Welcome to Markets Desk, here's what's moving the needle this afternoon.
Ground beef prices are up twenty percent year over year, and the pressure isn't letting up. A screwworm outbreak that began in Mexico has now crossed into the United States, compounding an already strained cattle herd that has shrunk to levels last seen in the nineteen fifties. With a trade deadline looming July first, analysts warn further price spikes are likely heading into the back half of summer.
Shifting to energy, Big Oil is pulling back from renewables, and the reasoning is straightforward: shareholder returns. Majors are prioritizing capital discipline over green transition commitments, not because they've abandoned the energy shift entirely, but because project economics on renewables haven't penciled out the way investors demand. Expect that capital to rotate back toward legacy production assets.
And on the streaming front, Netflix is down seventeen percent after reports confirmed the company was outbid for a second major acquisition target, following its failed pursuit of a Warner Bros. deal. The pattern is raising questions about Netflix's M-and-A strategy and whether management can execute meaningful consolidation, or whether the stock's premium valuation is beginning to look harder to justify.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
