Consumer gloom is not quite at historic levels — but it’s awfully close. Households are worried about inflation, about their own pressured finances as incomes and purchasing power weakens. They’re worried about tariffs. The University of Michigan’s preliminary May reading on consumer sentiment, released Friday...
The headline number from the Consumer Price Index released Tuesday (May 13) by the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that inflation grew at its slowest pace in more than four years. However, the puts and takes indicated that key spending categories, such as shelter, are...
Economically, it’s starting to feel like the height of the pandemic. Consumers in the United States, warily eyeing the impact of the President Donald Trump administration’s global trade war, are increasingly worried about higher prices on everything from Mexican avocados to China-made iPhones. Shoppers expect...
SoftBank’s lofty artificial intelligence ambitions are reportedly colliding with the harsh reality of tariffs. The Japanese conglomerate’s plan to invest $100 billion in AI infrastructure in the United States has slowed, Bloomberg reported Monday (May 12), as risks related to White House tariffs have hindered...
On Tuesday (May 13), we may see what could arguably be the calm before a stormy sea of inflation driven by volatile tariffs. The Consumer Price Index inflation reading from the Bureau of Labor Statistics is estimated by economists and a broad range of financial...
The European Union (EU) is threatening to tariff American car exports if trade negotiations fail. As the Financial Times (FT) reported on Thursday (May 8), the tariffs on 95 billion euros ($107 billion) of exports, including cars and vehicle parts, would likely take effect in...
President Donald Trump’s idea to place tariffs on movies produced overseas has reportedly shaken studios. As The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Monday (May 5), the president’s planned 100% tariffs on such productions drove down share prices for companies like Disney and Netflix, even though it’s not clear how...
Warren E. Buffett’s recent announcement that he will retire as chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway at year-end ended one of the longest, most closely watched tenures in corporate America. The 94-year-old investor’s decision, disclosed May 3, set off a flood of tributes, along with fresh...
A new report from Fiserv shows a resilient, though far more cautious, American consumer. The April edition of the payments and financial services company’s Small Business Index, published Monday (May 5), shows consumers are spending more on essentials while scaling back discretionary purchases, and spending less on restaurants....