The daily business briefing: October 24, 2023

1. UAW expands strike to Stellantis Ram truck plant

The United Auto Workers union on Monday expanded its strike against Stellantis, telling 6,800 workers at the automaker's "largest plant and biggest moneymaker" to join the picket line. Stellantis makes the Ram 1500 pickup truck at the targeted Michigan plant. The UAW said Stellantis — whose brands include Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler — had "the worst proposal on the table" in the union's first-ever simultaneous strikes affecting all three of the big Detroit automakers: Stellantis, Ford and General Motors. Stellantis said it thought it was making progress in negotiations with the UAW, and was "outraged" over the union's surprise decision to expand its targeted strike. CNN, Detroit Free Press

2. Tesla says DOJ investigating business practices

Tesla confirmed in a regulatory filing Monday that the Justice Department is investigating the electric-vehicle maker's business practices, including its claims about vehicle driving range, "personal benefits" for top executives like CEO Elon Musk, and its driver assistance system Autopilot. The disclosure came after recent reports by Reuters and Consumer Reports that Tesla test vehicles didn't go as far on a single charge as their advertised range. Tesla said federal authorities had subpoenaed documents on the executives' personal benefits. The U.S. attorney's office in New York is looking into whether Tesla misused company money for a planned glass house for Musk near Tesla's Austin, Texas, factory. The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal

3. Bonds, stock futures rise ahead of more tech earnings

Bonds and stock futures rebounded early Tuesday as investors awaited earnings reports from tech giants. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield fell to 4.8% a day after reaching a 16-year high of more than 5% on speculation about an economic slowdown from prominent market bears. Stock futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were up 0.4% and 0.5%, respectively, at 7 a.m. ET. Nasdaq futures were up 0.6%. Tech powerhouse Meta reports quarterly earnings on Wednesday, followed by Amazon on Thursday. About 30% of the companies in the S&P 500 post earnings this week; 17% of companies in the benchmark index have reported so far, with three-quarters of them beating analysts' expectations, according to FactSet. Bloomberg, CNBC

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4. Iceland leader joins protest of gender pay gap

Iceland Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir is joining tens of thousands of Icelandic women in refusing to work Tuesday to protest the gender pay gap and gender-based violence. "I will not work this day, as I expect all the women [in the Cabinet] will do as well," Jakobsdóttir told the mbl.is website. The "kvennafri", or women's day off, is expected to have the greatest impact in Iceland's health care, education and other sectors where women make up the majority of the workforce. The Icelandic Teachers' Union says the majority of teachers, including 94% of kindergarten teachers, are women. About 80% of workers at the country's biggest medical center, the National University Hospital of Iceland, are women. BBC News

5. GM cuts full-year guidance as strike costs mount

General Motors on Tuesday reported third-quarter earnings that exceeded analysts' expectations, but the automaker trimmed its guidance for the year due to the ongoing United Auto Workers strike, which is costing GM $200 million per week in lost production. The simultaneous strikes against GM, Ford and Chrysler's Stellantis have cost GM $800 million so far, with $200 million of that hitting before the third quarter ended in September. GM reported adjusted earnings per share of $2.28, compared to a consensus estimate of $1.88. Revenue came in at $44.13 billion, just above the $43.68 billion analysts expected. GM lowered its target for near-term sales of electric vehicles due to weaker-than-expected demand. CNBC