BTU News & Events

The U.S. EPA this week intends to loosen regulations on coal-burning power plants, letting them emit more hazardous pollutants including mercury, the New York Times' Lisa Friedman and Maxine Joselow reports. Senior officials at the agency are anticipated to announce the changes during a trip to Louisville, Kentucky later this week, the authors say, citing two people briefed on the matter. Publicly traded companies in the coal space include Alliance Resource Partners (ARLP), Arch Resources (ARCH), Consol Energy (CEIX) and Peabody (BTU).

The major averages closed broadly lower amid concerns over technology profits after a tepid margin outlook from Cisco Systems, whose forecast underscored that higher memory-chip prices are taking a toll. Looking to commodities, gold scaled back after yesterday's gains, slipping over 2%. Oil was also sharply lower following the EIA natural gas storage data.Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists.1. STOCK NEWS:Ciscoprovided areport for Q2 and raised its quarterly dividendMcDonald'sreportedand provided its outlook for 2026FedExsaid it now sees itsof $3.99 and that its planned FedEx Freight spinoff is on track for June 1President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to buyAnthropic raised $30B in Series G funding at a2. WALL STREET CALLS:Shopifyto Outperform at Mizuho and to Buy at TD CowenDeutsche Bank upgraded BorgWarnerto Buy on "pivotal shift" to AIRBCHumanaon Medicare Advantage cost pressureKraft Heinzto Underweight at JPMorganCoinbaseto Sell at Monness Crespi ahead of Q4 report3. AROUND THE WEB:Italy's tax police have carried out searches of Amazon'sMilan offices, Reuters saysApple'slong-planned update of its Siri virtual assistant has run into some issues during recent testing, possibly delaying the release of several highly anticipated functions, Bloomberg reportsAdam Mosseri, the CEO of Meta'sInstagram, on Wednesday disputed claims that the platform prioritized making money over the mental health of young users in a landmark tech addiction case, saying social media is not "clinically addictive" and that Meta was careful to test features used by young people, NY Times saysAeroVironment'sLOCUST laser counter-drone weapon system was deployed by the U.S. Army on Wednesday near El Paso International Airport, Reuters reportsChina's ByteDance is in talks with Samsungto manufacture an AI chip, Reuters says4. MOVERS:Novocureincreases in New York after Optune Pax wasto treat pancreatic cancerCrocsgains afterand providing guidance for Q1 and FY26Fastlyand Cognexhigher afterIconfalls in New York after providing an update on itsinto accounting practices and withdrawing its previously issued FY25 guidanceEnergy Vaultlower after announcing aand providing guidance for Q45. EARNINGS/GUIDANCE:Baxterreportedand provided downbeat FY26 earnings guidanceIPG, with EPS and revenue beating consensusRestaurant Brands, with CEO Josh Kobza commenting, "As we enter 2026, I'm encouraged by the stronger, more focused foundation we've built for the long term"Phiniaand provided guidance for FY26Melco Resorts, with CEO Lawrence Ho commenting, "2025 was a year of growth and recovery"INDEXES:The Dow fell 669.42, or 1.34%, to 49,451.98, the Nasdaq lost 469.32, or 2.03%, to 22,597.15, and the S&P 500 declined 108.71, or 1.57%, to 6,832.76.

The major averages were broadly lower amid concerns over technology profits after a tepid margin outlook from Cisco Systems, whose forecast underscored that higher memory-chip prices are taking a toll. Looking to commodities, gold scaled back after yesterday's gains, slipping over 2%. Oil was also sharply lower following the EIA natural gas storage data.Get caught up quickly on the top news and calls moving stocks with these five Top Five lists.1. STOCK NEWS:Ciscoprovided areport for Q2 and raised its quarterly dividendMcDonald'sreportedand provided its outlook for 2026FedExsaid it now sees itsof $3.99 and that its planned FedEx Freight spinoff is on track for June 1Baxterreportedand provided downbeat FY26 earnings guidancePresident Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to2. WALL STREET CALLS:Shopifyto Outperform at Mizuho and to Buy at TD CowenDeutsche BankBorgWarnerto Buy on "pivotal shift" to AIRBCHumanaon Medicare Advantage cost pressureKraft Heinzto Underweight at JPMorganCoinbaseto Sell at Monness Crespi ahead of Q4 report3. AROUND THE WEB:Apple'slong-planned update of its Siri virtual assistant has run into some issues during recent testing, possibly delaying the release of several highly anticipated functions, Bloomberg reportsAdam Mosseri, the CEO of Meta'sInstagram, on Wednesday disputed claims that the platform prioritized making money over the mental health of young users in a landmark tech addiction case, saying social media is not "clinically addictive" and that Meta was careful to test features used by young people, NY Times saysAeroVironment'sLOCUST laser counter-drone weapon system was deployed by the U.S. Army on Wednesday near El Paso International Airport, Reuters reportsNaveen Mallela, JPMorgan'sglobal co-head of blockchain unit Kinexys, is leaving after 11 years at the bank, Bloomberg reportsChina's ByteDance is in talks with Samsungto manufacture an AI chip, Reuters says4. MOVERS:Novocureincreases in New York afterby the FDA to treat pancreatic cancerCrocsgains afterand providing guidance for Q1 and FY26Fastlyand Cognexhigher afterIconfalls in New York after providing an update on itsinto accounting practices and withdrawing its previously issued FY25 guidanceEnergy Vaultlower after announcing aand providing guidance for Q45. EARNINGS/GUIDANCEIPG, with EPS and revenue beating consensusRestaurant Brands, with CEO Josh Kobza commenting, "As we enter 2026, I'm encouraged by the stronger, more focused foundation we've built for the long term"Phiniaand provided guidance for FY26Organon, with EPS missing consensusMelco Resorts, with CEO Lawrence Ho commenting, "2025 was a year of growth and recovery"INDEXES:Near midday, the Dow was down 1.10%, or 553.18, to 49,568.22, the Nasdaq was down 1.54%, or 355.58, to 22,710.89, and the S&P 500 was down 1.16%, or 80.39, to 6,861.08.

Catch up on the top industries and stocks that were impacted, or were predicted to be impacted, by the comments, actions and policies of President Donald Trump with this daily recap compiled by The Fly.TARIFFS ON CANADA:The U.S. House of Representatives voted to overturn President Donald Trump's tariffs on Canada, with half a dozen House Republicans joining the majority of Demorats in a 219-211 vote, Axios' Kate Santaliz. GOP representatives Thomas Massie, Don Bacon, Kevin Kiley, Dan Newhouse, Jeff Hurd, and Brian Fitzpatrick voted to terminate the president's use of a national emergency to slap tariffs on Canada, the author notes.POWER FROM COAL PLANTS:President Donald Trump has instructed the Pentagon to secure multi-year electricity contracts with coal plants for use at military installations. According to the, "Given our Nation's vast coal resources and the proven reliability of our coal-fired generation fleet in providing continuous, on-demand baseload power, it is imperative that the Department of Warprioritize the preservation and strategic utilization of coal-based energy assets... The Secretary of War, in coordination with the Secretary of Energy, shall seek to procure power from the United States coal generation fleet by approving long-term Power Purchase Agreements, or entering into any similar contractual agreements, with coal-fired energy production facilities to serve DOW installations or other mission-critical facilities, with priority given to projects that enhance: grid reliability and blackout prevention; on-site fuel security; and mission assurance for defense and intelligence capabilities." Publicly traded companies in the space include Alliance Resource Partners, Arch Resources, Consol Energyand Peabody.H-1B FEE:Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and others large companies are looking to skirt President Trump's $100,000 H-1B visa fee by finding workers in categories that don't have the pay the fee, such as existing H-1B visa holders, students, and people on other types of visas, Amrith Ramkumar of The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter. Some companies have also reduced their reliance on the program in the last few years and are discussing ways to avoid using the system entirely, the sources added. Smaller companies, however, can't easily navigate the policy changes or plan to invest in alternatives cheaper than the fee but still cost more than the status quo.FACTORY SHUTDOWN:Ford'selectric vehicle battery factory that was opened in Kentucky last year was one of the largest economic events to have happened in Hardin County, Jack Ewing of The New York Times. Yet, only four months after the first batteries were produced, Ford shut down the factory and laid off 1,600 workers after President Trump and Republicans in Congress gutted programs designed to promote electric vehicles. Residents in Kentucky, however, put most of the blame on Ford, believing the company was struggling to master the new technology.AWARD:The United States Department of the Air Force has awarded Oraclean $88M firm-fixed price task order to provide Oracle Cloud Infrastructure services for the Air Force Cloud One program. This award continues Oracle's role as a key partner in Department of War cloud modernization efforts. The new task order covers OCI offerings used by Cloud One and its government customers across the DAF and the rest of the DoW enterprise. Work will be performed at contractor-designated facilities throughout the United States and is scheduled to run through Dec. 7, 2028.SETTLEMENT:Applied Materialsannounced that it has reached a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security, or BIS. The settlement resolves BIS's allegations that certain customer shipments to China between Nov. 2020 and July 2022 did not comply with the U.S. Export Administration Regulations, based on the company's misunderstanding of the applicability of those regulations. Under the terms of the settlement, Applied has agreed to pay $252.5M to the Department of Commerce. In addition, the U.S. Department of Justice and the SEC have notified Applied that they have closed their related investigations without action. The company said, "Applied Materials is pleased that the Department of Justice and SEC have closed their respective reviews, and that a civil settlement has been reached with the Department of Commerce, concluding the U.S. government's review. Applied believes that resolving this matter is in the best interest of the company, its customers, employees and shareholders. Integrity and compliance are core to how Applied operates, and the company remains fully committed to maintaining strong export-control and trade-compliance practices across its global operations. With this matter closed, Applied is focused on executing our technology roadmap and supporting the accelerating demand for next-generation semiconductor innovation."