The advertising business sells nothing so well as itself. This talent was on full display at the industry’s annual awards in Cannes, which began on June 16th. Advertising “not only pushes creative boundaries but also demonstrates the tangible impact creativity can have on business and society,” declared one festival bigwig. Trophies were solemnly awarded to campaigns promoting beer, chocolate and the New Zealand Herpes Foundation. More
A revamped government panel of vaccine advisors appointed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will soon vote on a shot preservative that contains mercury, which is safely used in some flu jabs but has been incorrectly linked to autism in the past.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will hear a presentation about and vote on the preservative, called thimerosal, at a planned meeting on June 26. It is unclear what will be discussed or what exactly the panel will vote on.
It is the panel’s first meeting with Kennedy’s newly appointed members, many of whom are well-known vaccine critics.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon attend a Make America Healthy Again Commission event, in the East Room of the White House in Washington, May 22, 2025.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
A key, revamped government panel of vaccine advisors appointed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will soon vote on a shot preservative that contains mercury, which is safely used in some flu jabs but has been incorrectly linked to autism in the past.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, will hear a presentation about the preservative, called thimerosal, at a planned meeting on June 26. The panel will also vote on “thimerosal-containing vaccine” recommendations, according to a draft agenda for the two-day meeting posted Wednesday.
It is the panel’s first meeting with Kennedy’s newly appointed members, many of whom are well-known vaccine critics. He named the eight advisors last week after firing the previous 17 members of the committee, which advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccine policy.
It is unclear what will be discussed in the presentation or what exactly the panel will vote on.
Thimerosal has been widely used for decades as a preservative to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria in several medicines and vaccines with multiple doses. But its use in approved vaccines has dropped sharply as manufacturers have shifted to single-dose packaging for their shots, which don’t require preservatives.
Some multi-dose forms of flu vaccines for adults still contain thimerosal, including Sanofi’s Fluzone and two shots from biotech company CSL Seqirus. All vaccines routinely recommended for children 6 years of age and younger in the U.S. are available in formulations that do not contain thimerosal, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
The FDA and other health bodies have emphasized that many well-conducted scientific studies have found no link between thimerosal and autism, despite unfounded concerns decades ago about a potential connection.
“The scientific evidence collected over the past 20+ years does not show any evidence of harm, including serious neurodevelopmental disorders, from use of thimerosal in vaccines,” the FDA said on its website.
The new ACIP members will play a significant role in shaping immunization policy in the U.S., as the panel reviews vaccine data and makes recommendations that determine who is eligible for shots and whether insurers should cover them, among other efforts. The committee is also scheduled to review data and vote on other vaccines, including shots for Covid and RSV, during the two-day meeting. More
Ram Trucks plans to introduce an industry-leading warranty across its 2026 vehicle lineup this year.
The warranty covers the engine, transmission, transfer case, driveshafts, differentials and axles for 10 years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first.
It replaces Ram’s current five-year or 60,000-mile warranty, which is relatively standard for full-size pickup trucks across the automotive industry.
Dodge Ram display is seen at the New York International Auto Show on April 16, 2025.
Danielle DeVries | CNBC
DETROIT — Ram Trucks plans to introduce an industry-leading warranty across its 2026 vehicle lineup this year as part of an 18-month turnaround plan for the Stellantis-owned brand.
The warranty covers the engine, transmission, transfer case, driveshafts, differentials and axles for 10 years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first. It replaces Ram’s current five-year or 60,000-mile warranty, which is relatively standard for full-size pickup trucks across the automotive industry.
The new warranty comes as vehicles — especially pickup trucks — have grown more expensive in recent years, which often results in longer financing that extends far beyond the warranties of the vehicles themselves.
“Eighty-five percent of truck buyers finance for seven years or more. They keep it for 12 years because everything’s gotten more expensive,” Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis said during a media event. “But you know what hasn’t changed? No one has changed the warranty. They’re investing more and more and more money in your brand, but you’re not investing more money to protect them.”
Edmunds.com analysts report that 84-month loans for new car buyers hit an all-time high of 19.8% during the first quarter, while another 67.4% of new vehicle financing loans were between 60 months and 75 months.
Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis during a media event to reintroduce the Hemi V-8 engine at Stellantis’ North American headquarters in June 2025.
Michael Wayland / CNBC
Kuniskis, who’s leading the brand’s turnaround plan after unretiring in December, said he believes the new offer will help with retaining current customers, attracting new ones and potentially regaining former owners who may have left the brand in recent years.
“We think this is going to be a significant move in the right direction,” said Kuniskis, whose brand has experienced a roughly 38% sales decline since record results in 2019. “It’s going to be the best truck warranty in the business.”
Ford Motor and General Motors’ GMC and Chevrolet brands — the leading sellers of full-size pickup trucks ahead of Stellantis — as well as Toyota Motor currently offer five-year or 60,000-mile limited powertrain warranties on their gas-powered full-size pickup trucks. Some diesel models offer higher warranties.
Kuniskis said the 100,000-mile/10-year warranty offer might be extended past this year, pending acceptance and popularity among customers.
“If the reception is good, our full intention is to keep it going after the end of the year,” Kuniskis told CNBC during a recent interview.
Offering longer-term warranties can cost automakers billions of dollars if mass-produced vehicles end up having quality problems, but Kuniskis said the rewards outweighed the risks.
“Warranties always have inherent risk in them,” he said. “What we determined, though, was that the perceived value from the customer outweighs what our increased cost is going to be.”
Longer warranties also can mean customers keep their vehicles for longer, meaning fewer potential sales in the years ahead.
The limited powertrain warranty is applicable to the original owner of 2026 model-year Ram trucks and vans, including its chassis cab lineup. It includes retail purchases and leases to individuals and businesses, and excludes fleet purchases as well as its Ram Promaster electric van.
A 10-year/100,000 limited powertrain warranty isn’t unprecedented for the auto industry. For example, South Korean automaker Kia offers it across its lineup of new vehicles.
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Streaming has outpaced the combined share of broadcast and cable TV viewing for the first time ever, according to a new Nielsen report.
Streaming’s growth has been driven by three main factors: free ad-supported channels, the rise of YouTube and shifts within legacy media companies to reach streaming-centric consumers, according to Nielsen.
In May, YouTube represented 12.5% of all television viewing, the highest share of any streamer to date and its fourth consecutive monthly share increase.
Jaque Silva | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Streaming has outpaced the combined share of broadcast and cable TV viewing for the first time ever, according to a new Nielsen report.
Streaming represented 44.8% of total TV viewership in May, its largest share to date, while the combination of broadcast, with 20.1%, and cable, with 24.1%, represented 44.2% of TV viewing, according to Nielsen’s The Gauge monthly report.
Compared with this time four years ago, when Nielsen started its monthly reports, streaming has skyrocketed 71%, while broadcast and cable viewing have declined 21% and 39%, respectively, according to Nielsen.
“While many have expected this milestone to occur sooner, sporting events, news and new season content have kept broadcast and cable surprisingly resilient,” Brian Fuhrer, Nielsen’s senior vice president of product strategy and thought leadership, said in a recorded video statement.
The share of streaming has been steadily rising in The Gauge reports since 2021, compared with broadcast and cable’s share of TV viewing.
Fuhrer said streaming’s growth has been driven by three main factors: free ad-supported streaming TV offerings, also known as FAST channels; the rise of YouTube; and shifts within legacy media companies to reach streaming-centric consumers.
In May 2021, only five streaming platforms exceeded 1% of total TV viewing, based on Nielsen data. As of the most recent Gauge report, 11 streaming platforms have now have met that threshold.
Those platforms include FAST channels Pluto TV, Roku Channel and Tubi. Nielsen notes that these free channels have become increasingly popular and that free services overall have been a major driver of growth. Combined, those three channels accounted for 5.7% of total TV viewing in May, more than any individual broadcast network.
Another free option — YouTube — has emerged as a streaming champion over the past four years. YouTube’s main division, excluding YouTube TV, has climbed 120% since 2021. In May, YouTube represented 12.5% of all television viewing, the highest share of any streamer to date and its fourth consecutive monthly share increase.
YouTube’s rise has been well-documented over the years as it has emerged as a chief competitor for viewership. Over time, traditional media companies have been unable to ignore YouTube’s success and in many cases have embraced it. For example, the original content Disney produces for YouTube complements its long-form content on Disney+ and drives deeper engagement with its characters, according to a Disney spokesperson.
The continued transformation of traditional media companies into streaming-first entities has been another important trend, according to Fuhrer. Nielsen noted that platforms such as Hulu, Paramount+ and Peacock have shifted to complement, rather than compete with, linear TV. Super Bowl LIX successfully aired on both Fox and Tubi, for example, and the 2024 Olympics could be viewed on NBC and its streaming platform, Peacock.
Recent restructuring announcements from major media companies may prompt changes moving forward. Warner Bros. Discovery announced June 9 that it will separate into two companies: a streaming and studios company and a global networks company. Comcast has announced it will spin off most of its NBCUniversal cable network portfolio, including CNBC.
Netflix has emerged as the clear winner among paid subscription services, according to Nielsen. The media company saw a viewing gain of 27% over the past four years and has been the leading subscription provider in total TV usage over that time period.
Nielsen said that while the milestone may not be repeated consistently every month, especially as football season kicks off later in the year, it predicts streaming will eventually become No. 1 permanently.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal, which owns CNBC. Versant would become the new parent company of CNBC under the proposed spinoff. More
Underpinning the digital economy is a deep foundation of open-source software, freely available for anyone to use. The majority of the world’s websites are run using Apache and Nginx, two open-source programs. Most computer servers are powered by Linux, another such program, which is also the basis of Google’s Android operating system. Kubernetes, a program widely used to manage cloud-computing workloads, is likewise open-source. The software is maintained and improved upon by a global community of developers. More
Two Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday pressed five of the nation’s largest pharmaceutical companies about their low tax bills and whether they support extending massive tax cuts for the industry in the GOP reconciliation bill.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Jan Schakowsky accuse Pfizer, Merck, Johnson & Johnson, AbbVie and Amgen of paying little to nothing in federal taxes for profit earned in 2024 and years prior, despite generating tens of billions of dollars annually from their drugs.
In separate letters to each company, the lawmakers allege that they all avoided paying U.S. tax bills by shifting their profits to offshore subsidiaries in jurisdictions with much lower tax rates.
The Johnson & Johnson logo displayed on a monitor.
Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Two Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday pressed five of the nation’s largest pharmaceutical companies about their low tax bills and whether they support extending massive tax cuts for the industry in the GOP reconciliation bill.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., accuse Pfizer, Merck, Johnson & Johnson, AbbVie and Amgen of paying little to no federal taxes for profit earned in 2024 and years prior, despite generating tens of billions of dollars annually from their drugs.
In separate letters to each company on Tuesday, the lawmakers allege that the pharmaceutical companies all avoided paying U.S. tax bills by shifting their profits to offshore subsidiaries in jurisdictions with much lower tax rates, such as Ireland and Bermuda. That practice was enabled by a provision in President Donald Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which aimed to curb corporate tax avoidance but instead created new incentives for U.S. multinational companies to move profits and operations overseas.
In the letters, Warren and Schakowsky said the practice illustrates “just one of the ways in which our tax code has been skewed to benefit wealthy pharmaceutical corporations, enabling them to profit off Americans, charging them the highest drug prices in the world, without paying their fair share of taxes.”
They pressed drugmakers about whether the thousands of dollars they have spent lobbying Congress went toward efforts to maintain that tax loophole in Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which the Republican-led House passed in late May. J&J, for example, spent more than $150,000 lobbying on international tax issues in the fourth quarter of 2024 alone, according to the letter to the company, which cites data compiled by OpenSecrets.
If enacted as currently written, the multitrillion-dollar tax and spending package would make many provisions in Trump’s 2017 tax act permanent. The current iteration also contains historic spending cuts to programs for low-income Americans, including Medicaid health coverage.
The bill now sits in the Senate, where Republicans could choose to drop or revise many of the provisions pushed by hard-line House Republicans who sought to slash spending in tandem with the tax cuts. But any Democratic push to eliminate the offshore tax loophole would be an uphill battle, as Republicans hold a majority in the upper chamber.
Even so, Democrats have tried to build public opposition to parts of the legislation as the GOP attempts to balance competing party interests to pass it. Both parties have targeted pharmaceutical companies for years.
“It’d be a slap in the face for Congress to expand tax loopholes for Big Pharma companies that are making billions in profit while overcharging Americans,” Warren said in a statement to CNBC. “These companies need to be held accountable for prioritizing their profits over people.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., conducts a news conference in the U.S. Capitol to voice opposition to the Senate Republicans’ budget resolution on April 3, 2025.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
The letters to drugmakers cited a March analysis by the Council on Foreign Relations – an independent, nonpartisan think tank – suggesting that reforming the offshore tax loophole would raise at least $100 billion over 10 years.
The letters also include questions about each company’s role in lobbying for an extension of the tax breaks and their estimated federal tax liabilities. The lawmakers asked each drugmaker to respond by July 1.
In a statement, a J&J spokesperson said the company looks forward to “clarifying” its “significant U.S. tax contributions and cooperatively responding to Senator Warren and Representative Schakowsky’s letter.”
Spokespeople for Pfizer, Merck, J&J, AbbVie and Amgen did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the letters.
It’s not the first time lawmakers have scrutinized pharmaceutical companies for their tax practices.
A March report accused Pfizer of pulling off what Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., called “the largest tax-dodging scheme” in pharmaceutical industry history. The report accused the company of using a tactic called “round-tripping” to avoid paying any U.S. income tax on $20 billion in domestic drug sales in 2019.
An investigation by Democratic staff of the Senate Finance Committee concluded that Pfizer used the tax loophole to funnel profits through offshore subsidiaries in tax havens like Ireland and Puerto Rico, despite selling to U.S. patients. But the company said it paid $12.8 billion in U.S. taxes over four years, and says documents to back that up have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The letters on Tuesday come as the Trump administration considers imposing tariffs on pharmaceuticals into the U.S. in a bid to reshore manufacturing. Trump has complained that Ireland has successfully convinced drugmakers to open manufacturing operations there by offering low tax rates.
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Builder sentiment in June dropped 2 points from May to 32 on the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). Anything below 50 is considered negative.
Analysts had been expecting a slight improvement, given recent tariff negotiations and pullbacks by the Trump administration.
This index has only seen a lower reading than June’s level twice since 2012.
Higher mortgage rates and uncertainty in the broader economy continue to weigh on consumers — and consequently on the nation’s homebuilders.
Builder sentiment in June dropped 2 points from May to 32 on the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). Anything below 50 is considered negative. The index stood at 43 in June 2024.
Analysts had been expecting a slight improvement, given recent tariff negotiations and pullbacks by the Trump administration.
This index has only seen a lower reading than June’s level twice since 2012 – in December 2022, after mortgage rates shot up from record lows during the first two years of the pandemic, and in April 2020 at the very start of the pandemic.
Of the index’s three components, current sales conditions fell 2 points to 35, sales expectations in the next six months dropped 2 points to 40, and buyer traffic fell 2 points to 21, the lowest reading on that metric since the end of 2023.
“Buyers are increasingly moving to the sidelines due to elevated mortgage rates and tariff and economic uncertainty,” said Buddy Hughes, NAHB chairman and a homebuilder from Lexington, North Carolina, in a release. “To help address affordability concerns and bring hesitant buyers off the fence, a growing number of builders are moving to cut prices.”
In the June survey, 37% of builders said they had cut prices, the highest share since NAHB started tracking the monthly metric three years ago. That is up from 34% who reported cutting prices in May and 29% in April. The average price reduction was 5%, which has been steady since late last year.
“Rising inventory levels and prospective home buyers who are on hold waiting for affordability conditions to improve are resulting in weakening price growth in most markets and generating price declines for resales in a growing number of markets,” said Robert Dietz, chief economist at the NAHB. “Given current market conditions, NAHB is forecasting a decline in single-family starts for 2025.”
The report follows quarterly earnings from Lennar, one of the nation’s largest homebuilders, in which the second-quarter average home price dropped nearly 9% from the same quarter in 2024. Guidance on new orders and deliveries was also below analysts’ expectations.
“As mortgage interest rates remained higher and consumer confidence continued to weaken, we drove volume with starts while incentivizing sales to enable affordability and help consumers to purchase homes,” said Lennar co-CEO Stuart Miller in an earnings release.
Regionally, on a three-month moving average, the South and West showed the weakest builder sentiment. Those are the regions where the most homes are built.
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GM on Tuesday revealed the 2026 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X “hypercar” — a souped-up version of the Corvette E-Ray hybrid that went on sale in 2023.
It features similar performance outputs to the automaker’s current Corvette ZR1, including a twin-turbo V-8 engine, but has faster acceleration thanks to “electrification” technologies.
The Corvette ZR1X’s top speed is 233 mph, with a 0-60 mph time of under two seconds, according to GM.
2026 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X with Carbon Aero package
DETROIT — General Motors is once again expanding its Corvette lineup with a new high-performance, hybrid variant of the quintessential American sports car.
The Detroit automaker on Tuesday revealed the 2026 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X “hypercar” — a souped-up version of the Corvette E-Ray hybrid that went on sale in 2023. It features similar performance outputs to the automaker’s current Corvette ZR1, including a twin-turbo V-8 engine, but has faster acceleration thanks to “electrification” technologies.
“It is the most advanced Corvette we’ve ever produced. America’s true hypercar has arrived,” said Megan Dalley, Corvette marketing manager, during a media event. “We are putting the world on notice with this car, showing what Corvette and America’s true supercar is capable of.”
A “hypercar” is considered a step above a “supercar,” based on performance aspects of a vehicle such as speed, acceleration and 0-60 mph times. They’re both above a traditional “sports car.”
2026 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X
The Corvette ZR1X’s top speed is 233 mph, with a 0-60 mph time of under two seconds, according to GM. The vehicle’s LT7 twin-turbo V-8 engine that’s shared with both ZR1 models is rated at 1,064 horsepower and 828 foot-pounds of torque, the company said. Adding to the performance of the ZR1X is an electric axle that makes the vehicle all-wheel drive and gives it an additional 186 horsepower and 145 foot-pounds of torque, GM said.
“It brings performance, electrification and all-wheel drive to further enhance the unthinkable ZR1,” said Josh Holder, Corvette chief engineer. “It brings learnings from the ZR1 and the E-Ray, and combines them to create an unbelievable driving experience.”
The ZR1X brings Corvette’s lineup to five different models — making it the broadest since the vehicle was introduced in 1953. It’s part of the automaker’s plans for a highly profitable “Corvette family” that ranges from the “everyman’s sports car” Corvette Stingray, which starts around $70,000, to the ZR1 that can top $200,000.
“Corvette is a very profitable vehicle for the company, and we continue to be the pinnacle of performance,” Dalley said.
2026 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X
GM previously said an all-electric Corvette would be coming, but it’s unclear if the status of those plans has changed amid slower-than-expected adoption of EVs. A Corvette SUV also has been under consideration for several years.
GM said pricing for the Corvette ZR1X will be announced closer to when the vehicle arrives in dealerships later this year.
It will be available as a convertible or coupe. The coupe includes a rear split window as an homage to the well-known 1963 Corvette.
All Corvettes are produced at a GM assembly plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
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