5 Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day: Americas

Good morning. US stocks remain under pressure from diminishing bets on interest-rate cuts, while Salesforce plunges following a tepid sales [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Good morning. US stocks remain under pressure from diminishing bets on interest-rate cuts, while Salesforce plunges following a tepid sales forecast. Here’s what’s moving markets. — [Sam Unsted]( Want to receive this newsletter in Spanish? [Sign up to get the Five Things: Spanish Edition newsletter](. Stocks slide Treasury yields have held near the highest levels of the year, fanning more worries about restrictive monetary policy. That sent shares in the US down yesterday and [futures are indicating more declines]( to come. Overall, global equities are threatening their worst week since mid-April, attributed to a growing realization that rate cuts from the Federal Reserve are unlikely anytime soon. Sticky inflation The Fed’s Raphael Bostic added to that narrative by doubling down on the stickiness of inflation, saying that [“we still have a ways to go”]( to curb the price growth seen in the past few years. He’d want to see a reduction in the breadth of inflation pressures, which are still quite high, before getting more confidence on cutting rates. John Williams and Lorie Logan are set to continue the line of Fed speakers today. Software and PCs Salesforce shares have plunged after the software giant forecast the[slowest quarterly growth rate in its history](, raising concern about its ability to remain relevant amid the broader industry shift toward AI products. That news also hit shares in European software companies. HP, meanwhile, delivered quarterly revenue that was ahead of expectations and posted the [first rise in PC sales in two years](, or since the boom sparked by pandemic lockdowns. IPO recovery Barclays sees signs that the [weakness in the IPO market is starting to slowly turn](. Even as traders price in higher-for-longer interest rates, the extra clarity this is providing may help corporate bosses and investors to pursue listing plans. The bank has more conviction in a recovery emerging in the US and Europe, albeit acknowledging that this would be from a low base. And [an increasing portion]( of the big listings in the US are coming from overseas companies. Coming Up… There’s a raft of economic data in the US, including a second reading of first-quarter GDP and pending home sales, but that’ll be a prelude for investors to the PCE deflator gauge tomorrow, the Fed’s preferred inflation metric. On the corporate front, numbers from electronics retailer Best Buy and discount store chain Dollar General will provide more insight into the American consumer. Will the November presidential election have any impact on the level of US interest rates? If Donald Trump wins, what do you think the probability is that the Fed will lose its independence? Share your views in a quick Bloomberg Markets Live Pulse [survey](. What We’ve Been Reading This is what’s caught our eye over the past 24 hours. - The people [running Elon Musk’s empire]( as Tesla spirals. - A [potential record fine]( for PwC in China over Evergrande audit work. - Boeing is set to provide a [safety action plan]( to regulators. - BHP walks away from its [mining mega-merger]( tilt for Anglo American. - Bracing for a [record-smashing summer]( in commodities. And finally, here's what Joe’s interested in this morning There's a lot of interest in the electricity grid these days because we're in the midst of this big decarbonization push and the hope is that the existing infrastructure, which came up in a world of big centralized power plants (gas, coal, and to some extent nuclear) can work for clean forms of energy (sun, wind, and to some extent nuclear). [Yesterday on the Odd Lots podcast](, we talked to author and professor Brett Christophers on whether we’re doing decarbonization the wrong way. On today's show, we have a part II of sorts, with Syracuse professor Matt Huber and the pseudonymous energy writer Fred Stafford. Take a listen to Matt and Fred and find the episodes on [Apple](, [Spotify]( or elsewhere. Their argument is that nuclear “worked” as an economical source of energy in a time when power utilities were understood as big, publicly-supported infrastructure. In a world where we try to shove “markets” into natural monopolies, which grids are, then the economics work against nuclear. There are gigantic upfront costs, but they can't compete well with intermittent forms of energy like wind and solar, which can occasionally provide virtually free energy. In other words, if you want more nuclear, then the argument is that we need fewer market mechanisms in the grid design itself. More public ownership. More thinking of the grid as a true public utility, like the highway system. Their argument is [spelled out more]( at Damage Magazine. Anyway, everyone loves the idea of "harnessing the power of markets" to achieve public aim such as decarbonization, domestic supply chains and so on. But it's possible that you can't always do that. If policymakers want something like clean power, and nuclear is seen as a priority, then perhaps markets are an impediment. Follow Bloomberg's Joe Weisenthal on X [@TheStalwart]( [Bloomberg Markets Wrap: The latest on what's moving global markets. Tap to read.]( Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. 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