Business

U.S banks including JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley said Friday they plan to raise their quarterly dividends after clearing the Federal Reserve’s annual stress test.
JPMorgan plans to boost its payout to $1.05 a share from $1 a share starting in the third quarter, the New York-based bank said in a statement.
Goldman Sachs announced the largest per share boost among big banks, while Citigroup announced the smallest.

Jamie Dimon, CEO, JP Morgan Chase, during Jim Cramer interview, Feb. 23, 2023.

Large U.S banks including JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley said Friday they plan to raise their quarterly dividends after clearing the Federal Reserve’s annual stress test.
JPMorgan plans to boost its payout to $1.05 a share from $1 a share starting in the third quarter, subject to board approval, the New York-based bank said in a statement.

“The Federal Reserve’s 2023 stress test results show that banks are resilient – even while withstanding severe shocks – and continue to serve as a pillar of strength to the financial system and broader economy,” JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said in the release. “The Board’s intended dividend increase represents a sustainable and modestly higher level of capital distribution to our shareholders.”
On Wednesday, the Fed released results from its annual exercise and said that all 23 banks that participated cleared the regulatory hurdle. The test dictates how much capital banks can return to shareholders via buybacks and dividends. In this year’s exam, the banks underwent a “severe global recession” with unemployment surging to 10%, a 40% decline in commercial real estate values and a 38% drop in housing prices.
After they cleared the test, Wells Fargo said it will increase its dividend to 35 cents a share from 30 cents a share, and Morgan Stanley said it would boost its payout to 85 cents a share from 77.5 cents a share.
Goldman Sachs announced the largest per share boost among big banks, taking its dividend to $2.75 a share from $2.50 a share.

Small Citi

Meanwhile, Citigroup said it would boost its quarterly payout to 53 cents a share from 51 cents a share, the smallest increase among its peers.

That’s likely because while JPMorgan and Goldman surprised analysts this week with better-than-expected results that allowed for smaller capital buffers, Citigroup was among banks that saw their buffers increase after the stress test.
“While we would have clearly preferred not to see an increase in our stress capital buffer, these results still demonstrate Citi’s financial resilience through all economic environments,” Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser said in her company’s release.
All of the big banks held back on announcing specific plans to boost share repurchases. For instance, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley each said they could buy back shares using previously-announced repurchase plans; Wells Fargo said it had the “capacity to repurchase common stock” over the next year.
Analysts have said that banks would likely be more conservative with their capital-return plans this year. That’s because the finalization of international banking regulations is expected to boost the levels of capital the biggest global firms like JPMorgan would need to maintain.
There are other reasons for banks to hold onto capital: Regional banks may also be held to higher standards as part of regulators’ response to the Silicon Valley Bank collapse in March, and a potential recession could boost future loan losses for the industry. More

Goldman Sachs is in talks to offload its Apple credit card and savings account products to American Express, a source told CNBC.
The Wall Street investment bank is the process of unwinding its largely failed consumer banking initiative.

Goldman Sachs is in talks to offload its Apple credit card and high-yield savings account products to American Express, a source told CNBC’s Leslie Picker.
Goldman Sachs, Apple and American Express declined to comment.

The talks come amid a broader retreat by Goldman from its largely failed consumer banking initiatives, for which CEO David Solomon has taken a great deal of heat. Last week, CNBC reported that the Wall Street giant is preparing to take a huge writedown on its 2021 acquisition of fintech lender GreenSky.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the Goldman talks with American Express. The newspaper said there’s no assurance of a deal, nor is an agreement close.
It would mark an abrupt reversal for the two corporate giants. In October, the Journal reported Goldman and Apple renewed their partnership through 2029. And in April, Goldman Chief Financial Officer Denis Coleman touted a deepening of the partnership.
“This week, we announced the launch of a savings account for Apple Card users. We are excited to deepen our partnership with Apple through this additional offering and to introduce another source of deposit funding for the firm,” Coleman said at the time.
The Journal also reported Friday that Goldman is talking about unloading its General Motors card partnership. GM declined to comment to CNBC.
– CNBC’s Steve Kovach, Phil LeBeau and Hugh Son contributed to this report. More

United travelers experienced the biggest share of flight delays and cancellations Friday.
Bad weather that lingered in the Northeast kicked off widespread disruptions last weekend.
Even United Airlines’ CEO couldn’t get a seat out of the New York area, taking a private jet on Wednesday from New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport to Denver, Colorado.

Travelers arrive at O’Hare International Airport on June 30 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. Travel forecasters are predicting record travel for the July 4th weekend, but this year’s celebration may also be something of a battle with the elements.
Kamil Krzaczynski | AFP | Getty Images

Flight delays and cancellations continued to mar thousands of Fourth of July travelers on Friday, with United Airlines passengers bearing the brunt of the problems.
The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 17.7 million people from June 29 through July 5, peaking on Friday at more than 2.8 million people. That would be an single-day record for daily screenings and one of the clearest signs yet of air travel’s strong recovery from the Covid pandemic.

More than 4,800 U.S. flights were delayed on Friday, though United had more delays than competitors.
By 5 p.m. on Friday, the carrier had canceled more than 230 mainline flights, 8% of its operation, while more than 790 flights, or more than quarter of its schedule, were delayed, according to flight-tracker FlightAware.
That was still far fewer than its disruptions on Thursday and a notable improvement from last weekend when a slew of thunderstorms along the East Coast at some of the country’s most congested airports kicked off the chaos. Some airline executives blamed the Federal Aviation Administration’s shortfall of air traffic controllers for exacerbating the problems for their customers.
Customers throughout the week sprawled out on airport floors, waiting for hours for flight information or new schedules, with seats on other flights, or other airlines scarce. They also faced long lines for customer service and lost bags.
Even United Airlines’ CEO couldn’t get a seat out of the New York area. On Wednesday, Scott Kirby took a private jet from New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport to Denver, Colorado.

A spokeswoman for the airline told CNBC that United did not pay for his flight. Kirby apologized to staff and travelers on Friday for taking the private jet when so many others were stranded.
“Taking a private jet was the wrong decision because it was insensitive to our customers who were waiting to get home,” Kirby said in a statement to CNBC. “I sincerely apologize to our customers and our team members who have been working around-the-clock for several days — often through severe weather — to take care of our customers.
“Watching our team firsthand with our customers at four different airports and during countless meetings this week, it’s clear to me they represent the best of United, and I regret that I have distracted from their professionalism,” he continued. “I promise to better demonstrate my respect for the dedication of our team members and the loyalty of our customers.”
United said on Friday afternoon that its performance was improving into the holiday weekend. The airline has been offering waivers to travelers affected so they can rebook their trips without paying fare differences.
But it also cautioned that: “Storms in Denver, Chicago and the East Coast will continue to be a challenge, but most of today’s cancellations were made in advance to give customers time to adjust.”
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Friday called United out for the challenges over the past week, saying the airline’s disruptions were “elevated but moving in the right direction.”
Airlines are under political and public pressure to run reliably after their overambitious schedules and staffing shortages worsened routine challenges like bad weather. The struggles come as travel demand bounces back from pandemic lows.
More storms and challenges like wildfire smoke from Canada are likely to plague airlines in the days ahead, though the worst of the disruptions this week have mostly subsided. (Of course, if your flight is canceled or delayed, here’s what airlines owe you.)
More than 42,000 flights operated by U.S. airlines were delayed from Saturday through Thursday, and more than 7,900 were scrubbed altogether, according to flight-tracker site FlightAware. More than 5% of U.S. schedules were canceled, about four times higher than the cancellation rate so far this year.
Over that six-period period, half of United’s mainline flights arrived late, amounting to average delays of 106 minutes, according to FlightAware data. Another 19% of its schedule was canceled.
Union leaders blamed United for some of the problems, which stranded crews along with passengers during the disruptions. Flight disruptions often snowball because crews and aircraft are out of position and long delays can have them run into federally-mandated work limits.
United has been offering flight attendants triple pay to pick up shifts over the peak holiday period.
“United management’s failure to properly staff crew schedulers, the flight attendant support team and more has exacerbated these operational issues and left passengers and Flight Attendants waiting for answers for hours at a time,” Ken Diaz, president of the United chapter of the Association of Flight Attendants, said in a statement Thursday. “The airline actually ‘lost’ crews in the system for days on end because there was such a significant breakdown in running the operation.”
Garth Thompson, a United captain and chairman of the United chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association union, accused the company of not investing in the operation.
“Summer flying can be challenging, but this summer will be unnecessarily memorable,” he said. “To those caught up in management’s unforced errors, I’m truly sorry.”
Both unions are engaged in contract negotiations with the company and are seeking compensation and scheduling improvements.

A person sits on the ground at JFK International airport on June 30, 2023 in New York City.
David Dee Delgado | Getty Images

United CEO Kirby on Monday wrote to staff that some of the issues last weekend stemmed from air traffic controller understaffing, and said that “the FAA frankly failed us” when it slashed arrival and departure rates at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, a major United hub.
The FAA had warned about staffing shortages in the New York City area earlier this year, and some airlines agreed to reduce capacity to avoid overloading the system.
“It led to massive delays, cancellations, diversions, as well as crews and aircraft out of position,” Kirby wrote in a staff note, which was seen by CNBC. “And that put everyone behind the eight ball when weather actually did hit on Sunday and was further compounded by FAA staffing shortages Sunday evening.”
JetBlue also blamed the FAA for similar issues.
“We are working with the FAA to better understand what led to the significant and unexpected ATC restrictions this week that affected thousands of flights across carriers,” JetBlue’s COO, Joanna Geraghty, said in a memo to employees Wednesday. “The severity and lengthy duration of the latest programs were worse than we have seen in the past with similar weather and this has left tens of thousands of our Customers inconvenienced and, in many cases, blaming JetBlue for a situation outside of our control.” More

The Supreme Court’s decision to strike down student loan forgiveness will become the latest challenge for retailers coping with more cautious consumers.
Student loan payments will also restart this fall after a Covid pandemic-related pause.
Investors say retailers that sell discretionary merchandise, such as clothing and electronics, are the most vulnerable.

A shopper goes through shirts in the kids section at Old Navy in Denver, Colorado.
Brent Lewis | Denver Post | Getty Images

By striking down student debt forgiveness Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court not only added a hefty expense back into millions of Americans’ budgets. It also created the latest challenge for retailers already struggling to predict how consumers may spend in the coming months.
The court’s decision squashed President Joe Biden’s plan to forgive up to $20,000 per borrower in federal student loan debt. Student loans will already take a bigger bite out of budgets this fall as payments and interest accruals resume after a more than three-year pandemic-related pause. Biden announced steps Friday to make the transition to resuming payments easier and create a path to forgiveness of some loans.

The opinion means outstanding loan balances will be higher as those payments resume than they would have been if the court had ruled in favor of Biden. The plan would have wiped out all debt for nearly 45% of borrowers, or about 20 million people, according to the White House.
The return of payments adds another disruption for the approximately 40 million Americans who have student loans at a time when consumers are showing more caution. Nearly all Americans said they are pulling back on spending in some way, according to a recent CNBC and Morning Consult survey. Retailers, including Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Kroger and Foot Locker, said customers are buying fewer big-ticket items and switching to lower-priced private-label brands.
The timing of the change could amplify its impact on retailers. Student debt repayment is poised to resume just before the all-important back-to-school and holiday seasons.
The loan changes won’t “make or break if we go into a recession or not,” said Brad Thomas, a retail analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets. Yet he said it may have a psychological effect on debt-saddled Americans who are on the hook for hundreds of dollars in monthly payments again.
“It’s enough to potentially give us what could be an ugly and disappointing holiday season, relative to expectations,” he said.

‘Too good to be true’

Lenèe Gill, 31, is one of the borrowers who would have had $20,000 of her loans wiped away. The Denver resident, who works as sales director at a technology company, received Pell Grants to put toward her undergraduate degree at Louisiana State University. Biden’s plan would have eliminated her remaining student debt balance.
Gill said she got a taste of how life without student loans would look during the Covid pandemic. For about three years, she did not pay roughly $400 a month toward her balance. Instead, she saved more money and spruced up the home where she and her fiance live with a new couch, nicer dishes and plants. She chipped away at credit card debt and paid off her car.
Yet she said she never banked on her debt getting canceled.
“It was always one of those things that I felt was too good to be true,” Gill said. “So I never really put a lot of hope or a lot of thought or planning, or even let myself go as far as ‘What would life look like without these payments?'”
Gill said she’ll tighten up the budget as she pays down that debt again. She will likely drop higher-end grocery purchases, such as organic fruits and vegetables and better cuts of meat. Instead of shopping at the farmer’s market, she said she will likely buy more at big-box stores like Walmart for cheaper prices.
Stubborn inflation has forced Americans to pay more for food and housing, and concerns about a potential recession have added to the pressure facing consumers and companies. Meanwhile, government programs like loan relief designed to keep households afloat during the pandemic have fallen by the wayside.
Stimulus checks, expanded child tax credits and a stronger Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for low-income households all boosted budgets. That cash infusion has ended, even as consumers less wary of Covid have shifted spending toward experiences instead of goods.
All of those factors could hurt retail sales this year.
KeyBanc’s Thomas said the student loan payment pause was yet another pandemic tail wind for retailers. It could generate an annualized headwind of about 2% to retail sales over the next year if not offset by higher incomes or more borrowing, according to KeyBanc. Many retailers said on earnings calls this spring that smaller tax refunds contributed to slower sales.
Estimates vary on how much student loan borrowers will pay each month. The Bank of America Institute estimates that the median impacted household will pay around $180 a month. Higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz estimated that the typical monthly bill will be about $350. KeyBanc estimates an average monthly payment between $400 and $460.
Kantrowitz said there is little data on how Americans used the money that they did not spend on student debt. Did they buy more luxury items, book a vacation or save?
He said he’s skeptical that the resumption of payments will have a major effect on retailers, since the sum accounts for a tiny percentage of the country’s gross domestic product.
“The impact on retailers is yes, it’s going to be a negative, but it’s not going to be a huge decrease,” he said. “It is a mild decrease.”
Brett House, an economics professor at Columbia University’s business school, echoed similar sentiments. He said the student loan changes are modest compared with the pinch that people feel from inflation or the dwindling of pandemic-strengthened savings accounts.
He added that many Americans have gotten raises since the payments paused three years ago.

The companies most affected

The end of student loan relief may hit some businesses harder than others.
Some of the most exposed companies are ones that sell a lot of discretionary merchandise, including Bath & Body Works, T.J. Maxx parent TJX Cos., Dick’s Sporting Goods and Best Buy, according to Wells Fargo analysts. Experience-driven companies are also at risk, including FanDuel’s parent company Flutter Entertainment, DraftKings and Lifetime Fitness, the firm said.
Barclays said American Eagle Outfitters, Urban Outfitters and Figs are the most vulnerable because of their popularity among recent college graduates and newly employed.
Several equity research firms, including KeyBanc, named Target as a retailer that will get squeezed, since its sales have already weakened and it draws younger and college-educated customers.

A T.J. Maxx store which is owned by TJX Cos Inc in Pasadena, California.
Mario Anzuoni | Reuters

Retailers may not have accounted for consumers resuming student loan payments in their forecasts for the year, and most major players in the sector have not commented on the possible implications. The decision to stop extensions of the student loan pause, which was part of an agreement reached by Republicans and Democrats to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, came after the end of the retail earnings cycle.
Though some retailers may take a hit when payments resume, analysts and executives largely believe people will keep spending on dining out and airline tickets.
Rick Cardenas, CEO of Olive Garden’s parent company Darden Restaurants, said last Thursday that the return of student loan payments will be a factor for the company, but not a significant one. Darden owns a mix of restaurant chains, including LongHorn Steakhouse and The Capital Grille.
“Any time you take money out of consumers’ pockets, it’s a headwind, but it shouldn’t be material, because student loan payments are a very small component,” Cardenas told analysts on the company’s earnings conference call.
He added that Darden’s customers will be better able to juggle the payments, since a high percentage earn more than $100,000 annually.
Wall Street analysts don’t anticipate a big drop in sales for eateries when loan relief ends, either.
Citi Research analyst Jon Tower wrote in a March note to clients that it’s a “contained risk” for restaurants.
BTIG analyst Pete Saleh told CNBC that “it will be just another drag on consumer spending, in addition to inflation.”
“But we know that historically, all of this other stuff is traditionally noise — what drives most restaurants’ same-store sales and traffic is job growth and income growth, and we’re getting both of those right now,” he said.
Airlines also may be more immune to the hit to borrowers’ budgets.
Strong travel demand and airfares at about pre-pandemic levels helped lift some airlines’ revenue to a record in the first quarter of the year, and airport security screenings on some days this month have surpassed pre-pandemic levels as consumers spend on experiences.
“Given how much incomes have increased in the past three years, I can’t see how this is going to be a major challenge,” Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle told CNBC.
Where airlines are more vulnerable to a pullback in spending is during off-peak periods.
“You’re going to travel for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I think that’s engrained in the U.S. consumers’ head,” said Conor Cunningham, airline analyst at Melius Research. “I’m not worried about summer travel. Summer travel is going to be amazing. It’s the off-peak stuff that’s got me worried.”
That usually occurs after the peak summer period and in between holidays when business travel — and during the pandemic, remote work and off-season trips — had been able to fill in the gaps. Some airlines could alter their schedules to adjust for weaker demand.
Even if many industries do not take a hit from the demise of student debt cancelation and the resumption of payments, millions of Americans will feel the change acutely.
Tiffany Serra said the reality of her looming payments is “starting to creep in and stress me out.”
The 23-year-old graduated in 2022 from Cornell College in Iowa with a bachelor’s degree in finance and environmental studies — along with $120,000 in debt. She is working a seasonal position on Shelter Island in New York and makes $22 an hour, along with having her housing costs covered. Serra said she has had trouble finding a full-time job.
Starting this fall, Serra will pay that debt down for the first time. She’s tried to prepare by socking away money to cover that big bill, which she expects will be at least $600 per month. Serra also embraced new habits to cut spending, including growing herbs at home and making her own oat milk.
Student loan forgiveness would have made a small dent in her total debt, but Serra said she still wishes the plan had stuck. Serra recently got into law school, but decided to turn it down to avoid racking up more student loans.
She said she’ll have to make tough decisions in the months ahead, such as whether she can afford to renew the lease on her car. She won’t have the breathing room that allowed her to buy steel-toed boots for work or book a trip to the San Francisco Bay Area to visit a friend.
“It’s definitely going to be a large financial burden when I do have to start making those payments,” Serra said.
— CNBC’s Amelia Lucas, Gabrielle Fonrouge, Leslie Josephs and Annie Nova contributed to this story.
Disclosure: CNBC’s parent company Comcast and NBC Sports are investors in FanDuel. More

Home Depot and Lowe’s see the switch from gas-powered to battery-powered outdoor tools as a big business opportunity.
The upgrade cycle has been fueled by California’s ban on the sale of gas-powered equipment, which starts in 2024, and more cities and homeowner’s associations passing noise ordinances.
It could also boost sales for equipment makers, such as Toro, Milwaukee and Stanley Black & Decker-owned DeWalt.

Some landscaping crews have begun to use battery-powered tools. California-based Everthrive Landscape is one of the companies that’s switched to the equipment.
Courtesy of Everthrive Landscape

The auto industry isn’t the only one going electric.
In Home Depot and Lowe’s, one of the buzziest aisles features battery-powered leaf blowers, mowers, string trimmers and more. Those electric-powered outdoor tools have started to take hold in neighborhoods and at golf courses around the country.

The transition away from gas power could come at a good time for the two home improvement retailers. Both have looked for a jolt as they see weaker store traffic and brace for declining sales in the year ahead. Home Depot posted its worst revenue miss in 20 years for the fiscal first quarter and lowered its full-year forecast, saying it expects sales to decline by between 2% and 5% this fiscal year. Lowe’s also cut its outlook and projected a drop in sales for the full year.
Outdoor power equipment drives just a small fraction of the retailers’ sales, said Zack Fadem, an analyst at Wells Fargo. But, he added, advancements in battery-powered tools have prompted an upgrade cycle and given do-it-yourself customers and home professionals a reason to come to stores for bigger purchases.
“When you ask ‘What’s been driving the ticket,’ aside from inflation and like-for-like increases in product costs, the biggest driver is innovation,” he said. “And that’s where these new products fit in.”
He said investors will watch whether battery-powered tools, and other new products across stores like higher-quality paint, flooring and appliances, can truly be a “needle mover.”
As the easy sales gains of the Covid pandemic fade, both Home Depot and Lowe’s have pointed to the cordless, battery-powered tools as an opportunity. Home Depot touted the products at an investor day in New York City earlier this month, and it recently set a goal to have more than 85% of its U.S. and Canada sales in outdoor power equipment run on rechargeable batteries instead of gas by late January 2029. It declined to say where the share of sales is today.

Home Depot estimated that the market for electric tools and related battery sales is $32 billion and counting.
Industrywide, battery-powered cordless units accounted for nearly 66% of sales in the outdoor power tools market as of the end of 2022, according to an economic forecast report from the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute.
Lowe’s said battery-powered tools and outdoor equipment are among its fastest-growing categories. Bill Boltz, the company’s executive vice president of merchandising, said Lowe’s sales of cordless power tools and outdoor power equipment more than doubled in the past five years — a rapid clip that the company expects will continue in the next five years.
There are still obstacles to adoption. Battery-powered leaf blowers and mowers can be similar in price to their gas competitors. But when you add in batteries and chargers, upfront charges can be higher.

One of the buzziest aisles in Home Depot is the one with battery-powered outdoor equipment like mowers and leaf blowers. Lowe’s also has seen sales growth in the category.
Melissa Repko | CNBC

A jolt in interest

For more than two decades, manufacturers have offered battery-powered tools. The first electric outdoor equipment hit Home Depot and Lowe’s shelves in the mid-2000s.
Yet several more recent factors have increased interest in electric power for landscaping. Technology has improved, bringing longer-lasting batteries and more power, without the mess or expense of gas. Some states and cities have proposed or passed limits on gas-powered equipment or offered rebates and tax credits for battery-powered tools.
The tools, while much smaller than a car, can contribute to a lot of smog-forming emissions. Operating a commercial lawn mower for one hour emits as much pollution as driving a new light-duty passenger car the more than four-hour journey from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, according to the California Air Resources Board, a state government agency.
Plus, the spike in working from home means more Americans have noticed the irritating growl of a gas-powered leaf blower outside of their window, prompting some to buy quieter battery-powered tools for their own yard or lobby the homeowner’s association for a ban.
California, the most populous state in the country, is also sparking change. It passed a law that bans the sale of emissions-producing small, off-road engines like the ones in mowers and blowers starting in 2024.
With or without policy changes, do-it-yourself customers have been quick to embrace battery power, said Billy Bastek, Home Depot’s executive vice president of merchandising.
Now, he said the company wants to win over professionals, who tend to place bigger orders and replace equipment more frequently. Home Depot is offering dedicated support, special pricing for large orders and rewards through its pro loyalty program.
About half of Home Depot’s total sales come from home professionals, but electric tool revenue skews toward DIY buyers. The company declined to share a more specific split for the battery-powered category.
As the upgrade cycle takes hold at Home Depot and Lowe’s, the equipment makers themselves stand to benefit. Those include a variety of companies that have expanded their battery and hybrid lineup, such as John Deere, Toro, Stanley Black & Decker-owned DeWalt, Ryobi and others.
Some of them have exclusive deals with the home improvement retailers. For example, Home Depot is the only retailer that sells Milwaukee and Ryobi.
Not all retailers see the tools as a significant sales catalyst.
Tractor Supply, a home improvement player that tends to be in rural areas, has been slower to add battery-powered outdoor equipment. It introduced the merchandise to stores and online early last year, after waiting to see a pickup in both customer interest and battery strength, said company spokeswoman Mary Winn Pilkington.
She said it’s been only a modest growth category for the retailer, which often caters to ranchers, farmers or homeowners with larger properties.

Some prominent golf courses have begun to test and use electric-powered landscaping equipment. At TPC Sawgrass in Florida, the landscaping crew has tried out an autonomous battery-powered mower and uses some electric leaf blowers.
Jeff Plotts

From golf courses to suburban neighborhoods

On the expansive TPC Sawgrass golf course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, the landscaping crew has tested a new assistant: an autonomous electric mower.
The course is home to The Players Championship, one of the most prominent annual golf tournaments on the PGA Tour. It relies on an approximately 105-person staff to maintain 450 total acres, of which 240 are maintained turf grass.
Jeff Plotts, the course’s director of agronomy, began trying out the Husqvarna device to cut grass on nearly an acre of turf in January.
So far, Plotts said he’s been impressed by its performance. It’s been a quieter way to keep up turf, a help as the course competes in a tight labor market — and an occasional source of fascination for golfers.
“It’s extremely quiet. You could be standing right next to it and you can’t tell, other than seeing it move, it’s cutting,” he said. “It’s a pretty slick little unit.”
He said the course plans to buy 15 more of the mowers in 2024.
About 150 miles southwest, the landscaping crew at Bay Hill Club and Lodge of Orlando — the host of the PGA Tour’s Arnold Palmer Invitational — uses a small number of electric blowers, said Chris Flynn, director of grounds. It also has an electric weed eater, hedge trimmer and walk-behind push mower.
Both Plotts and Flynn say it would be difficult, if not impossible, to make a full switch away from gas-powered equipment — at least with the technology available now. On some days, it can still be quicker to use gas-powered tools. The specialized products needed to maintain courses sometimes do not come in electric models.
Upfront costs can also be a deterrent. Flynn said that in a recent estimate, a riding electric-power mower for the golf course would have cost $94,000, compared with a gas-powered one for $43,000.
“Just like the automotive market all of the equipment manufacturers are obviously spending a lot of R&D [research and development] on electric and hybrid options,” Flynn said. “As time goes forward, there are going to be a lot more options. And like anything, you hope the longer it’s around it brings costs down.”
In suburban neighborhoods far from the hush of professional golf tournaments in Florida, homeowners and property managers are also embracing a quieter way to keep up their yards.
Southern California-based Everthrive Landscape began looking into electric equipment in late 2021, shortly after California passed a law aimed at winding down use of gas equipment.
It started the transition to electric power in February and recently placed a large order with Milwaukee that will take its fleet up to about 80% electric in the coming months.
The commercial landscaping company specializes in maintaining the properties of homeowners associations, such as landscaping around parks, pools or clubhouses.
The company’s CEO, Jonathan Caceres, said the tools have been popular among customers and employees. Employees don’t have to worry about noxious fumes and blaring noise. And they don’t get the same complaints from homeowners or apartment residents who are sleeping or in the middle of a Zoom call.
But Caceres said he had to get his crew to buy in. Some had been disappointed by battery equipment they tested years ago, which was cumbersome and didn’t do the job.
He said the electric tools were the right choice not only for the environment, but also for the bottom line. No more gas runs take the crew away from jobs. Warrantees on the equipment also last longer.
He said other businesses will likely be persuaded by that, too.
“It all comes down to money,” he said. “If they see ‘Oh wow, this is going to save me money,’ that will be a big driver.” More

Fox News has agreed to pay $12 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Abby Grossberg, a former producer.
She had alleged the network coerced her into giving a misleading testimony in the Dominion Voting Systems defamation case.
Fox settled with Dominion in April, agreeing to pay the company $787.5 million.

The News Corporation headquarters, which is also home to Fox News, stands in Manhattan on April 18, 2023 in New York City.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images

Fox News has settled another lawsuit, this time with a one-time producer for former primetime host Tucker Carlson.
The Fox Corp. network agreed to pay $12 million to settle the lawsuit brought by Abby Grossberg, who alleged she was coerced into giving false testimony for the Dominion Voting Systems defamation case.

“While I stand by my publicly filed claims and allegations, in light of today’s settlement of $12 million, pursuant to which I have now withdrawn those claims, I am heartened that Fox News has taken me and my legal claims seriously,” Grossberg said in a statement Friday. “I am hopeful, based on our discussions with Fox News today, that this resolution represents a positive step by the Network regarding its treatment of women and minorities in the workplace.”
Grossberg earlier this year had filed lawsuits against Fox in New York and Delaware, and had also accused the network of discrimination. Grossberg’s attorneys had previously said she was fired by Fox in retaliation.
“I stand by and defer to my publicly filed claims and allegations and any public statements I or my attorneys have made concerning my employment at Fox News,” Grossberg said in Friday’s statement. “I will not make any further remarks concerning my employment at Fox News at this time and ask that you respect my decision.”
The producer had worked with Fox hosts Carlson – who was ousted in the wake of Fox’s settlement with Dominion – and Maria Bartiromo, and had alleged the network’s lawyers coerced and intimidated her into providing misleading testimony in the Dominion lawsuit.
In April, a trial was stopped in its tracks when Fox said it would pay $787.5 million to Dominion to settle a defamation lawsuit over false claims that Dominion’s voting machines swayed the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

Grossberg had earlier said that she would have voluntarily testified on behalf of Dominion had the trial occurred.
“We are pleased that we have been able to resolve this matter without further litigation,” a Fox representative said in a statement on Friday.
Fox had earlier denied the claims by Grossberg, and explained its decision to let the producer go:

“Like most organizations, Fox News Media’s attorneys engage in privileged communications with our employees as necessary to provide legal advice. Last week, our attorneys advised Ms. Grossberg that, while she was free to file whatever legal claims she wished, she was in possession of our privileged information and was not authorized to disclose it publicly. We were clear that if she violated our instructions, Fox would take appropriate action including termination. Ms. Grossberg ignored these communications and chose to file her complaint without taking any steps to protect those portions containing Fox’s privileged information. We will continue to vigorously defend Fox against Ms. Grossberg’s unmeritorious legal claims, which are riddled with false allegations against Fox and our employees.” More

ESPN is laying off about 20 on-air personalities.
Cuts include NBA analysts Jeff Van Gundy and Jalen Rose.
The cost-cutting efforts come as ESPN tries to meet its financial targets for 2023 and beyond.

ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro
Steve Zak Photography | FilmMagic | Getty Images

Disney’s ESPN on Friday is informing about 20 of its on-air personalities that they will no longer appear on any of the network’s platforms.
Cuts include former National Basketball Association head coach and current game analyst Jeff Van Gundy and ex-NBA player and studio analyst Jalen Rose, according to a person familiar with the matter. The network will also lay off longtime reporter and anchor Suzy Kolber, NFL analyst and former quarterback Steve Young and host Max Kellerman, the person said.

“Given the current environment, ESPN has determined it necessary to identify some additional cost savings in the area of public-facing commentator salaries, and that process has begun,” ESPN said in a statement. “This exercise will include a small group of job cuts in the short-term and an ongoing focus on managing costs when we negotiate individual contract renewals in the months ahead.”
“This is an extremely challenging process, involving individuals who have had tremendous impact on our company,” the network said. “These difficult decisions, based more on overall efficiency than merit, will help us meet our financial targets and ensure future growth.”
The cuts are part of ESPN’s efforts to meet its financial targets for 2023 and beyond. Targeting on-air employees with large salaries will allow ESPN to keep more staffers throughout the organization.
Disney, which owns the majority of ESPN, recently concluded its own rounds of layoffs amounting to 7,000 employees.
Read more: Disney’s new Indiana Jones movie faces shaky box office prospects

The media giant is shedding costs as streaming growth wanes to boost free cash flow. Disney may need the cash if it chooses to acquire Comcast’s minority stake in Hulu — a deal with an option trigger at the start of 2024.

More departures to come

ESPN’s cuts are separate from that initiative and related to its own set of metrics and priorities. Disney reorganized the company earlier this year, giving ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro his own balance sheet responsibilities.
ESPN also plans not to renew the contracts of more on-air staffers as their contracts expire in the coming months, said the person, who asked not to be named because the details are private. That could amount to another 20 or so departures, a second person said.
Laid-off employees will have the option to work elsewhere but will have to renegotiate their outstanding contracts with ESPN, one of the people said. If employees find jobs with a competitor, ESPN may offer a lower severance for the remainder of the contract than to staffers who find work in other fields, said the person.

Jalen Rose smiles before Game Four of the 2023 NBA Finals between the Denver Nuggets and the Miami Heat on June 9, 2023 at Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida.
Eric Espada | National Basketball Association | Getty Images

Van Gundy has been with ESPN for 16 years and has gained wide acclaim for his game commentary and sense of humor. He’s been part of a three-man broadcasting team for NBA games along with play-by-play announcer Mike Breen and co-analyst, former NBA player and coach Mark Jackson.
Rose has been a part of ESPN and ABC’s NBA pregame show, “NBA Countdown,” since 2012. He joined ESPN in 2007. The New York Post first reported ESPN would lay off Van Gundy and Rose.
Kolber spent more than 25 years at the network and featured prominently in its “Monday Night Football” coverage. The Hall of Fame quarterback Young spent more than 20 years as an NFL analyst for ESPN, a job he’s juggled along with being a partner at HGGC, a Palo Alto, California-based private equity firm.
Kellerman was also a longtime staple on the network as a host for programs like “First Take.” Additional layoffs include baseball reporter Joon Lee, college basketball analyst and former NBA player LaPhonso Ellis, and former NFL star and ESPN personality Keyshawn Johnson.
ESPN announced last month it hired former NFL punter Pat McAfee, host of “The Pat McAfee Show.” The New York Post reported ESPN is paying McAfee around $85 million over five years. Still, ESPN’s McAfee comes with a ready-made show, which the network believes will be profitable from day one.
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Medicare dropped a confidentiality requirement that banned pharmaceutical companies from publicly discussing drug price negotiations set to begin this fall.
In revised guidance, Medicare said a company “may choose to publicly disclose information regarding ongoing negotiations at its discretion.”
Drugmakers had sued the federal government, arguing that the requirement violated the First Amendment.

Hundreds of 1199SEIU health care workers staged a rally and sit to block 3rd avenue where some were arrested. They protested against health care cuts in Governor Kathy Hochuls budget on Medicare.
Lev Radin | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Medicare on Friday said it will allow pharmaceutical companies to publicly discuss the program’s historic drug price negotiations, dropping a confidentiality requirement that the industry argued violated the First Amendment in lawsuits filed this month.
In initial guidance released in March, Medicare had forbidden the industry from publicly disclosing information on the lower price initially offered by the federal government for drugs targeted under the program, as well as the government’s reasons for selecting that price point.

Medicare had also forbidden companies from disclosing any verbal conversations during the negotiation period. It also required companies to destroy any information within 30 days if the drug is no longer selected for negotiations.
In revised guidance released Friday, Medicare said a company “may choose to publicly disclose information regarding ongoing negotiations at its discretion.”
The Inflation Reduction Act, passed last year, empowered Medicare to directly negotiate with pharmaceutical companies over prices for the first time. The program is the central pillar of the Biden administration’s efforts to control rising drug prices in the U.S.
Merck, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Bristol Myers Squibb and the industry lobbying group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America asked federal courts this month to declare the drug price negotiations unconstitutional.
Merck, the chamber and Bristol Myers Squibb argued in their lawsuits that Medicare had imposed a gag order that effectively banned the companies from publicly disagreeing with the federal government’s position in violation of the First Amendment.

The industry’s lawsuits, however, are also focused on broader claims that the program violates due process and the seizure of private property without just compensation under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra on Friday vowed to press ahead with the negotiations despite pharmaceutical industry’s lawsuits.
“Pharmaceutical companies have made record profits for decades,” Becerra said in a statement. “Now they’re lining up to block this Administration’s work to negotiate for better drug prices for our families.
“We won’t be deterred,” Becerra said
HHS will release a list of 10 high-cost drugs selected for negotiation by September. The companies have to decide whether to participate in the negotiations the following month.
Drugmakers that choose not to participate face severe financial penalties. They can avoid these penalties by terminating their participation in Medicare and Medicaid drug rebate programs.
The companies have argued that withdrawing from the rebate programs is not a feasible alternative because the programs represent nearly half of the nation’s annual spending on prescription drugs. More