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Senate Democrats are making a last-minute effort to delay Kevin Warsh's confirmation hearing as President Trump's choice to lead the Federal Reserve. The fight comes amid a criminal investigation involving the current Fed chair. Republicans are still pressing ahead with Tuesday's Senate Banking Committee hearing, but the dispute adds political risk around leadership of the institution that sets U.S. interest rates. Any disruption at the Fed can affect market confidence and monetary-policy expectations.

 

New York Times

The White House is ​considering appointing attorney Michael Murray to lead ‌antitrust enforcement at the U.S. Justice Department. Murray served in various roles at ​the DOJ during the previous Trump administration, ⁠including as principal deputy assistant attorney general ​for the department’s antitrust division. “(Murray) understands how ‌the ⁠DOJ works . . . I expect him to be very much in favor of a predictable business climate,” Andrew Finch, who was a top ​DOJ antitrust official ⁠in the first Trump administration, told Bloomberg. The role is currently held by acting Assistant ​Attorney General Omeed Assefi.

 

Bloomberg

The U.S. Treasury Department ​is asking ‌private credit firms to submit information ​about their ​business models and ties ⁠to the ​regulated financial system. Firms are being asked about their recent performance and relationships ​with ​banks, ⁠insurance, and reinsurance companies. A Treasury spokesperson said the department “routinely confers” with market participants and financial regulators about private credit.

 

Punchbowl News

Boeing is hiring between 100 and 140 factory workers each week - the highest pace ‌since 2024 - as it replaces retirees and increases staffing to support higher production rates. The U.S. planemaker's unionized factory workers in the Pacific Northwest now number more than 34,000 and are "heading higher," Jon Holden told Reuters in his first interview as a vice president specializing in training and ​apprenticeships at the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM).

 

Reuters

Stellantis has said it plans to invest €100m to transform its plant near Paris, which will keep making cars through at least the end of 2028, and then shift to activities including auto part production, recycling, and 3D printing. The company, which currently produces the Opel Mokka and DS compact sport utility vehicles at the Poissy facility, has vowed to retain 1,000 blue-collar jobs there by 2030, with no layoffs.

 

Bloomberg

Spirit Airlines could liquidate as soon as this week if it fails to secure a last-minute restructuring agreement, according to people familiar with the matter. The ultra-low-cost carrier has been squeezed by mounting losses, weak demand and higher jet-fuel prices. A liquidation would have immediate operational and competitive consequences, including grounded flights and customer disruption.

 

CNBC

Uber is set to buy about 4.5% of Delivery Hero from Prosus for roughly €270m, a sale tied to antitrust remedies linked to Prosus’s acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway. Prosus said the €20-a-share price is about a 22% premium to Delivery Hero’s average share price over the past month. Delivery Hero CEO Niklas Ostberg welcomed the move, saying Uber’s larger stake is “a meaningful endorsement of our platform, our strategy and our ongoing work to deliver long-term value for all shareholders.”

 

Financial Times

Reuters

The U.S. government plans to make a version of Anthropic's AI model Mythos available to major federal ​agencies. Mythos is being deployed as part of Anthropic's "Project Glasswing," a controlled initiative in which select organizations are permitted to use ​the unreleased Claude Mythos Preview model for defensive cybersecurity purposes. The White House Office of Management and Budget is setting up protections to allow agencies to use Mythos, with more information to be provided "in the coming weeks."

 

Bloomberg

Insurers are seeking to avoid paying out nearly €580m ($684m) over September 2022 attacks on Nord Stream ​gas pipelines that were a direct result of Russia's invasion ‌of Ukraine. Nord Stream is suing Lloyd's and Arch Insurance over blasts that ruptured pipelines carrying Russian gas under the Baltic Sea to Germany. No state has taken responsibility for the explosions. Lawyers representing Lloyd's and Arch at the High Court in London say Nord Stream's insurance policy excludes damage caused by war or under the ‌order of ⁠any government. The trial is expected to last about five weeks.

 

Financial Times

Reuters

The NAACP has launched legal action against Elon Musk's xAI Corp. for allegedly constructing a gas plant to power its Colossus 2 data center near Memphis without the necessary air permits. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, claims violations of the federal Clean Air Act and seeks penalties of up to $124,400 per day for each violation. The NAACP argues that the 27 gas turbines "potentially put the nearby, predominately Black community at risk." Earthjustice and the Southern Environmental Law Center are acting as legal counsel for the NAACP.

 

Bloomberg Law

Samsung Electronics wants a court to block the company's South Korean labor unions from engaging in illegal activities ​during strike action. Unionized workers at the world's largest manufacturer of memory chips last month voted to authorize strike plans and threatened to walk out for 18 days ​from May 21, should a ​wage deal with management not be agreed upon. The unions accused Samsung of infringing on workers' right to strike, which is protected under the law. A strike at the company could worsen bottlenecks in the global supply of semiconductors.

 

Straits Times

Systematic hedge funds added $86bn in stock exposure over the last five trading sessions, according to a Goldman Sachs note seen by Reuters, marking the fastest buying wave on record for the period. The note said demand from commodity trading advisors ranked among “the largest in history.” Since markets turned higher at the start of April, these trend-following investors have been buying global equities aggressively, and Goldman estimates they could add another $70bn over the next five sessions if momentum holds.

 

Reuters

Norway’s finance minister Jens Stoltenberg says the world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund does not intend to shed U.S. assets, despite concerns over the Middle East war and America’s mounting debt.

 

Financial Times

U.S. applications for unemployment benefits decreased by 11,000 to 207,000 for the week ending April 11, according to the Labor Department. This figure is below analysts' expectations of 217,000 and reflects a stable job market despite ongoing global economic uncertainties due to the war in Iran. The four-week moving average of claims rose slightly to 209,750. Meanwhile, inflation remains a concern, with consumer prices rising 3.3% in March, the largest increase since May 2024.

 

U.S. News