Raphael Stevens

Family members of Vijay Raju, who died due to Covid, mourn before his cremation in Giddenahalli village on the outskirts of Bengaluru, India, May 13, 2021.Samuel Rajkumar | ReutersThe global pandemic isn’t over yet despite high Covid vaccination rates in some countries, the head of the World Health Organization warned on Monday, days after the CDC told fully vaccinated Americans they can go without masks in most places.”There is a huge disconnect growing where in some countries with the highest vaccination rates, there appears to be a mindset that the pandemic is over, while others are experiencing huge waves of infections,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a news conference from the agency’s Geneva headquarters.”The pandemic is a long way far from over,” he warned. “It will not be over anywhere until it’s over everywhere.”Tedros’ comments came four days after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its public health guidance to say fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a face mask or stay 6 feet away from others in most settings, whether outdoors or indoors. It’s the first time the federal government has encouraged people to stop wearing masks since the agency first called for face coverings more than a year ago.Some doctors said the new guidelines meant that “vaccinated people can go back to normal.”CNBC Health & Science Read CNBC’s latest coverage of the Covid pandemic:Biden warns states with low Covid vaccination rates may see cases rise again U.S. will send 20 million Pfizer, Moderna or J&J vaccine doses abroad by end of JuneWHO says pandemic is far from over despite high vaccination rates in some countries U.S. Covid cases, deaths continue to fall amid easing of mask requirements  Dr. Scott Gottlieb says ‘nobody is going to be wearing’ Covid masks by June UK eases lockdown as Covid variant from India threatens freedom in June   Singapore and Hong Kong to postpone travel bubble again as Covid cases rise In the United States, new Covid cases are on the decline as more Americans get vaccinated. As of Sunday, the nation is reporting about 33,200 daily new infections, based on a seven-day average of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, down 19% from a week earlier. Roughly 123 million Americans are fully vaccinated, according to data compiled by the CDC.Other countries are experiencing major outbreaks. India, for example, is reporting a seven-day average of about 328,900 cases a day as of Sunday, according to Hopkins’ data. That’s down 15% from a week ago but still an enormous number of cases. The country also reached a new record for fatalities, reporting a seven-day average of 4,039 deaths, according to Hopkins data.A woman mourns after her husband died due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outside a mortuary of a COVID-19 hospital in Ahmedabad, India, May 8, 2021.Amit Dave | ReutersTedros said the agency has been responding to the surge in India and other hot spots around the world. He said the WHO needs immediate funding in order to sustain its technical and operational support to all countries, especially those most impacted by the pandemic.”The current response plan is underfunded and the vast majority of that is ring-fenced by donors for specific countries or activities,” he said.He also called on Covid vaccine manufacturers, including Pfizer and Moderna, to make more shots available to COVAX, which supplies doses to poorer countries.”We need doses right now and call on them to bring forward deliveries as soon as possible,” he said. More

In this article788-FFSQCRMETSYCVNACOINThe red-hot software stocks of yesteryear are well off their highs, but it remains too early to call a bottom in the cloud plays, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Monday.”There’s been a lot of damage done, but given how much the stocks had run going into this sell-off, many of them could still experience a lot more downside before they start looking enticing,” the “Mad Money” host said.In a list of 75 tech stocks, Cramer noted that on average they are down 37% from the highs. Despite the decline, their valuations remain elevated when compared to corporate outlooks.Meanwhile, bond yields have steadily risen, making tech shares and their future earning potential less attractive. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note has climbed to 1.65% from below 1% since December.”Without a major decline in interest rates, I think the cloud cohort will continue to struggle, and there’s no hurry to do any buying until we get to lower levels for most, if not all, of these stocks,” Cramer said.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsSome software stocks, however, are nearing levels that are enticing. Using the “Rule of 40,” which measures the trade-off between a company’s profitability and growth rate, Cramer spotted a handful of names among the 75 stocks that are worth keeping an eye on.Coinbase, Square, Carvana, Etsy, Coupang and Salesforce all meet the standard and trade below a sales multiple of 10, Cramer said. He also pointed to Roblox, ServiceNow, Affirm and RingCentral as intriguing opportunities.”I think you can put on a small position here, but leave room to buy more at lower levels because I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s more pain in store,” he said.Disclosure: Cramer’s charitable trust owns shares of Salesforce.DisclaimerQuestions for Cramer? Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBCWant to take a deep dive into Cramer’s world? Hit him up! Mad Money Twitter – Jim Cramer Twitter – Facebook – InstagramQuestions, comments, suggestions for the “Mad Money” website? [email protected] More

In this articleFSRElectric vehicle start-up Fisker does not plan to invest in bitcoin or accept the cryptocurrency as payment, according to CEO and founder Henrik Fisker.Fisker said bitcoin is not “sustainable,” echoing environmental concerns raised last week by Tesla CEO Elon Musk due to concerns over the use of fossil fuels for bitcoin mining.”I just don’t think it’s a sustainable solution,” Fisker said Monday during CNBC’s “Closing Bell.” “It’s not environmental-friendly and we would not do that.”Bitcoin uses more energy than entire countries such as Sweden and Malaysia, according to the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index. Fisker said such use doesn’t align with the company’s mission of creating the “world’s most sustainable vehicles.”Fisker did not rule out the company ever accepting cryptocurrency. However, he said it’s not a focus right now for the company.”I don’t think anybody can foresee what the currency is going to be in five years,” Fisker said. Later he added, “At this point, I’m not really bothered by what the currency is.”Fisker Inc. officially revealed the Fisker Ocean all-electric luxury crossover at CES 2020 in Las Vegas.Fisker is still at least 16 months away from selling its first vehicle, called the Ocean. Customer deliveries are expected in the fourth quarter of next year. That will be followed by three additional vehicles by 2025.Shares of Fisker were down about 2% during after-hours trading following the company reporting a loss of 63 cents a share compared with an expected loss of 19 cents, according to average estimates of analysts compiled by Refinitiv.Cryptocurrencies have become a major topic of discussion for the automotive industry following Musk’s support for bitcoin, including a $1.5 billion investment by Tesla. Tesla also said it would accept bitcoin as payment for its vehicles.Tesla later said it registered a net gain of $101 million from sales of bitcoin during the quarter, helping to boost its net profits to a record high in the first quarter.However, Musk last week said it “suspended vehicle purchases using bitcoin,” out of concern over “rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for bitcoin mining.” He’s also tweeted support for dogecoin, a meme-inspired cryptocurrency.Support for cryptocurrency from Tesla has contributed to the prices of cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin and dogecoin, skyrocketing in recent months.Musk’s aerospace company, SpaceX, announced last week it would accept dogecoin as payment to launch “DOGE-1 mission to the Moon.”– CNBC’s Jessica Bursztynsky and Lora Kolodny contributed to this report. More

In this articleCOSTWMTWalmart, one of the biggest retailers in the world, is set to report earnings on Tuesday. The mega chain has been able to navigate the pandemic with curbside pickup and its investments in the online shopping experience.Shares have not performed well this year, though. The stock is down more than 3%, trailing the S&P 500’s 11% gain and bottoming out as one of the worst Dow performers in 2021.Ari Wald, head of technical analysis at Oppenheimer, sees Costco as the better big-box bet over Walmart.”We don’t really have a very strong view on how Walmart’s going to react to a fundamental catalyst in terms of earnings, but where our conviction does lie is that we do expect it to underperform versus the relative strength being exhibited in industry peer Costco,” Wald told CNBC’s “Trading Nation” on Monday.Comparing Walmart to Costco on the charts, Wald says Walmart has bounced back from March lows but now shows signs of stalling at its 200-day moving average.”Costco, on the other hand, hasn’t seen a clear-cut breakout. It’s still below its December high but the fact that it’s retraced more of its prior decline going into that first-quarter low is a sign of relative strength. It indicates there’s more support, less resistance. And I think when you do add it up, it does argue for additional outperformance from Costco over Walmart,” said Wald.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsMark Tepper, president at Strategic Wealth Partners, is betting on Walmart over the long haul, though. He says e-commerce was crucial for Walmart’s success through the pandemic but sees the return to in-store shopping as even better for the stock.”It’s really the vaccination rate and it’s the return of normalcy that works best for Walmart because Walmart, you get a little bit of everything — you get the e-commerce exposure, groceries, consumer electronics — a nice diversified revenue stream, and they’re a one-stop shop,” Tepper said during the same interview.Walmart also has an ace up its sleeve in its investments in health care, says Tepper.”The health-care thing for them, it’s going to be a long process, it’s not going to happen overnight. But if you think about all those high-margin medical services — diagnostics tests, x-ray, stuff that can be done by a nurse practitioner rather than a physician — that’s going to help them to gain even further share of their customers’ wallet in a very high-margin manner,” he said.Walmart will report before the bell Tuesday. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expect $1.21 a share in profit for its April-ended quarter, up from $1.18 a year earlier. Sales are forecast to have slipped roughly 2%.Disclosure: Strategic Wealth Partners holds shares of Walmart.Disclaimer More

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the COVID-19 response and the vaccination program in the East Room at the White House in Washington, DC on May 17, 2021.Nicholas Kamm | AFP | Getty ImagesPresident Joe Biden warned Monday that coronavirus case numbers could rise once again in U.S. states with low Covid-19 vaccination rates.For the first time since the pandemic began over a year ago, Covid-19 cases are down in all 50 states, Biden announced during a White House press conference on the nation’s progress fighting the virus. That progress could still be reversed, he said, especially in states where a low percentage of people have been vaccinated.”We know there will be advances and setbacks, and we know that there are many flare-ups that could occur,” Biden said. “But if the unvaccinated get vaccinated, they will protect themselves and other unvaccinated people around them.”He said it would be a needless “tragedy” to see Covid cases rise among those who do not get vaccinated.”I want to thank the American people who have stepped up and done their patriotic duty and gotten vaccinated,” he said.Biden’s comments Monday were just his latest push to get Americans vaccinated as quickly as possible.The Biden administration is pushing to get 70% of U.S. adults to receive at least one dose of a Covid vaccine and have 160 million adults fully vaccinated by July 4, a date Biden has said he hopes will mark a turning point in the pandemic.As of Monday, more than 154 million American adults, or 59.7% of U.S. adults, have had at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, according to data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Roughly 121 million American adults, or 47.1% of U.S. adults, are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.CNBC Health & Science Read CNBC’s latest coverage of the Covid pandemic:WHO says pandemic is far from over despite high vaccination rates in some countries Dr. Scott Gottlieb says ‘nobody is going to be wearing’ Covid masks by June UK eases lockdown as Covid variant from India threatens freedom in June   Singapore and Hong Kong to postpone travel bubble again as Covid cases rise States with the highest number of doses administered per 100,000 people include New Hampshire, New Mexico, Maine, Connecticut and Massachusetts, according to the CDC data.Biden said getting a Covid vaccine is “easy as ever,” with many vaccination sites across the U.S. offering walk-ins.On Thursday, the CDC announced in updated public health guidance that fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a face mask or stay 6 feet away from others in most settings, whether outdoors or indoors. Many public health experts saw the move as another incentive from the administration to get vaccinated.Earlier Monday, the White House announced that the U.S. plans to send millions of additional Covid vaccine doses to foreign countries still being battered by the pandemic.At least 20 million doses of vaccines produced by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson will be shipped by the end of June, the White House said. That’s on top of 60 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine that are also scheduled to ship by then, pending regulatory authorization in the U.S. More

In this articleWMTSource: WalmartFrom here on out, for Walmart, it’s all about customer retention and loyalty.One of the tools it will use to do that is Walmart+, a subscription service that the company launched in September.Walmart is expected to give a progress report on the program when it reports earning on Tuesday. So far, the retailer has not shared subscriber numbers — and that’s unlikely to change this week — but investors and analysts will listen to clues about whether the program is helping the retailer deepen relationships with its shoppers and sell them other kinds of services. Hanging on to market share and driving trips to the store has grown in importance, particularly as consumers get vaccinated and feel free to return to more typical pre-pandemic spending patterns.Walmart+ is part of the retailer’s plans to broaden its business beyond retail and use its reach to make money in other ways, from advertising and financial services to health-care. When customers sign up for the program, the retailer can learn more about their shopping list and preferences — which they can then turn into customer benefits like personalized coupons and new revenue streams like targeted ads.”This is another tool Walmart has at its disposal to drive loyalty and drive online growth,” said Michael Lasser, a retail analyst for UBS. “And importantly, it allows it [the company] to capture more data of its consumers.”Rising competition, falling stockWalmart, the country’s largest grocer, saw sales rise throughout the pandemic, especially online, as Americans reduced shopping trips and focused on food and other pandemic-related necessities, from soap to puzzles. Its same-store sales rose 8.6% and its e-commerce sales soared 79% in the U.S. in the most recent fiscal year, compared with the year prior. Yet despite its size, the discounter faces numerous competitive threats from e-commerce forces like Amazon, low-priced retailers like Dollar General and Aldi and third-party disruptors like Instacart and Fresh Direct.In a recent company memo, obtained by Recode, Walmart was candid about the challenges it faces, from grocery shoppers choosing competitors like Target, Publix and Albertsons to how to retain members who sign up for Walmart+ when their subscriptions lapse.Walmart hit a 52-week high of $153.66 on Dec. 1. Since then, shares have fallen to about $139. Walmart’s fourth-quarter earnings prompted a sell-off as company leaders said the retailer would step up its level of investment to $14 billion and expected sales to moderate for the year. Its shares are down more 3% so far this year, bringing its market value to around $391 billion.Walmart’s sales growth is expected to taper off in the first quarter, as pandemic-related spending dissipates. UBS anticipates the retailer’s same-store sales in the U.S. will rise by 1.5% in the first quarter. That is lower than the 10% growth that Walmart saw in the first quarter a year ago, but higher than the average same-store sales decline of 3.6% that UBS expects for consumable retailers.The company’s earnings per share are expected to be $1.21 and its revenue is expected to be $132.09 billion, according to Refinitiv consensus estimatesWalmart has not shared a specific forecast for the fiscal year, but said it expects net sales to grow in the low single digits and operating income and earnings per share to be flat or up slightly when excluding the impact of divestitures.Walmart+ is Walmart’s answer to Amazon Prime, but with its own perks and a value-oriented spin. The subscription service costs $98 for a year or $12.95 for a month. It includes features like fuel discounts, free next-day and two-day shipping and unlimited deliveries of groceries and other merchandise from Walmart stores.Still in its infancyWalmart+ has grown to an estimated 8 million to 9 million members, according to a recent survey by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners. That’s up from an estimated 7.4 million to 8.2 million members at the start of the year. Members are spending an average $1,100 per year on Walmart’s website, according to the firm’s research in April. That has risen from an average of $1,000 in annual online spending when it surveyed customers in January.When including store purchases, CIRP found that Walmart+ members spend an average of $1,800 annually because they shop at Walmart.com 50% more frequently than customers who are not subscribers.Since the subscription service debuted in the fall, Walmart has continued to tweak it. For instance, the company dropped a $35 online shipping minimum for members in December. That move brought the retailer more in line with Amazon Prime and came during the holiday shopping season.At an investor day in February, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said Walmart+ will be one of ways that the company drives sales for new and existing customers. First, though, he said the company will focus on “a high quality experience” for customers before it adds more benefits and emphasizes membership growth.”We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves and go sell too many Walmart+ memberships and have a customer experience that is less than our expectation, or their expectation,” he said at the virtual event.For instance, he said, the retailer needs more capacity to keep up with grocery and other store orders delivered to members’ homes — one of the primary perks of the program. The company is adding automated systems to dozens of stores to quickly pick items and fulfill more online orders.”Over time, more and more of our customers will want Walmart+ because it makes life better,” he said. “That relationship will drive repeat business and provide data that enables us to serve them even better and be more personalized. It’s an important piece of our strategy.”Lasser of UBS said the membership program could ultimately bolster other pieces of Walmart’s business — such as allowing it to serve up ads that are more targeted and relevant based on consumers’ buying patterns.Earlier this year, Walmart rebranded its advertising business and announced ambitions to become one of the top 10 advertising platforms in the U.S. over the next few years. Its ads business makes up less than 1% of its annual net sales, according to its 2020 annual report.UBS has rated Walmart shares as buy. Its price target for Walmart is $160, about 13% higher than where shares are trading.While the retailer faces tough year-ago comparisons, Lasser said customers are likely buying more merchandise like TVs, lawn equipment and apparel than household and grocery basics like paper towels and milk. That could mean more profitable sales for Walmart, he said.Moody’s retail analyst Charlie O’Shea said he will listen for the velocity of online sales and whether sales of discretionary items has picked up. He said he doesn’t expect the company to reveal Walmart+ subscriber numbers, but expects to hear about what’s next for the program.He said Walmart+ is still in its infancy compared to Amazon Prime, which launched in 2005. Prime has grown to about 200 million Prime subscribers across the globe, its CEO Jeff Bezos said in April.Even if Walmart did share subscriber numbers, O’Shea said the pandemic has skewed buying patterns and made it “a tough time to assess a membership program.””It’s a laboratory experiment that should work,” he said. “But I’m not sure if it’s going to rise to the level of Amazon.” More