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Now time for some of today’s trending tickers. We’re checking on U.S. Steel, GM, and Caterpillar. First up is U.S. Steel. Those shares are surging today on news that President Trump has ordered a review of the previously blocked acquisition of the company by Nippon Steel. This is raising some hopes that it could reopen the door here. CFIUS is the body that does this review here, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, and the report is due in 45 days. Of course, President Biden had blocked this deal from happening. Trump has indicated maybe he would be open to some version of this, maybe where the Japanese company would invest in U.S. Steel but not own it.

Kenny, it's been an interesting situation amidst the backdrop of everything that’s going on.

Yeah. Now, you know, I was in the camp that I thought we shouldn’t sell it. I will I I will say I was in that Biden camp that maybe we shouldn’t. But, you know, if there’s a different version that allows the Japanese to come in and make it a substantial investment. They’re going to help, you know, revive the company. They’re going to concentrate on producing steel in the United States. I I I can’t necessarily say that I would be against it. I’d have to see what that version looks like.

It was a very, it’s a tough situation. The Steelworkers Union is against it, but U.S. Steel says we can’t continue to afford to operate, so then steelworkers would end up losing their jobs. So it’s a, it’s a tough choice. Right.

It is a tough choice. And I suppose, you know, again, like everyone else, maybe if the steel, if there’s a version that seems applicable, then maybe the steelworkers should sit and listen to it. And then maybe they’ll change their mind.

Yeah. All right, let’s get to our next mover here. And that is General Motors. Bernstein is downgrading the automaker to underperform from market perform, warning that new vehicle tariffs and a likely decline in consumer sentiment will significantly pressure the company’s earnings and cash flow. I can’t say I’m shocked by this one, because Daniel Roska, who is behind the call, he was in our studio right after those auto tariffs were announced. And he sounded quite negative about the effects that this was going to have on the company. He said, if you look at tariff costs, price hikes, market share gains, and a decline in consumer sentiment, auto free cash flow will be reduced by $6 billion between 2025 and 2027. He’s, that’s what they’re, they’re cutting their estimates by.

Right. But if you, if you heard, Trump made the suggestion that he thought he was going to allow car purchases to once again be deductible. Like if, if you go out and you take a loan to buy the car, you used to be able to write that interest off as a deduction. Then they took it away. And now he’s thinking about, okay, I might put that deduction back in, encouraging people to want to go out and buy a car. If you can deduct your interest, if you finance the car, it’s quote unquote, a net benefit to you. That maybe that should blunt that a little bit.

Right.

But is that something that would need to be in the tax bill? It’s not, that’s not something he can sign an EO on.

The tax, sure.

No. No. No. It would have to be part of So we’d have to wait.

Yes. But it would, if he, if they talk about putting it in there, and they talk about, you know, look, the price of a car, have you learned to buy a car recently? They’re they’re they’re out of control, the price of a car. It’s funny because, you know, I bought my my wife drives in an Infinity, a 2020 Infinity. It’s fine. I live in Florida. It doesn’t have the the weather around here that right destroys cars right there. Anyway, it’s fine. I brought in to be serviced and the girl, the the woman comes in. She said, would like interest you in a new, same car, just a 2025 version?

In the last couple of years. Yes. Yeah. How much more was it?

They wanted $1,250 for a three-year lease, if I wanted to lease it. The car was $85,000. I get it. I’m not cheap, but I’m sitting going, okay, my car’s perfectly fine. Why am I going out and buying? Why don’t I want to pay 1,250?

Well, a lot of people are making, a lot of people are making decisions like that right now.

I guess they are. I mean, I said, no, I’m not interested. But I suppose if Trump says, well, listen, buy the car, now finance it, you get to write it off. Maybe it makes people think, well, you know, maybe I could do that.

Yeah. Yeah. I think that’s the, I think that’s a common feeling. Let’s get to our next one, Caterpillar. This is a downgrade also from UBS in this case. The bank warns that macroeconomic risks linked to tariffs and weakening global demand are not yet fully reflected in the stock. And they say they expect further earnings downside as second-order impacts from tariffs and recessionary pressures weigh on demand across construction, oil and gas, and mining markets. And by the way, Caterpillar, people don’t realize, Caterpillar’s biggest part of its business is now the energy business. You know, equipment for the energy industry. And you saw what Jared showed earlier in terms of the energy stocks, which have really been hammered. Oil prices are down. That is not good for their spending power. I thought another quick thing that was interesting about this note, they say that whatever Caterpillar says in earnings could be overwhelmed by this recessionary concern.

Right.

And it could be because it it would be I think if there’s this big recessionary concern. But look, when you talk about the energy sector and Caterpillar’s role in it, yeah, oil prices have come down. That’s great for inflation, it’s great for the consumer manufacturing, all that. But at some point, you know, where’s the break even for oil companies? Is it $55? Is it $60? If oil goes much below 55, then you’re going to have difficulty for the oil companies. And yes, that will directly impact Caterpillar, if that’s part of their, to your point, one of their biggest sectors now, right?

Right.

Yes. So it’s kind of you know, it’s if you, you want prices to come down, you want oil prices to come down because it helps everything: transportation, manufacturing, food costs because of the transportation. But then you want to be careful that you don’t bankrupt the energy companies.

Right.

Yes. Well, that’s always been one of the tricky messages coming in with this administration and the so-called Drill, Baby, Drill. Not necessarily what the companies want to do.

That’s it. That’s it.

No.