3. Biden and the ‘big four’
The battle over the debt limit enters a new stage Tuesday as leaders in Washington work to avoid the first sovereign debt default in U.S. history and the ensuing “financial chaos,” to use Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s words. President Joe Biden is scheduled to meet with the top four lawmakers in Congress: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both New York Democrats; and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Biden is expected to stick to his stance that the debt ceiling should be raised cleanly, without any corresponding spending cuts. The president, however, is open to discussing Republicans’ push for spending cuts as a separate matter. The Treasury Department has warned the U.S. could run out of money to pay its bills as soon as June 1.
4. Saudi Aramco profit slides
Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil giant, posted a 19% decline in first quarter earnings from a year ago. The decline reflects a drop in prices as the global economy reacts to high inflation and the potential for a slowdown. Still, Aramco’s profit beat lower expectations, coming in at $31.9 billion vs. an estimated $30.5 billion. The company, which is the world’s largest oil exporter, is coming off a blockbuster 2022, when it posted a profit gain of more than 46%. Aramco aims to proceed with its plans to expand capacity, and its “long-term outlook remains unchanged,” CEO Amin Nasser said.
5. Not-so-super Nintendo
These days, the big money Nintendo action isn’t at home. It’s at movie theaters, where “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” has dominated with more than $1.1 billion in global grosses. (Disclosure: The movie was produced by Universal Pictures, CNBC’s fellow NBCUniversal subsidiary.) Nintendo itself, however, has hit a rough patch for its Switch consoles. The Japanese company sold nearly 18 million of the gadgets during the fiscal year that ended in March, just a touch below estimates and 22% lower than during the previous year. And it doesn’t look like the “Mario” movie is going to give Switch sales the power-up they need. Nintendo said it expects to sell 15 million of the consoles during the current fiscal year.
— CNBC’s Mike Calia wrote this newsletter. Alex Harring, Emma Kinery, Christina Wilkie, Natasha Turak and Arjun Kharpal contributed.
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