Markets are checking the boxes to move higher, says Hightower's Stephanie Link
Solus' Dan Greenhaus, Hightower's Stephanie Link and JPMorgan's Stephanie Aliaga join 'Closing Bell' to discuss the latest news affecting markets.
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Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
CEOs Using AI to Terrorize Their Employees
As artificial intelligence becomes the corporate buzzword du jour, executives are finding more and more ways to shoehorn the trendy tech into their everyday business operations. That has a lot of workers anxious about automation, income inequality, and increased workloads — something c-suite bigwigs are all too happy to take advantage of. Though AI — really just a fun name for large language models (LLMs), or predictive chatbots — in its current state isn't likely to bring a labor revolution anytime soon, CEOs find that the threat of AI automation works just as well. As Axios highlighted this week, CEOs are increasingly using AI adoption as a cudgel to justify layoffs, or to manufacture consent for layoffs in the future. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, for example, recently said AI is likely to "reduce our total corporate workforce," while JPMorgan executives told investors that AI will allow for a "10 percent headcount reduction." Others, like Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke, are threatening workers directly, saying that AI is now the "baseline expectation." Per Axios, Shopify managers hiring human workers now have to explain to top brass why AI wouldn't be a better choice for any given job. This kind of doomsday messaging goes hand in hand with increased expectations for workers' productivity. A recent survey found that 77 percent of workers reported that AI adds to their workload. Of that, a staggering proportion — 39 percent — involves fixing the buggy tech's sloppy mistakes. While AI is a pretty recent phenomenon, these kinds of scare tactics aren't new. "Disciplining labor" is a concept that occasionally gets thrown around discussions of supply side economics. It's a term used to describe broad economic measures that keep workers in line, in order to keep corporate profits high — suppressing unions, keeping wage growth low, and dangling the threat of unemployment over their heads. In this sense, AI in its current form is simply a new whip for CEOs to use on their employees. It's having what Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor at the Yale School of Management, calls an "inculcation effect" on workers. It's a "warning with an anticipatory alert that preempts later trauma going viral," he told Axios. Plus, now that the job market has been devastated by AI spambots, finding a new gig is harder than ever. With AI, workers are forced onto their back foot as their corporate overlords demand more productivity for less pay. If the choice is to either work harder or clear out their desk, employees are then less likely to ask for quality of life improvements, or to organize for unions that could win them. And that, of course, means corporate honchos get an even bigger piece of the pie. More on Labor: CEO of Anthropic Warns That AI Will Destroy Huge Proportion of Well-Paying Jobs
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Yahoo
Major analysts predict oil prices if Strait of Hormuz blocked
Major analysts predict oil prices if Strait of Hormuz blocked originally appeared on TheStreet. The world has gotten a bit crazy in 2025. An ongoing global trade war has sparked worries about worldwide economic growth, and now Israel and Iran are locked in a battle with missiles flying back and forth, threatening global oil supplies. The potential for a major energy crisis to develop because of the Iran-Israel conflict has caused Brent Crude and West Texas Intermediate oil prices to surge, and in turn that's created an entirely new threat to the economy. 💵💰💰💵 The potential for the battle in the Middle East to spread, potentially shutting off oil seaborne transports through the Strait of Hormuz and possibly removing Iranian oil from the global market, has lifted Brent crude and WTI crude per-barrel prices by 18% to $79 and 21% to $75 this month. The situation has captured the attention of Citigroup, JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs oil analysts, leading them to reset their oil price targets. President Donald Trump this year has unveiled a string of harsher-than-expected tariffs to rekindle US manufacturing. The moves, which include 25% tariffs on Mexico, Canada and autos, plus a 30% tariff on China and a 10% baseline tariff on all imports, have forced economists to rethink their global projections for economic growth this instance, earlier this month the World Bank reduced its worldwide gross domestic product forecast to 2.3% from 2.7%, citing tariff uncertainty. Contributing significantly to the reduced outlook is a major downgrade of U.S. growth to 1.4% from 2.3%. The World Bank lowered its U.S. forecast for 2026 to 1.6% from 2%. The Federal Reserve also expects slowing growth in the US because of tariffs' bite. The Fed updated its closely watched Summary of Economic Projections on June 18. It expects unemployment to increase to 4.5% from 4.2%, and projects that Personal Consumption Expenditures inflation — its favored inflation benchmark — will climb to 3% this year from expectations in March for 2.7% inflation. Fed officials expect U.S GDP growth to be just 1.4% in 2025, down from 1.7% in March, and well below the 2.5% growth the US economy delivered in 2024. In China, the World Bank expects slowing activity due to higher tariffs to reduce GDP growth to 4.5% in 2025 from 5% in 2024. In 2026, it expects GDP growth to ease to 4%. The economic situation could get even more uncertain if the Israel-Iran conflict continues to prop up crude oil prices. Oil prices can significantly increase inflation, directly and indirectly, further crimping consumer and business spending. We're already seeing concerning signs that higher oil prices are translating into higher prices at the pump for gasoline. "WTI crude oil $77/barrel, the national average price of gasoline is now $3.21 per gallon and could by next week climb to its highest ever while President Trump has been in office ($3.25/gal)on due to Middle East tensions," wrote GasBuddy's Patrick De Haan on X. Roughly 18 million to 19 million barrels of oil flow through the Strait of Hormuz daily, representing 20% of global oil consumption, including crude, condensates and fuel. Its proximity to Iran means it could become an oil chokepoint if Iran acts to block it. The possibility of that happening is "under serious consideration,' said Esmail Kosari, an Iranian parliament member and IRGC general, on June 15. More Economic Analysis: Federal Reserve prepares strong message on long-term interest rates Massive city workers union approves strike Analyst makes bold call on stocks, bonds, and gold Iran's oil production and its ability to export oil to its largest consumer, China, might also be significantly impaired. Iran is OPEC's third-largest member, producing about 3.3 million barrels per day. Citi estimates that if the conflict disrupts 3 million bpd for multiple months, crude oil prices could reach $90 a barrel from $75 now and from the low-to-mid $60s before Israel attacked Iran over its nuclear-development program. JP Morgan's analysts say that shutting the Strait of Hormuz could catapult crude oil prices to an eye-popping $120 to $130 per barrel. Goldman Sachs, meanwhile, says the conflict creates a risk premium of about $10 a barrel. In one scenario, Goldman Sachs's analysts say that if Iran's export infrastructure is damaged to the point that Iran's supply is reduced by 1.75 million barrels a day, "before gradually recovering," and with OPEC+ production offsetting roughly half the reduction, Brent Crude oil would peak at "just over $90/barrel." Goldman Sachs, however, expects that the increase would prove temporary, with prices declining "back to the $60s in 2026 as Iran supply recovers." However, the situation would be worse if the Strait of Hormuz were blocked for an extended period. "While an interruption of trade through the Strait of Hormuz, through which nearly 1/5 of global oil production flows, appears much less likely, there is focus from investors and policymakers on this risk, because core OPEC+ producers may be unable to deploy spare capacity in this extreme tail scenario," Goldman's analysts wrote. "Based on our prior analysis, we estimate that oil prices may exceed $100/barrel in an extreme tail scenario of an extended disruption."Major analysts predict oil prices if Strait of Hormuz blocked first appeared on TheStreet on Jun 20, 2025 This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jun 20, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Yahoo
JPMorgan Lowers PT for Occidental Petroleum (OXY), Keeps Neutral Rating
Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) is one of the 10 Best Oil and Gas Stocks to Buy Now. On May 9, JPMorgan lowered its price target on Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) from $52 to $47 and kept a 'Neutral' rating. JPMorgan analysts highlighted the corporation's Q1 2025 results and the management's efforts to cut costs amid a challenging oil price environment. Oil derricks in the background with a few workers in the foreground, emphasizing the company's oil and gas production activities. Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) reported that it reduced drilling cycle times in the Permian Basin by 15% through enhanced well designs and strong execution. These actions led to a 10% decrease in well costs year-over-year, exceeding the target of 5-7% that the company had set just a few months ago. Thanks to these improvements, the corporation plans to decommission two drilling rigs in the Permian in 2025. However, Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) aims to bring more wells online and with slightly increased production even with this reduced rig count. The corporation has lowered its full-year capital guidance by $200 million. Additionally, Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) aims to cut its operational expenses by $150 million in 2025. Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) is an American multinational energy company with assets mainly in the US, the Middle East, and North Africa. It is one of the largest oil and gas producers in the US. While we acknowledge the potential of OXY as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 11 Stocks That Will Bounce Back According To Analysts and 11 Best Stocks Under $15 to Buy According to Hedge Funds. Disclosure: None. Error al recuperar los datos Inicia sesión para acceder a tu cartera de valores Error al recuperar los datos Error al recuperar los datos Error al recuperar los datos Error al recuperar los datos
