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    Chinese finance minister hints at increasing the deficit at highly anticipated briefing

    China’s Minister of Finance Lan Fo’an told reporters during a briefing that the central government has room for a deficit increase, but noted such policies are still under discussion.
    Economists have said China needs additional fiscal support, but Beijing has yet to announce any.
    Analyst projections for how much fiscal stimulus is needed range from around 2 trillion yuan ($283.1 billion) to more than 10 trillion yuan.

    Lan Fo’an, China’s finance minister, center, speaks as Zheng Shanjie, chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), left, and Pan Gongsheng, governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), listen during a news conference on the sidelines of the National People’s Congress in Beijing, China, on Wednesday, March 6, 2024.
    Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    BEIJING — China’s Minister of Finance Lan Fo’an told reporters Saturday during a highly anticipated press briefing that the central government has room to increase debt and the deficit.
    He emphasized that the space for a deficit increase is “rather large,” but noted such policies are still under discussion, according to CNBC’s translation of the Chinese.

    Economists have insisted that China needs additional fiscal support, but Beijing has yet to announce any. In the days leading up to the briefing, many investors and analysts had hoped that China was gearing up to unveil a major new stimulus package.
    Lan signaled that the weekend briefing was not the end, that more stimulus is on the way and that the debt or deficit changes markets have been waiting for could come in the near future. It remains unclear whether the size of any such stimulus would meet market expectations, or how much would go directly towards consumption or real estate.
    “These policies are in the right direction,” Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, said in a note Saturday. He added that more details are needed to evaluate the impact of such policies on the macro outlook, and “this will be the focus of the market in [the] coming months.”
    The finance ministry on Saturday also outlined policy measures focused on addressing local government debt problems, stabilizing real estate and supporting employment.
    On real estate, the finance ministry will allow local governments to use special bonds for land purchases and allow affordable housing subsidies to be used for existing housing inventory, instead of only new construction, Vice Minister of Finance Liao Min said at the same press conference, according to CNBC’s translation of the Chinese.

    He added that authorities were considering plans to reduce real estate-related taxes. He did not name specific figures and noted supporting real estate required multiple policies.
    In a meeting in late September, led by Chinese President Xi Jinping, authorities had called for strengthening monetary and fiscal policy support. But they did not lay out the details.
    Analyst projections for how much fiscal stimulus is needed range from around 2 trillion yuan ($283.1 billion) to more than 10 trillion yuan.
    Ting Lu, chief China economist at Nomura, had cautioned in a note Thursday that any such stimulus would typically need approval by China’s parliament, expected to hold a meeting later this month. He added that how any funds are used is just as important as the amount that’s delivered — whether they only go to shoring up struggling local government finances or focus on boosting consumption.
    China’s retail sales grew only modestly over the last few months, and the country’s real estate slump has shown few signs of turning around.
    GDP rose by 5% in the first half of the year, sparking concerns that China could miss its full-year target of around 5%. All eyes are now on Oct. 18, when the National Bureau of Statistics is scheduled to release third-quarter GDP.
    Bruce Pang, chief economist and head of research for Greater China at JLL, said he is watching for more details to be announced at a parliamentary meeting later this month. He added “it would be reasonable and practical” to keep some dry powder in the event of unexpected shocks.

    After markets reopened Tuesday following a weeklong holiday, mainland Chinese stocks became volatile throughout the week, as a stimulus-fueled rally lost stream. The declines took major indexes back to levels seen in late September.
    Stocks had climbed then — the CSI 300 saw its best week since 2008 — as major policy announcements signaled that the Chinese government was finally stepping in to stimulate slowing growth.
    Just days after the Federal Reserve began its easing cycle, the People’s Bank of China cut a few of its interest rates and extended existing real estate support measures by two years. The PBOC also launched a roughly $71 billion program allowing institutional investors to borrow funds for stock investing.
    The National Development and Reform Commission, the top economic planning agency, pledged in a rare press conference Tuesday to speed up use of 200 billion yuan originally allocated for next year, mostly for investment projects. The NDRC did not announce additional stimulus.
    Saturday is a working day in China, but markets are closed. More

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    Boeing to cut 17,000 jobs as losses deepen during factory strike

    Boeing plans to cut about 10% of its workforce, or about 17,000 people.
    The manufacturer will also delay the launch of its new 777X wide-body planes until 2026, citing development issues.
    A factory strike is almost a month old, and tensions between the company and the machinists’ union are on the rise.

    Boeing 737 MAX airliners are pictured at the company’s factory in Renton, Washington, on Sept. 12, 2024.
    Stephen Brashear | AP

    Boeing will cut 10% of its workforce, or about 17,000 people, as the company’s losses mount and a machinist strike that has idled its aircraft factories enters its fifth week. It will also push back the long-delayed launch of its new wide-body airplane.
    The manufacturer will not deliver its still-uncertified 777X wide-body plane until 2026, putting it some six years behind schedule. The company in August paused flight tests of the aircraft when it discovered structural damage in one of them. It will stop making commercial 767 freighters in 2027 after it fulfills remaining orders, CEO Kelly Ortberg said in a staff memo Friday afternoon.

    “Our business is in a difficult position, and it is hard to overstate the challenges we face together,” Ortberg said. “Beyond navigating our current environment, restoring our company requires tough decisions and we will have to make structural changes to ensure we can stay competitive and deliver for our customers over the long term.”
    Boeing expects to report a loss of $9.97 a share in the third quarter, the company said in a surprise release Friday. It expects to report a pretax charge of $3 billion in the commercial airplane unit and $2 billion for its defense business.
    In preliminary financial results, Boeing said it expects to have an operating cash outflow of $1.3 billion for the third quarter.
    The job and cost cuts are the most dramatic moves to date from Ortberg, who is just over two months into his tenure in the top job, tasked with returning Boeing to stability after safety and manufacturing crises, including a near-catastrophic midair door-plug blow out earlier this year.
    The machinist strike is yet another challenge for Ortberg. Credit ratings agencies have warned the company is at risk of losing its investment-grade rating, and Boeing has been burning through cash in what company leaders hoped would be a turnaround year.

    S&P Global Ratings said earlier this week that Boeing is losing more than $1 billion a month from the strike of more than 30,000 machinists, which began Sept. 13 after machinists overwhelmingly voted down a tentative agreement the company reached with the union. Tensions have been rising between the manufacturer and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, and Boeing withdrew a newer contract offer earlier this week.
    On Thursday, Boeing said it filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board that accused the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers of negotiating in bad faith and misrepresenting the plane makers’ proposals. The union had blasted Boeing for a sweetened offer that it argued was not negotiated with the union and said workers would not vote on it.
    The job cuts, which Ortberg said would occur “over the coming months,” would hit just after Boeing and its hundreds of suppliers have been scrambling to staff up in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, when demand cratered.

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    Here’s the deflation breakdown for September 2024 — in one chart

    Deflation has occurred in segments of the U.S. economy over the past year, according to the consumer price index.
    Some imported goods, consumer electronics and energy and food items have seen declines in price.
    Deflation is rare across the broad economy, economists said. Businesses don’t typically reduce prices.

    Jeff Greenberg | Universal Images Group | Getty Images

    Inflation has eased gradually across the broad U.S. economy, and some areas of consumer spending, such as furniture and gasoline, have even deflated over the past year.
    Deflation is when prices decline for goods and services.

    It is rare for prices to fall from their current levels across the economy at large, economists said.
    However, prices for many physical goods have deflated as supply-and-demand dynamics return to normal following pandemic-era contortions.

    “Outside of goods prices, I don’t think we’ll see price cuts,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s.
    “[Businesses] will hold the line on price if demand is soft but outright price declines are very rare, and even in a recession are not common,” Zandi said.
    Additionally, prices for energy and food commodities can be volatile, so it is not unusual to see swings up and down. Consumer electronics also continually improve in quality, a dynamic that statisticians equate to deflation but which may only be apparent on paper and not at the store.

    Which goods prices have deflated

    Average prices for “core” goods — commodities that exclude food and energy — have deflated about 1% since September 2023, according to the consumer price index.
    Demand for physical goods soared in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. Consumers were confined to their homes and could not spend on things such as concerts, travel or dining out. Households also had more discretionary income, as they pulled back on spending and had more cash from federal aid.
    The pandemic also snarled global supply chains, meaning goods were not hitting the shelves as quickly as consumers wanted them.

    Such supply-and-demand dynamics drove up prices.
    Now, those contortions have largely eased and prices have declined as a result, economists said.
    For example, prices for household furnishings have fallen about 2% over the past 12 months, as have those for appliances (down 3%), tools and hardware (4%), women’s outerwear (6%) and sporting goods (2%), according to CPI data.
    More from Personal Finance:Ozempic is driving up the cost of your health careHere’s why the Social Security COLA is smaller for 2025Here’s the inflation breakdown for September 2024
    Vehicles have also “been one of the key areas of goods deflation,” said Sarah House, senior economist at Wells Fargo Economics.
    New and used vehicle prices have deflated 1% and 5%, respectively, since September 2023.
    It is natural to see some “give back” in price since vehicles saw among the largest spikes when inflation began to pop in 2021, House said. In June 2021, for example, used car prices were up 45% from a year earlier.   

    The U.S. Federal Reserve also raised interest rates aggressively to combat high inflation, leading to pricier financing costs for car buyers. That served to weaken demand, which also pushed down prices, economists said. The Fed began an interest rate-cutting cycle in September.
    Outside of supply-demand dynamics, the U.S. dollar’s strength relative to other global currencies has also helped rein in prices for imported goods, economists said. This makes it less expensive for U.S. companies to import items from overseas, since the dollar can buy more.

    Energy, food and consumer electronics

    Outside of imported goods, consumers may also see a “normalization” of prices in food and energy, Zandi said. They are influenced by “big swings in commodity prices, the value of currencies and trading relationships,” he said.
    For example, regular unleaded gasoline prices have declined about 16% since September 2023, according to CPI data.

    Food prices are also generally underpinned by their own unique supply-and-demand dynamics. Categories such as apples, potatoes, frozen vegetables and fresh fish and seafood have seen prices deflate about 11%, 4%, 2% and 1%, respectively.
    The quality of consumer electronics such as televisions, cell phones and computers also continually improves, meaning consumers generally get more for the same amount of money. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which compiles the monthly CPI report, equates that to a price decline in the inflation data.

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    WNBA to expand Finals to 7 games, add to regular season next year

    The WNBA is changing its Finals series to seven games and adding four games to its regular season next year.
    WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced the changes during her Finals media availability on Thursday.
    The Golden State Valkyries, the WNBA’s 13th team, will also debut next season.

    Napheesa Collier, #24 of the Minnesota Lynx, scores the game-winning basket during the game against the New York Liberty in Game 1 of the 2024 WNBA Finals at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on Oct. 10, 2024.
    Nathaniel S. Butler | National Basketball Association | Getty Images

    Basketball fans will have even more chances to see their favorite stars play in the Women’s National Basketball Association in the 2025 season.
    WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced that the league will expand its regular season from 40 games to 44 games, and its Finals series from five games to seven games, both beginning next year. The Finals round will be a 2-2-1-1-1 format for home games, with the higher seed hosting first.

    The three-game first round of the playoffs will alternate hosts, instead of the higher seed hosting the first two games before switching, like it did this season.
    Engelbert said the league has considered the playoff changes since the Covid-19 pandemic, but the surge in its popularity and introduction of charter flights for teams was the final push needed to implement the new playoff format.
    “The league’s growth and increased demand for WNBA basketball made this the ideal time to expand the schedule, lengthen the Finals and provide fans more opportunities to see the best players in the world compete at the highest level,” Engelbert said during a Thursday press conference.
    The schedule is not the only thing expanding in next year’s season. The Golden State Valkyries will debut in 2025 as the league’s 13th team. Two more expansion teams have been announced, one in Toronto and one in Portland, and there are discussions in the works to lock in a city for the 16th team, Engelbert said Thursday. The Toronto and Portland teams, which are both unnamed, will start play in 2026.
    The additions come as the WNBA is rapidly increasing in popularity, which led to the league’s most-recent media rights deal being worth $2.2 billion for 11 seasons, CNBC previously reported. The league’s media contract is negotiated within the National Basketball Association’s deal.

    Viewership, attendance and engagement numbers all increased for the 2024 season, and in some cases set new records. The influx of exciting rookies such as Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, in combination with established stars such as Breanna Stewart and A’ja Wilson, who are the respective 2023 and 2024 MVPs, contributed to the surge.
    As the league has grown in popularity, more players have said they experienced racism or online harassment. When Engelbert appeared on CNBC last month, she did not outright condemn either when asked about the issue, sparking criticism. Engelbert later clarified and condemned “hate or racism.”

    The WNBA is not the only women’s sports league growing in popularity, and media executives and investors are taking notice. Both RedBird IMI’s Jeff Zucker and Endeavor executive chairman Patrick Whitesell spoke to CNBC about the enticing opportunities across women’s sports.
    This year’s Finals are currently underway between the Minnesota Lynx and the New York Liberty. The Lynx are up 1-0 in the best-of-five series after winning in an overtime thriller Thursday night.

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    JPMorgan Chase tops estimates for profit and revenue on better-than-expected interest income

    JPMorgan Chase posted third-quarter results that topped estimates for profit and revenue as the company generated more interest income than expected.
    JPMorgan said profit fell 2% from a year earlier to $12.9 billion, while revenue climbed 6% to $43.32 billion.
    The biggest American bank has thrived in a rising rate environment, posting record net income figures since the Fed started hiking rates in 2022.

    Chairman and C.E.O. of JPMorgan Chase & Co. Jaime Dimon speaks during the New York Times annual DealBook summit on November 29, 2023 in New York City. 
    Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images

    JPMorgan Chase posted third-quarter results that topped estimates for profit and revenue as the company generated more interest income than expected.
    Here’s what the company reported:

    Earnings: $4.37 a share vs. $4.01 a share LSEG estimate
    Revenue: $43.32 billion, vs. $41.63 billion estimate

    JPMorgan said profit fell 2% from a year earlier to $12.9 billion, while revenue climbed 6% to $43.32 billion. Net interest income rose 3% to $23.5 billion, exceeding the $22.73 billion StreetAccount estimate, on gains from investments in securities and loan growth in its credit card business.
    CEO Jamie Dimon touted the firm’s quarterly results in a statement, while also addressing regulators’ sweeping efforts to force banks to hold more capital and expressing concern about rising geopolitical risks, saying that conditions are “treacherous and getting worse.”
    “We believe rules can be written that promote a strong financial system without causing undue consequences for the economy,” Dimon said, addressing the pending regulatory changes. “Now is an excellent time to step back and review the extensive set of existing rules – which were put in place for a good reason – to understand their impact on economic growth” and the health of markets, he said.
    The bank’s results were also helped by its Wall Street division. Investment banking fees climbed 31% to $2.27 billion in the quarter, exceeding the $2.02 billion estimate.
    Fixed income trading generated $4.5 billion in revenue, unchanged from a year earlier but topping the $4.38 billion StreetAccount estimate. Equities trading jumped 27% to $2.6 billion, edging out the $2.41 billion estimate, according to StreetAccount.

    The company also raised its full-year 2024 guidance for net interest income from the previous quarter, saying that NII would hit roughly $92.5 billion this year, up from the previous $91 billion guidance. Annual expenses are projected at about $91.5 billion, down from the earlier $92 billion guidance.
    The bank’s provision for credit losses in the quarter was $3.1 billion, worse than the $2.91 billion estimate, as the company had $2.1 billion in charge-offs and built reserves for future losses by $1 billion.
    Consumers are “fine and on strong footing” and the increase in reserves was because the bank is growing its book of credit card loans, not because the consumer is weakening, CFO Jeremy Barnum told reporters on Friday.
    The biggest American bank has thrived in a rising rate environment, posting record net income figures since the Fed started hiking rates in 2022.
    Now, with the Fed cutting rates, there are questions as to how JPMorgan will navigate the change. Like other big banks, its margins may be squeezed as yields on interest-generating assets like loans fall faster than its funding costs.
    Last month, JPMorgan dialed back expectations for 2025 net interest income and expenses, and analysts will want more details on those projections.
    Shares of JPMorgan rose about 2% in premarket trading Friday and are up 25% so far this year, exceeding the 20% gain of the KBW Bank Index.
    Wells Fargo also released quarterly results Friday, while Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley report next week.
    This story is developing. Please check back for updates. More

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    Jeff Shell is about to lead Paramount. He may have runway to make bold changes he couldn’t at NBC

    Former NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell is primed to take over as president of Paramount Global after its merger with Skydance Media is complete.
    Shell developed a reputation at NBCUniversal for having big ideas and what one former coworker described as a “shoot first and aim later” mentality.
    Skydance chief David Ellison, who will be CEO of the combined company, may give Shell more runway to make bolder decisions at Paramount Global.

    Jeff Shell, CEO of NBCUniversal, speaks during a conference at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in Cannes, France, June 22, 2022. 
    Eric Gaillard | Reuters

    Less than two years after NBCUniversal fired Jeff Shell for alleged sexual harassment, the former CEO is close to finding himself back in the saddle leading a storied media company.
    The longtime media executive is primed to help run the day-to-day media operations of Paramount Global as president of the company when its merger with Skydance Media closes in the first half of 2025, assuming regulatory approval. He’ll report to current Skydance CEO David Ellison, who will take the top job as the combined company’s CEO.

    While neither Shell nor Ellison has publicly declared specific intentions for Paramount Global due to regulations banning “gun-jumping” in pending mergers, Shell’s recent tenure as the CEO of Comcast’s NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC, offers clues to what may be in store for Paramount.
    CNBC spoke with a dozen people who worked closely with Shell during his tenure as CEO from 2019 to 2023. They described Shell as a person with big ideas and a willingness to make bold moves but with a style that depends on those around him to talk him out of decisions that may not make sense. Some of Shell’s boldest ideas — such as giving NBC’s 10 p.m. hour over to affiliates, merging with a rival, and turning CNBC primetime into a Fox News facsimile — never played out.
    Comcast CEO Brian Roberts chose Shell to replace Steve Burke as NBCUniversal CEO in 2019. Shell had consistent success running a variety of different divisions within Comcast and NBCUniversal, including NBCU International and Universal Filmed Entertainment Group.
    Colleagues told CNBC they found Shell to be a good listener and a collaborative decision-maker with a predilection for sometimes saying too much. His departure from NBCUniversal was sudden. In April 2023, a Comcast investigation corroborated allegations from a former CNBC reporter of sexual harassment. Shell joined private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners in February. RedBird backed the Skydance-Paramount merger and will assume a minority equity stake.
    Soon, Shell, 59, will be at the helm of Paramount and paired with Ellison, who has already expressed his desire to transition Paramount into a more modern media company. That may set up a dynamic where Paramount’s CEO and president both want bold change.

    Read more CNBC media news

    RedBird executives praised Shell during a conference call in July announcing the merger, with RedBird Partner Andrew Brandon-Gordon saying Shell’s “long-term, results-oriented, proven track record at NBCUniversal” coupled with Ellison’s creativity and tech savvy make for the perfect leadership dynamic for the future of Paramount.
    Still, it’s possible the pairing could lead to rash decision-making, warned one executive who worked closely with Shell at NBCUniversal. Even the consideration of dramatic ideas can destabilize an organization if discussed openly without follow through, and Shell developed a reputation at NBCUniversal for what one former coworker described as a “shoot first and aim later” mentality — a sentiment shared by at least six others who spoke with CNBC.
    “What Paramount needs is blocking and tackling — mature leadership,” said the executive who worked closely with Shell. “Ellison is a blow-everything-up guy, and Shell needs someone who can minimize his mistakes.”
    Shell and Ellison both declined to comment for this story.

    The 10 p.m. hour

    At Paramount, Shell will be given an asset mix similar to what he oversaw at NBCUniversal — save the theme parks. He’ll have a major broadcast network with NFL rights (CBS), a movie studio (Paramount Pictures), a streaming service with tens of millions of subscribers (Paramount+), a large library of TV shows and films, and a slew of cable networks with dwindling audiences.
    It will be Shell’s mission to cut costs — Skydance has already identified $2 billion in cost efficiencies and synergies, the company said during a July conference call with investors about the merger — and transform Paramount Global into a modern media company. That likely means making bold changes to declining businesses while investing in technology.
    Shell may try to resurrect the idea of giving up the 10 p.m. hour — as he contemplated at NBC — for CBS, Paramount Global’s national broadcast network, people who spoke to CNBC suggested. Bailing on the hour would save CBS millions on content costs. Local affiliates would welcome gaining the hour as a way to boost advertising revenue.
    During a 2022 CNBC interview, Shell confirmed a Wall Street Journal report that he was considering ceding the hour to local affiliates to shift resources from linear broadcast TV toward streaming.
    “If we’re being prudent operators, which we try to be, if you’re allocating a bunch of resources to one side of the business, you have to look at the allocation of resources to another,” Shell told CNBC’s David Faber at the time. “We make a lot of money at 10 o’clock. We still have a lot of viewers at 10 o’clock. There’s no question throughout the day as linear declines, you’re going to have to make some tradeoffs, and we’ll be looking at that as our investors would want us to look at.”
    The 10 p.m. hour on broadcast networks still serves as a time slot for scripted dramas — a genre that’s largely gone to streaming and, in turn, has seen ratings struggle on traditional TV. CBS’ 10 p.m. programming includes “NCIS: Origins,” “FBI: Most Wanted,” “Elsbeth,” and “Blue Bloods,” which is in its 14th season.
    Paramount Global co-CEO George Cheeks, who runs CBS, told Deadline in late 2022 that he was “committed to 10 p.m. and continuing our ratings success in that time period.”
    Shell ultimately backed off giving up 10 p.m. for NBC after weighing the potential fallout with Hollywood creatives and agents, according to people familiar with the matter. Such a move at NBCUniversal would risk ruining relationships with TV titans such as “Law & Order” creator Dick Wolf, whose shows have occupied the 10 p.m. hour on NBC for years and have created a deep library for NBCUniversal’s flagship streaming service, Peacock. Irritating Hollywood would have run counter to Shell’s strategy to increase Peacock’s content catalog, as NBCUniversal needed strong relationships to fuel the service with new programming.
    Wolf’s shows were also significant moneymakers for NBCUniversal, according to a person familiar with the matter.

    Jeff Shell, CEO of NBCUniversal, speaks to the media at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, July 7, 2021.
    Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images News | Getty Images

    Ceding the 10 p.m. hour would also have negatively affected the ratings of NBC’s storied late night show, “The Tonight Show.” CBS’ late night show, “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” is consistently the top-rated late night show, which could naturally give Shell pause on moving away from 10 p.m. once he’s overseeing Paramount assets.
    Still, all of the late night shows are losing audience, and a downsizing has already begun across the genre. Shell may feel it’s finally time to pull the rip cord.
    He is clearly aware that the status quo of linear TV needs to change.
    “Obviously a big chunk of the company is in the linear world, and we know that linear is challenged and declining,” Shell said during the July conference call. “I think a lot of us in the business know, we have got to run these businesses in a different way as they decline. And so, we’ve spent a lot of the last few months really building a bottom-up plan, and our goal is to manage the businesses, particularly the linear businesses, for cash flow generation.”

    Streaming partner

    Shell is also likely to examine the content windowing strategy at Paramount, he said in July. That could mean Shell has a desire to tier Paramount+ differently, with some popular content available on more expensive tiers, perhaps ad-free, that shift to less expensive tiers, including free ad-supported Pluto, over time.
    “I’m a big believer in windowing strategy, and I think there’s maybe a more efficient way to maximize the value of our content, and we’ll continue to be in the DTC [direct-to-consumer] business,” Shell said during the July conference call.
    Some media analysts, such as LightShed Partners’ Rich Greenfield, have argued Paramount Global should shut down Paramount+ and instead license Paramount content to other streamers with more scale. Paramount+ has consistently lost money since its inception and won’t be profitable until 2025, the company has previously said.
    That doesn’t appear to be in Ellison and Shell’s playbook for Paramount. The two have expressed their desire to partner Paramount+ with another streamer to add scale and content to the service, either through a merger or a bundle. Paramount Global has already held talks with a number of media companies about partnering on streaming, including NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery.
    “To be a winner in [streaming] really means being in the ultimate bundle that’s coming,” Shell said during the July conference call. “We’ve had a bunch of inbound calls from a number of people about partnerships that could involve a partnership with another player or players.”
    At NBCUniversal, according to people familiar with his thinking, Shell privately pushed the benefits of merging with another content company — again, something that never happened.
    He spoke up in meetings about the benefits of merging with Viacom, WarnerMedia and even Netflix to ensure Peacock would have staying power against larger streaming services, according to people who heard him speak.
    Ultimately, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts decided the moves weren’t in the best interest of shareholders or that it was too difficult to gain regulatory approval for them, though Roberts nearly approved a deal in 2022 for NBCUniversal to merge with video game developer Electronic Arts — a deal that, according to people familiar with the matter, would have seen Shell lose his job as NBCUniversal CEO. That role would have gone to EA CEO Andrew Wilson, the people said.

    Jeff Shell, Chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, and Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation, seen at Universal Pictures “Sing” after party at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016, in Toronto.
    Eric Charbonneau | Invision for Universal Pictures | AP

    Changing cable

    Without a big merger, Shell pushed for NBCUniversal to flood Peacock with content, especially during the height of pandemic lockdowns, when Wall Street appeared to be heavily valuing media companies on their streaming subscriber numbers. He argued NBCUniversal should put most of its cable programming on Peacock, including regional sports networks, or RSNs, according to people familiar with the matter.
    Again, other executives talked him out of being too aggressive, arguing the company’s existing pay TV distribution relationships would be harmed if NBCUniversal made that content available outside the cable bundle, according to the people. Geolocation technology issues around regional sports also would have made the inclusion of RSNs difficult, the people said.
    While NBCUniversal has moved toward including more cable programming on Peacock, including hit Bravo franchises such as “The Real Housewives” and “Below Deck,” it has kept RSNs and news networks MSNBC and CNBC separate.
    One of Shell’s big decisions at Paramount will be what to do with a handful of cable channels that have effectively turned into zombie networks, largely airing reruns of the same shows to avoid spending on new content. This includes MTV, VH1 and Comedy Central.
    Shell wanted to combine some NBCUniversal cable networks to cut costs and push back on dwindling revenue, people familiar with the matter said, but ultimately decided not to.
    Shell also had ideas that didn’t come to fruition about changing programming on some of NBC’s cable networks. He initially wanted CNBC to adopt what he described to others as a center-right primetime lineup, according to people familiar with the discussions at the time.
    Then-CNBC chief Mark Hoffman argued the idea didn’t make sense for the network’s brand and likely wouldn’t have much of an audience, and Shell backed down, the people said. CNBC did hire former Fox News anchor Shepard Smith in 2020 to anchor a prime-time show that was canceled in 2022 just months after Hoffman retired. Hoffman declined to comment for this story.
    One of Shell’s first accomplishments upon taking the NBCUniversal job was to renew the network’s “Sunday Night Football” deal with the NFL, and one of the last things he did was support NBC Sports moving forward with a bid for NBA rights if it got an opportunity, according to people familiar with the matter. NBC did get the chance to bid, and it’s bringing back NBA games beginning in 2025 after agreeing to pay about $2.45 billion per season to the league.
    Both Shell and Ellison touted the importance of CBS Sports during their July conference call. When Paramount laid off hundreds of employees in September, none of them were part of CBS Sports, according to a person familiar with the matter.
    CBS owns a Sunday afternoon package of NFL games, part of NCAA March Madness, Big Ten football, UEFA Champions League, and The Masters, among other sports. It wouldn’t be surprising if Shell migrates away from CBS entertainment programming toward sports, even in prime time, if those opportunities present themselves.
    Disclosure: Comcast’s NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC.
    WATCH: Skydance has to prove over time it can change the future trajectory of Paramount More

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    Wells Fargo shares jump after earnings top Wall Street expectations

    Wells Fargo on Friday reported third-quarter earnings that exceeded Wall Street expectations, causing its shares to rise.
    Here’s what the bank reported compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

    Adjusted earnings per share: $1.52 vs. $1.28 expected
    Revenue: $20.37 billion versus $20.42 billion expected

    Shares of the bank rose more than 3% in premarket trading after the results. The better-than-expected earnings came even with a sizeable decline in net interest income, a key measure of what a bank makes on lending.
    The San Francisco-based lender posted $11.69 billion in net interest income, marking an 11% decrease from the same quarter last year and less than the FactSet estimate of $11.9 billion. Wells said the decline was due to higher funding costs amid customer migration to higher-yielding deposit products.
    “Our earnings profile is very different than it was five years ago as we have been making strategic investments in many of our businesses and de-emphasizing or selling others,” CEO Charles Scharf said in a statement. “Our revenue sources are more diverse and fee-based revenue grew 16% during the first nine months of the year, largely offsetting net interest income headwinds.”
    Wells saw net income fall to $5.11 billion, or $1.42 per share, in the third quarter, from $5.77 billion, or $1.48 per share, during the same quarter a year ago. The net income includes $447 million, or 10 cents a share, in losses on debt securities, the company said. Revenue dipped to $20.37 billion from $20.86 billion a year ago.
    The bank set aside $1.07 billion as a provision for credit losses compared with $1.20 billion last year.

    Wells repurchased $3.5 billion of common stock in the third quarter, bringing its nine-month total to more than $15 billion, or a 60% increase from a year ago.
    The bank’s shares have gained 17% in 2024, lagging the S&P 500.

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    Jamie Dimon says geopolitical risks are surging: ‘Conditions are treacherous and getting worse’

    JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon sees risks climbing around the world amid widening conflicts in the Middle East and with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine showing no signs of abating.
    “We have been closely monitoring the geopolitical situation for some time, and recent events show that conditions are treacherous and getting worse,” Dimon said Friday in the bank’s third-quarter earnings release.
    Dimon also said that he remained wary about the future of the economy, despite signs that the Federal Reserve has engineered a soft landing.

    JPMorgan Chase CEO and Chairman Jamie Dimon speaks during the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee oversight hearing on Wall Street firms, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., December 6, 2023.
    Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters

    JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon sees risks climbing around the world amid widening conflicts in the Middle East and with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine showing no signs of abating.
    “We have been closely monitoring the geopolitical situation for some time, and recent events show that conditions are treacherous and getting worse,” Dimon said Friday in the bank’s third-quarter earnings release.

    “There is significant human suffering, and the outcome of these situations could have far-reaching effects on both short-term economic outcomes and more importantly on the course of history,” he said.
    The international order in place since the end of World War II was unraveling with conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, rising U.S.-China tensions and the risk of “nuclear blackmail” from Iran, North Korea and Russia, Dimon said last month during a fireside chat held at Georgetown University.
    “It’s ratcheting up, folks, and it takes really strong American leadership and western world leaders to do something about that,” Dimon said. “That’s my number one concern, and it dwarves any I’ve had since I’ve been working.”
    The ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas recently hit the one-year mark since Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7, and there have been few signs of it slowing down. Tens of thousands of people have been killed as the conflict has broadened into fighting on multiple fronts, including with Hezbollah and Iran.
    At least 22 people were killed and more than 100 injured in Beirut, Lebanon, from Israeli airstrikes on Thursday. Iran launched more than 180 missiles against Israel on Oct. 1, and worries have risen that an Israeli retaliation could target Iranian oil facilities.

    Dimon also said Friday that he remained wary about the future of the economy, despite signs that the Federal Reserve has engineered a soft landing.
    “While inflation is slowing and the U.S. economy remains resilient, several critical issues remain, including large fiscal deficits, infrastructure needs, restructuring of trade and remilitarization of the world,” Dimon said. “While we hope for the best, these events and the prevailing uncertainty demonstrate why we must be prepared for any environment.”  More