PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The $1 million-a-day voter sweepstakes that Elon Musk 's political action committee is hosting in swing states can continue through Tuesday’s presidential election, a Pennsylvania judge ruled Monday.
Common Pleas Court Judge Angelo Foglietta — ruling after Musk’s lawyers said the winners are paid spokespeople and not chosen by chance — did not immediately explain his reasoning.
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America PAC lawyer Chris Gober speaks with members of the media ahead of a hearing at a City Hall courtroom in Philadelphia, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner arrives for a hearing at a City Hall courtroom, in Philadelphia, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
America PAC lawyer Chris Gober speaks with members of the media ahead of a hearing at a City Hall courtroom in Philadelphia, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Elon Musk speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Elon Musk speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
District Attorney Larry Krasner, a Democrat, had called the process a scam “designed to actually influence a national election” and asked that it be shut down.
Musk lawyer Chris Gober said the final two recipients before Tuesday's presidential election will be in Arizona on Monday and Michigan on Tuesday.
“The $1 million recipients are not chosen by chance," Gober said Monday. “We know exactly who will be announced as the $1 million recipient today and tomorrow.”
Chris Young, the director and treasurer of America PAC, testified that the recipients are vetted ahead of time, to “feel out their personality, (and) make sure they were someone whose values aligned” with the group.
Musk’s lawyers, defending the effort, called it “core political speech” given that participants sign a petition endorsing the U.S. Constitution. They also said Krasner's bid to shut it down under Pennsylvania law was moot because there would be no more Pennsylvania winners before the program ends Tuesday.
Krasner believes the giveaways violates state election law and contradict what Musk promised when he announced them during an appearance with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump 's campaign in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 19: “We’re going to be awarding a million dollars randomly to people who have signed the petition every day from now until the election,” Musk vowed.
Young also acknowledged that the PAC made the recipients sign nondisclosure agreements.
“They couldn’t really reveal the truth about how they got the money, right?” Summers asked.
“Sounds right,” Young said.
In an Oct. 20 social media post shown in court, Musk said anyone signing the petition had “a daily chance of winning $1M!”
Summers grilled him on Musk's use of both the words “chance” and “randomly," prompting Young to concede the latter was not “the word I would have selected.”
Young said the winners knew they would be called on stage but not specifically that they would win the money.
Musk did not attend the hearing. He has committed more than $70 million to the super PAC to help Trump and other Republicans win in November.
“This was all a political marketing masquerading as a lottery,” Krasner testified Monday. “That’s what it is. A grift.”
Lawyers for Musk and the PAC said they do not plan to extend the lottery beyond Tuesday. Krasner said the first three winners, starting on Oct. 19, came from Pennsylvania in the days leading up to the state's Oct. 21 voter registration deadline.
Other winners came from the battleground states of Wisconsin, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina and Michigan. It's not clear if anyone has yet received the money. The PAC pledged they would get it by Nov. 30, according to an exhibit shown in court.
More than 1 million people from the seven states have registered for the sweepstakes by signing a petition saying they support the right to free speech and to bear arms, the first two amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Krasner questioned how the PAC might use their data, which it will have on hand well past the election.
“They were scammed for their information,” Krasner said. “It has almost unlimited use.”
Krasner's team called Musk “the heartbeat of America PAC,” and the person announcing the winners and presenting the checks.
“He was the one who presented the checks, albeit large cardboard checks. We don’t really know if there are any real checks,” Summers said.
Foglietta presided over the case at Philadelphia City Hall after Musk and the PAC lost an effort to move it to federal court.
Krasner has said he could still consider criminal charges, as he’s tasked with protecting both lotteries and the integrity of elections.
Pennsylvania remains a key battleground state with 19 electoral votes and both Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris have repeatedly visited the state, including stops planned Monday in the final hours of the campaign.
Krasner — who noted that he has long driven a Tesla — said he could also seek civil damages for the Pennsylvania registrants. Musk is the CEO and largest shareholder of Tesla. He also owns the social media platform X, where America PAC has published posts on the sweepstakes, and the rocket ship maker SpaceX.
America PAC lawyer Chris Gober speaks with members of the media ahead of a hearing at a City Hall courtroom in Philadelphia, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner arrives for a hearing at a City Hall courtroom, in Philadelphia, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
America PAC lawyer Chris Gober speaks with members of the media ahead of a hearing at a City Hall courtroom in Philadelphia, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Elon Musk speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Elon Musk speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks drifted lower Monday ahead of a momentous week full of potential flashpoints in Washington, D.C., and around the world.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.3%, though it remains near its record set last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 257 points, or 0.6%, while the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.3%.
Intel fell 2.9%, and chemical producer Dow sank 2.1% in their first trading since getting notified they’ll no longer be included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway dropped 2.2% and was one of the heaviest weights on the market after reporting a drop in operating profit for the latest quarter.
But the majority of stocks within the S&P 500 rose, including a 2.8% gain for Fox after it reported a stronger profit than expected. That was despite increases in some costs, including for newsgathering at Fox News to cover this election cycle.
Election Day will arrive Tuesday, though its result may not be known for some time as officials count all the votes. That’s raised fears about the possibility of sharp swings around the world because markets infamously hate uncertainty.
History may be less foreboding. The broad U.S. stock market has historically gone on to rise regardless of which party wins the White House. And in 2020, U.S. stocks climbed immediately after Election Day and kept going even after former President Donald Trump refused to concede and challenged the results, creating plenty of uncertainty. A large part of that rally was due to excitement about the potential for a vaccine for COVID-19, which had just shut down the global economy.
“Bottom line – the US election is incredibly important, but the process is likely to be incredibly noisy,” according to Michael Zezas, a strategist at Morgan Stanley.
For markets, Zezas also points to how prices may have already moved ahead of expected outcomes from the election. A win for Trump this election could mean U.S. tariffs on Mexican imports, for example, which could hurt the value of the Mexican peso. But the peso has already fallen against the U.S. dollar in recent months, which could limit further moves if a Trump win were actually to happen.
A Trump victory would be less of a surprise to markets this time around than in 2016, when Treasury yields soared on expectations for tax cuts that could further inflate the nation’s debt or fuel a stronger U.S economy. Treasury yields have already climbed in recent weeks, in part due to rising expectations in some market corners for a Trump win, along with a spate of data showing the U.S. economy has remained stronger than feared.
On Monday, Treasury yields gave back a chunk of those gains. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.29% from 4.38% late Friday.
Another investment that’s become a barometer in the market for Trump’s perceived chances of victory swung sharply through the day. After veering between losses and gains through the morning, Trump Media & Technology Group ended up rising 12.4%.
The stock of the company behind Trump’s Truth Social platform had been ripping higher from a bottom in September, until it hit a wall last week and dropped at least 11% in three straight days.
In the oil market, the price for a barrel of U.S. crude rose 2.8% to $71.03 after Saudi Arabia and other oil producers said they would delay plans to increase the amount of crude they produced. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 2.7% to $75.08 for a barrel.
The price of Brent is still down for the year so far, in part because of worries about how much demand will come from China given its economic challenges.
The Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress is meeting this week, and analysts say the government may endorse major spending initiatives to boost economic growth amid troubles for the country’s real-estate industry.
Beyond that meeting and Election Day in the United States, this week will also feature the latest meeting of the Federal Reserve, where the widespread expectation is for it to cut its main interest rate for a second straight time.
The hope that’s propelled U.S. stock indexes to records recently is that the U.S. economy can remain resilient and avoid a long-feared recession, in part because of the coming cuts to rates expected from the Fed.
On Wall Street, Nvidia rose 0.5%, and Sherwin-Williams jumped 4.6% after learning they’ll be replacing Intel and the parent of the Dow chemical company in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Stocks fell in the nuclear power industry after U.S. regulators denied a request that would have sent more electricity to an Amazon data center from a Pennsylvania nuclear plant run by Talen Energy. Companies across the power industry have been making deals with data center operators to feed their growing need for more electricity, and Talen fell 2.2%.
All told, the S&P 500 fell 16.11 points to 5,712.69. The Dow dropped 257.59 to 41,794.60, and the Nasdaq composite lost 59.93 to 18,179.98.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mostly lower in Europe after rising in much of Asia.
AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
Trader Jonathan Mueller works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader Michael Milano, foreground, works with colleagues on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader Michael Capolino works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Trader Robert Chamak, left, and specialist James Denaro work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Specialist Stephen Naughton work at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Specialist Meric Greenbaum work at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Specialist Anthony Matesic works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
A screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024 shows a broadcast talking about Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
FILE - A sign marking Wall Street is shown near Trinity Church in New York's Financial District on Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
A food vendor's cart is parked across from the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)
Currency traders talk near the screen showing the foreign exchange rates at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Stock market today: Asian shares are mostly higher as China begins major economic meeting
Stock market today: Asian shares are mostly higher as China begins major economic meeting
A currency trader walks by the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
