Top regulator Cliff steps down, returning to CARB

Steven Cliff is stepping down as the leader of the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration less than three months after he assumed the role with the autosafety regulator.

Cliff will become executive officer of the California Air Resources Board on Sept. 12, according to a statement Friday. The move marks a return to the state agency, where he previously served four years as deputy executive officer.

Cliff was confirmed by the Senate as NHTSA’S administrator on May 26, making him its first full-time chief since 2017. He had served as the interim head since January 2021.

Ann Carlson, NHTSA’S chief counsel, will take on Cliff’s duties when he steps down, according to a statement from Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. He thanked Cliff for “his work to protect the lives of the American people by strengthening the safety of motor vehicles and reducing their emissions.”

The California regulator has been at the vanguard of clean-air policies for decades, often setting emissions rules that are tougher than federal limits and which are also adopted by other states. Cliff will assume his role after the state board on Aug. 25 considers whether to adopt new rules that will effectively phase out the sale of new internal combustion vehicles in the state by 2035.

Mental health app maker Calm to lay off workers

The meditation app maker Calm in San Francisco is laying off 20% of its about 400-person staff, the company said Thursday.

Calm’s chief executive officer, David Ko, wrote in a memo to employees, “It is especially difficult for a company like ours whose mission is focused on workplace mental health and wellness.”

He said the company would hold “a more in-depth discussion on the future of the business” for remaining staffers.

Calm, which raised money at a $2 billion valuation in 2020, reigned as the No. 1 stress-reduction app for at least the last three years through May, according to Data.ai, a mobile analytics firm. The job cuts were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Markets push winning streak to fourth week

Wall Street capped a choppy week of trading with a broad stock market rally Friday as the S&P 500 notched its fourth consecutive weekly gain.

Technology stocks drove much the rally. Crude oil prices fell and bond yields were mixed.

The S&P 500 rose 72.88 points to 4,280.15, while the Dow gained 424.38 points to 33,761.05. The Nasdaq added 267.27 points to 13,047.19. The Russell 2000 rose 41.36 points to 2,016.62.

About 95% of the stocks in the S&P 500 rose, with technology companies driving much of the rally. Chipmaker Nvidia rose 4.3%.

The central bank has been raising interest rates in the hopes of slowing the economy and cooling the hottest inflation in four decades, but investors are worried that it could hit the brakes too aggressively and steer the economy into a recession.

Friday, a survey by the University of Michigan showed that consumer sentiment is stronger than economists expected. Still, inflation remains painfully high. That means the Fed is likely to remain on course with its rate hikes until it is certain that prices have peaked and are easing.

The Fed’s last two increases were by 0.75 percentage points. Traders now see about a 60% chance that the central bank will raise overnight interest rates by half a percentage point at its next meeting.

“The market’s strength is based on the assumption that inflation peaked and the Fed can relax, but that may be a bit too complacent,” said Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 2.84% from 2.88% late Thursday.