Steven Mnuchin addresses his comments about environmental activist Greta ThunbergTreasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said at a press conference in Davos that climate change activist Greta Thunberg shouldn’t speak on the issue until “she goes and studies economics in college.” He joined “Squawk Box” at the World Economic Forum in Davos to discuss his headline making comments.

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon told CNBC on Thursday that starting this year, his investment bank wouldn’t help companies go public without at least one “diverse” board member. About 60 companies in the U.S. and Europe have gone public recently with all white, male boards, he said. He added that Goldman, with its far-reaching network of corporate executives, could help clients find female board candidates if needed. Goldman currently has four women on its 11-person board. He is expected to reve

Here’s why you should take prescription drugs with a strong dose of cautionSeven years after an outbreak of fungal meningitis linked to tainted prescription drugs killed 100 people and sickened hundreds more, the Food and Drug Administration says the type of medication involved still poses risks. And a former top FDA official says that despite sweeping reforms that she helped implement following the outbreak, the public needs to be aware that issues remain. At issue are so-called “compounded” dr

2020 is going to be a strong year for initial public offerings, according to the presidents of the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. Some highly anticipated technology companies in the IPO stages, such as Uber and Lyft, and pre-IPO stages, like WeWork, made headlines for their lack of profitability. The public markets spoke and Uber and Lyft ended the year as some of the most disappointing public offerings. Friedman said there is strong demand from both private equity held companies as well as

Blackstone’s Joseph Zidle believes stocks are in vulnerable territory. He may not be predicting an epic correction, but the firm’s chief investment strategist has reduced exposure to cope with downside risks. “We might see multiple 5% pullbacks in 2020,” he told CNBC’s “Trading Nation” on Wednesday. Zidle’s base case calls for volatility to increase this year due to less liquidity. To brace for potential trouble, Zidle decided to increase his exposure to cash late last year.

New York-based grocery chain Fairway Market has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and plans to shut up to five of its 14 locations, along with a distribution center. The announcement came just hours after Fairway denied a report that said the grocer was planning to pursue a complete liquidation of its business via a Chapter 7 filing. Fairway first filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2016, three years after its IPO. Other grocery chains that have filed for bankruptcy in recent

Cruise Origin driverless shuttle CruiseThe future of the auto industry isn’t horsepower or style when it comes to autonomous vehicles and ride-hailing services. The interior of the Cruise Origin, an autonomous vehicle unveiled by the General Motors subsidiary, on Jan. 21, 2020. Cruise Origin CruiseA major difference in the design of the vehicle is that it was built to be an autonomous vehicle. The lack of details could be due to the hurdles that remain for autonomous vehicles regarding safety re

— Li9:51 am: Tesla fights way into the greenTesla shares opened lower on a very negative call out of UBS (see below). Tesla shares are now up nearly 1%. For instance, the Chinese stock market fell 10% when the SARS virus appeared in 2003. — Franck9:05 am: Tesla shares slipping after UBS callThe automaker’s stock slipped 2.2% in premarket trading after UBS resumed coverage of Tesla with a sell rating. —Imbert8:49 am: Coronavirus sinks travel stocksFears about the coronavirus outbreak in China con

Chevron CEO Michael Wirth told CNBC on Thursday that oil prices may not reach $100 for a “long time” thanks to the boom in U.S. shale production. “Oil markets have really changed over the last decade or so,” Wirth said on “Squawk Box” from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. This was on display following the September attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities in Abqaiq and Khurais, which took an estimated 5.7 million barrels of oil offline. Oil prices initially spiked 15% before retur

BlackRock Chair and CEO Laurence D. Fink attends a session at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, on January 23, 2020. DAVOS, Switzerland — BlackRock Chairman and CEO Larry Fink feared his annual letter to chief executives would trigger a “severe backlash” against the world’s largest investment firm, particularly because many of its clients are big hydrocarbon producers. It marked a stunning shift by the world’s top asset manager, following growing pressure from investors and

House Democrats are ready to press their case Thursday that President Donald Trump should be removed from office, including arguing that the Senate should allow witnesses and documents in the impeachment trial. Democrats also impeached Trump for blocking the House’s investigation into the matter, by refusing to hand over any documents and directing key witnesses not to comply with Congress. As the Democrats put forward their case, they also argued for the Senate to permit new documents and witne

The White House has started work on a second round of tax cuts even as the budget deficit continues to grow, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday. “The president has asked us to start working on what we call ‘tax 2.0,’ and that will be additional tax cuts,” Mnuchin told CNBC during an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “They’ll be tax cuts for the middle class, and we’ll also be looking at other incentives to stimulate economic growth.” Talk of election year

WASHINGTON — Amazon said Wednesday it filed a motion to pause Microsoft’s work on the Pentagon’s multibillion-dollar cloud deal until a court rules on the protest of the contract award. The Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI, cloud computing contract could be worth up to $10 billion for services rendered over as many as 10 years. The Pentagon selected Microsoft over Amazon for the colossal contract on October 25. In November, Amazon filed a notice in the U.S. Court of Federal Claim

Palantir CEO Alex Karp said he stands by his company’s controversial work for the U.S. government agencies, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Last March, Palantir won an $800 million contract to build an intelligence system to aid soldiers in remote environments. Karp, however, defends his company’s public-private relationship. “It’s commonly known that our software is used in an operational context at war,” Karp said. “Do you really think a war fighter is going to trust a software

Micron Technology’s hard drive for data center customers is presented at a product launch event in San Francisco, October 24, 2019. (This story is for CNBC PRO subscribers only.) Semiconductor company Micron is posed to benefit from higher demand for memory chips this year, according to Morgan Stanley.

Tesla boss Elon Musk (L) walks with Shanghai Mayor Ying Yong during the ground-breaking ceremony for a Tesla factory in Shanghai on January 7, 2019. – Musk presided over the ground-breaking for a Shanghai factory that will allow the electric-car manufacturer to dodge the China-US tariff crossfire and sell directly to the world’s biggest market for ‘green’ vehicles. (This story is for CNBC PRO subscribers only.) UBS thinks Tesla’s stock rally is too far out in front of its earnings, and therefore

(This story is for CNBC PRO subscribers only.) Occidental Petroleum is “the most compelling opportunity” in the broader energy sector for 2020, Bank of America said in a note to clients Thursday. The firm believes shares are poised to rally more than 80% due to the company’s faster-than-expected integration of Anadarko, which includes “upside risk in terms of both cost and revenue synergy.”

Here are the biggest calls on Wall Street on Thursday:UBS said it is sees Tesla as the original equipment manufacturer with the biggest long-term autonomous vehicle opportunity. “We take a more bullish fundamental view on Tesla’s technology and cost lead in hardware & software. We expect Tesla to reach 10% OP margin and generate $3-5bn annual FCF from 2022 onwards, based on known products and capacities. Also, we view Tesla as the original equipment manufacturer with the biggest long-term autono

Stephanie Dhue | CNBCApple on Thursday announced its new “Apple Watch Connected” gym initiative, a new series of partnerships with fitness facilities that makes it easier for people who own Apple Watches to track workouts, buy stuff and earn rewards for working out. It’s Apple’s latest fitness expansion, helping it to build an entire ecosystem around the Apple Watch and providing owners with more places to use it to improve their fitness tracking. It creates yet another reason for people to buy

Travel bans were in effect for at least seven cities, including Wuhan where the virus was first flagged to world health officials on Dec. 31. An NBC affiliate in Los Angeles reported Thursday morning that someone was quarantined at the airport there after showing symptoms of the virus. The passenger was on an American Airlines flight from Mexico City and taken to the hospital, according to KNBC Los Angeles. There was no confirmation that the passenger was infected, and the Los Angeles Internatio