Your morning briefing, the business news you need in just 15 minutes.

On today's podcast:

(1) Boris Johnson made an unexpected campaign appearance on Tuesday night to urge Conservative voters to deny Labour a landslide victory at the UK general election, a last throw of the dice by Rishi Sunak's Tories to try to prevent huge losses that are expected at Thursday's vote.

(2) The last time the Labour party took over from the Conservatives, it shocked markets by surrendering control of UK interest rates to a newly-independent Bank of England in its first days on the job.

(3) Marine Le Pen's National Rally is trying to outmaneuver rivals that are pulling out well-worn tricks to keep the far-right out of power in the final round of legislative elections on Sunday.

(4) President Joe Biden blamed travel plans that took him to France and Italy in the weeks ahead of his disastrous debate against Donald Trump for his poor performance on stage, seeking to explain a moment that has upended the 2024 race and imperiled his re-election prospects.

(5) For the first time in its history, the S&P 500 closed above 5,500 on Tuesday to extend a blistering 2024 rally that's left analysts scrambling to update their targets.