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4 days ago | 
bloomberg.com | David E. Rovella
The European Union is preparing for another round of trade talks with the US, but it’s also warning that it may speed up retaliatory measures if President Donald Trump follows through on his latest threat: a 50% levy on steel and aluminum imports. The European Commission, which handles trade matters for the EU, said Monday it “strongly” regrets the tariff hike—up from an originally planned 25%—and said the move is undermining efforts to reach a solution to the trade conflict.
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1 week ago | 
bloomberg.com | David E. Rovella
More numbers came in Friday that show how the US economy slowed down last month. Consumers hit the brakes while goods imports plummeted by a record as companies adjusted to higher tariffs. Inflation-adjusted personal spending rose just 0.1% after rising 0.7% a month earlier, Bureau of Economic Analysis data showed. Separate data showed an almost 20% slump in imports. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve’s preferred price gauge remained tame.
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1 week ago | 
bloomberg.com | David E. Rovella
(Bloomberg) -- 7-Eleven convenience stores perfected their model in Japan, where diverse, fresh-food offerings attract locals and tourists alike. But the company, which had its start long ago in the US, has struggled to replicate that success elsewhere—particularly in the country where it was born. Now a new player believes it can do a better job at creating a global convenience store empire.
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1 week ago | 
bloomberg.com | David E. Rovella
It’s going to get worse. That’s the takeaway from traders already rattled by the rout in long-dated US Treasuries as yields continue to linger near the psychologically fraught 5% threshold. The US 30-year yield is currently hovering at 4.97% after having soared last week to 5.15%—the highest since October 2023. A JPMorgan survey released on Wednesday added emphasis to growing fears in the $29 trillion Treasury market.
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2 weeks ago | 
bloomberg.com | David E. Rovella
Payments by importers of US customs duties rose to a record $16.5 billion for goods received in April as the full weight of President Donald Trump’s tariffs came down on companies. But if the levies—currently the subject of lawsuits asserting they’re illegal—are upheld and continue at their present rate, the Republican’s pledge that they will pay for record GOP tax cuts will come up short.
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2 weeks ago | 
bloomberg.com | David E. Rovella
(Bloomberg) -- For decades, the oil-rich nations of the Middle East have amassed tremendous amounts of money—more than anyone could possibly spend. Much of it was funneled into sovereign wealth funds, strategic repositories of state-owned cash just waiting to be deployed. Now they are coming into play in a very public way as the world inexorably pivots away from fossil fuels. The very countries who have benefitted most from its sale are increasingly seeking to pivot.
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2 weeks ago | 
bloomberg.com | David E. Rovella
The European Union has shared a revised trade proposal with the US as it aims to inject momentum in talks with President Donald Trump’s administration amid lingering skepticism that a transatlantic deal can be reached. The new offer is said to include proposals that take into account US interests, including international labor rights, environmental standards, economic security and gradually reducing tariffs to zero on both sides for non-sensitive agricultural products as well as industrial goods.
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2 weeks ago | 
bloomberg.com | David E. Rovella
Congressional Republicans risk “fiscal disaster” if a recession hits as they push through sweeping tax cuts, Guggenheim Securities Co-Chair Jim Millstein warned. “What today is 6.4% of GDP as a deficit, a $2.4 trillion deficit, could easily expand to $4 trillion if we had a recession,” Millstein said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. The cost estimates of the current GOP package “assume consistent economic growth. So imagine we have a recession.
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3 weeks ago | 
bloomberg.com | David E. Rovella
The US was downgraded by Moody’s Ratings on Friday thanks to government debt that’s approaching a mind-numbing $37 trillion. It was a dramatic move that cast further doubt on the polarized nation’s status as the world’s highest-quality sovereign borrower. Moody’s lowered the US credit score to Aa1 from Aaa, joining Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings in grading the world’s biggest economy below the top, triple-A position.
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3 weeks ago | 
bloomberg.com | David E. Rovella
Klaus Schwab’s abrupt departure from the World Economic Forum is said to have complicated carefully laid plans to persuade Christine Lagarde to take the helm in a seamless transition. Schwab, 87, founded and led the storied organization for more than half a century. He had initially intended to stay on until early 2027, the same year Lagarde’s term as European Central Bank president comes to an end.
