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Oil prices are dropping further, and U.S. stocks are pulling close to their all-time high Tuesday on hopes that Israels war with Iran will not damage the global flow of crude, even if a tentative truce seemed to fray under fire in the morning. The S&P 500 was 1.2% higher in afternoon trading, following up on even bigger gains for stocks across Europe and Asia, after President Donald Trump said late Monday that Israel and Iran had agreed to a complete and total ceasefire. The main measure of Wall Street’s health is back within 1% of its record set in February after falling roughly 20% below during the spring. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 518 points, or 1.2%, as of 1:56 p.m. ET, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.5% higher. The strongest action was again in the oil market, where a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude fell 5.4%, to $64.82. Brent crude, the international standard, dropped 5.5%, to $66.62. The fear throughout the Israel-Iran conflict has been that it could squeeze the worlds supply of oil, which would pump up prices for gasoline and hurt the global economy. Iran is a major producer of crude, and it could also try to block the Strait of Hormuz off its coast, through which 20% of the worlds daily oil needs passes on ships. Oil prices began falling sharply on Monday after Iran launched what appeared to be a limited retaliatory strike that did not target the production or movement of oil. Prices kept falling even after attacks continued past a deadline to stop hostilities early Tuesday. Trump later said that the ceasefire was in effect. Oil prices have dropped so much in the last two days that theyre below where they were before the fighting began nearly two weeks ago. With the global oil market well supplied and the OPEC+ alliance of producing countries steadily increasing production, oil prices could be headed even lower as long as the ceasefire holds and a lasting peace solution can be found, said Carsten Fritsch, commodities analyst at German-based Commerzbank. Falling oil prices should take some pressure off inflation, and that in turn could give the Federal Reserve more leeway to cut interest rates. Wall Street loves lower rates because they can give the economy a boost by making it cheaper for U.S. households and businesses to borrow money to buy a car or build a factory. But they could also give inflation more fuel. That latter threat is why the Fed has been hesitant to cut rates this year after lowering them through the end of last year. The Fed has said repeatedly that it wants to wait and see how much Trumps tariffs will hurt the economy and raise inflation before committing to its next move. So far, the economy seems to be holding up okay, though a report on confidence among U.S. consumers came in weaker on Tuesday than economists expected, while inflation has remained only a bit above the Fed’s 2% target. Trump, though, has been pushing for more cuts to rates. And two of his appointees to the Fed have said in the last week that they may consider cutting rates as soon as the Feds next meeting next month. Fed Chair Jerome Powell remains more cautious. He said again in testimony delivered to Congress Tuesday that the Fed is well positioned to wait to learn more about the likely course of the economy before considering any adjustments to our policy stance. Asked whether a cut could arrive as soon as July, Powell said: We will get to a place where we cut rates, sooner rather than laterbut I wouldnt want to point to a particular meeting. I dont think we need to be in any rush because the economy is still strong. Such mixed messages had Treasury yields swiveling up and down in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.30%, from 4.34% late Monday. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for Fed action, fell to 3.82%, from 3.84%. On Wall Street, cruise operator Carnival steamed 6.7% higher after delivering a much stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. CEO Josh Weinstein said it’s seeing strong demand from people booking cruises close to the departure date, and customers are spending strongly once on board. Carnival also raised its forecast for an underlying measure of profit for the full year. Uber Technologies rose 7.8% after it said customers in Atlanta can use its app to ride in Waymo autonomous vehicles. Coinbase Global rallied 11.4% as the cryptocurrency exchange rose with the price of Bitcoin, which jumped back above $105,000. In stock markets abroad, indexes rallied more than 1% everywhere from France to Germany to Japan, following the announcement of the Israel-Iran ceasefire. Hong Kongs jump of 2.1% and South Koreas leap of 3% were two of the strongest moves. By Stan Choe, David McHugh, and Elaine Kurtenbach, AP business writers
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CareerBuilder + Monster, an online job hunting joint venture, announced on Tuesday it filed for bankruptcy in Delaware. The company initiated the Chapter 11 process to facilitate a sale of its operations, with assets totaling between $50 to $100 million and estimated liabilities of some $100 to $500 million, according to its bankruptcy filing. Fast Company has reached out to the company for comment. The bankruptcy plan calls for the assets to be divided up, selling its jobs board business to JobGet Inc.; selling Monster Media Properties to Valnet Inc. (which includes Military.com and Fastweb.com); and transferring Monster Government Services to Valsoft Corp. However, the asset sale is subject to other, higher offers, according to the press release. “For over 25 years, we have been a proud global leader in helping job seekers and companies connect and empower employment across the globe,” Jeff Furman, CEO of CareerBuilder + Monster, said in a statement. “However, like many others in the industry, our business has been affected by a challenging and uncertain macroeconomic environment. In light of these conditions, we ran a robust sale process and carefully evaluated all available options. We determined that initiating this court-supervised sale process is the best path toward maximizing the value of our businesses and preserving jobs.” Furman added that CareerBuilder + Monster also plans to restructure, which would include a reduction of its current workforce, and the company is in talks with Blue Torch Capital for up to $20 million of debtor-in-possession financing. Monster, which dominated the internet job search industry starting in the 1990s, merged with then-struggling CareerBuilder in 2024, with Dutch multinational human resource consulting firm Randstad NV taking a minority stake in that business. Owned by Apollo Global Management, CareerBuilder saw a decline in subscription renewals after the pandemic, from which it never recovered. Although the merger created one mega job board, sales continued to decline, with CareerBuilder’s revenue falling to $49.2 million in 2024, a 40% drop compared to 2023, according to Moody’s Ratings, as reported by Bloomberg.
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New Yorkers are heading to the polls Tuesday to cast their ballots for the city’s next mayor. And it’s not just NYC that’s invested. The Democratic primary race between a fresh-faced 33-year-old democratic socialist and a seasoned politician clawing for a comeback has captivated the countrynot just because the top candidates couldn’t be more different, but because the election could offer a glimpse of what kind of democratic candidates Americans are seeking to elect in other upcoming races. (The person chosen to lead America’s biggest city will presumably be a Democrat and could help set the tone for the party’s platform nationwide.) A study in contrasts Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, the two frontrunners in the mayoral race, are starkly different candidatesa fact that Mamdani, who would be New York’s first Muslim mayor if elected, has played into leading up to election day. While Andrew Cuomo, who resigned as New York’s governor in 2021 over dozens of sexual harassment allegations, is backed by billionaire donors, centrists, and well-known democrats like Bill Clinton, Mamdani has the support of hard-leaning leftists like Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York’s 14th congressional district. Prior to joining the mayoral race, Mamdani was essentially a political unknown. Still, he’s managed to gain major traction with emotional speeches, a captivating social media presence, and a laser-pointed focus on an issue that most New Yorkers (as well as most Americans) are deeply concerned with at present: lowering the cost of living. “This is the most expensive city in the United States of America and New Yorkers are tired of having to worry each and every hour of each and every day about whether they can afford to live here, Mamdani said yesterday to a crowd of supporters. Ranked-choice voting system adds additional drama Interestingly, in a rare move, the candidate isn’t just campaigning for his own leadership. He’s teamed up with other candidates, like State Senator Zellnor Myrie and city Comptroller Brad Lander, to block Cuomo from ranking in New York’s ranked-choice voting system, which was new to the city last year. The system means that New Yorkers can cast votes for, not one, but up to five candidates. Mamdani and other candidates have been preaching to supporters to fill out their entire ballot but “Don’t rank Cuomo.” Lander, meanwhile, had his own viral moment last week when he was taken into custody by federal immigration officials outside of a Manhattan courtroom, an incident caught on dramatic video. On the other end of the spectrum from Mamdani, Cuomo is leaning into his experience as a seasoned leader. This is not a job for a novice,” he told supporters this week. “This is not a job for a person who never really had a job before. We need someone who knows what they are doing on day one, because your lives depend on it.” In recent weeks, the race has been heating up with projections that have stunned and excited Mamdani supporters. While Cuomo was the clear frontrunner earlier this year, Mamdani pulled ahead in the most recent public poll, published Monday. How can I track NYC election results in real time? The polls don’t close in NYC until 9 p.m. Tuesday, but due to the city’s voting system, a final count could take a full week. If one candidate is the first choice of a majority of voters, they’ll take the race. However, If no candidate emerges straight away, the tabulation of rankings would begin on July 1. Meaning, while NYC is already going to be hotter than your average summer day, the heat around this race could be even hotter. With so much riding on who New York’s next mayor will be, voters and interested parties across the country are bound to be following closely as the votes come in. Here are a few ways to stay up to date: Ways to watch: The New York Times will offer live updates on the race and election results as they come in. The outlet will show “simulated ranked-choice results for the first and final rounds of voting.” Find it here. PBS will show live election results as they come in, along with a live map to show how the city is voting in real time. Find it here. The Board of Elections will release “unofficial, first-choice-only votes” just after the polls close and continuously update the results. The results will be broken down into districts. Find it here. If you’re a New Yorker who isn’t sure which election district you live in, you can look it up here.
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