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The entrance of US Steel’s Great Lakes Steel Plant (Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)
nerves of steel

Cleveland-Cliffs CEO vows vengeance on Nippon Steel’s leader as he brazenly vies to buy US Steel

Lourenco Goncalves is taking another run at a big purchase.

Luke Kawa

Cleveland-Cliffs is poised to make another attempt at purchasing US Steel after US President Joe Biden kiboshed the acquisition of the Pittsburgh-based miner by Japan’s Nippon Steel.

Lourenco Goncalves, CEO of Cleveland-Cliffs, made this clear at an event in Pennsylvania on the heels of media reports suggesting a joint bid along with Nucor would be in the offing.

Shares of US Steel were up as much as 10% on the day, with Cleveland-Cliffs gaining nearly 6% at its peak.

US Steel had opted to accept Nippon’s offer rather than a bid made by Cleveland-Cliffs in part because it thought the Japanese firm would be more likely to gain approval amid antitrust concerns. In the wake of the scuttled deal, Nippon has sued not only the Biden administration but also Cleveland-Cliffs and its CEO, alleging that they are part of an “unlawful campaign to monopolize critical steel markets.”

Goncalves is a seasoned vet with a strong track record as an operator in the mining space. He is also, as you can see (thanks to Axios’ Dan Primack), a walking quote machine:

Some other Bloomberg headlines from the Pennsylvania event where Goncalves is speaking:

  • *CLEVELAND-CLIFFS CEO SAYS HELL GO AFTER NIPPON STEEL CEO

  • *CLIFFS PURCHASE OF US STEEL IS A CASE OF WHEN NOT IF: CEO

  • *CLIFFS CEO SAYS HED RENAME COMPANY US STEEL IF DEAL GETS DONE

(If you search #Goncalvesing on X, you will be treated to a list of the CEO’s most colorful comments throughout the years compiled mostly by myself and Bespoke Investment Group strategist George Pearkes, which range from “off-piste” to “not suitable to be repeated in polite company.”)

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Stock climb on US-Iran peace deal; semiconductors rally

This morning, President Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the war.

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Intel surges after Trump announces US chip deal with Apple

Intel is soaring in early trading after President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that Apple has agreed to work with the semiconductor giant to design and manufacture its chips domestically.

President Trump positioned the agreement as the latest victory for his administration’s industrial policy after the federal government acquired a 9.9% equity stake in Intel last year.

"Stupid Presidents took our Economy for granted, and let Taiwan and others steal our Semiconductor Factories," Trump wrote in the post. "We design everything, but we need to BUILD it here, NOW! So I decided to help Intel because we need to design and build our Chips right here in America... and, finally, Apple has agreed to work with Intel to design and build its Chips in America."

Intel reportedly reached a preliminary agreement back in May to manufacture chips for the Apple, which has been facing supply constraints for its iPhone as well other products. The deal could help Apple reduce its reliance on longtime partner TSMC by bringing more of its chip manufacturing stateside.

"This partnership helps Apple with chip development and manufacturing on US soil with greater focus on reducing dependence on Asian manufacturing facilities." Wedbush's Dan Ives commented in a company report. He has a $400 price target for Apple this year.

The timing aligns with Intel's technical roadmap. Earlier this week, Intel confirmed that its advanced, performance-boosted 18A-P process node officially entered its risk production phase. This move serves as a blueprint for both Intel chips and processors the company plans to build for foundry customers.

“The current capacity crunch is probably emboldening customers to give Intel a harder look at this stage than perhaps they might ordinarily be inclined to do as the prospect of more advanced capacity will take on higher value in a constrained environment,” wrote Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon. “We are sure that Trump’s encouragement is at least not going to hurt though.”

Momentum was built around Intel Foundry services as surging global AI demand continuously outpaced capacity. Earlier this month, Google reportedly placed an order with Intel to manufacture more than 3 million of its increasingly popular tensor processing unit chips in 2028. According to the report, Nvidia is also testing to see if Intel could manufacture its next-gen Feynman chips.

markets

Stocks rise after US, Iran sign peace plan

Stocks rose Thursday morning after President Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the war, in another sign that a months-long war that caused energy prices to spike could be coming to an end.

Trump signed the MOU before a dinner in Versailles, France on Wednesday evening. The president previously announced that a deal had been reached on Sunday evening, saying that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz would resume and that the US naval blockade would be lifted.

The deal comes after both sides exchanged attacks last week, escalating tensions to some of the highest levels since the US and Israel struck Iran in late February.

The price of Brent Crude ticked even lower after dropping on Sunday, sitting at about $76 a barrel. Oil giants like Shell, Chevron and Exxon fell on the news, as average gas prices in the US dropped below $4 for the first time in months.

Futures for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose 0.9% and 1.5%, respectively. Last week, inflation readings for May showed both wholesale inflation and consumer prices rose in large part because of higher energy costs.

Signs of the peace deal have also lead to buying of momentum stocks this week. iShares MSCI USA Momentum Factor ETFrose another 1.46% in premarket trading.

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