logo
CNBC Daily Open: Elon Musk, founder of companies and political parties

CNBC Daily Open: Elon Musk, founder of companies and political parties

CNBC19 hours ago
When they lose a significant other, most men do indeed become a "TRAIN WRECK." Then they pick up the pieces of their lives and start living again — paying attention to their personal grooming, hitting the gym and discovering new hobbies.
What does the world's richest man do? He starts a political party.
Last weekend, as the United States celebrated its independence from the British in 1776, Elon Musk enshrined his sovereignty from U.S. President Donald Trump by establishing the creatively named "American Party."
Few details have been revealed, but Musk said the party will focus on "just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts," and will have legislative discussions "with both parties" — referring to the U.S. Democratic and Republican Parties.
It might be easier to realize Musk's dream of colonizing Mars than to bridge the political aisle in the U.S. government today.
To be fair, some thought appeared to be behind the move. Musk decided to form the party after holding a poll on X in which 65.4% of respondents voted in favor.
Folks, here's direct democracy — and the powerful post-separation motivation — in action.Trump confirms tariffs will kick in Aug. 1. While that's another extension, tariffs could "boomerang" back to April levels for countries without deals. Separately, Trump announced on Sunday an additional 10% tariff on countries that align themselves with the BRICS bloc.
U.S. stock futures slipped early Monday stateside. Investors were concerned by another prickly tariff announcement. Asia-Pacific markets mostly fell on the news during Monday trading hours. South Korea's Kospi was one of the few to eke out a gain.
OPEC+ members to increase oil output. Eight members of the alliance agreed on Saturday to hike their collective crude production by 548,000 barrels per day, around 100,000 more than expected.
Elon Musk forms a new political party. On Saturday, the world's richest man said he has formed a new U.S. political party named the "American Party." In response, Trump derided Musk for going "off the rails" late Sunday stateside.
[PRO] European banks might not keep up their momentum. Despite outperforming almost all other sectors in the European markets — thanks to investment banking gains and an increase in deal-making — analysts caution bank stocks might have little upside in the second half.
Private credit's trillion-dollar boom is fueling warnings of a hidden financial contagion
Once a niche player catering to middle-market borrowers — or companies that fall between small businesses and large corporations, which are typically underserved by traditional banks — private credit has grown into a $1.7 trillion industry. It is now a key financing engine behind private equity deals, asset-based finance, and even retail investor portfolios.
Some caution that the boom, if left unchecked, could morph into the next source of systemic risk.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Zohran Mamdani's opposition struggles to unite in New York City mayoral race
Zohran Mamdani's opposition struggles to unite in New York City mayoral race

Yahoo

time11 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Zohran Mamdani's opposition struggles to unite in New York City mayoral race

Fresh off losing New York's Democratic primary for mayor to Zohran Mamdani, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday ramped up his efforts to push the incumbent mayor, Eric Adams, out of the race. Cuomo's latest gambit to keep alive his mayoral bid — and his political comeback after resigning as governor — is backing a proposal that all Mamdani challengers adhere to the results of a poll that would be taken in September, weeks before the November election. Whichever candidate is deemed by the survey to be the strongest challenger to Mamdani would continue their campaign. The rest of the field would agree to suspend their campaigns and endorse that challenger. The proposal would need the approval of the city's campaign finance board. Speaking on CNBC's 'Squawk Box' on Monday, Adams said Cuomo recently called him to suggest he should step aside and clear a lane for him to compete against Mamdani, the 33-year-old state assemblyman and democratic socialist. 'I'm the sitting mayor of the city of New York and you expect me to step aside when you just lost to Zohran?' Adams said during the interview. Adams, who opted to sit out the Democratic primary and is running as an independent, described Cuomo's request as 'the highest level of arrogance.' Cuomo remains on the November ballot as the candidate of the 'Fight and Deliver Party' but has not held any public events since primary night or committed to campaigning through November. In a statement issued by Cuomo campaign spokesperson Rich Azzopardi on Monday, the former governor's campaign did not appear any closer to bowing out of the race. 'Mayor Adams did not run in the Democratic primary because he knew he was anathema to Democrats and unelectable. Nothing has changed. We do not see any path to victory for Mayor Adams,' Azzopardi said. New York City's political establishment, which was shaken by Mamdani's resounding win, has struggled to coalesce behind a single candidate. For now, observers think Cuomo could split the city's Black vote with Adams. Also in the field is a third independent candidate, Jim Walden, who originally pitched the survey idea. Curtis Sliwa, a radio personality and founder of the Guardian Angels, a crime-prevention group, is running as the Republican nominee. He has also declined requests to drop out to send GOP support to Adams, who has drawn closer to President Donald Trump and had his corruption charges dismissed by Trump's Department of Justice. The scramble was on display Monday during a news conference in Midtown Manhattan. Former Gov. David Paterson, who endorsed Cuomo in the primary, said a single independent candidate should challenge Mamdani in the general election. But he refused to answer when asked who he thought the candidate should be. 'We can do this, but it's going to take a united effort, and it's going to take some sacrifice that someone is going to have to make,' Paterson said.

Federal leaders spar on NWS flood warning response, pose safety review after Texas disaster
Federal leaders spar on NWS flood warning response, pose safety review after Texas disaster

Yahoo

time11 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Federal leaders spar on NWS flood warning response, pose safety review after Texas disaster

KERR COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) – In the aftermath of deadly Hill Country flooding, Texas' junior Republican U.S. Senator is defending the National Weather Service, as questions surface over the agency's forecast timing, urgency and communication. 'I think there have been some eager to point at the National Weather Service and say cuts there led to a lack of warning,' Sen. Ted Cruz said during a press event with Gov. Greg Abbott Monday in Kerr County, where dozens died after the Guadalupe River tumbled over its banks July 4. 'I think that's contradicted the facts.' Also on Monday, U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer urged the Commerce Department to investigate NWS vacancies and whether they contributed to the death toll and affected the agency's ability to coordinate with local emergency officials. 'This is a national tragedy which people across the country are mourning,' Schumer wrote to Duane Townsend, the Commerce Department's acting inspector general. 'The American people deserve answers.' The Trump administration made cuts to the federal workforce an early priority in the president's second term this year, and those reductions extended to the NWS. KXAN has previously reported six vacancies in the NWS Austin/San Antonio, according to its online staff roster and the NWS Employees Organization. Those include three meteorologists, two technology staff members and a science officer. The office has 26 employees when fully staffed. LIVE BLOG: Search, recovery efforts continue for 4th day after deadly floods hit central Texas 'They had additional manpower,' the Cruz said. 'In fact, they had three additional people working that night, anticipating that it was going to be a very dangerous weather situation.' The NWS Austin/San Antonio office issued a flash flood warning at 1:14 a.m. Friday for a portion of the county. At about 4 a.m., the river rose over 30 feet in less than two hours, according USGS data. While the NWS has not answered KXAN's specific questions about its timeline and staffing, it has provided additional details about notifications leading up to those critical hours: The National Water Center Flood Hazard Outlook issued on Thursday morning indicated an expansion of flash flood potential to include Kerrville and surrounding areas. A flood watch was issued by the NWS Austin/San Antonio office at 1:18 p.m. on Thursday, in effect through Friday morning. The Weather Prediction Center issued three Mesoscale Precipitation Discussions for the excessive rainfall event as early as 6:10 p.m. Thursday indicating the potential for flash flooding. The National Water Center Area Hydrologic Discussion #144 at 6:22 p.m. on Thursday messaged locally considerable flood wording for areas north and west of San Antonio, including Kerrville. On Monday, White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson responded to KXAN's inquiries, calling NWS operations surrounding the flood 'successful.' 'The NWS leveraged advanced tools like the Amber Alert software to send critical flood warnings directly to wireless devices, ensuring widespread awareness,' Jackson wrote in an email. 'While we mourn the tragic lives lost in this disaster, the NWS's early and frequent warnings saved countless others.' Critics have questioned the effectiveness of those specific warnings in rural and remote areas of Central Texas. Representing the administration on Saturday, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem visited the area along the Guadalupe River, calling the amount of rain in the flooding event 'unprecedented,' broadly referencing the administration's goal to 'fix' aging technology within NOAA – the parent agency to the NWS. 'I do carry your concerns back to the federal government and back to President Trump,' Noem said, acknowledging the need for upgraded technology so 'families have as much warning as possible.' What the NWS put out was also information used by the state and its emergency management team – alerts, or warnings, about heavy rain and the potential for flash flooding, Abbott said in a Sunday press event. Even with an expectation and warning, they didn't expect 'a water wall 30 feet high,' he said. 'A problem with that is that to most people in the area flash flooding would mean one thing, not what it turned out to be; because they deal with flash floods all the time,' Abbott said. Abbott: Special session may address warnings after deadly Texas floods Abbott said he discussed NWS alerts with Noem during her visit over the weekend. In the upcoming special session – starting in two weeks – the Texas Legislature would address the response to weather events like this deadly flood, he added. KXAN has reached out to Abbott's office to see if he has been briefed on the NWS' staffing and has further comment. At the Sunday press conference, KXAN asked the governor if he had any concerns about NWS vacancies affecting warnings ahead of the recent flood. Abbott said he knew 'nothing about the staffing,' but did know the chronology of alerts from that office. On Monday, Cruz said the local NWS office actually had three additional people working during the time leading up to the flood but also acknowledged the 'limits' of a flash flood making earlier detection challenging. 'Everyone would agree, in hindsight, if we could go back and do it again, we would evacuate particularly those in the most vulnerable areas, the young children, the cabins closest to the water,' Cruz said. 'We would remove them and get them to higher ground. If we could go back and do it again, obviously, everyone would.' He also warned against 'partisan' finger-pointing at this stage, suggesting a broader public safety review after rescue and recovery has wrapped would eventually be needed to 'make sure that critical roles are maintained.' 'I think it is reasonable overtime to engage in a retrospective and say at every level what could have been done better, because all of us would want to prevent this horrific loss of life,' Cruz said. 'But I think just immediately trying to use it for either side to attack political opponents… that's cynical and not the right approach, particularly at a time when we're dealing with a crisis.' In an interview with NBC, Tom Fahy, legislative director for the NWS Employees Organization, defended the Weather Service's forecasting alerts leading up to the flood, while also acknowledging staffing cuts have significantly whittled down manpower in offices across the country. 'The staffing that we had in both San Angelo and San Antonio offices, we had adequate amount of staff to get out the alerts and warnings to the public,' Fahy said. 'The flood warning was issued 12 hours in advance of the event.' Predicting the exact severity, and that a 30-foot wall of water would come down Guadalupe, isn't possible for a forecast, he said. While the NWS has faced staffing shortages for years, the level of losses this year is far more pronounced and concerning, he said. About 600 people have left their NWS posts from the beginning of the Trump administration to April 30, a change with 'dramatic impact,' said Fahy. That's as many people as the NWS lost in the last 15 years to retirement and attrition, but the agency was able to hire and fill those vacancies immediately, unlike now, Fahy said. When Trump came into office, he instituted a federal hiring freeze through July 15 of this year. NWS can't immediately refill its vacancies, but they have asked for special consideration to get that done, Fahy said. 'We're a tightly knit organization delivering outstanding results for the American public,' said Fahy. 'This comes down to the math. It comes down to budget numbers, and we are short staffed.' Dr. Venkataraman Lakshmi, professor of engineering at the University of Virginia and president of the hydrology section of the American Geophysical Union, also said forecasting the number of feet the Guadalupe would rise near Kerrville would have been nearly impossible. 'Predicting rainfall is more difficult than predicting the stock market,' Lakshmi said. 'It's based on physical equations. It's based on atmospheric dynamics. It's a very complicated mathematical model.' Lakshmi said he had no knowledge of the staffing vacancies at NWS, but, for the past 40 years, the NWS has led worldwide progress on weather forecasting. While the storm was predicted in advance, the location of the Kerr County tragedy was so close to the source of the water it left little reaction time. 'As hydrologists, we are very concerned about lead time, but if you're sitting at the source of the water, it's very difficult,' he said. 'There is, sadly, no answer to the fury of rainfall and the fact that this fell right at the most terrible place.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

State Sen. Stephen Goldfinch launches run for South Carolina attorney general
State Sen. Stephen Goldfinch launches run for South Carolina attorney general

Yahoo

time11 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

State Sen. Stephen Goldfinch launches run for South Carolina attorney general

MURRELLS INLET, S.C. (WCBD) — State Sen. Stephen Goldfinch (R-Georgetown), who co-led a recent Senate investigation into alleged misconduct by the state treasurer, is now running to become South Carolina's top prosecutor. Goldfinch officially launched his 2026 campaign for attorney general during a July 7 event in Murrells Inlet, vowing to continue fighting against what he calls a 'bloated, overburdensome' federal government. 'As attorney general, I will get between the citizenry, the people out there, and the bureaucrats,' he said. 'I'm going to get in the way. We need an attorney general that's not scared of the federal government.' The 43-year-old senator, alongside Sen. Larry Grooms (R-Berkeley), helped spearhead the effort to oust Treasurer Curtis Loftis from office over his role in a $1.8 billion accounting error. Though senators voted to remove Loftis for 'willful neglect' following an hours-long hearing in April, the House did not take up the resolution before the session ended. Goldfinch was elected to the South Carolina House in 2011, where he served four years until his election to the upper chamber in 2016. He won reelection to the Senate in 2024, representing Georgetown and Horry counties He is the first official entrant into the race to succeed current Attorney General Alan Wilson, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor in 2026. First Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe, who switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party earlier this year, said in April that he is also exploring a bid for statewide office. This story is breaking and will be updated. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store