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Today's top stories, with context, in just 15 minutes.
On today's podcast:
1) The US believes it’s close to an agreement with Iran to end the near 10-week war, Axios reported, as China added its voice to global diplomatic pressure to wrap up the conflict. Washington and Tehran are working on a one-page memorandum of understanding that would set a framework for more detailed nuclear negotiations, Axios said Wednesday, citing two US officials and two other sources it didn’t identify. Nothing has been agreed yet, the news agency added, and the US expects Iranian responses on several key points in the next 48 hours. Iran hasn’t commented on any progress toward a deal.
2) US President Donald Trump said he would discuss the Iran war with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during their summit next week and sought to downplay tensions over the conflict. “That’ll be one subject, but he’s been very nice about this,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday in response to a question about what he hoped to achieve with Xi on Iran when they meet. “He’s been very respectful. We haven’t been challenged by China,” the president added, even as he acknowledged that Beijing is a significant importer of Iranian oil — supplies of which have been disrupted by the war. “They don’t challenge us. He wouldn’t do that. I don’t think he’d do that because of me, but I think he’s been very respectful.” The leaders are slated to meet in Beijing on May 14-15, a high-stakes summit that comes as the Iran war brings fresh tumult to the relationship between the world’s two largest economies. The war has already delayed the meeting once, sparking anxiety in financial markets.
3) US Ambassador to the EU Andrew Puzder said Washington will implement 25% tariffs on cars and trucks from the European Union “relatively soon” if the bloc doesn’t swiftly ratify a long-delayed trade deal. “Unless we see some substantial progress, I think you probably should expect those relatively soon,” Puzder told Bloomberg Television. US President Donald Trump recently vowed to slap 25% tariffs on European vehicles, accusing the bloc taking too long to ratify the agreement, which was initially reached last July. The EU, meanwhile, is frustrated over several Trump moves it argues undermine Washington’s commitments under the pact.
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Today's top stories, with context, in just 15 minutes.
On today's podcast:
1) The fragile US-Iran ceasefire held Tuesday morning after a day of clashes involving shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and missile attacks against the United Arab Emirates. The violence erupted after US President Donald Trump announced “Project Freedom,” which he described as a humanitarian effort to guide neutral ships stranded in the Gulf through Hormuz. Iran warned all ships against trying to get through Hormuz without its permission and hit a South Korean bulk carrier and attacked an empty tanker belonging to the UAE’s state oil firm.
2) A man was shot by Secret Service officers near the White House Monday afternoon after agents spotted him carrying a concealed firearm and he opened fire, according to the agency’s deputy director. The suspect ran, drew a weapon and shot at the officers, who returned fire, striking him. He was taken to an area hospital.
3) Apple held exploratory discussions with Intel and Samsung about producing main processors for its devices in the US, as a secondary option beyond Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. The discussions with Intel and Samsung are preliminary and have not resulted in any orders, with Apple having concerns about using non-TSMC technology. Apple is considering additional suppliers due to supply-chain disruptions, including recent shortages driven by the build-out of AI data centers and higher demand for Macs, with CEO Tim Cook saying the company has less flexibility in the supply chain than normal.
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Today's top stories, with context, in just 15 minutes.
On today's podcast:
1) President Trump said the US will help ships stranded in the Persian Gulf transit the Strait of Hormuz, describing it as a “humanitarian gesture” and testing his ability to restore traffic through the strategic waterway for the first time since the war with Iran began. The operation, dubbed Project Freedom, was set to begin on Monday with the US military pledging to provide support, including the use of guided-missile destroyers, aircraft and drones. “The Ship movement is merely meant to free up people, companies, and Countries that have done absolutely nothing wrong — They are victims of circumstance,” Trump wrote late Sunday in a social media post. “If, in any way, this Humanitarian process is interfered with, that interference will, unfortunately, have to be dealt with forcefully.” The plan has left shipping executives perplexed, with few details provided by the president. Iran’s military, after Trump’s announcement, said US forces would be attacked if they entered the Strait of Hormuz, according to a statement carried by Iranian broadcaster Press TV.
2) Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he doesn’t think the US government needs to provide financial lifelines for now to other low-cost carriers, following the collapse of Spirit Aviation Holdings Inc. “At this point, I don’t think it’s necessary,” he said during a press conference Saturday at Newark Liberty International Airport. “They do have access to cash.” Duffy spoke hours after Spirit ceased operations, leaving passengers and employees stranded across the US. Earlier in the day, he announced measures to support those passengers, saying several carriers including United Airlines Holdings Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc., Southwest Airlines Co., American Airlines Group Inc. and JetBlue Airways Corp. agreed to cap prices or reduce fares for customers impacted by the shutdown.
3) GameStop Corp. is proposing to buy eBay Inc. for about $56 billion in cash and stock, a bold attempt by Ryan Cohen to take over a storied e-commerce name several times larger. The gaming retail chain offered $125 per share in cash and stock for the online marketplace, or about a 20% premium to its Friday close. GameStop, which built a roughly 5% stake in eBay, said it’s secured an initial, non-binding “highly confident letter” from TD Bank to provide about $20 billion of debt financing. In a memo to investors Sunday, Cohen’s company pledged to find some $2 billion of annual savings within 12 months of closing. The takeover bid follows the surprising ascent of GameStop, a chain of video game outlets that shrank its brick-and-mortar footprint after gamers increasingly bought software in digital stores. In 2021, it became the center of a retail-investor frenzy. Michael Burry, the Scion Asset Management head who rose to prominence after a winning wager against mortgages ahead of the 2008 financial crisis, helped fuel GameStop’s rally by taking a bullish stance on the firm around 2019.
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Bloomberg Daybreak Weekend with Host Nathan Hager take a look at some of the stories we'll be tracking in the coming week.
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Today's top stories, with context, in just 15 minutes.
On today's podcast:
1) President Trump vowed to maintain a naval blockade on Iran and was briefed by commanders on further military options. Iran's speaker of parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said the blockade will further push up oil prices and that it must be lifted for new talks to occur. Trump and Iranian leaders are waiting for the other to yield first, with Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, casting doubt on the likelihood of a deal and vowing not to give up the country's nuclear or missile technologies.
2) Apple delivered a strong revenue forecast for the third quarter, with sales expected to rise 14% to 17% in the period. The company warned that memory-chip costs will increase and that shortages of Mac computers will persist for “several months.” Apple's total sales gained 17% to $111.2 billion during the fiscal second quarter, with the $599 MacBook Neo being particularly popular and remaining sold out at several retailers.
3) Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth testified before Congress, with Democrats criticizing the Trump administration over the Iran war, calling it illegal, unpopular, and ill-defined. Hegseth defended the war as crucial to keeping Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, but declined to provide new details on operational metrics or the Pentagon's $25 billion price tag.
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Today's top stories, with context, in just 15 minutes.
On today's podcast:
1) Brent oil rallied to a four-year high after Axios reported that US President Trump will receive a briefing on new military options for action in Iran. The US and Iran have maintained their blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, with the conflict in the Middle East called the biggest supply shock in history by the International Energy Agency.
2) Alphabet's Google is seeing a clear payoff from its AI spending, with solid growth at its cloud computing unit and a "meaningful acceleration in growth" driven by demand for its AI software and infrastructure. Meta Platforms is lagging behind, with its shares tumbling more than 6% after the company boosted full-year capital expenditures, and its consumer AI app being slower to take off. The four companies, including Amazon and Microsoft, are expected to spend as much as $725 billion in 2026, with a key question being whether that massive spending is providing tangible results.
3) Shares of Bill Ackman's Pershing Square USA Ltd. plunged 18% in its debut after the combined initial public offering raised $5 billion. The $5 billion haul was the bare minimum to keep early investors locked into the deal, and fell short of the $25 billion that Pershing Square sought to bring in. Pershing Square USA deserves to trade at a premium to its net assets over time if the newly listed closed-end fund delivers the same outperformance as the hedge fund firm has in the past, Ackman said.
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Bloomberg's Tom Keene and Jonathan Ferro and Lisa Abramowicz discuss remarks from Fed Chair Jay Powell following the Federal Reserve's latest policy decision on a special edition of Bloomberg Surveillance.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said he’ll remain at the central bank as a governor after his term as chair ends. “After my term as chair ends on May 15, I will continue to serve as a governor for a period of time to be determined,” Powell said Wednesday at a press conference.
While Powell’s term as Fed chair ends on May 15, his seat on the Board of Governors doesn’t expire until 2028. “I plan to keep a low profile as a governor,” he said. “There is only ever one chair of the Federal Reserve Board. When Kevin Warsh is confirmed and sworn in, he will be that chair.”
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Bloomberg's Tom Keene, Jonathan Ferro and Lisa Abramowicz break down the Federal Reserve's latest policy decision on a special edition of Bloomberg Surveillance.
Federal Reserve officials left interest rates unchanged, but revealed a deepening division over the outlook for policy amid increased uncertainty caused by the conflict in the Middle East.Four officials voted against the decision, including three who objected to language in their post-meeting statement that suggested the central bank would eventually resume cutting rates.
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Today's top stories, with context, in just 15 minutes.
On today's podcast:
1) The US signaled it would stick with a naval blockade of Iranian ports, as it tries to choke-off Tehran’s oil exports and force it back to the negotiating table. US President Donald Trump claimed on Tuesday that Iran was in a “state of collapse.” His treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, later said Washington’s “maximum pressure campaign” had caused Iran’s inflation to accelerate and that the country was running out of oil storage. It would soon have to start cutting production, Bessent said.
2) King Charles III called on the US to maintain its leadership role in the world, and to support Ukraine and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, in a remarkably pointed speech for a monarch that urged Americans to resist the pull of isolationism.Charles used his remarks to a joint session of Congress — the first such address by a British monarch in more than three decades — to argue for preserving the alliance between the UK and US. The king appealed to the shared heritage between the two nations, sprinkling his remarks with references to culture, religion and principles behind America’s decision to declare independence 250 years ago
3) With the Fed widely expected to keep rates on hold at the April 28-29 FOMC meeting, the more interesting revelation will concern Jerome Powell’s future: Will he stay on or leave the Fed when his term as chair expires May 15? Regardless of his plans, we think Powell will offer only limited forward guidance on policy at his final news conference as chair, with Kevin Walsh on track to be confirmed as his successor.
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Today's top stories, with context, in just 15 minutes.
On today's podcast:
1) President Trump convened his national security team to discuss Iran’s proposal to end a war now in its third month. Iran has signaled it may be willing to accept an interim deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for Washington ending its blockade of Iranian ports. The president has told his advisers he’s not satisfied with Iran’s latest suggestions, and his administration has previously said any deal must include agreements to curb Iran’s nuclear activities.
2) Jimmy Kimmel defended comments he made during a broadcast that prompted President Trump to call for him to be fired, citing the First Amendment right to free speech. Kimmel's comments, which included a parody of the White House Correspondents' Dinner, were called "hateful and violent" by Melania Trump, who urged ABC to "take a stand." Kimmel apologized for what Trump and others went through, but questioned whether his joke had any effect on the events that unfolded, and suggested the First Lady should have a conversation with her husband about hateful and violent rhetoric.
3) Technology stocks led global equity markets lower as concerns over investment in artificial intelligence resurfaced. Oil kept rising as the Strait of Hormuz remained shut, with Brent advancing for a seventh day to top $110 a barrel. The dollar gained against major peers apart from the yen after the Bank of Japan held interest rates in a split vote.
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