Business

Monday – Friday, 6:00 – 7:00 PM ET

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Thursday told investors that a new group of market leaders is emerging amid tech stocks’ downfall.
“What works are the recession-resistant stocks of profitable companies that tend to be pretty generous with their shareholders,” he said.

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Thursday told investors that a new group of market leaders is emerging amid tech stocks’ downfall.
“The market’s finally in Fed-mandated slowdown mode, where what works are the recession-resistant stocks of profitable companies that tend to be pretty generous with their shareholders,” he said.

Here is Cramer’s list of industries that fit these requirements:

Fossil fuels
Health care
Travel
Defense
Food and beverage

The “Mad Money” host’s comments come after a tough earnings season for Big Tech. Amazon reported weaker-than-expected third-quarters earnings and revenue and issued a disappointing fourth-quarter sales forecast on Thursday.
Alphabet missed third-quarter revenue and profit expectations on Tuesday, while Microsoft issued weak guidance that sent its stock tumbling. Meta Platforms missed on third-quarter earnings after the close on Wednesday.
However, one tech stock is still worth owning, according to Cramer. 
Apple beat fourth-quarter earnings and revenue expectations on Thursday after the bell, though it fell short on iPhone services and sales.

Cramer praised its technology, adding the company is much more in tune with what customers want than the rest of Big Tech, making its stock investable. “I always say, own Apple, don’t trade it,” he said.
Disclaimer: Cramer’s Charitable Trust owns shares of Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and Apple.

Jim Cramer’s Guide to Investing

Click here to download Jim Cramer’s Guide to Investing at no cost to help you build long-term wealth and invest smarter.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

Donald Trump again praised Saudi-backed golf venture LIV, which is in the middle of a political and legal battle with the PGA Tour.
The former president’s Doral club in South Florida is hosting LIV events this week.
The PGA Tour and LIV Golf have traded lawsuits and lobbied against each other.

Former President Donald Trump stands on the 18th green during the Pro-Am tournament before the LIV Golf series at Trump National Doral, Oct. 27, 2022.
Jasen Vinlove | USA Today Sports | Reuters

Donald Trump on Thursday again praised Saudi-backed golf venture LIV, which is in the middle of a political and legal battle with the PGA Tour and other American golf interests.
The former president’s Doral club in South Florida is hosting LIV events this week.

“It’s big time and it’s big-time money. It’s unlimited money. They love golf and the Saudis have done a fantastic job,” Trump said following a pro-am round, according to Golf Channel. “It’s different, the enthusiasm.” He also criticized the PGA Tour.
The former president has hosted PGA Tour tournaments in the past, but the Tour pulled its event from his Trump National Doral Miami course in 2017 and pulled the 2022 PGA Championship from Trump Bedminster in New Jersey following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
Now, LIV Golf, backed by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment fund, has taken to Trump properties. The deep-pocketed league hosted a tournament at Trump Bedminster in July, despite condemnation from the families of 9/11 victims, and it will host its championship at Trump National Doral Miami starting Friday.
Trump’s connection with Saudi Arabia goes beyond his admiration and business relationship with LIV Golf. As president, he said the U.S. stood with the Kingdom despite the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was a critic of the Saudi royal family.
Meanwhile, Golfweek reported that LIV Golf was leaning on Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law whose investment firm landed hundreds of millions of dollars in Saudi money, to arrange a media deal with Fox Sports through Kushner’s friend Lachlan Murdoch, who runs Fox Corp. alongside his father, Rupert. LIV has said reports about its quest for media rights deals “have been incomplete and inaccurate.”

LIV Golf has been fighting to compete with the PGA Tour, even without a media deal. Massive contracts lured star players like Phil Mickelson, while the tour has tried to respond with its own increased bonuses. The former president said that more players will defect to LIV.
“A lot of other people are coming over. Big names, they’re coming over. The star system is very important in sports. If you don’t have the star system, you’re not going to be successful,” said Trump, who is considering another run for president while facing down a Justice Department criminal investigation over top secret documents he took to his Mar-a-Lago home in South Florida.
The two leagues have traded lawsuits and launched lobbying efforts against each other. Most recently, a Justice Department antitrust probe expanded its scope from the PGA Tour to Augusta National and the USGA, which oversee the Masters and U.S. Open major tournaments, respectively.
Trump said he thinks the PGA Tour and LIV could work something out. He blamed the tour for not working toward a solution.
“Something could have been worked out so easily,” Trump said, “but the Tour decided to, as Richard Nixon said, stonewall it.”
The PGA Tour declined to comment. LIV Golf didn’t immediately return a request for comment.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

Shares of AutoNation, Group 1 Automotive and other automotive dealers rallied Thursday following strong third-quarter earnings and optimistic outlooks regarding consumer demand.
AutoNation’s stock was up by as much as 8.2% after the company beat Wall Street’s estimates on Thursday.

Vehicles are displayed for sale at an AutoNation car dealership on April 21, 2022 in Valencia, California.
Mario Tama | Getty Images

DETROIT – Shares of AutoNation, Group 1 Automotive and other automotive dealers rallied Thursday following strong third-quarter earnings and optimistic outlooks regarding consumer demand for new vehicles.
The results and comments followed concerns by some Wall Street analysts that the industry could soon shift from an inventory supply problem to a lack of demand, or “demand destruction,” situation with interest rates rising, inflation at record highs and recession fears looming.

“Clearly, there is some normalization that’s going to occur and has occurred,” Group 1 CEO Earl Hesterberg told investors after the company beat Wall Street’s expectations on Wednesday. “But we don’t have any big trepidation about next year … our core businesses such as aftersales and new vehicle sales are moving to remain strong in the near-term.”
Shares of AutoNation were up by as much as 8.2% after the company beat Wall Street’s estimates on Thursday. Stocks of others such as Group 1 Automotive and Penske Automotive that reported third quarter results on Wednesday were up by more than 6% during intraday trading on Thursday.
Hesterberg’s optimistic comments echoed those of other executives, who signaled supply chain problems are likely to keep new vehicle inventories tight for the foreseeable future. Inventory levels of new vehicles during the third quarter increased but they remained historically low.
General Motors and Ford Motor this week also said they saw consumer demand holding strong during the third quarter, but warned they are closely watching outside economic factors and concerns for any changes.
“We haven’t seen any direct impact on our products. Pricing remains strong, demand remains strong for our products, but we can’t ignore what others are saying out there and what others are seeing out there,” GM CFO Paul Jacobson told reporters Tuesday after reporting strong third-quarter earnings.

Automakers and retailers believe they have better insights into consumer demand than they ever have before, as the companies have focused more on individual, customized retail orders, including customer reservations, rather than people buying vehicles off dealer lots.
The industry is coming down from record profits during the coronavirus pandemic, and is facing lower wholesale used car prices, slowing new vehicle price increases and other signs of broad normalizing on the heels of the pandemic and supply chain issues.
Vehicle sales for several dealership groups were in line with or lower than the third quarter of last year, which some said was due to continued production problems.
Also notably lower were average used vehicle gross profits per unit, or GPU. The average GPU – an important statistic for investors – for used vehicles largely declined double digits compared with a year earlier, including declines of more than 20% for Group 1 and AutoNation.
AutoNation CEO Mike Manley told investors Thursday that he expects “some mitigation in margins as we get middle-to-end of next year,” but demand is “still going to remain healthy.”
Group 1 said its order banks for new vehicles is at nearly 17,000 units, which represents a backlog of six months based on its 2022 sales pace. However, Lithia CEO Brian DeBoer last week said while demand remains strong, the company doesn’t “have the bigger backlogs that we used to have.”
The gains in dealer stocks on Thursday follows less optimistic comments from used car retailer CarMax as well as Lithia Motors, which is battling AutoNation this year for the title of nation’s largest dealer, missing Wall Street’s top and bottom-line expectations last week.
Here’s a look at how auto dealer stocks are performing on Thursday:

Auto dealer stocks

–CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

The New York Post fired an employee was responsible for posts on its website and Twitter account that included racist, violent and sexually explicit headlines.
The paper had said earlier that its site was hacked.
Tweets and posts targeted politicians, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and President Joe Biden.
The posts were removed quickly, and the News Corp.-owned New York tabloid newspaper’s website was operating as usual by midmorning.

Arrows pointing outwards

Source: Twitter

The New York Post on Thursday said an employee was responsible for posts on its website and Twitter account that included racist, violent and sexually explicit headlines about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and President Joe Biden.
The posts were removed shortly thereafter, and the News Corp.-owned New York tabloid newspaper’s website was operating as usual by midmorning. The Post is one of the top newspapers based on its circulation, and one of the most visited news websites, the Press Gazette reported in 2021 and 2022, respectively. It has 2.8 million followers on Twitter.

“The New York Post’s investigation indicates that the unauthorized conduct was committed by an employee, and the employee has been terminated,” a spokesperson said in a statement Thursday. “This morning, we immediately removed the vile and reprehensible content from our website and social media accounts.”
The spokesperson earlier Thursday said the posts were the result of a hack and an investigation was underway.
The headlines appeared with photos but links that didn’t lead to articles. In addition to violent and explicit headlines targeting Biden and his son Hunter and Ocasio-Cortez, there was also a racist headline regarding New York City Mayor Eric Adams and a post targeting unionized teachers.
Representatives for the president and Ocasio-Cortez didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin and incumbent Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul were also mentioned in explicit headlines as part of the hack.

“The New York Post has long fostered an ugly, toxic conversation on their front pages and social accounts, but these posts are more disgusting and vile than usual,” a Hochul representative said Thursday. “The New York Post needs to immediately explain how this reprehensible content was made public. While the Post has made its preferences very clear in the New York Governor’s race, there is no room for this violent, sexist rhetoric in our politics. We demand answers.”
A representative for Zeldin didn’t immediately respond to comment.
“These vile, racist, and sexist comments have no place in public discourse, even by those unlawfully hacking a Twitter account,” said the press secretary for New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who was also targeted in a racist headline.
Automattic, the owner and operator of WordPress VIP, the content management system that enables publishing to the New York Post site, said it wouldn’t “comment on active investigations,” nor speak on behalf of the Post.
Last month, U.S. media publication Fast Company shut down its website for roughly a week after hackers gained access to its site and sent out “obscene and racist” push notifications to Apple News users.
At the time, Fast Company said on Twitter its content management system was hacked and impacted its Apple News alerts. The company suspended its website immediately. It later said it retained a global incident response and cybersecurity firm to investigate the matter.
– CNBC’s Stefan Sykes and Jack Stebbins contributed to this article.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

American Airlines’ pilot union last weekend said it would debate the new agreement in the coming days.
The biggest U.S. carriers have been in labor talks with their pilot unions for months.
Pilots are seeking pay increases and more

Pilots talk as they look at the tail of an American Airlines aircraft at Dallas-Ft Worth International Airport.
Mike Stone | Reuters

American Airlines’ pilots union is weighing an offer for higher raises in a new two-year contract proposal, the latest attempt to seal up a labor deal at the country’s largest airline.
If approved by the union’s board and ratified by the airline’s 15,000 pilots, aviators would get 12% raises on the date of contract signing, plus 5% after one year, and 2% after two years, according to a copy of the agreement in principal. The total would be higher than the raises American offered in June.

More senior captains would get about $432 an hour two years after signing, while new first officers would get close to $110 an hour, according to the preliminary agreement.
Airlines are scrambling to get labor deals done with pilots, their highest-paid unionized employees, and other groups. American and the other largest U.S. carriers – Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines – have been in negotiations with their pilot groups for months, with the pandemic derailing talks as travel demand collapsed. FedEx pilots are also in contract talks.
“Getting our labor deals done is a very high priority for our people,” Southwest’s CEO Robert Jordan said on an earnings call on Thursday.
Pilots are in short supply and regional airlines, where the shortage is most acute, have raised wages sharply this year. Those hikes included American Airlines’ subsidiaries where pilots got 50% increases through August 2024.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

NASA released findings from an impact review, which found the U.S. space agency’s economic output is three times the size of its annual budget.
“We’re trying to point out just how penetrating, and almost incalculable, this [agency’s] economic impact is,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told CNBC.
The report found that NASA’s work in fiscal year 2021 generated an economic output of over $71 billion.

Astronauts flying on SpaceX’s Crew-5 mission for NASA stand in front of the agency’s worm logo during a countdown dress rehearsal on Oct. 2, 2022, at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration on Thursday said its annual economic output is three times the size of its yearly budget.
In a newly released study, NASA looked at fiscal year 2021, in which the agency had over 19,000 employees and a federal budget of $23.3 billion. According the report, NASA missions, research and more “generated a total economic output of more than $71.2 billion,” with the agency’s work supporting about 340,000 jobs in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

“We’re trying to point out just how penetrating, and almost incalculable, this [agency’s] economic impact is,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told CNBC.
NASA’s work in aerospace and space spans from operational programs, such as the International Space Station and Commercial Crew, to its plan to return astronauts to the moon known as Artemis.

Sign up here to receive weekly editions of CNBC’s Investing in Space newsletter.

And, as effective as NASA’s return on taxpayer dollars may seem, Nelson argued that the economic impact report actually undersells the agency’s value to the U.S. economy. He cited examples like pharmaceutical research on the space station, calculating soil moisture for agriculture, or using satellites to identify trees that may be diseased and could cause a forest fire.
“Will people understand it? A lot of people won’t understand it, and they’ll take it for granted,” said Nelson, a former U.S. senator for Florida.

In several areas, NASA has pivoted over the past decade from owning and operating space technologies, to buying tech as a service from the private sector. Examples include SpaceX flying astronauts to-and-from the ISS, or a small cohort of companies building and running the low-cost lunar CAPSTONE mission. While a macroeconomic shift in the U.S. is seen as a major reason for the cooling of the investment pipeline into space companies, billions continue to flow.

“Space is the place, and it’s also a hot economic investment area,” Nelson said.
Nelson noted that the space sector remains a “high risk” endeavor. He pointed out that Masten Space, one of the companies that won a NASA contract to deliver cargo to the moon, filed for bankruptcy earlier this year – but its assets were acquired by another lunar-focused U.S. space company, Astrobotic.
“It’s a high risk proposition because you’re doing new and daring things,” Nelson said.
But the NASA chief didn’t share any major concerns about the health of the space economy, including NASA’s partners in the private sector, noting that the agency’s recent shift toward more competitive, fixed-price contracts represents a “shared risk” with companies.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

Beer sales are up, but it hasn’t been enough to counter the explosive rise of the spirits category.
Beer has been losing market share to spirits for the last 12 years in the U.S., according to a trade group.
Spirits dominate the share on liquor delivery app Drizly, the company said.

Witthaya Prasongsin | Moment | Getty Images

Beer is taking up less of the American booze market as beverage companies flood the market with buzzy new drink categories, including ready-to-drink cocktails.
Even legacy beer companies have expanded outside of their staple beer products with innovations for spirits drinkers.

Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, has diversified its portfolio to include hard seltzers, canned wine and canned cocktails. Molson Coors dropped the “Brewing Co” from its name in 2019 to reflect a similar expansion into spirits.
This week, Samuel Adams maker Boston Beer debuted Loma Vista Tequila Soda, a ready-to-drink tequila cocktail in both lime and mango flavors. The lineup is launching in a handful of markets, including Austin, Texas; Fort Collins, Colorado; Wichita, Kansas; and Kansas City.
Boston Beer said its tequila cocktails sit at the crux of “the explosive growth of the RTD beverage segment” and “the rise in popularity of tequila.” DISCUS said the top five spirits by revenue growth in 2021 were vodka (4.9%), tequila/mezcal (30.1%), American whiskey (6.7%), Brandy & Cognac (13.1%) and cordials (15.2%). 
Last year was the 12th consecutive year spirits have taken away market share from beer in the total U.S. alcoholic beverage market, according to a report earlier this year from the Distilled Spirits Council, a national trade organization.
The beer category, which includes hard seltzer, accounted for 42% of the U.S. beverage alcohol market in 2021, while spirits accounted for 41%, according to DISCUS. Wine accounted for 16%. At this trajectory, spirits are pegged to overtake beer in market share in the next few years, even though beer sales have grown.

“Spirits consumers are willing to spend a little extra for a fine spirit because they are choosing to drink better, not more,” DISCUS’ top spokeswoman, Lisa Hawkins, told CNBC this week.
The downward trend of beer market share has also been reflected on the online ordering and alcohol delivery platform Drizly. Over the past 12 months, beer has accounted for a 14% share, a two percentage point drop from the previous 12 months, according to Liz Paquette, head of consumer insights at Drizly. Spirits accounted for a 45% share, increasing by one percentage point.
“The beer share decline in recent years on Drizly is mostly a result of share shift toward the spirit category, driven by the surge in categories, like tequila and ready-to-drink cocktails,” said Paquette.
Paquette added that beer actually accounts for 11% when hard seltzers aren’t included.

The Boston Beer Company Introduces First Tequila-Based RTD Beverage, Loma Vista Tequila Soda.
Boston Beer Company

However, while beer is shrinking in market size, sales are actually up. Wall Street, in turn, likes liquor companies such as Constellation that make premium, higher-priced beer.
“There’s pockets of growth,” said Bart Watson, chief economist for the Brewers Association. He said beer drinkers are seeking out more premium offerings as well. In 2021, overall beer sales were up 1% year over year – hitting $100.2 billion – and sales of craft beer jumped 8%, according to the association.
Craft beer, said Watson, may be the industry’s answer to consumers’ increased willingness to spend more on variety, flavor and quality. Craft beer is typically made with higher quality ingredients, which provides consumers with a more flavorful and distinctive tasting beer than mass-produced options.
“Those reaching for craft often want a variety of flavors and to try new things,” said Watson, adding that craft brews “really helped beer not lose more market share over the last decade.”
The association said the number of operating craft breweries in the U.S. reached an all-time high in 2021 of 9,118.
Paquette of Drizy said there are trend changes happening within the beer category – subcategories like light lagers, which contain a low alcohol volumes, and even non-alcoholic beer are showing growth across Drizly, as well.
Still, it looks like cocktail culture is primed to be dominant in the United States.
“Consumers are drawn to products that have a rich heritage and an interesting back story, and that’s what spirits have to offer,” said Hawkins of DISCUS.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

The Buffalo Bills unveiled design images of their new stadium, which is expected to open in 2026.
The stadium will draw $850 million in taxpayer funding, which has provoked widespread criticism.
The stadium won’t have a roof, but it will feature an inside bowl and stacked seating design to provide some protection from the wintry elements.

Proposed stadium for the Buffalo Bills
Source: The Buffalo Bills

The Buffalo Bills have released the first images of their eagerly awaited new stadium, which is set to be completed in 2026.
Created in conjunction with Legends and the architectural firm Populous, the open air stadium will be built across from Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park. The Bills’ current stadium was built in 1973 and is the fourth oldest in the NFL.

The stadium has been a magnet for controversy, as well. In March, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a $1.4 billion agreement for a 30-year lease. Of that, $850 million of the funding will come from state and county taxpayers – a record amount for a stadium. The deal drew widespread criticism.
The Buffalo Bills, notorious for being winless in four consecutive Super Bowls in the early 1990s, are off to a 5-1 start this year. The team, led by star quarterback Josh Allen, are among the top contenders to head to the Super Bowl this year.
The new stadium won’t have a roof, but it will feature an inside bowl and stacked seating design to provide some protection from the winds and snowy winters western New York is accustomed to.
Bills operating chief Ron Raccuia told Buffalo Sports Radio WGR 550 Thursday that the canopy that surrounds the stadium will cover 65% of all seats in the stadium and will help mitigate wind for fans. They will have extensive radiant heating in place to make fans more comfortable.
“We think this is the most effective canopy and covers the most amount of people to do everything else we need to do,” he said.

Proposed stadium for the Buffalo Bills
Source: The Buffalo Bills

Outside the stadium, the Bills are looking to enhance the parking and tailgating experience by creating gathering spots for fans who want to enjoy the game but may not have a ticket.
The new stadium will have 60,000 seats (about 10,000 less than Highmark) and 60 suites. The team’s current lease goes until July 2023 and will have to be renewed until construction is complete on the new stadium.
“The goal is to create the most vibrant, loudest, ground-shaking experience possible,” the team says.

WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More