TV News LIES

U.S. stock losses closed sharply lower, with the blue-chip Dow losing nearly 1,700 points and the broad S&P 500 tumbling about 275 points, after President Donald Trump unveiled his tariff plan late Wednesday.

Trump announced sweeping tariffs of at least 10% on all countries, effective April 5, and even higher levies for some countries to start soon. Some of China's neighbors and biggest trading partners such as Bangladesh, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia were slapped with the highest tariffs. Some multinational companies have moved their supply chains to these countries as they looked to diversify away from China.

Shares of companies like Walmart, Target, Five Below, Gap, Dollar Tree and Amazon that import a bulk of their goods from Asia dropped.

More...

US corporations and their supporters in Washington are pushing aggressively to roll back tax policies they once endorsed, in a move that could return hundreds of billions of dollars to some of America’s biggest companies.

As congressional negotiators attempt to keep the government funded past 19 January, an agreement is emerging that ties the corporate tax breaks to an increase in support for vulnerable American families – an effort to make the deal more palatable for Democrats.

Just six years ago the Business Roundtable, a lobbying group for CEOs of large US firms, described the Trump-era Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as “a remarkable, once-in-a-generation opportunity”. Now, the group is leading “a six-figure advocacy campaign” to roll back parts of it, according to Politico, and threatening that failing to secure new tax cuts will lead to “slower job creation, smaller wage increases and lower overall economic growth”.

More...

FTX Trading on Friday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, capping a sudden and startling downfall for one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges.

Founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried also resigned from the company, which appointed John J. Ray III as its new chief executive. Bankman-Fried plans to stay with FTX while it works through the bankruptcy process, according to a statement on Friday.

"The immediate relief of Chapter 11 is appropriate to provide the FTX Group the opportunity to assess its situation and develop a process to maximize recoveries for stakeholders," Ray said in the statement.

More...

The Federal Reserve is expected Wednesday afternoon to announce its largest interest rate hike since 1994 — a bigger increase than it had previously signaled and a sign that the central bank is struggling to restrain stubbornly high inflation.

The central bank is considered likely to raise its benchmark short-term rate by three-quarters of a percentage point, far larger than the typical quarter-point increase, to a range of 1.5% to 1.75%. It will also likely forecast additional large rate hikes through the end of the year.

A series of sizeable increases would heighten borrowing costs for consumers and businesses, likely leading to an economic slowdown and raising the risk of a recession. The Fed's previous rate hikes have already had the effect of raising mortgage rates roughly 2 percentage points since the year began and have slowed home sales.

More...

Macy’s Inc (M.N) said on Thursday it would lay off about 3,900 employees in corporate and management positions as U.S. businesses try to save cash in the face of dwindling demand caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Macy’s had in May warned of nearly $1 billion in operating losses in its first quarter and said it would turn into a “smaller company”.

The job cuts come at a time when unemployment figures in the United States are already high. Rising coronavirus infections in many U.S. states including California, Texas and Florida are likely to hurt employment further as some people stay away from consumer-facing establishments.

More...

U.S. retail sales endured a second straight month of record declines in April as the novel coronavirus pandemic kept Americans at home, putting the economy on track for its biggest contraction in the second quarter since the Great Depression.

The deepening economic slump was underscored by other data on Friday that showed production at industries collapsed last month at its deepest pace in 101 years. The reports, combined with a historic 20.5 million job losses in April, buttressed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s warning on Wednesday of an “extended period” of weak growth and stagnant incomes.

More...