Markets
What happened? Yesterday in a CBS interview, Elon Musk criticized the "big beautiful" tax bill that was just passed by the House and is due to be voted on in the Senate. This is the first time he openly speaks out against the current administration. In addition, three
Geopolitics
What happened? Yesterday, the U.S. administration revoked Harvard's certification to enroll international students. This move is intended to put financial pressure on the prestigious university, as 27% of its students are from overseas and often pay full tuition. Although a California court temporarily blocked the anti-immigration measure,
Markets
What happened? This morning, the House of Representatives passed the "Big Beautiful" tax bill by a one-vote majority. The Senate will consider it in the coming weeks and then turn it into law. In response, bond markets experienced another selloff, pushing the 30-year real rate to multi-decade highs.
Markets
What happened? Google released a host of new AI tools at its IO day. These tools represent a significant leap in capability, with the video generation tool, Flow, being the most impressive. As the video below demonstrates, Flow can now generate videos that are nearly indistinguishable from real images. Why
Markets
What happened? During yesterday's trading session, US retail investors placed a record number of orders as stocks dipped slightly due to Moody's downgrade of US debt. This follows a multi-week buying streak amid the market sell-off caused by tariffs. Meanwhile, institutional investors largely sold, only to
Markets
What happened? In a Sunday CNBC interview, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expressed support for the "big and beautiful" tax bill. He described economic growth as a means of reducing the current sky-high budget deficit and government debt levels. This stance contrasts sharply with the beginning of the year,
Markets
What happened? Yesterday's producer price data for April provided an early indication of the potential impact of tariffs on future economic activity. Overall, producer prices fell more than at any time since the early days of the pandemic. Although prices for goods increased slightly due to tariffs, this
Markets
What happened? The House Ways and Means Committee has released a draft of Trump's "big and beautiful" tax bill. It will now be reviewed by both House and Senate and soon voted on. Aside of extending the 2016 tax cuts from Trump's first term,
Markets
What happened? Trump made good on his words and invoked emergency powers late last night to see the 25% tariffs on most imports from Canada and Mexico go live, plus a 10% levy on Chinese goods, bypassing Congress. He did so via executive order, bypassing Congress, which he justified by