Raphael Stevens

In this articleBAUnited Airlines planes, including a Boeing 737 MAX 9 model, are pictured at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas, March 18, 2019.Loren Elliott | ReutersBoeing said Thursday that it expects to resume deliveries of 737 Max planes “within the week” after federal officials approved a fix for an electrical problem while U.S. airlines are starting repairs on dozens of grounded jets.The Federal Aviation Administration approved the repairs for the manufacturing flaw, which grounded more than 100 planes in service last month.Boeing had paused deliveries of Max aircraft it already produced to address the issue, the company’s latest hinderance to generating much-needed cash.Boeing shares closed up 0.8% after briefly trading more than 3% higher at session highs.The Max planes had been grounded worldwide for 20 months until last November after two fatal crashes. The electrical problem is unrelated to issues that prompted the grounding between March 2019 and November 2020 after the crashes.Airlines have been eager to get the planes back in service to cater to a rebound in travel demand as more customers are vaccinated against Covid-19 and attractions reopen.United Airlines has begun repairs on the planes and said it expects its 17 affected Max jets to return to service in “the coming days as we complete our inspection process and ensure those aircraft meet our rigorous safety standards.” The Chicago-based airline has a total of 30 Maxes in its fleet.American Airlines has also started repairs and expects its 18 Max aircraft that must undergo the repairs to be back in service in the next few days. Southwest Airlines said that work on each plane will take two to three days and that “it will take about three weeks to complete the compliance work.”Dallas-based Southwest has 32 Boeing 737 Max 8 planes that were grounded last month out of a total Max fleet of 64.The FAA said on April 29 that it is investigating how the electrical problem occurred. Officials said the manufacturing flaw, which arose after a design change in 2019, led to insufficient electrical grounding in some cockpit areas, which could ultimately affect systems such as engine ice protection, if not addressed.The agency also said it is auditing Boeing’s process for minor design changes. More

U.S. coronavirus case counts fell further Wednesday, with the nationwide average now at about 36,700 per day over the past week, data compiled by Johns Hopkins University shows. That’s the lowest level of average daily cases since Sept. 14.The U.S. is reporting an average of 2.2 million daily vaccinations over the past seven days and more than 46% of the country’s population has received one shot or more, according to federal data.The vaccination numbers may get a boost in the coming weeks as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday signed off on expanded usage of Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds, clearing the way for pediatricians to start giving out the shots across the country as early as Thursday.U.S. Covid casesCase counts in the U.S. have dropped sharply over the past few weeks, with the country now seeing nearly half as many cases per day as the most recent high point just one month ago. The latest seven-day average of daily cases is about 36,700, compared with more than 71,000 in mid-April, according to Johns Hopkins data.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsDaily case counts have declined by 5% or more in more than 40 states over the past week.U.S. Covid deathsThe latest seven-day average of U.S. Covid deaths is 618 per day, Johns Hopkins data shows. That’s down 9% from a week ago.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsU.S. vaccine shots administeredAbout 2.2 million vaccinations are being reported each day in the U.S., based on a seven-day average of CDC data.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsThe pace of daily shots is down from a high point of 3.4 million per day in mid-April as many of those most eager and able to get a shot have already done so. The daily average has picked up slightly in recent days, rising from just under 2 million on Saturday.The approval of use of the Pfizer shot for kids could provide a boost to the daily vaccination numbers in the coming days and weeks.U.S. share of the population vaccinatedAbout 46% of Americans have received at least one vaccine shot and 35% are fully vaccinated, CDC data shows.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsPresident Joe Biden has set a goal of getting 70% of adults to receive at least one shot by July 4. As of Wednesday, nearly 59% of adults have done so.CNBC Health & Science Read CNBC’s latest coverage of the Covid pandemic:The Seychelles is the most vaccinated nation on earth but Covid-19 has surged Mix and match Covid vaccine study finds increased risk of mild to moderate symptoms CDC OKs Pfizer’s Covid vaccine for use in adolescents, clearing way for shots to begin ThursdayCDC says 28 blood clot cases, 3 deaths may be linked to J&J Covid vaccine– CNBC’s Berkeley Lovelace Jr. contributed reporting. More

In this articleSONOSonos CEO Patrick Spence said on CNBC Thursday that the company is riding three secular trends that he expects will maintain growth momentum post coronavirus pandemic.”The first is the golden age of audio. We are in it,” he said in a “Mad Money” interview with Jim Cramer.Music streaming has become the norm, thanks to services offered by the likes of Spotify and Apple. Their platforms have made music and podcast content easily accessible from the tap of a finger.Spence also expects the rise of social audio, such as Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces, to be a boost for Sonos’ slate of speakers and home sound systems.Sonos also plans to capitalize on the growing amount of video content that is being released direct-to-consumer, such as movies and TV shows carried by Netflix and other streaming companies. A number of movies, such as “The Trial of the Chicago 7” and “Mulan,” bypassed movie theater releases amid Covid-19 lockdowns last year.”We expect that to continue,” Spence said. “More movies being released right into the home, more people enjoying it the home.”Meanwhile, Sonos sees opportunity in a housing market that turned hot during the shift to remote work. Spence is counting on the “great reshuffling” to lead more consumers to buy home entertainment systems.”A lot of people that now have new flexibility and freedom to work anywhere and so they’re moving, they’re setting up a new home and that’s perfect for Sonos,” he said.The comments come one day after Sonos reported results from its fiscal second quarter. The Santa Barbara, California-based company posted a 90% year-over-year increase in overall sales driven largely by speakers.The stock surged 7% in Thursday’s session, closing at $33.83 per share.Questions 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

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s updated masking guidelines mark a significant shift in the pandemic, the dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health said Thursday.”Basically, it’s acknowledging that vaccinated people can go back to normal, and can do most of the things we were doing pre-pandemic, and that is really, really terrific news,” said Dr. Ashish Jha. The new CDC rules advise that fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a face mask or stay 6 feet away from others in most outdoor or indoor settings. Jha told CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith” that he thinks states should leave indoor mask mandates for another month, so that people who got their shot on April 19th would be fully vaccinated. President Joe Biden opened up Covid vaccination eligibility to all U.S. residents 18 years and older on April 19.Jha also advised unvaccinated children continue to wear a mask. “I’m going to ask my unvaccinated 9-year-old to wear a mask if we go indoors to someplace like a grocery store because I’m going to assume that there are other unvaccinated people who are maskless… We’re going to have to have some kids still wearing masks for a little while,” Jha said. More

In this articleDOGE.CM=BTC.CM=COINCoinbase Global issued its first quarterly report as a public company on Thursday, showing a surge in business with growing public interest around investing in digital coins.Despite raging speculation around cryptocurrency and a bountiful number of offerings, the asset class is a volatile one. After coming public more than a month ago, shares of the Coinbase crypto exchange are down 38% from their mid-April peak alongside the price of bitcoin.In a wide-ranging interview after the close with Jim Cramer on “Mad Money,” Coinbase Chief Financial Officer Alesia Haas spoke about a number of major topics related to digital currency.Below are takeaways from the Q&A:What are cryptocurrency investors buying?”Typically, the first coin that people are interested in is bitcoin,” she said. “The other crypto assets on the platform are seeing an increasing volume in trading assets on our platform, and so we think over time more and more users are getting engaged with more and more crypto assets and that’s what we’re excited to see.”Is cryptocurrency regulation needed?”We’ve leaned into regulations since we were founded,” said Haas, highlighting that the company believes regulations will bring trust to the market. “We like partnering with regulators. We want there to be a level playing field and we embrace regulation. We think it’s a benefit to our business and not a burden.”What does Elon Musk’s reversal on bitcoin and the volatility in crypto say about the assets?”I think crypto is here to stay. I do think crypto is volatile, though, and you can see it that we react to a tweet, that we’ll react to one-off headlines,” Haas said. “This is a long-term investment. We believe that we are just starting to get to the potential of crypto, but it could be a bumpy journey and we could see days that are up and down like we have seen in the past.”Should investors take dogecoin seriously?”We leave that to the decision of our users. We are a platform. We want to offer all assets that meet our listing standards and we hope to be the place where you can come and trade anything that you want to trade,” Haas said. “That is not the case today. We are slow. We need to add more assets. We’re making big investments to improve the speed of our asset addition, but clearly, the market is speaking.”Mastercard, Visa, PayPal and other financial companies have made moves in crypto. Concerns about competition?”We welcome them. Three years ago when we were the only crypto company, we were a little lonely out there, and so now that we see most fintechs embracing crypto and large financial services players, it just really says that crypto has arrived, like this is becoming mainstream this is here to stay, yet it is evolving,” Haas said.Questions 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 articleDISPeople enter Disneyland Park as it reopens for the first time since the COVID 19 pandemic forced the park to shut down last year on April 30, 2021 in Anaheim, California.David McNew | Getty ImagesDisney took another financial hit from the Covid pandemic during its fiscal second quarter, as restrictions on attendance at its open theme parks and the continued closure of its California parks weighed heavily on its bottom line.However, the future for Disney parks is getting brighter. The Disneyland Resort reopened April 30 and many pandemic restrictions are starting to ease or be removed entirely. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks in most settings.Revenue at Disney’s parks, experiences and products segment fell 44% to $3.2 billion, as many of its theme parks were either closed or operating at reduced capacity and its cruise ships and guided tours were suspended.The company said the outbreak cost this division around $1.2 billion in lost operating income during the latest quarter. Disney has reported similar losses in each of its last four earnings reports.Disney reopened its two California-based parks on April 30, so any revenue garnered over the last few weeks is not reflected in the fiscal second-quarter results. However, the parks’ reopening could boost expectations for the fiscal third quarter. As of Thursday, Disney’s Paris-based theme park is the only location that has not reopened to the public.”Our parks and resorts that were open during the quarter operated at significantly reduced capacities, yet all achieved the objective of a net positive contribution, meaning that revenue exceeded the variable costs associated with opening,” said Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy during an earnings call Thursday.And as vaccination rates continue to increase and fewer coronavirus cases are being reported in the United States, Disney is amending its health and safety guidelines.”We’re going to be able to raise our capacity limits; we’ve actually already started that,” said CEO Bob Chapek. “Given the guidance that just came today from the CDC, and earlier guidance that we got from the governor of Florida, we’ve already started to increase our capacities.”The CDC has also provided guidance that vaccinated individuals do not need to wear masks indoors or outdoors, he said. These new guidelines could lead Disney to alter its mask policy in the future.”[It’s] big news for us, particularly if anybody’s been in Florida in the middle of summer with a mask on,” Chapek joked. “That could be quite daunting, so we think that’s going to make for an even more pleasant experience.” More

In this articleFBU.S. health officials have loosened rules on masks for vaccinated Americans, but the new guidance sends a different message to Wall Street, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Thursday.”The CDC’s new guidance also means you’re going to get clobbered if you keep owning the lockdown stocks,” he said on “Mad Money.” “Instead, you need to circle back to the great reopening plays.”The CDC, or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, earlier Thursday announced that it no longer advises fully vaccinated people to wear a facial covering or stay 6 feet away from others in most settings. Face masks and social distancing mandates were put in place more than a year ago as a means to mitigate the spread of Covid-19.The news was welcomed by investors, helping stocks rebound from multiple days of declines, Cramer said.”You need to understand that this phase of the bull market’s all about keeping inflation tame enough so that the economy can grow without overheating and forcing the Federal Reserve to slam on the brakes,” he said.Coming off its worst session since February, the market broke a three-day losing streak that was driven in part by concerns of rising inflation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 both rallied more than 1.2% during the trading day, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.72%. Meanwhile, the price of U.S. oil, an inflation contributor, dropped more than 3% after rallying four days straight.”If oil, lumber, bitcoin and the ‘WoodStocks’ can keep going down … then you’re going to get many more days like today,” Cramer said. “If not, then this rally will turn out to be nothing more than a temporary reprieve.”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