Welcome to Seeking Alpha's Wall Street Breakfast, where we cover the top news for investors every morning.

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Today is Monday, November 17th. I'm Julie Morgan.

Apple is reportedly preparing for life after Tim Cook.

If you're looking for a tariff rebate check, Congress would first need to get on board, and a Freddie's franchisee is struggling.

Apple is reportedly ramping up CEO secession planning efforts as Tim Cook may step down as soon as next year.

This report is from the Financial Times, citing people familiar with discussions within

the company. The sources said John Turnus, Apple's senior vice president of hardware engineering,

is widely seen as Cook's potential successor, adding that no final decisions have been made.

While preparations for succession planning have accelerated, is unlikely

that the company will name a new CEO before its earnings report in late January. People close

to the company told the FT that the long-planned CEO transition is unrelated to Apple's current

performance. Cook took over as Apple's CEO in 2011 after co-founder Steve Jobs

resigned from the role. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that President Trump's proposal

to issue $2,000 tariff rebate checks to most Americans would require congressional approval.

Fox News Sunday morning futures asked

Bessent if Trump was going to send the tariff revenue sharing checks soon. He said,

we will see. We need legislation for that. He said the checks would go to working families and

that there would be an income limit. Eminem Custard LLC, one of the largest franchisees of Freddie's frozen custard and steak

burgers, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, placing the future of several locations in

doubt, even as the restaurants continue operating.

The company reported roughly $5 million in assets against $28 million in liabilities in its November 14th filing.

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