IN THE NEWS TODAY
Less than 24 hours after Merck (MRK) CEO Ken Frazier on Monday morning quit President Donald Trump's manufacturing council, Intel (INTC) CEO Brian Krzanich and Under Armour (UAA) CEO Kevin Plank followed suit as outrage grew over the deadly white supremacist violence in Charlottesville over the weekend and the president's initial comments. (CNBC)
* Outraged in private, many CEOs fear Trump's wrath (NY Times)
* NYC protesters to Trump: 'You have blood on your hands' (CNBC)
* North Carolina protesters pull down Confederate statue (USA Today)
* Obama's Charlottesville tweet one of the most liked ever (USA Today)
Short-lived White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci said if it were up to him, top White House advisor Steve Bannon would be gone. The controversial Bannon formerly ran the Breitbart website, once calling it a "platform for the alt-right." (NBC News & NY Times)
After ordering a sweeping review of Chinese trade practices, President Trump plans to sign an executive order on the environmental review and permitting of infrastructure projects. (USA Today)
Apple (AAPL) is gearing up to release next month a new Apple Watch that won't require tethering to an iPhone for key functions such as calls, making it a standalone device, a source said. Apple already announced plans to release watchOS 4 in September. (CNBC)
* Apple and Aetna hold secret meetings to bring Apple Watch to millions of Aetna customers (CNBC)
U.S. hedge fund managers were generally bearish on high-flying Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google-parent Alphabet, with eight such investors in aggregate cutting or liquidating 18 stakes, the latest regulatory filings showed. (Reuters)
STOCKS TO WATCH
Synchrony Financial (SYF) was among the stocks added by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A), according its latest SEC filing. Berkshire shed its stake in General Electric (GE), Synchrony's former parent.
David Tepper's Appaloosa took huge positions in pharmaceuticals during last year's fourth quarter. But in the second quarter of 2017, filings show Appaloosa eliminated stakes in Mylan, Teva, and Pfizer.
Pandora Media (P) named SlingTV founder Roger Lynch as its new CEO. The streaming music service also named Snap (SNAP) chairman Michael Lynton as a board member. Pandora CFO Naveen Chopra had been serving as interim CEO following the departure of co-founder Tim Westergren.
Jana Partners, the activist hedge fund whose investment in Whole Foods (WFM) catalyzed the natural grocer's takeover by Amazon (AMZN), has taken a 2 percent stake in meal-kit maker and recent IPO Blue Apron (APRN).
Cantor Fitzgerald is upgrading Snap (SNAP) to overweight from neutral, while maintaining a $15 per share price target, saying the bulk of the IPO lockups have now expired. The Snapchat-parent closed Monday at $12.60 per share.
GoPro (GPRO) is being upgraded to neutral from sell at Goldman Sachs, which also increased its price target to $10 per share from $6.75. Goldman points to the upcoming launch of the new HERO 6 camera. GoPro closed Monday at $9.74 per share.
Costco (COST) owes Tiffany (TIF) at least $19.4 million in damages over the sale of counterfeit Tiffany diamond engagement rings, according to a federal judge's ruling. The warehouse retailer said the judge's ruling contained multiple errors and that it would appeal.