors at the event privately said they hope he changes parties and runs for president as a Republican against Biden in 2024 instead, the attendee said.
The person noted that some attendees at the event hosted by Peltz, who once supported Trump, regard Manchin as someone who could successfully run in a Republican presidential primary and then possibly defeat Biden.

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In this photo illustration, the Twitter logo is displayed on the screen of an iPhone in front of a computer screen displaying Twitter logos.
Chesnot | Getty Images

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.
Twitter — Shares rose 7.5% after Twitter announced Friday that the board adopted a limited duration shareholder rights plan, often referred to as a “poison pill.” The move comes after billionaire Elon Musk offered to buy the company for $43 billion.

Bank of America — Shares jumped 3.4% after Bank of America reported an earnings beat on Monday. Bank of America topped expectations in the first quarter with earnings of 80 cents per share and $23.33 billion in revenue, helped by strength in consumer lending. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv expected earnings of 75 cents per share and $23.2 billion in revenue.
Bank of New York Mellon — Shares fell 2.3% after the company’s revenue missed Wall Street estimates. Revenue came in at $3.93 billion, while the Refinitiv consensus estimate was $3.97 billion. The bank topped earnings estimates by a penny per share.
Synchrony Financial – Shares of the financial services firm advanced 6.2% after the company reported a beat on quarterly profit and revenue estimates. The board also approved a $2.8 billion addition to the company’s stock buyback plan and a 5% dividend increase to 23 cents per share.
Charles Schwab — Shares of Charles Schwab fell 9.4% after the company missed analyst estimates on the top and bottom lines in the first quarter. The company reported earnings per share of 77 cents on $4.67 billion in revenue. Analysts expected 84 cents per share on revenue of $4.83 billion.
Southwest Gas — The utility stock rose 5.7% after Southwest Gas said its board had authorized the review of a full range or strategic alternatives, after receiving what it called an “indication of interest” well in excess of investor Carl Icahn’s $82.50 per share offer.

Didi Global — Shares dropped 18.3% after the China-based ride-hailing firm reported a 12.7% drop in fourth-quarter revenue compared with a year earlier. The company announced a shareholding meeting would be held on May 23 to vote on delisting from the New York Stock Exchange.
Sirius XM Holdings — The satellite radio stock shed 3.1% after a downgrade to underweight from Morgan Stanley. Production issues for new cars, which are a major area of new subscribers for Sirius, could hurt the stock, Morgan Stanley said.
Wendy’s — Shares of the fast-food chain dipped 2.1% after BMO downgraded Wendy’s to market perform from outperform. The firm said in a note to clients that Wendy’s would suffer from a squeeze on consumer spending caused by inflation.
Progressive — Shares of the company fell 2.2% after Piper Sandler downgraded the insurance company to underweight from neutral. “We think PGR’s stock reflects too much optimism about how fast rising auto insurance prices will improve PGR’s profits. We anticipate PGR will miss future earnings expectations,” Piper Sandler said.
Gap — Shares rose 1.2% after Morgan Stanley upgraded Gap to equal weight from underweight. The firm said the downside in Gap shares is already “priced in.”
— CNBC’s Jesse Pound, Sarah Min, Samantha Subin and Tanaya Macheel contributed reporting

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A former Obama health policy director on Monday criticized what she sees as a potentially dangerous shift in government messaging on Covid safety protocols.
“My biggest issue with the it’s-your-call kind of theme that’s out there [is] we don’t do this in any other area of illness,” Dr. Kavita Patel told CNBC.
“I think that this is unfortunately going to come back to bite us, because we’re not necessarily doing the types of things we should be doing,” she concluded.

A former Obama health policy director on Monday criticized what she sees as a potentially dangerous shift in government messaging on Covid safety protocols.
“My biggest issue with the it’s-your-call kind of theme that’s out there [is] we don’t do this in any other area of illness, health, or disease or burden. I don’t tell a patient with high LDL cholesterol, ‘Hey, you go figure out what your 10-year cardiovascular risk is, and you can decide,'” Dr. Kavita Patel said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

“Of course, they are able to decide what their options are after I talk to them about what I think is best,” added Patel, a primary care physician in the Washington, D.C. area.
Patel’s comments come after a report in The Wall Street Journal that characterized a new emphasis from federal and local health officials on personal choice when it comes to receiving booster shots, masking or following other Covid mitigation measures.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was not immediately available for comment on Patel’s remarks.
The White House released a new plan to tackle the pandemic in March, highlighting four key areas where the Biden administration hopes to secure funding. White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that “we’re going to have to pay very close attention” to the uptick in omicron BA.2 subvariant cases. Congress did not renew emergency federal aid for some pandemic programs.
Patel said that health officials’ essentially giving Americans autonomy over Covid decisions is bound to cause confusion.

“That just seems like a very poor way for a country that has been told for two years, ‘Here’s what you need to do, here’s how you need to do it,’ and now we do what, tell people to go to covid.gov and cross their fingers and hope that they can navigate the site and get to treatment?” she said.
“I think that this is unfortunately going to come back to bite us, because we’re not necessarily doing the types of things we should be doing,” Patel concluded.

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Rivian CEO R.J. Scaringe remains “really confident” it can produce 25,000 vehicles in 2022. That estimate is down from initial expectations of about 50,000 vehicles, slashed by supplier disruptions.
Scarcity in semiconductor chips and wire harnesses poses the biggest hurdles for the company. Both are critical components in vehicles.
Rivian is currently producing electric R1T pickups as well as Amazon delivery vans and some R1S SUVs.

NORMAL, Ill. – Rivian Automotive CEO Robert Scaringe hops out of one of the automaker’s R1T electric pickups outside of the company’s plant in central Illinois as a man chants, “R.J., R.J.!”
Scaringe, who goes by those initials, turns to the male employee who thanks him for the job at Rivian’s massive plant. The company’s 39-year-old founder reciprocates the appreciation and offers a handshake before heading into a meeting with suppliers.

The acknowledgement was one of many from employees that included fist-bumps, waves and other cordialities during a recent half-day visit to the plant with media and Scaringe, whose daily office is inside the former Mitsubishi Motors facility.
They’re pleasantries, but also signs of confidence in the CEO in the face of daunting challenges for the electric vehicle maker.
Wall Street has likewise applauded Scaringe, who founded the company in 2009 and brought it public through a blockbuster IPO in November. Most notably, Morgan Stanley lead auto analyst Adam Jonas dubbed Rivian as “the one” to be able to compete against EV industry leader Tesla.

Production of electric Rivian R1T pickup trucks on April 11, 2022 at the company’s plant in Normal, Ill.
Michael Wayland / CNBC

But Rivian, like the rest of the automotive industry, is facing massive supply disruptions and has internally experienced expected, but still problematic, production snags that caused it to miss its production expectations last year.
The company’s stock price is off by more than 60% this year, as investors look for safer ground than an EV start-up amid recession fears.

Scaringe is aware of such problems but, like he has for more than a decade, remains focused on the mission at hand: to prove the company’s worth by actually producing vehicles, an ironic differentiator for the industry that separates Rivian from an influx of new EV start-ups in recent years. Rivian is currently producing the electric R1T pickups as well as Amazon delivery vans and some R1S SUVs.
Here’s what Scaringe had to say on the company’s production, parts shortages and more.

Production and supplier disruptions

Scaringe said Rivian remains “really confident” it can produce 25,000 vehicles, including van and R1 models, in 2022. That estimate is down from initial expectations of about 50,000 vehicles, slashed by supplier disruptions.
Scarcity in semiconductor chips, a shortage the auto industry has been battling for more than a year now, and wire harnesses, which act as the nerves of a vehicle, poses the biggest hurdles for the company. Both are critical components in vehicles.

Production of electric Rivian R1T pickup trucks on April 11, 2022 at the company’s plant in Normal, Ill.
Michael Wayland / CNBC

“The vast majority of our vehicle is not having supply chain constraints. It’s just a small percentage,” Scaringe said. “It doesn’t take more than one part to stop the production.”
Scaringe doesn’t expect semiconductor supplies to normalize until next year. He, along with every other executive in the automotive industry, is regularly in contact with suppliers attempting to source, produce and ship as many parts as possible.
For Rivian, that includes having some of its employees on-site at the facilities of their suppliers in an attempt to assist production.
“We don’t have a demand challenge at all. We have a ‘can we create enough vehicles’ challenge?” he told CNBC after a tour of the vehicle plant. “We have a supply chain problem. It’s frustrating, but we’re going to get through that.”

Amazon delivery vans

Rivian declined to disclose how many Amazon delivery vans the company has built, but dozens were waiting outside of the facility, ready to be delivered, and plenty more were being assembled inside.
The electric vans are expected to be a crucial part of Rivian’s growth. The first vans go to Amazon, Rivian’s largest shareholder with a 20% stake, followed eventually by deliveries to other companies.

Production of electric Amazon delivery vans on April 11, 2022 at Rivian’s plant in Normal, Ill.
Michael Wayland / CNBC

Rivian says the vans can be produced faster than the consumer R1T and R1S vehicles because they have fewer features. They also go through fewer processes at the plant. For example, the painting of the vans – a tedious and long process – takes two hours less than paint jobs for the other vehicles.
Victor Taylor, senior director of stamping, body and plastic for the company, also noted there’s less complexity and time needed for the vans in the body shop.

Lower-priced EVs

Rivian, to the dismay of reservation holders, increased prices for its vehicles last month due to higher commodity costs. The company quickly rolled back the increases for its 70,000-some existing reservation holders but said it would hold to the new pricing for new reservations made as of March 1.
The increases make the starting prices of the vehicles $67,500 for the R1T and $72,500 for the R1S. At those prices, both are considered luxury vehicles rather than mainstream models.

Production of electric Amazon delivery vans on April 11, 2022 at Rivian’s plant in Normal, Ill.
Michael Wayland / CNBC

Scaringe said the company plans to produce lower-priced vehicles on its next-generation EV platform. Those vehicles will be produced at a planned $5 billion plant in Georgia, which is expected to come online in 2024.
Much like other automakers, Rivian also plans to maximize profits and increase performance of current models, according to Scaringe.

End of gas-powered vehicles

It’s the beginning of the end of fossil fuel-powered consumer vehicles — as far as Scaringe is concerned. The 39-year-old believes production and sales of such vehicles will come to an end in his lifetime, sooner rather than later.
Without putting an exact date on it, Scaringe said the end of that era is likely closer to 20 years from now rather than 50 years, with companies forced to move way from fossil fuels out of necessity as well as potential pressures from Wall Street and regulators.
“Most countries around the world will stop selling gas engine-powered cars. The scale of the shift is hard to fully appreciate,” he said. “The challenge is whether it’s driven by policy or not. The businesses that are going to survive are the ones that recognize that the end state for combustion is zero.”

Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe inside the company’s customer experience center outside of its plant on Aptil 11, 2022 in Normal, Ill.
Michael Wayland / CNBC

SPACs

Rivian is among a flurry of EV start-ups to have gone public in recent years, but the company’s competitors have done so through deals with special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs. Rivian held a traditional and more direct initial public offering.
Many companies that went the SPAC route have faced financial problems or received inquiries by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission into their deals to go public or other business matters.
Scaringe believes some of those companies won’t be competitors Rivian needs to worry about for much longer.
“As the financial markets shifted from a growth orientation to more sort of a value orientation, I think a lot of those really underfinanced SPACs and companies like that are going to slowly start disappearing,” he said. “They’re going to run out of capital.”

Production of electric Rivian R1T pickup trucks on April 11, 2022 at the company’s plant in Normal, Ill.
Michael Wayland / CNBC

Purpose-built autonomous vehicles?

Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently said the car company would make a “dedicated robotaxi.” He didn’t offer a timeframe or any additional details beyond saying it would “look futuristic” and be fully self-driving, something the company has not achieved despite the name of its “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) driver-assist feature.
Rivian has not announced plans for similar vehicle, and Scaringe wouldn’t comment on a counterpart directly. But he said the company will “offer lots of different products in the future.”
Scaringe, who moved from Southern California to nearby the 3.3 million-square-foot plant, is known as a driven, level-headed planner who typically lets his actions speak louder than his words (or tweets). It’s a different style from Musk, though both are considered extremely detail-oriented and ambitious leaders.

EV pickups

Rivian became the first automaker to begin mass production of an all-electric pickup truck last year, beating to market Tesla and longtime segment leaders General Motors and Ford Motor, which holds a roughly 12% stake in Rivian.
GM started shipping its GMC Hummer EV pickup in December, months after Rivian launched the R1T. Ford is expected to soon begin shipping an electric version of its F-150 pickup, called the F-150 Lightning, followed by Tesla’s long-delayed Cybertruck, which is planned to go into production next year.

Production of electric Rivian R1T pickup trucks on April 11, 2022 at the company’s plant in Normal, Ill.
Michael Wayland / CNBC

While there have been many comparisons of the Rivian R1T to the other electric pickups, Scaringe isn’t bothered by the competition. He actually welcomes it, for now. He believes there’s currently more than enough demand to fulfill EV pickup production in the near-term.
“Humans have an infatuation with winners and losers, like everything in life has to be a zero-sum game,” he said. “I really just don’t see it that way. … I look at it as I hope Hummer’s wildly successful. I truly do. I hope Lightning’s wildly successful, and I hope we’re wildly successful. And I think all three of those can happen from an intellectual honesty point of view.”

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