- In today’s CEO Daily: Diane Brady on the impact of ICE raids on CEOs.
- The big story: Israel attacks Iran and oil surges.
- The markets: Down on Middle East fight.
- Analyst notes from Convera, UBS, and Deutsche Bank.
- Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.
Good morning. I spoke with a C-suite leader of a large retailer this week who shook his head when I asked about the ICE raids and protests. “I understand and support our laws,” he said. “What I don’t understand is why we have to be so vindictive and cruel in applying them.”
Therein lies the challenge for CEOs in speaking up right now as some fear that seemingly innocuous statements might put a target on their backs. We do hear from those who are already wounded, like Gary Rohwer of Glenn Valley Foods whose plant is operating at 30% capacity after federal immigration officials arrested half his workforce, despite him clearing them through the government’s own E-verify system. Even those who haven’t been raided may be feeling an impact from the crackdowns. More than a million foreign-born workers have dropped out of the labor force since March, according to the St. Louis Fed. One leader in the construction sector told me that one of his workers quit because they’re worried a raid might harm an undocumented sibling who’s staying in their home.
For Scott Boatwright of Chipotle, whose workforce is 52% Hispanic, the answer has been to focus on his people. As he put it during a recent Leadership Next podcast: “All of our team members go through the E-verify process. But it’s not lost on me that I could have team members within the organization that could have family members that are affected one way or another. I think it’s important for us as leaders in the organization to ensure we are connecting with all of our people, and just a mental check-in to say, ‘Hey, how are you doing? How can we help? How can we support? I know you may be going through a challenging time.’”
More news below.
Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com
Top news
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Boeing shares fall on deadly crash
Boeing shares fell more than 5% on Thursday following the deadly crash of Air India Flight 171. The tragic incident marks the first time that the Dreamliner 787 model from the airplane manufacturer was involved in a major crash.
Franklin Resources CEO: Digital assets are the future
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Israel attacks Iran, hitting nuclear sites
Israel attacked Iran’s capital in strikes that targeted the country’s nuclear program and killed at least two top military officers, raising the potential for an all-out war between the two Middle East adversaries. Iran has responded with more than 100 drones so far.
China delays chip merger amid trade war
China's antitrust regulator is delaying a $35 billion U.S. semiconductor industry merger between Synopsys, a chip design tools maker, and the engineering software developer Ansys, the Financial Times reports. The move comes after President Trump tightened chip export controls in a move that exacerbated trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economies.
Trump says he may 'have to force' a rate cut
Trump called Fed chair Jay Powell a “numbskull” for not cutting interest rates and said the White House might “have to force something” if the central bank does not reduce borrowing costs. Trump did not specify what he meant by “force.”
Oil prices surge on Israel strikes
Crude oil futures jumped as much as 13% Thursday evening after Israel launched airstrikes against Iran, sparking worries about supply from the oil-rich Middle East. At risk is the oil supply from both Iran and other regional players that could be drawn into the conflict.
Meta invests $14.3 billion in Scale AI
Meta plans to invest $14.3 billion in the startup Scale AI, which works with data to train artificial intelligence systems, to add muscle to its AI division. Scale AI’s 28-year-old CEO Alexandr Wang will join Meta in a leadership role in what Meta is calling its Superintelligence lab.
The markets
S&P 500 futures sunk 1.2% before the opening bell this morning, falling below the 6,000 mark. The S&P 500 rose 0.4% yesterday. The index is up 2.8% YTD. Globally, investors were down on the Israel-Iran attack: All the major Asian indexes fell, with the Nikkei dropping 0.9%. The Stoxx Europe 600 was down 0.9% in early trading, while other European markets followed it down.
From the analysts
Convera on the weak USD: “A double hit of disappointing trade news and heightened Fed rate cut expectations fueled a broad-based selloff in the dollar this week. The greenback fell against all G10 currencies, with the Bloomberg Dollar Index sliding as much as 0.8% yesterday, one of its weakest levels in three years… Soft inflation data has reinforced expectations of further easing. Core CPI rose just 0.1% month-over-month, while PPI remained muted at +0.1% for May, pushing traders to price in additional rate cuts ahead of the Fed’s June 18 meeting. Despite this, the dollar still holds a yield advantage against its peers, leading some to argue that the sharp decline may be overdone. However, we suspect that recent speculations over the next Fed chair have likely amplified the bearish move. Whether Bessent or another Trump appointee takes the helm, a more dovish stance seems inevitable, reinforcing the case that downward pressure on the dollar could prove more lasting than anticipated,” per Antonio Ruggiero.
UBS on Fed rate cuts: “US consumer price inflation in May came out softer than expected, with both the headline and core measures of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rising 0.1% month over month. Core services inflation, which excludes energy prices, continues to trend lower, helped by moderating shelter inflation. But we expect to see more noticeable price increases in the months ahead as inventories built before the new tariffs hit are used up and more of the cost is passed through into retail prices. While our base case is for the Fed to resume policy easing in September, our view remains that the US central bank will need to see weaker labor market data in order to do so. This means that further interest rate cuts could be delayed if payroll growth remains solid while tariffs are pushing up inflation,” per Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi et al.
Deutsche Bank on Israel attack and oil prices: “The news has led to significant fears about an escalation and a wider regional conflict. For instance, Iran’s armed forces spokesperson said that Israel and the US will receive a ‘harsh blow’ in response, and Iran’s Supreme Leader said Israel ‘should expect a severe punishment.’ In turn, oil prices have surged on the news, with Brent crude up +9.00% this morning to $75.60/bbl. If sustained, that would be the biggest daily jump in oil prices since May 2020, as the global economy was recovering from the Covid lockdowns. And that’s slightly down from the overnight peak, when prices reached $78.50/bbl,” per Jim Reid.
Around the watercooler
Xerox CEO Steve Bandrowczak on what no one tells you about the top job by Lily Mae Lazarus
This Cognizant executive says the $37 billion company is abandoning hierarchy and adopting a culture of accepting failure by Emma Burleigh
Recharge weeks and ‘no-meeting Wednesdays’: How execs at BNY and Asana are balancing RTO policies with increasing flexibility by Sara Braun
GameStop shares plummet 20% as the video-game retailer announces new capital raise after first Bitcoin purchase by Catherine McGrath
OpenAI chairman reveals the rocket ship mantra from Google’s ex-CEO Eric Schmidt that has inspired his career by Preston Fore
CEO Daily is compiled and edited by Joey Abrams and Ian Mount.
