Morning Brief: Top Financial Stories Dominating on Monday, June 6

Reuters

Google Ordered To Cough Up $500K For ‘Relentless, Racist’ Campaign Against Australian Politician

• An Australian court has ordered Alphabet Inc GOOGL GOOG to pay AU$715,000 ($515,000) to a former lawmaker in defamation damages over two videos posted on its social media platform YouTube.
• The Federal Court said the social media giant intentionally made money by hosting two videos on its platform that allegedly attacked the then-deputy premier of New South Wales, John Barilaro, and drove him out of politics.
• According to a Reuters report, Judge Steven Rares said the videos hosted by YouTube amounted to a “relentless, racist, vilificatory, abusive and defamatory campaign” against Barilaro.

Axon Enterprise Halts Work On TASER Drone Development Project: Reuters

• Axon Enterprise Inc AXON on Sunday stated that it was pausing work on a project to equip drones with stun guns to tackle mass shootings, a prospect that a member of its AI ethics board told Reuters was prompting an exodus from the panel.
• On Thursday, Axon announced the development of a non-lethal, remotely-operated TASER drone system as part of a long-term plan to stop mass shootings and reaffirmed it is committed to public engagement and dialogue during the development process.
• “In light of feedback, we are pausing work on this project and refocusing to further engage with key constituencies to fully explore the best path forward,” stated AXON Chief Executive Rick Smith.

Wall Street Journal

Starbucks Looks To Fill CEO Howard Schultz’s Shoes With An Outsider

• Coffee chain retailer Starbucks Corporation SBUX is looking past internal candidates to replace founder Howard Schultz, who is holding the chief executive officer role on an interim basis.
• What Happened: Seattle, Washington-based Starbucks is considering just external candidates for the CEO role as the coffee retailer looks to infuse fresh talent, fresh skills, and fresh thinking that could help a turnaround, Schultz reportedly said in an interview.

Elliott Management Files Lawsuit Against London Metal Exchange Over Canceled Nickel Trades

• Elliott Management Corp., an activist hedge fund manager, sued the London Metal Exchange for more than $456 million after the exchange paused nickel trading and invalidated some contracts to dramatic swings in the metal’s price, reported WSJ.
• The case adds to the LME’s problems, which are also under investigation by British financial regulators.
• Elliott is disputing the exchange’s decision to delete trades it claims it made in the early hours of March 8.

Here’s Why DiDi, And These Two Chinese Stocks Are Trading Higher Today

• China looks to conclude its yearlong regulatory probe on DiDi Global Inc DIDI and two other U.S.-listed tech firms by as early as this week to lift a ban on their adding new users, the Wall Street Journal reports.
• China’s deteriorating economic outlook has pressured the company to ease its antitrust campaigns against the domestic tech giants.
• The regulators also did not find any significant issues with the companies.

Financial Times

AstraZeneca-Daiichi Breast Cancer Drug Cuts Disease Progression Or Death Risk By Almost 50%

• AstraZeneca Plc AZNand Daiichi Sankyo’s DSKYF Enhertu extended survival by more than six months in patients with a form of advanced breast cancer compared to standard chemotherapy.
• Financial Times wrote ‘oncologists are hopeful a drug developed by AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo will change how doctors treat the most common type of late-stage breast cancer.”
• Detailed results from the DESTINY-Breast04 Phase 3 trial showed that Enhertu reduced the risk of disease progression or death versus chemotherapy by 49% in patients with HER2-low metastatic breast cancer with HR-positive disease.

Benzinga

$666M Ethereum Shorts Liquidated On Sunday

• The number of Ethereum ETH/USD shorts liquidated reached a three-year high on Sunday.
• According to on-chain liquidation data from CoinGlass, there were $666 million ETH short positions liquidated over the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, ETH longs saw just $3.61 million worth of liquidations.
• Liquidations occur when a trader has insufficient funds to keep a leveraged position open, leading the exchange to forcefully close the position after a loss of the trader’s initial margin.

WhatsApp Plans Double Verification For iPhone, Android Users For Fraud Prevention

• WhatsApp, the instant messaging application from Meta Platforms Inc FB, is planning another layer of verification in order to deter fraud on smartphones running operating systems from Apple Inc AAPL and Alphabet Inc GOOGL GOOG.
• WhatsApp is working on a double verification code for iOS and Android that would add an extra layer of security before users can log on, according to a report from WABetaInfo, an independent portal that provides real-time updates on WhatsApp.
• The under-development feature will kick in when a user tries to register their phone number to a different device. In such cases, they would be required to input an additional code apart from an SMS verification code.

FDA Approves GSK’s Measles Vaccine

• The FDA has approved GSK Plc’s GSK Priorix vaccine to prevent measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) in those aged one year and above.
• The vaccine can be given in two doses. It may also be administered as a second shot to previously vaccinated individuals with the first dose of another MMR-containing vaccine.
• According to a government study released last month, child vaccination rates in the U.S. fell during the COVID-19 pandemic as many children skipped doctor appointments and states eased vaccine requirements during remote learning.

Nio Agrees To Chip Supply Partnership With AMD: What You Should Know

• Nio Inc NIO and Advanced Micro Devices Inc AMD have entered a chip supply partnership, CnEVpost reported on Monday, citing the chipmaker.
• Shanghai-based Nio will reportedly use AMD’s EPYC family of processors in its high-performance computing (HPC) platform.
• The move is expected to lift the electric vehicle maker’s AI deep learning training and shorten product development cycles.

EXCLUSIVE: Jushi Expands In Nevada With New Cannabis Dispensary In Las Vegas

• Vertically integrated cannabis company Jushi Holdings Inc. JUSHF is expanding its retail presence with the opening of its 33rd dispensary nationally and fourth dispensary in Nevada - NuLeaf Las Vegas The Strip.
• Following the opening of the new store located at 1600 Las Vegas Blvd South, Suite 140, in Las Vegas, Jushi’s operations in the Silver State will consist of three adult-use and medical dispensaries in Las Vegas, an adult-use and medical dispensary in Lake Tahoe, and approximately 47,000 sq. ft. of cultivation and manufacturing space.

How Many Of Elon Musk’s 96.7M Twitter Followers Are Real?

• Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk’s war on Twitter Inc TWTR bots is shaped by an extraordinary number of spam or autonomous agents that engage with him on the platform.
• Nearly 70% of Musk’s followers on Twitter are spam, fake or inactive, according to a Wall Street Journal report, which cited data from SparkToro LLC, a purveyor of audience-research software.
• That compares with 41% for all other accounts that have between 65 million and 120 million followers, according to SparkToro.

Russian Ministry Website Hacked With The Message ‘Glory To Ukraine’

• Amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Construction, Housing and Utilities website was hacked with an internet search for the site leading to a sign-in page saying “Glory to Ukraine.”
• According to Russia’s state news agency RIA, a Russian ministry representative said that the site was down, but users’ personal data were protected.
• The news report claimed that the hackers demanded ransom to prevent the public disclosure of users’ data.

Trader Who Predicted Bitcoin Crash Now Has This Warning for Ethereum Investors

• Veteran trader and Factor Trading founder Peter Brandt, who sounded alarmed about the Bitcoin BTC/USD collapse in 2018, now has some stern warnings for Ethereum ETH/USD investors.
• He recently pointed out that Ethereum is forming a descending triangle, a continuation pattern that suggests further downside risk for ETH.
• “ETH is a piece of c**p crypto. Transactionally cost-prohibitive and cumbersome. Those who tout new versions are still waiting for a re-build of the Hindenburg,” he added.

Apple Analyst Says MacBook Air Shipments Will Hit 6-7 Million Units In 2H22, But This Has To Happen First

• Apple, Inc. AAPL is scheduled to hold its Worldwide Developers Conference from June 6 to 10. The company is widely expected to unveil a new MacBook Air at the software-focused event.
• Noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo from TFI International Securities said he expects Apple to announce a new MacBook Air in three standard color options, and probably one more new color. Rainbow-style colors offered in the iMac may not come to the new MacBook Pro, he added.
• Kuo concurred with Bloomberg columnist Mark Gurman, who earlier reported the same.

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