CNBC Business News Update - Market Open: Stocks Higher, Paramount Global Merging With Skydance, Boeing To Plead Guilty To Fraud, "Despicible Me 4" Wins July 4th Box Office 7/8/24

Episode Date: July 8, 2024

From Wall Street to Main Street, the latest on the markets and what it means for your money. Updated regularly on weekdays, featuring CNBC expert analysis and sound from top business newsmakers. Anchored and reported by CNBC's Jessica Ettinger.

I'm Jessica Edinger, CNBC. Markets are in the green this morning to start the new week of trading. The S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq each opened at fresh record highs, and we've got the Dow soaring out of the gate, up 234 points, six-tenths of a percent being led higher by shares of Intel, which are up 4%. S&P 500 index up 10 points, and the Nasdaq is up 12 points. Investors are waiting for the latest on inflation coming this week. Earnings season begins too with reports from big banks coming on Friday. Paramount Global, which owns the Paramount Movie Studio, CBS Television, CBS News

and cable channels like Comedy Central and MTV, will merge with a suitor it previously rejected, Skydance. The new chairman and CEO of the combined company will be David Ellison and Jeff Schell, formerly CEO of NBCUniversal, will be its president. The new company will be positioned to improve profitability. That is a nod to its recent struggles. The deal is expected to be completed in the first half of 2025. Now, this agreement includes a 45-day go-shop period in which Paramount's board can solicit alternative proposals. But given the fact that less than a month ago the board rejected the Skydance deal and drew interest from Barry Diller and others,

the deal has effectively already been shopped around. CNBC's Julia Borsten, Boeing pleading guilty to one criminal fraud charge stemming from the two 737 MAX crashes that killed nearly 350 people outside of the U.S. Boeing will pay a near quarter billion dollar fine and a third party monitor will be installed. The focus for that monitor will be quality control. This has been at the heart of the problems for Boeing, and it's what triggered the DOJ to say, wait a second, you violated the deferred prosecution agreement revolving around two 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019. Boeing has declined to comment on the details of the plea agreement. CNBC's Phil LeBeau. Air travel demand breaking records,

but airline profits aren't. Higher payroll and other expenses are eating into those profits. Delta, the country's most profitable airline, will report quarterly results on Thursday. Walmart's deals for days sale started today. It runs through Thursday up against the Target Circle Week sale that started yesterday. It's all designed to head off the Amazon Prime Day sale. It runs for two days next Tuesday and Wednesday. Universal's Despicable Me 4 topping the July 4th holiday box office. Despicable Me 4 brought in $75 million during its debut weekend. If you include the July 4th holiday, the domestic total reached $122.6 million. With the overseas

ticket sales, the total haul for the movie so far is nearly $230 million. CNBC's Becky Quick, Jessica Ettinger, CNBC. When you're at your very top speed, it feels like you can run forever. And then there's this one moment where everybody else starts to die, and you're like, I'm not about to die. I'm about to get faster. The Olympics from Paris starts July 26th on NBC and Peacock.