Author: starbpo

After months of uncertainty, Americans are beginning to see the price impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs – on their wardrobes. Fast-fashion giant Shein announced that its prices would increase April 25 “due to recent changes in global trade rules and tariffs,” according to a customer notice on the retailer’s website. Temu made a similar announcement about hiking its prices, also starting April 25. On Friday, some social-media users said prices for the items in their carts had gone up, with one saying that a set of items that would have usually cost $300 had gone up to $500. Shein…

Intel Corp. Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan seems to be making interesting moves early in his tenure, but that doesn’t mean he’ll achieve success easily. The company has missed out on the artificial-intelligence wave and fallen behind with its technology. It’s also trying to revive its foundry business. Righting the ship at Intel (INTC) seems like a “herculean task,” according to Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon. He quipped, “Hercules cleaned out the Augean stables in a day, but even he would take longer to executethis turnaround.” Intel shares are down about 7% in midday action Friday, following yet another messy report from…

The cost of checking a suitcase when flying is increasing. Some major airlines, such as American Airlines (AAL), Alaska Airlines (ALK), and JetBlue (JBLU), have reportedly increased their costs by $5 to $10 per bag over the past few months, with rates already reaching $45. Additionally, Southwest Airlines (LUV), one of the airlines that had long defied industry convention by not charging for checked baggage, recently declared that it will start doing so on May 28. However, the precise amounts have not yet been disclosed. All of this occurs at a time when airlines are preparing for what may be…

The figures: Following the White House’s partial halt of reciprocal tariffs, the University of Michigan reported Friday that the second of two readings of the consumer confidence survey improved to 52.2 in late April from 50.8 earlier in the month. Even with the uptick, the sentiment reading remains the lowest in thirty-two months. Four consecutive months have shown a decline in sentiment. In December, the gauge, a crucial indicator of consumer sentiment toward the labor market and economy, was at 74. Important information: Earlier in the month, a subindex that gauges consumer sentiment toward the economy’s current status increased from…

The fact that the cryptocurrency trades like stocks and other assets that are viewed as hazardous rather than as a store of value like gold has long irritated bitcoin believers. Some now believe they are seeing early indications of a change. As a decentralized, nonsovereign asset with a fixed supply, they contend that bitcoin (BTCUSD) ought to trade more like gold and be able to maintain its value even in the face of sharp market volatility. It hasn’t done so for years, though, frequently following the same path as US stocks. In a phone interview with MarketWatch, Eric Rose, head…

Investors should resist the temptation to purchase equity declines at this time due to a number of factors, including weak consumers, such as those whose household worth has been damaged by this year’s unpredictable stock markets. According to BofA strategists lead by Michael Hartnett, their “sell-the-rip” tenet will not change unless three market-sensitive requirements are satisfied. In a letter to clients on Friday, Hartnett and his team stated that they are looking for indications of “resilient consumer spending, perhaps driven by a tight labor market on back of immigration controls” among those. They calculated that the stock losses this year…

Elon Musk gave Tesla stockholders a broad sense of relief on Tuesday when he announced that he would relinquish his daily role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency, or “DOGE,” the budget-cutting organization he assisted in founding under President Donald Trump. The “major work” of creating the department was finished, Musk said investors during yesterday’s Tesla (TSLA) earnings call. “Starting probably next month, May, my time allocation to ‘DOGE’ will drop significantly,” Musk said. Although Tesla’s revenue and earnings-per-share numbers on Tuesday fell short of Wall Street’s expectations, the news of Musk’s return to the firm was welcomed…

On Wall Street, talk is not cheap. After President Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs on April 2, the S&P 500 index SPX managed to escape corrective territory on Thursday, closing at least 10% higher than its most recent low. As the chart below illustrates, Wall Street’s response to those new responsibilities was immediate and brutal, sending the S&P 500 plunging to a new low on April 8. When Trump announced a 90-day freeze on additional tariffs for most countries, with the exception of China, the following day, April 9, the bond market was in turmoil and there was a concerning…

Fearing a macroeconomic downturn, investors have been selling high-risk tech equities for the most of the year. Alphabet Inc. was enjoying a strong first quarter at the time. The parent company of Google, Google (GOOGL), announced first-quarter earnings per share on Thursday of $2.81, which was more than the FactSet consensus of $2.01, and sales of $90.2 billion, which was higher than the $89.2 billion forecast. A fresh $70 billion share-buyback program and a 5% dividend increase were also announced by the corporation. Live blog: Alphabet’s stock soars on a $70 billion buyback, dividend boost, and earnings beat for Google…