This week’s world-famous news haiku competition™ is about how Intel stock soared more than 20% last Friday, eight months after the U.S. government took a 10 percent stake to prop up the firm. Try to get the famous “Intel Inside” jingle in there if you can? Send me your entry — to haiku at cheddar dot com — by noon ET Thursday, for consideration by your Cheddar peers.

And now, news!

Matt Davis — Need2Know Chedditor

News You Need2Know

What’s the stock market up to, eh?*

$SPX ( ▲ 0.12% )   $DJI ( ▼ 0.13% )   $NDX ( ▲ 1.59% )  

Companies mentioned in today’s newsletter

$NVDA ( ▲ 4.0% )   $LYV ( ▼ 0.1% )   $TKTM ( 0.0% )   $SPX ( ▲ 0.12% )   $NDAQ ( ▲ 0.59% )   $DJI ( ▼ 0.13% )   $DPZ ( ▼ 8.84% )   $GOOG ( ▲ 1.81% )   $AMZN ( ▼ 1.09% )   $META ( ▲ 0.53% ) $MSFT ( ▲ 0.05% )   $AAPL ( ▼ 1.27% )   $OPENAI ( 0.0% )

California's tax on billionaires has the backing for a November vote

Backers of a spicy new ballot initiative in California say they’ve gathered more than 1.5 million signatures to put a one-time, 5% wealth tax on billionaires on the November ballot. That is well beyond the 875,000 signatures required to make the cut.

The tax was proposed by a healthcare workers union trying to plug a massive funding hole left by federal Medicaid cuts. The campaign is feeling victorious about their grassroots momentum. As Suzanne Jimenez, spokeswoman for the Billionaire Tax Now coalition, dramatically told the Wall Street Journal: “When our growing coalition files these signatures, David will have won the first round against Goliath.”

While some Silicon Valley magnates are sweating through their fleece vests and funding rival initiatives to block the measure, not every billionaire is panicking. Nvidia’s $NVDA ( ▲ 4.0% ) Jensen Huang casually mentioned he is “perfectly fine” with the tax.

Union president Dave Regan insists this isn't just a classic "eat-the-rich" vendetta. “This did not start as a political statement about rising inequality, we are simply trying to solve a huge and immediate and practical problem,” he explained.

Will the billionaires pack their bags, or will they pony up? According to the Service Employees International United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW), the union proposing California's new wealth tax, there are around 200 people living in the state with a net worth of $1 billion or more, and the one-time tax could raise $100 billion.

The California Tax Foundation estimates that the tax would actually reduce state revenues by $3.53 billion to $4.49 billion a year. Their projection accounts for the potential departure of billionaires from the state and the resulting economic spillover effects.

Let us know how you feel about it in today’s poll…

Quote of the Day

Stocks hover near their records as oil prices rise

The U.S. stock market’s record-breaking rally stalled slightly on Monday, grappling with weekend uncertainty surrounding the Iran conflict and climbing oil prices. Crude oil jumped roughly 3% as the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed by a U.S. Navy blockade, keeping crucial Middle Eastern supplies stuck.

Despite the geopolitical jitters, the broader market held remarkably steady: the S&P 500 $SPX ( ▲ 0.12% ) squeaked out a 0.1% gain and the Nasdaq $NDAQ ( ▲ 0.59% ) ticked up 0.1% to reach a brand-new all-time record, even as the Dow Jones Industrial Average $DJI ( ▼ 0.13% ) slipped 80 points. Not every company had a winning day, though; Domino’s Pizza $DPZ ( ▼ 8.84% ) shares plummeted 9.5% after the company served up weaker-than-expected profits and revenues.

However, the real main event for investors is the massive wave of upcoming corporate earnings from the tech sector. Wall Street is bracing for a monumental day tomorrow when Alphabet $GOOG ( ▲ 1.81% ) , Amazon $AMZN ( ▼ 1.09% ) , Meta Platforms $META ( ▲ 0.53% ) , and Microsoft $MSFT ( ▲ 0.05% ) are all slated to deliver their profit reports. Apple $AAPL ( ▼ 1.27% ) will quickly follow with its own earnings report on Thursday. Analysts will be watching the "Magnificent Seven" closely to see if these market heavyweights can sustain their impressive year-to-date climbs.