The daily business briefing: June 26, 2023

A photo of Russian ruble banknotes and coins next to a ruble symbol

The Russian ruble dropped by as much as 3% against the U.S. dollar on Monday after a brief rebellion by Wagner Group mercenary forces

(Image credit: Kirill Kudryavstev / AFP via Getty Images)

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1. Ruble falls after Prigozhin's brief rebellion
2. Ford Explorer recall prompts federal investigation
3. Yellowstone River water quality tested after train derailment
4. Stock futures slip after Wall Street ends weeks-long winning streak
5. Starbucks workers strike at dozens of stores

By Harold Maass, The Week US

published 26 June 2023

1. Ruble falls after Prigozhin's brief rebellion

The Russian ruble dropped by as much as 3% against the U.S. dollar on Monday after a brief rebellion by Wagner Group mercenary forces led by Yevgeny Prigozhin posed the most significant threat to President Vladimir Putin's grip on power in more than two decades. As Russia restored order, the Russian currency recovered most of its losses, trading down 0.6% at 9:35 a.m. Moscow time. That was still its lowest level since March 2022, when it plunged after Russia invaded Ukraine. Prigozhin's forces got within 125 miles of Moscow before he pulled them back. "Ongoing uncertainty is likely to keep the ruble still under pressure," UniCredit AG analysts said in an emailed report.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) over the weekend opened an investigation into Ford Motor Company's recall of 300,000 Explorer SUVs. The original 2022 recall, which affected Explorers made from 2020 to 2022, was issued to address fractures in the rear axle mounting bolt that could "allow the vehicle to roll in park if the parking brake is not applied, increasing the risk of crash and injury," Ford said in its recall notice. Ford addressed the problem with a software update that would apply an electronic parking brake even if the manual one failed. NHTSA said this didn't fix the underlying problem. At least two complaints have been filed concerning problems that persisted after the fix.

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Authorities are testing water quality on the Yellowstone River near where a train bridge collapsed, causing seven rail cars holding hot asphalt and molten sulfur to tumble into the river, a spokesperson for train operator Montana Rail Link, Andy Garland, said in a statement Sunday. The accident occurred Saturday near Columbus, a town about 40 miles west of Billings surrounded by ranches and farms. The train operator is working with state and federal environmental officials on cleanup and restoration, Garland said. He added that asphalt and hot sulfur solidify quickly, so there was little danger of contamination downstream. The river flows away from Yellowstone National Park from the bridge that collapsed. The park is about 110 miles away.

U.S. stock futures edged lower early Monday at the start of the final week of June trading after snapping a winning streak last week. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were down 0.1% at 6:30 a.m. ET. Nasdaq futures were down 0.2% after the tech-heavy index fell 1.4% last week, breaking an eight-week winning streak. The S&P 500 fell 1% last week in its first weekly loss after five weeks of gains. The Dow lost 1.7% after three positive weeks. "The SPX and NDX finally saw some profit-taking after the significant rally seen over the past couple of months," Rick Bensignor of Bensignor Investment Strategies said in a note to clients, according to CNBC.

Starbucks employee strikes disrupted operations at dozens of the coffee giant's stores over the weekend. As of Sunday, workers at 104 of Starbucks' 9,380 locations were participating in the strikes over the failure to display Pride decorations, and negotiations between the company and unionized baristas. Sean Plotts, a Starbucks worker who participated in a strike at a Chicago store, said the outlet didn't put up Pride decorations. "It's honestly a shame," Plotts said. Starbucks Workers United said workers in Chicago, Baltimore, Seattle, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh were among those participating in the strike. Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan said the company supports the LGBTQ community and anyone suggesting otherwise was spreading "misinformation for self-interested-goals."

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.