GoKawiilThis is CNBC's Morning Squawk newsletter. Subscribe here to receive future editions in your inbox. Happy Tuesday. President Donald Trump will join CNBC's "Squawk Box" for a live interview at 8:30 a.m. ET this morning. Watch live on CNBC or CNBC+. Stock futures are rising after a down day on Wall Street. Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:
1. Planting the seeds
Tim Cook and John Ternus at Apple Park. Courtesy: Apple
Apple had a surprise announcement last night: John Ternus, the company's hardware chief, will replace CEO Tim Cook in September. Cook will move to the role of executive chairman. Investors told CNBC that they were shocked by the announcement but saw Apple's decision to tap a hardware-focused executive as a positive sign. As CNBC's Jennifer Elias notes, Ternus inherits Apple's artificial intelligence problem: Wall Street broadly views Apple as lagging its megacap peers in AI. Making up that gap will be a defining challenge for the company's new chief. Apple shares ticked lower in extended trading, putting the iPhone maker's modest 2026 gain at risk. The company's stock has soared more than 1,930% since Cook took the helm from Steve Jobs in 2011.
2. Warsh in Washington
Kevin Warsh, former governor of the US Federal Reserve, during the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Spring meetings at the IMF headquarters in Washington, DC, U.S., on Friday, April 25, 2025. Tierney L. Cross | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Speaking of succession, it's Kevin Warsh's big day in Washington, D.C. Trump's nominee to replace Jerome Powell as the chair of the Federal Reserve will face the Senate Banking Committee for his confirmation hearing this morning. Here's what to know: In remarks released ahead of the hearing, Warsh said the Fed should remain independent from political influence — with some qualifiers.
He added that the Fed "must stay in its lane" and avoid moving into fiscal or social policy: "Simply stated, Fed independence is largely up to the Fed."
Warsh will have to walk a fine line between supporting Trump's push for lower interest rates and showing that he would not be influenced by political pressure in setting monetary policy.
At this morning's hearing, the former Fed governor will likely face questions over his connections to Silicon Valley and his wealth.
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