Morning Brief: Top Stories Dominating Financial Media on Friday, March 18

CNBC

Maserati Plans Electric Range Of All Models By 2025

• Stellantis NV STLA owned luxury brand Maserati said it plans to offer electric versions of its lineup by 2025.
• Maserati will start with GranTurismo EV featuring more than 1,200 horsepower in 2023.
• Maserati will follow suit with an all-electric Grecale midsize SUV and a Grancabrio GT car.

Nickel Hits Limit Down Again On London Metal Exchange, Falls 12%

• The benchmark three-month nickel contract fell 12% on Friday morning to hit a new trading limit as heavy selling continued on international metal markets.
• The price hit $36,915 a metric ton as it opened for trade, stated Refinitiv data.
• The LME installed a trading range of 5%, which was widened to 8% for Thursday and 12% for Friday.

Reuters

Porsche AG Sets High Bar For Electric Vehicles

• Volkswagen AG VWAGY owned luxury sports car maker Porsche AG has set forth an upbeat target for its electric vehicles.
• Porsche said it expects more than 80% of newly sold Porsche vehicles to be fully electric in 2030.

Vodafone Receives Takeover Bids For Vantage Towers

• Global infrastructure funds approached Vodafone Group PLC VOD to invest in its $16 billion mast company Vantage Towers AG VTAGY.
• The bidders, including investment firms Brookfield and Global Infrastructure Partners, submitted proposals valuing Vantage Towers at a premium to its current valuation of €15 billion ($16.57 billion).

Stock Indexes Little Changed Amid War, Inflation, Oil Prices; Yield Inversion Looms

• Global stocks clenched to their gains for the week on Friday, but rising interest rates, high oil prices, and the Russia-Ukraine kept the rebound at bay as yields sent a warning signal for the economy.
• The MSCI world stock index was flat at 695 points, up 5.4% for the week but below its lifetime high of 761.21 from January 4.
• In Europe, the STOXX index was little changed at 450 points, 9% below its all-time high from early January.

WSJ

Regulator Defers MGM Stakeholder’s Nevada Gaming License By 1 Month

• Nevada Gaming Commission shelved MGM Resorts International MGM stakeholder Barry Diller’s licensing by a month until an April commission meeting.
• The move coincided with insider-trading investigations by federal authorities into his share purchases of Activision Blizzard Inc ATVI.

American Airlines To Resume Alcohol Sales From Mid-April

• American Airlines Group Inc AAL is set to resume selling alcoholic beverages on many domestic flights from April.
• AAL said it plans to resume selling beer, wine, and spirits on domestic flights over 250 miles from April 18, as the federal mandate requiring masks on flights and in airports expires.

Bloomberg

Options Dealers To Amplify Seesaw Market As $3.5T Equity Options Expire Today

• According to Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS, roughly $3.5 trillion of single-stock and index-level options will expire in a quarterly event, dubbed triple witching.
• Concurrently, more near-the-money options are maturing than ever since 2019, suggesting investors will actively trade around those positions.
• The triple witching coincides with a rebalancing of benchmark indexes, including the S&P 500.

Read Apple’s Latest Push To Activate Cellular Plans From Device

• Now the new Apple Inc AAPL iPhone SE buyers choosing AT&T Inc T or T-Mobile US Inc TMUS can enter the data and connect to their carrier when they power on the device.
• The “on-device authentication” process will begin in stores on March 29 and will likely take the edge off the customer service by preventing activation server overload.
• Users can also purchase an iPhone SE in stores with Apple Card monthly installment plans without connecting it to a carrier.

Benzinga

Facebook Parent Meta Gets Sued In Australia Again — This Time Over ‘Scam Celebrity Crypto Ads’

• An Australian regulator has decided to sue Meta Platforms Inc FB, alleging the Facebook parent engaged in false or misleading cryptocurrency advertisements.
• The ​​Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) alleged on Friday that Meta published advertisements featuring notable Australian public figures, which promoted cryptocurrency investments and schemes that were “scams.”

Coinbase Faces $5M Class Action Lawsuit Alleging Dogecoin And 78 Other Crypto Tokens Are ‘Unlicensed Securities’

• Coinbase Global Inc COIN has been slapped with a class-action lawsuit that alleges the cryptocurrency exchange is operating as an unregistered securities bourse.
• A complaint filed with the Southern District Court of New York on March 11 alleges that Coinbase is selling 79 cryptocurrencies that are unregistered securities.

Step Aside Dogecoin Knockoffs: This Cat Coin Is Stealing The Limelight With A 642% Spike This Week

• Dogecoin DOGE-inspired knockoffs may have hogged the limelight in the recent past, but a cat-themed coin, CatBoy (CATBOY), is among the top gainers this week, gaining an eye-popping 642%. The token traded 26.1% higher over 24 hours at $0.05.
• The 24-hour CATBOY trading volumes surged 178.71% to $2.77 million at press time, according to CoinMarketCap. The only market for CATBOY is PanCakeSwap (V2).

Russia’s Sberbank, Facing Global Sanctions, Gets Central Bank License To Issue Digital Assets

• Major Russian lender Sberbank SBRCY said on Thursday it had received a central bank license to issue and exchange digital financial assets on its platform.
• Sberbank, which has reportedly been working on launching its own cryptocurrency, said the approval would allow companies to issue their digital assets and make other transactions on its platform.

Like Pfizer, Moderna Seeks FDA Approval For Fourth COVID-19 Shot Or Second Booster Dose

• Moderna Inc MRNA has asked the FDA to authorize a second booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine for adults in the U.S.
• Moderna said that the dose could be given to anyone who received an initial booster shot of any authorized COVID-19 vaccines.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons