Welcome to Seeking Alpha's Wall Street Breakfast, where we cover the top news for investors every morning. Good morning! Today is Friday, June 13th. I'm Julie Morgan. Markets rattle, Kenview eyes a trim, and Frito-Lay pulls back.
We're following escalating tensions in the Middle East. Israel has targeted Iran with a series of strikes against nuclear sites and military targets. Iran has retaliated by launching over 100 drones at Israel overnight, sharply raising the risk of a full-scale war in the Middle East.
The news has sent stock futures sliding more than 1 percent while oil prices are surging 7 percent. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the operation could last many days and was aimed at rolling back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that Israel informed the U.S. that the strikes are being done for self-defense.
He added that his top priority is protecting American forces in the region and that the U.S. is not involved in the operation against Iran. The State Department on Wednesday ordered the departure of non-emergency U.S. government personnel due to heightened regional tensions in the Middle East. The U.S. has permanent military bases in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain, and the UAE.
Kenview is weighing the sale of some of its skin health and beauty brands. Reuters reported citing sources that Clean & Clear, Maui Moisture, and Neostrata are among the brands potentially being considered. BB, a German baby care brand and also another Japanese brand, could also be included. Neutrogena and Aveeno are two of the larger brands in Kenview's portfolio, and they are not under consideration.
Sources told Reuters that the brands that could be sold make up $500 million in revenue. Goldman Sachs is reportedly advising Kenview on the potential divestment.
Frito-Lay is shutting down production at its Rancho Cucamonga plant in Southern California after 50 years in operation. Although no reason was given for the decision, Frito-Lay North America, a division of PepsiCo, reported an 11% decline in operating profits in Q4 2024, primarily reflecting operating costs increases and a decline in organic volumes.
Although the company will maintain its distribution, fleet, and warehouse operations at the plant, shutting down manufacturing is expected to result in the loss of hundreds of jobs, according to USA Today. Because the Rancho Cucamonga plant is not registered with California's worker adjustment and retraining notification database, which requires employers to give 60 days notice before layoffs, the timing of the closure and the actual number of employees impacted is unknown.
Now for a look at what's trending on Seeking Alpha. Tesla unveils an upgraded Model S and X in the U.S. with a $5,000 price hike. The Oracle stock surge bumps Larry Ellison to the world's second richest person. And the Air India crash is likely to draw scrutiny to airplane configuration at takeoff.
On Wall Street today, at this early hour, Dow, S&P and Nasdaq futures are in the red. Crude oil is up 7% at $73 a barrel. To put that into perspective, that $73 a barrel is between $8 and $9 more than it was yesterday at this time. Bitcoin is down 1% at $104,000. Gold is up 1.2% at $3,425.
The FTSE 100 is down 0.4% and the DAX is down 1.4%. RH is on our list of the biggest movers of the day pre-market. RH is up 18% despite mixed fiscal Q1 results as the company laid out strategic plans to offset U.S. import tariffs. On today's economic calendar at 10 a.m., Consumer Sentiment.
That's it for today's Wall Street Breakfast. Thanks for listening. For a full offering of news, analysis, ratings, and data on stocks and ETFs, become a premium subscriber. Learn more at seekingalpha.com slash subscriptions. I'm your host, Julie Morgan. Go out and make it a great day.