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(Reuters) -A group of Tesla shareholders including SOC Investment Group and several state officials urged investors to vote against Elon Musk's $1 trillion pay package at the company's November meeting, a regulatory filing showed on Thursday. In the letter to Tesla shareholders, the coalition – which also includes state treasurers of Nevada, New Mexico and Connecticut – called on investors to oppose the re-election of directors Ira Ehrenpreis, Joe Gebbia and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson. The group cited what it called the board's "relentless pursuit" of retaining Musk, saying it has delayed progress on key goals set at the last annual meeting, and pointed to declining operational and financial performance and a "failure to provide meaningful real-time oversight of management." Despite reporting record quarterly deliveries on Thursday, Tesla faces worries that the expiration of the U.S. EV tax credit could turn the buying rush into a trickle. Last month, Tesla's board proposed a $1 trillion compensation plan for CEO Elon Musk in what it described as the largest corporate pay package in history, setting ambitious performance targets and aiming to address his push for greater control over the company. Among the state officials opposing the package is New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, a longtime critic of Tesla's board and its oversight of Elon Musk. Although the city's pension funds are not among top shareholders of Tesla and other large companies, Lander and his staff have often been involved in reform campaigns that focus debates at annual meetings. His term as Comptroller ends Jan. 1, 2026. In response to Thursday's letter, Tesla said in a post on X that the performance incentive plan aligns Musk's compensation with shareholder value creation "of trillions of dollars." "If Elon Musk doesn’t deliver results, he receives nothing," the company said. (Reporting by Aatreyee Dasgupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)

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(Reuters) -A UnitedHealth shareholder proposed on Friday that the healthcare group should adopt a policy to require an independent board chair, a role now held by CEO Stephen Hemsley. The Accountability Board, a nonprofit advocacy group and UnitedHealth's shareholder, said the current structure would decrease the board's "checks and balances by consolidating power." Hemsley took the CEO job after his predecessor Andrew Witty resigned abruptly in May. Hemsley served as the board chair since 2017. "Now, a single person holds both roles — which is as far as it gets from the independent oversight shareholders so critically need," the proposal says. Matt Prescott, president of the Accountability Board, declined to disclose its stake in UnitedHealth but said it has at least $25,000 in the company for the past year. This comes as the largest U.S. health insurer is trying to regain the confidence of shareholders. Once hailed as a reliable earnings performer, UnitedHealth missed Wall Street's earnings target for two straight quarters this year, and was forced to pull back its 2025 outlook in May due to soaring medical costs and shortfalls in its government-backed plans. In the last two years, UnitedHealth has also dealt with a cyberattack at its technology unit that served as a major backbone in the U.S. healthcare system, the murder of its insurance unit chief in December, and a federal investigation into its government-backed health plans. (Reporting by Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)

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(Corrects currency conversion in paragraph 2 to $374 million, not billion) By Luciana Magalhaes and Leticia Fucuchima SAO PAULO (Reuters) -J&F Investimentos SA, the holding company owned by Brazil's billionaire Batista brothers, is in talks to acquire French utility EDF's Rio de Janeiro thermal plant, according to two people familiar with the matter. The deal, which could fetch up to 2 billion reais ($374 million) according to one of the sources, has also drawn interest from other bidders, they added. One of the sources noted that the asset sale, coordinated by Bank of America, is still in its early stages and J&F has not yet made a binding offer. J&F and Bank of America declined to comment. EDF did not immediately respond to a request for comment. J&F, which also owns meatpacker JBS, has been expanding its reach in the energy sector through its subsidiary Ambar Energia. The holding company separately made an offer this week to buy Roraima Energia, a power distribution company in the northern Brazilian state owned by the Oliveira Energia group. (Reporting by Luciana Magalhaes and Leticia FucuchimaEditing by Brad Haynes and Chizu Nomiyama )

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SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Japanese carmaker Toyota is set to resume vehicle production at two Brazilian plants, both in Sao Paulo state, after damages from heavy rain and winds halted operations last month, the company said on Friday. In a statement, Toyota added it still has no forecast for resuming operations at its Porto Feliz plant, as the firm is still assessing the destruction caused by the weather conditions. (Reporting by Andre Romani; Writing by Fernando Cardoso; Editing by Kylie Madry)

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SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Japanese carmaker Toyota is set to resume vehicle production at two Brazilian plants, both in Sao Paulo state, after damages from heavy rain and winds halted operations last month, the company said on Friday. In a statement, Toyota added it still has no forecast for resuming operations at its Porto Feliz plant, as the firm is still assessing the destruction caused by the weather conditions. (Reporting by Andre Romani; Writing by Fernando Cardoso; Editing by Kylie Madry)

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NEW YORK (Reuters) -The Dow and S&P 500 registered record closing highs on Friday even as the U.S. government shutdown went on for a third day, with interest rate-cut expectations improving as the U.S. government shutdown went on for a third day, while the Nasdaq eased. Shares of big tech-related names mostly fell. Shares of Applied Materials were down after the chip-equipment maker late Thursday forecast a $600 million hit to fiscal 2026 revenue. Shares of Tesla also were lower, while the S&P 500 utilities gained. The U.S. government shutdown dragged on for a third day. Investors were still able to digest a survey by the Institute for Supply Management, which showed the services employment index contracted for the fourth consecutive month. The news underscored the case for more interest rate cuts from the Fed. "It certainly feels like momentum is on the side of investors over the last few days," said Mona Mahajan, head of investment strategy at Edward Jones. It seems like "the market probability of a Fed rate cut has actually gone up since the shutdown began," she said. "Maybe that's because there's the potential impact on the economy or some weaker jobs data this week or this morning's ISM data… the expectation is we're still in this environment where the Fed is going to cut rates." The market has historically been mostly unaffected by shutdowns but some strategists said that a longer shutdown could create more uncertainty for investors and for Federal Reserve policymakers. According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained 0.47 points, or 0.01%, to end at 6,715.82 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 63.19 points, or 0.28%, to 22,780.86. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 242.00 points, or 0.52%, to 46,761.72. "The market generally looks past government shutdowns because they don't usually last long and they don't have a longer-term negative impact on the economy," said Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial in Troy, Michigan. "But the longer it goes… it means the data collection for really important reports could get delayed, or it could cloud some of the data that we will eventually get because the data collection wasn't happening over an extended period." Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said he was hesitant to commit to a series of rate cuts with inflation still running above the target.  Shares of USA Rare Earth rose after CEO Barbara Humpton told CNBC the company was "in close communication" with the White House. (Additional reporting by Niket Nishant and Sukriti Gupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri, Pooja Desai and Aurora Ellis)

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By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump is considering significant tariff relief for U.S. auto production that could effectively eliminate much of the costs major car companies are paying, Republican Senator Bernie Moreno and auto officials told Reuters on Friday. "The signal to the car companies around the world is look, you have final assembly in the U.S.: we're going to reward you," Moreno said in an interview. "For Ford, for Toyota, for Honda, for Tesla, for GM, those are the almost in order the top five domestic content vehicle producers – they'll be immune to tariffs." Moreno, a former car dealer, serves on the Senate Commerce Committee that oversees auto issues and is active in automotive policy matters. Automakers' shares rose on the news first reported by Reuters. The Commerce Department said in June that it planned an import adjustment offset equal to 3.75% of the suggested retail price for eligible U.S. assembled vehicles through April 2026 and then a second year at 2.5% to address tariffs from imported automobile parts. Trump is considering keeping the offset at 3.75% and extending the length of the credit to five years, and expanding the offset to U.S. engine production, Moreno and auto officials said. Moreno said he thinks Trump will make a final decision soon. "It's obviously up to the president, but (I'm) absolutely thrilled that we're creating now an incentive system that really separates these importer only versus the ones that are manufacturing in America." Moreno added automakers with significant final production in the United States should get tariff breaks: "Look, at the end of the day, they're doing exactly we want them to do – paying employees in America well and doing final assembly in the United States with the cars that they sell here." Asked for comment on the proposal, a White House official told Reuters that Trump and the administration "are committed to a nuanced and multi-faceted approach to securing domestic auto and auto parts production. Until any official action is signed by the president, however, any discussion about administration policymaking is speculative." In May, Trump imposed 25% auto tariffs on more than $460 billion worth of imports of vehicles and auto parts annually, but has since struck deals to reduce those tariffs on some countries including Japan, the United Kingdom and the European Union. The Commerce Department said in August that it was hiking steel and aluminum tariffs on more than 400 products including numerous auto parts totaling $240 billion in annual imports. The parts include automotive exhaust systems and electrical steel needed for electric vehicles as well as components for buses. The automakers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. One open question is whether the automakers will be able to apply the relief to the impact of aluminum and steel tariffs. GM said earlier this year the company will face up to $5 billion in gross tariff-related costs this year, while Ford cited a $3 billion gross hit. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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Minnesota power regulators on Friday approved a $6.2 billion plan for a BlackRock unit and Canada Pension Plan to buy utility Allete, parent of Minnesota Power, saying recent modifications by the parties should address concerns about rates and clean-power investments. The outcome of a meeting of the Minnesota Public Utility Commission, which was webcast, may reassure investors that BlackRock will be able to address regulatory and antitrust concerns as its Global Infrastructure Partners unit, which it bought last year, presses to buy other utilities. (Reporting by Ross Kerber)

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By Mike Stone WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The much-needed modernization of the U.S. Army's battlefield communications network being undertaken by Anduril, Palantir and others is rife with "fundamental security" problems and vulnerabilities, and should be treated as a "very high risk," according to a recent internal Army memo. The two Silicon Valley companies, led by allies of U.S. President Donald Trump, have gained access to the Pentagon's lucrative flow of contracts on the promise of quickly providing less expensive and more sophisticated weapons than the Pentagon's longstanding arms providers.   Military drone and software maker Anduril boasted it had a prototype of the NGC2 communications platform working during a battlefield test just eight weeks after winning the contract award. But the September 5 memo provides fodder for critics who argue that Silicon Valley’s move-fast-break-things ethos may not be the best approach for vital military equipment.  The memo from the Army's chief technology officer about the NGC2 platform that connects soldiers, sensors, vehicles and commanders with real-time data paints a bleak security picture of the initial product. "We cannot control who sees what, we cannot see what users are doing, and we cannot verify that the software itself is secure," the memo says. Those concerns have been addressed already as part of the "normal process" of development, Anduril said. "The recent report reflects an outdated snapshot, not the current state of the program," the company said in a statement emailed to Reuters.  A Palantir spokesperson said "No vulnerabilities were found in the Palantir platform." However the Army internal memo written by Gabriele Chiulli, the Army chief technology officer authorizing official on the NGC2 prototype, said "given the current security posture of the platform and the hosted 3rd party applications the likelihood of an adversary gaining persistent undetectable access to the platform requires the system be treated as very high risk." Palantir stock was down more than 7% in afternoon trading on Friday. Anduril is not publicly traded, but company founder Palmer Luckey has said a public offering is planned. A September 30 article on Anduril’s website touted the NGC2 system’s performance during a live-fire exercise in Fort Carson, Colorado: "Soldiers fired 26 live missions with M777 howitzers on Fort Carson's live-fire ranges, running AXS side-by-side with legacy crews. The contrast was visible: one team struggling with delays, the other firing digitally in seconds." Despite the September 5 memo's critique, Leonel Garciga, Army chief information officer and Chiulli's supervisor, said in a statement to Reuters this week that the September 5 report was part of a process that helped in "triaging cybersecurity vulnerabilities" and mitigating them.  But the Army CTO's assessment, seen by Reuters and first reported by Breaking Defense, comes just months after Anduril was awarded a $100 million contract to create a prototype of NGC2 with partners including Palantir, Microsoft and several smaller contractors. The memo said the system allows any authorized user to access all applications and data regardless of their clearance level or operational need. As a result, "Any user can potentially access and misuse sensitive" classified information, the memo states, with no logging to track their actions. Other deficiencies highlighted in the memo include the hosting of third-party applications that have not undergone Army security assessments. One application revealed 25 high-severity code vulnerabilities. Three additional applications under review each contain over 200 vulnerabilities requiring assessment, according to the document. Palantir and Anduril are leading a new wave of defense firms aiming to transform the U.S. military with cutting-edge technologies, including drones, artificial intelligence, and autonomous systems. Palantir, a data analytics firm known for its work with intelligence agencies, and Anduril, which develops drones and battlefield software, have seen their valuations surge under Trump’s presidency, as Washington increasingly turns to Silicon Valley-style innovation to counter rising threats. Anduril recently signed a $159 million deal for an initial prototyping period to develop a night vision and mixed reality system as part of the Soldier Borne Mission Command (formerly IVAS Next) program. Palantir signed an $480 million contract for Maven, an artificial intelligence tool that sifts through images and sensor data to provide battlefield analysis. (Reporting by Mike Stone; editing by Chris Sanders and Sergio Non)

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NEW YORK (Reuters) -The Dow and S&P 500 rose on Friday as interest rate-cut expectations held firm, while the Nasdaq eased, with big tech-related shares leading the way lower. Shares of Applied Materials were down 2.8%. The chip-equipment maker late Thursday forecast a $600 million hit to fiscal 2026 revenue after the U.S. expanded its restricted export list in a blow to certain sectors, including semiconductors. Among mega-cap names, shares of Nvidia were down 1.6%, while shares of Tesla were down 3.3%. The S&P 500 utilities gained more than 1%. The U.S. government shutdown dragged on for a third day. Investors were still able to digest a survey by the Institute for Supply Management, which showed the services employment index contracted for the fourth consecutive month. The news underscored the case for more interest rate cuts from the Fed. The market has historically been mostly unaffected by shutdowns but some strategists said that a longer shutdown could create more uncertainty for investors and for Federal Reserve policy makers. "The market generally looks past government shutdowns because they don't usually last long and they don't have a longer-term negative impact on the economy," said Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial in Troy, Michigan. "But the longer it goes… it means the data collection for really important reports could get delayed, or it could cloud some of the data that we will eventually get because the data collection wasn't happening over an extended period." The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 352.67 points, or 0.76%, to 46,873.59, the S&P 500 gained 11.39 points, or 0.17%, to 6,726.74 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 52.64 points, or 0.23%, to 22,791.41. Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said he was hesitant to commit to a series of rate cuts with inflation still running above the target.  Shares of USA Rare Earth hit a record high and were last up 13.3% after CEO Barbara Humpton told CNBC the company was "in close communication" with the White House. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.89-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 596 new highs and 45 new lows on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, 2,820 stocks rose and 1,764 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.6-to-1 ratio. (Additional reporting by Niket Nishant and Sukriti Gupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri, Pooja Desai and Aurora Ellis)

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