Raphael Stevens

In this articleVOW3-DEAshlee Espinal | CNBCGerman automaker Volkswagen will not be changing the name of its U.S. operations to Voltswagen of America after all.The news, which appeared to leak out on its U.S. media site Monday and was formally announced in a press release Tuesday, was part of an elaborate April Fools’ Day joke, the company confirmed in a statement later Tuesday.”The renaming was designed to be an announcement in the spirit of April Fool’s Day, highlighting the launch of the all-electric ID.4 SUV,” said Mike Tolbert, VW’s U.S.spokesman, in an emailed statement.The company is expected to issue a follow-up announcement explaining the marketing strategy by Wednesday morning, a person familiar with the plans said. The Wall Street Journal reported the prank earlier Tuesday, citing a Volkswagen spokesman in Wolfsburg.An unfinished version of the initial press release went out briefly on VW’s U.S. media newsroom website Monday morning before it was taken down. Media outlets, including CNBC, reported it as news after it was confirmed by unnamed sources within the company, who apparently lied to several reporters.The release said the name change is expected to take effect in May and called the change a “public declaration of the company’s future-forward investment in e-mobility.” It said Voltswagen will be placed as an exterior badge on all EV models, with gas vehicles having the company’s iconic VW emblem only. More

In this articleMMacy’s CEO Jeff Gennette told CNBC on Tuesday the uptick in U.S. Covid-19 vaccinations is already having a positive effect on the company’s top line. Gennette said business from loyal Macy’s customers is already up by 10% from the company’s fiscal fourth quarter, which ended in late January. Macy’s is just two months its current fiscal quarter. “That’s clearly the vaccine starting to take root,” he told CNBC’s Jim Cramer in a “Mad Money” interview. “We’re still taking a conservative view to this year. We’re more conservative in the front half than the back half, but it’s positive momentum that we’re bringing into this quarter with us.”Macy’s said in its fourth-quarter report that it reached 7 million new customers during that time period, with 4 million of them coming through digital channels. Gennette said Tuesday that growth was driven in large part by younger and online shoppers, who spent 8% more on Macy’s products on a year-over-year basis.Some of that momentum was sparked by the latest rounds of stimulus checks, the executive said.”They’re younger, they’re more diverse,” he said of Macy’s newest shoppers. “The good news is that the core customer … trend is improving as they start to get the vaccination. [We’re] starting to see the activity digitally and in the stores.”Macy’s reported that online sales increased 21% and made up 44% of net sales last quarter. The retailer’s brick-and-mortar challenges were multiplied as more consumers flocked to the internet to shop.However, the company has bolstered its e-commerce efforts. Gennette said Macy’s engineered a “hard pivot” to online over the past year and looks to leverage its physical locations, where 25% of digital orders are being fulfilled.The digital business grew by 25% last year from $6 billion in 2019. The company hopes to grow that to $10 billion over the next three years, Gennette said.”What people may not know is that we’re No. 2 in our categories in the nation and we were able to hold our market share in 2020,” he said. “Digital is enabled by having strong brick and mortar”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 articlePENNBillionaire restaurateur and casino operator Tilman Fertitta told CNBC on Tuesday he’s been caught off guard by the strength of his businesses in March.His comments on “Power Lunch” offer further insight into consumer confidence in the U.S. economy as states roll back pandemic-era restrictions and more Americans are vaccinated against Covid.”Our numbers in March are surprising to us in all 40 states that we do business in,” said Fertitta, chairman and CEO of Houston-based Landry’s, whose restaurants include Joe’s Crab Shack and Morton’s The Steakhouse. Fertitta also owns the Golden Nugget brand of casinos and hotels.”Even in California and New York, where you don’t have the business traveler, people are still going out in huge numbers now,” he said. “In Texas and Florida, they’re just blowing numbers away. People are tired of being locked up.”Hours before Fertitta’s remarks, the Conference Board released its consumer confidence index for March, which jumped to its highest level since the Covid pandemic began last year. It represented yet another data point backing up expectations for a strong economic rebound from the health crisis, which hit restaurants and the hospitality sector particularly hard.In a CNBC interview Wednesday, Barry Sternlicht, the chairman and CEO of Starwood Capital Group, said he was seeing positive economic signs in Miami, where his investment firm is based, and nearby areas. He said that one of his company’s hotels, 1 Hotel South Beach, was “ahead in February of this year, ahead of 2019.””We see all of this pent-up demand coming back. It’s going to be a frenzy this summer,” Sternlicht said on “Squawk Box.””The month of March has been incredible,” Jay Snowden, CEO of casino operator Penn National Gaming, told CNBC on March 23. “What we’re seeing right now in the business … is revenues and volumes that I haven’t seen in years.”The uptick in economic activity comes as top U.S. health officials have continued to urge caution, saying the country is not yet out of the pandemic woods despite vaccine progress. “We have so much to look forward to, so much promise and potential of where we are and so much reason for hope, but right now I’m scared,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Monday, warning the country’s case counts are going in the wrong direction. In 29 states, plus Washington, D.C., the weekly average of new daily Covid infections is rising. Overall, the country’s seven-day average of new coronavirus cases per day is up 23%, to nearly 66,000, compared with one week ago. It remains well below the nation’s January peak. In addition to Covid vaccines allowing consumers to feel more comfortable venturing out, another factor likely contributing to consumer spending right now is the latest round of stimulus checks. Americans began receiving them earlier this month, and the IRS said last week roughly 127 million people have gotten the third direct payment.Fertitta said it’s tough to determine how much of what his businesses are seeing is a temporary surge related to the stimulus checks. However, he said, “I’m telling you, the high-end restaurants, my hotels, the casinos, are having record numbers right now.” More

The latest SpaceX prototype of its Starship rocket was destroyed Tuesday during a landing attempt after a clean launch.The company’s livestream of the flight test froze as the rocket came in to land, and thick fog around SpaceX’s facility in Texas made it difficult for witnesses to see what happened.Starship prototype Serial Number 11, or SN11, reached its target altitude of about 10 kilometers (about 32,800 feet). The rocket is built of stainless steel, representing the early versions unveiled in 2019. Elon Musk’s company is developing Starship with the goal of launching cargo and people on missions to the moon and Mars.The Starship prototypes stand at about 150 feet tall, or about the size of a 15-story building, and each one is powered by three Raptor rocket engines.Starship prototype rocket SN11 stands on the launchpad at the company’s facility in Boca Chica, Texas.SpaceXMusk tweeted about half an hour after the test that “at least the crater is in the right place!””Something significant happened shortly after landing burn start. Should know what it was once we can examine the bits later today,” Musk said.SpaceX principal integration engineer John Insprucker noted that the thick fog in the area prevented the company from showing camera views beyond those that were on the rocket itself.”The frozen view we saw in the camera doesn’t mean that we’re waiting for the signal to come back; Starship 11 is not coming back. Don’t wait for the landing,” Insprucker said. “We do appear to have lost all the data from the vehicle, and the team of course is away from the landing pad, so we’ll be out there seeing what we had.”The Federal Aviation Administration, which had an inspector at SpaceX’s facilities to observe the test flight, said in a statement that the FAA will oversee the company’s investigation into the “prototype mishap.” The FAA has conducted similar mishap investigations after previous Starship test flights.”The [Starship] vehicle experienced an anomaly during the landing phase of the flight resulting in loss of the vehicle,” an FAA spokesperson said. “The FAA will approve the final mishap investigation report and any corrective actions SpaceX must take before return to flight is authorized.”The FAA noted that it will also work with SpaceX to identify reports of light debris in the area, saying that there have yet to be any reported injuries or damaged to public property.A spectator holds a piece of debris which was blown 5 miles (8 km) from the site where SpaceX test rocket SN11 exploded upon landing, in Boca Chica, Texas, March 30, 2021.Gene Blevins | ReutersSpaceX has successfully launched four Starship prototypes on high-altitude flight tests, starting with SN8 in December, then SN9 in February, and SN10 and now SN11. But while the launches have largely gone according to plan, the landing attempts have ended in a variety of explosions. SpaceX is the only large rocket builder that is attempting to land its vehicles after a launch – traditionally, large rocket boosters are discarded after launching.Musk’s goal is for Starship to be fully reusable, envisioning a rocket that is similar to a commercial aircraft and capable of launching with minor maintenance and fuel between flights. While SpaceX has only landed prototype SN10 successfully after a high-altitude flight test – although the rocket exploded a few minutes later – the company has landed previous prototypes after short flights to about 500 feet in altitude.Starship prototype SN10 returns for a soft landing on a concrete pad at the company’s facility in Boca Chica, Texas.SpaceXMusk said Tuesday that SpaceX’s next prototype, Starship SN15, will roll out to the launchpad “in a few days.””It has hundreds of design improvements across structures, avionics/software & engine,” Musk said.Starship is one of two “Manhattan Projects” that SpaceX is simultaneously developing, with the other being its Starlink satellite internet program. Musk has previously estimated that it will cost about $5 billion to fully develop Starship, although SpaceX has not disclosed how much it has spent on the program. The company last month brought in $850 million in its latest capital fundraising at a $74 billion valuation. More

In this articlePFEBNTXThis photo taken on February 17, 2020 shows medical staff members working at an exhibition center converted into a hospital in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province.STR | AFP via Getty ImagesWASHINGTON — The United States signed on to a joint statement with 13 other nations Tuesday criticizing the World Health Organization’s long-anticipated report on the origins of Covid-19.In a joint statement, the governments of Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Israel, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, South Korea, Slovenia, United Kingdom and the United States, wrote that the report “was significantly delayed and lacked access to complete, original data and samples.””In a serious outbreak of an unknown pathogen with pandemic potential, a rapid, independent, expert-led, and unimpeded evaluation of the origins is critical to better prepare our people, our public health institutions, our industries, and our governments to respond successfully to such an outbreak and prevent future pandemics,” according to the joint statement.”Going forward, there must now be a renewed commitment by WHO and all Member States to access, transparency, and timeliness,” the group added.While the WHO’s 120-page report, which was published Tuesday and produced by a team of international scientists, helped to advance the scientific community’s understanding of the deadly virus that swept the globe, it fell short of a full assessment.”We have not yet found the source of the virus, and we must continue to follow the science and leave no stone unturned as we do,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a press briefing Tuesday.”Finding the origin of a virus takes time and we owe it to the world to find the source so we can collectively take steps to reduce the risk of this happening again. No single research trip can provide all the answers,” he added.At the White House, press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that the Biden administration was still reviewing the WHO report, adding that the findings gave a “partial and incomplete picture.””The report lacks crucial data, information and access. It represents a partial and incomplete picture,” Psaki said. “There’s a second stage in this process that we believe should be led by international and independent experts. They should have unfettered access to data,” she added.Psaki slammed Beijing’s lack of transparency when asked about China’s participation in the WHO’s report, which included at least 17 experts.”Well, they have not been transparent. They have not provided underlying data. That certainly doesn’t qualify as cooperation,” she said.– CNBC’s Noah Higgins-Dunn contributed to this report. More

American Dream megamall and entertainment complex in East Rutherford, N.J. After more than 17 years in the making, it finally opened October 25, 2019. Then came the coronoavirus pandemic.Timothy A. Clary | AFP | Getty ImagesLenders that back the American Dream megamall in New Jersey are nearing taking a 49% stake in two other malls that are owned by the developers, Triple Five Group, according to a report in the Financial Times.Triple Five used the other retail properties as collateral for its $1.2 billion construction loan at American Dream, which still is not fully open after years of on-and-off construction and multiple owners.The loan that was defaulted on is held by J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Starwood Capital, CIM Group, Soros Fund Management, Wafra and iStar, according to the report in the FT, which cited people familiar with the matter. The restructuring is expected to close soon, it said, though the process could still be delayed.A representative from Triple Five declined to comment.Triple Five previously during the Covid pandemic defaulted on its $1.4 billion Mall of America mortgage, missing months of payments. It was struggling to pay its bills when tenants including retailers and restaurants weren’t paying their rent on time. It recently reached a deal with lenders, however, to avoid foreclosure of the property and the loan was made current as of December.The health crisis brought a whole new range of obstacles to the American Dream megamall, which has been decades in the making. On March 16, 2020 — just three days ahead of the grand opening of dozens of retail stores at the mall — the 3-million-square-foot complex shut down because of pandemic-related restrictions. Some of the entertainment venues, including a massive indoor water park, have since reopened, but at limited capacity.More openings are still slated at American Dream later this year, including its Sea Life Aquarium and Legoland Discovery Center.Read the full report from the Financial Times. More