Interviewing Truck Drivers at a Crossroads

US STOCKS-Wall St extends gains as defense, tech stocks rise

Wall Street extended gains in early afternoon trading on Monday, boosted by technology shares and as defense companies rose after the United States and Saudi Arabia signed a multi-billion dollar arms deal. President Donald Trump visited Saudi Arabia over the weekend and sealed $110 billion in deals through which Riyadh will buy U.S. arms to help it counter Iran, with options running as high as $350 billion over 10 years. Shares of defense firms General Dynamics, Raytheon , and Lockheed Martin all hit record highs before easing to trade up between 0.6 percent and 1.6 percent.

Flynn to invoke 5th Amendment, AP has learned

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, will invoke his constitutional right against self-incrimination on Monday and decline to hand over documents sought under subpoena by a Senate panel investigating Russia's meddling in the 2016 election, The Associated Press has learned.

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Euro gains on Merkel comments, oil up on OPEC hopes

The euro surged to a more than six-month high on Monday after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was "too weak," while oil prices were bolstered by expectations that top exporters will extend supply curbs this week. A one-month high for oil futures on hopes of a supply cut by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries helped Asian shares to their best session in weeks. European shares struggled to maintain momentum, but the U.S. stock market gained, lifted by defense and tech stocks, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced arms deals of up to $350 billion with Saudi Arabia over the weekend.

Ford Replaces CEO Fields With Mobility Head Hackett

Photo of Jim Hackett courtesy of Ford.

Ford has replaced CEO Mark Fields with Jim Hackett, who has led its mobility business unit for the past year. Ford views Hackett as a "transformational business leader" as it seeks to boost profit amid investor pressure.

Fields, who is retiring, has led the company since July 1, 2014, when he succeeded Alan Mulally. Fields, 56, joined the company in 1989.

Hackett, 62, will take on the roles of CEO and president following more than a year as executive chairman of Ford Smart Mobility. He began leading that business unit in March of 2016. He reports to executive chairman Bill Ford.

Earlier in his career, Hackett served as the CEO of Steelcase and interim athletic director of the University of Michigan.

"Jim Hackett is the right CEO to lead Ford during this transformative period for the auto industry and the broader mobility space," said Bill Ford. "He's a true visionary who brings a unique, human-centered leadership approach to our culture, products and services that will unlock the potential of our people and our business."

In related news, Ford named three executive vice presidents who will report to Hackett, including Jim Farley as president of global markets; Joe Hinrichs, president of global operations; and Marcy Klevorn, president of mobility. The appointments are effective June 1.

Ford announced two other appointments, including Mark Truby as vice president of communications and Paul Bellow as global chief data and analytics officer.

Related: Ford Discusses Commercial Fleet Outlook

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Wall St. gains as defense, tech stocks rise

President Donald Trump visited Saudi Arabia over the weekend and sealed $110 billion in deals in which Riyadh will buy U.S. arms to help it counter Iran, with options running as high as $350 billion over 10 years. Shares of defense firms such as General Dynamics (GD.N), Raytheon (RTN.N), Boeing (BA.N) and Lockheed Martin (LMT.N) were up between 1 percent and 2.2 percent.