Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - Boeing bows to pressure

Boeing Chief Executive Officer Dave Calhoun is stepping down at the end of the year as part of a sweeping leadership overhaul amid a spiraling safety scandal. Chairman Larry Kellner will not stand for re-election and Stan Deal, chief of Boeing’s commercial airplane division, is departing immediately. The shakeup reflects growing customer frustration as the crisis centering on the planemaker’s manufacturing quality and safety shows no signs of receding. Kellner, Calhoun and Deal mark the highest-profile departures since a near-catastrophic incident in January involving its 737 Max jetliner. Calhoun, a long-time Boeing director and veteran of General Electric and Blackstone Group, stepped into the top role in early 2020 as Boeing was reeling from the global grounding of the 737 Max after two crashes that killed 346 people. He is ending a four-year stint as CEO dealing with fallout with the same model.—Natasha Solo-Lyons  

Donald Trump faces the first of four pending criminal trials next month, with jury selection in his accounting fraud case set to begin April 15 in New York state court in Manhattan. The twice-impeached former president got the bad news on a day when, as far as financial matters were concerned, things ended up better than he may have expected. Facing a deadline to post bond of close to $500 million owed in a New York civil fraud judgement, an appeals court cut the amount he’d have to pony up to $175 million while he appeals. Around the same time, his social media company Trump Media & Technology Group wrapped up a 29-month-long merger process, meaning shares worth billions of dollars on paper are now officially Trump’s. 

Bitcoin enthusiasts appear to be shrugging off last week’s outflows from US exchange-traded funds, with the largest cryptocurrency climbing back above $70,000 again. Most digital assets were higher Monday, with Bitcoin gaining as much as 7.1% to $70,816. That’s the first time the token has been above $70,000 in more than a week. Ether was up around 6%, while Solana and Dogecoin were both more than 4% higher.

Photographer: Damian Lemanski/Bloomberg

Apple, Google and Meta face the risk of potentially hefty fines as the European Union opened a full-blown investigation into the firms’ compliance with strict new laws reining in the power of Big Tech. The European Commission said Monday that Apple and Google’s app store rules will be targeted in the first probes under the bloc’s Digital Markets Act. Under scrutiny will be how Google search results might unfairly preference its own services and how Apple may make it harder for users to choose alternatives to its Safari browser.

The United Nations Security Council approved a resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, marking the first time the council has agreed to do so in the nearly six months since the Israel-Hamas war began. Fourteen of 15 Security Council members voted in favor of the resolution, which was jointly proposed Monday by the 10 elected members of the council. The US abstained, citing the measure’s failure to explicitly condemn Hamas for its Oct. 7 attack on Israel. The office of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had demanded a US veto of the resolution, and said it would “suspend” a visit by two of his top aides to Washington in response.

Cocoa is now more expensive than copper. Cocoa extended its surge—gaining more than $700 per ton in a single day and surpassing $9,000 for the first time ever—as a supply crunch grips the market and chocolate makers grapple for beans. Futures in New York climbed for a fourth straight day, adding to gains after news about funding challenges in Ghana, the world’s second-largest grower.

Cocoa pods at a farm in Kwabeng, Ghana Photographer: Paul Ninson/Bloomberg

Consumers expecting big savings from a National Association of Realtors’ class-action settlement over agent commissions may be in for a letdown. The agreement drew cheers from President Joe Biden, who said it “could save homebuyers and home sellers as much as $10,000” in one example. But the actual benefits remain unclear, especially for first-time buyers who need help the most.

Once high-flying bankers in Hong Kong have become a lost generation.  US-China geopolitical tensions have fractured capital markets. Hong Kong IPOs have dried up as stock prices slump and economic prospects wane. And Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s push to step up data security and financial-market regulation has made it harder for Chinese companies to acquire assets or list overseas.

• Moscow attack suspects paraded in court as two plead guilty.
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• Powell ready to support job market even if it means lingering inflation.
• Bloomberg Opinion: Eliminate the mortgage interest deduction.
• Employment in 16 US states remains below pre-pandemic levels.
• Elon Musk’s Starlink terminals are falling into the wrong hands.
• Bloomberg Opinion: DEI isn’t the only way to diversify your company.

If you’re feeling doubtful about finding decent airfare this summer, here’s a hack worth trying: Track down the newest routes out of your home airport and pick a destination based on that. Approximately 143 airport pairings that link the US directly with international destinations are being added this year. Thirty-one of those routes are to major European destinations, 58 to Mexican locales and the Caribbean, and 32 to Canadian cities, among other options. Here’s a curated list of new flight options.

With 31 nonstop flights being added between the US and Europe, there could be more deals to pick from this summer. Photographer: SHansche/iStockphoto

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