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Good morning! Here’s the latest in trending:
Eye-popping deal: MSGS rallies as LA Lakers sold for $12.5B.
White House exit: Karoline Leavitt to step down as press secretary.
Just two weeks: South Korea’s KOSPI goes from bear to bull market.
A CNN sale is “on the table,” according to the chief legal officer of Paramount Skydance (PSKY), which is seeking to complete its $110B acquisition of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). Makan Delrahim made the comments at Politico’s California Agenda conference, saying a potential deal would be in the cards if it would make a lingering antitrust lawsuit go away. The suit is being led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta and 11 other states, which argue that the new “media behemoth” could raise prices and reduce competition for movies and cable television.
Snapshot: Paramount Skydance is trying to make the deal look less monopoly-like by potentially putting its entire news network on the auctioning block. Remember, just prior to this mega-merger, Skydance already merged with Paramount, combining assets that ranged from production studios to CBS News. By combining with Warner Bros. Discovery, it will add in properties like HBO, DC Studios and TNT, making it a news and content juggernaut. The lawsuit remains the last hiccup for the deal after securing clearances from U.S. federal regulators, the U.K., the EU, China, and elsewhere. Board to ensure CNN’s independence?
Delrahim also became the first Paramount Skydance official to publicly state the company may quit California, following reports attributed to CEO David Ellison earlier in the week. There is “a point at which where you have a duty, a fiduciary duty to your shareholders, and those are the factors you consider,” Delrahim declared. “If I was governor, I wouldn’t want to lose Hollywood from the state. I wouldn’t want to lose a major company like Paramount to another state. It isn’t a blackmail attempt. You go where you’re wanted.”
Fighting back? Reports suggest Paramount (PSKY) could move its operations to Tennessee, Texas, or Georgia, especially with a $7M-per-day ticking fee kicking in if the Warner Bros. (WBD) merger isn’t completed by Oct. 1. Exiting California could save a further $500M per year in taxes, as well as billions of dollars in additional savings from selling Paramount or Warner studio lots. Meanwhile, California Governor Gavin Newsom is apparently concerned about the state’s antitrust lawsuit and is encouraging Bonta’s office to find a settlement outside of court. Who would buy CNN if it got sold?
Here’s the latest Seeking Alpha analysis
Strategic Metals: 3 Top Stocks Riding Strong Structural Demand
Sandisk: A Better Business Is Emerging From The AI Boom
Micron Could Reclaim Its Previous Highs
We Are Undoubtedly In An AI Bubble
I’m Buying These 2 Dividend Payers In August
What else is happening…
U.S. Army gets drone-warfare wake-up call from Ukraine.
Anthropic (ANTHRO) in talks to buy AI startup Decart for $6B.
Trump sued over early access to Truth Social (DJT) posts.
Wendy’s (WEN) jumps on report of Nelson Peltz preparing bid.
Cerebras (CBRS) tumbles as weak results overshadow outlook.
JPMorgan (JPM) and others are testing blockchain for trading.
Yen near 160: Japan has enough cash to intervene again?
SpaceX (SPCX) jumps after releasing frontier model Grok 4.6.
Go shop: Icahn made a bid for Caesars Entertainment (CZR).
Splitting MMR vaccine? Experts warn it could take a decade.
Today’s Markets
In Asia, Japan +1.2%. Hong Kong -0.2%. China -0.5%. India +0.2%.
In Europe, at midday, London -0.2%. Paris +0.2%. Frankfurt +0.5%.
Futures at 6:30, Dow +0.2%. S&P +0.2%. Nasdaq +0.1%. Crude -1.9% to $81.67. Gold -0.5% to $4,443.40. Bitcoin -0.8% to $63,543.
Ten-year Treasury Yield -2 bps to 4.67%.
On The Calendar
Companies reporting today include Applied Materials (AMAT) and Nu (NU).
See the full earnings calendar on Seeking Alpha, as well as today’s economic calendar.
