Category: Markets and Macro

Microsoft shares fell after the company reported strong fiscal year 2026 second-quarter results, a reaction that crystallized a broader investor anxiety: the stock now trades near its lowest price-to-earnings multiple in roughly a decade. The disconnect between accelerating revenue growth and a shrinking valuation raises the headline question directly: does Microsoft really deserve a rock-bottom,…

President Donald Trump signed a proclamation imposing a 10% ad valorem import surcharge effective February 24, 2026, after the Supreme Court moved to block his broader tariff program, according to contemporaneous reporting. The move, invoked under a rarely used trade statute, is designed to address what the administration calls fundamental international payments problems. But a…

California and New York are both pushing aggressive new tax proposals aimed squarely at billionaires, setting up what could become the most significant state-level wealth tax fight in American history. California cleared a ballot initiative for circulation that would impose a one-time 5% levy on billionaire residents, while New York legislators have introduced companion bills…

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Republican lawmakers who once questioned the administration’s use of tariffs have “now come around” to supporting its trade agenda, after a Supreme Court ruling struck down the use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) for trade levies. Greer cast the decision as a legal setback rather than…

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act on February 20, 2026, declaring them illegal. Yet American importers who paid those duties for nearly a year are no closer to getting their money back. The ruling left the question of refunds entirely unresolved, and a…

The Supreme Court struck down most of President Trump’s tariffs on February 20, 2026, and within hours, American businesses began scrambling to recover billions of dollars in duties they had paid over the past year. The ruling invalidated tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), but it left one critical question unanswered:…

Governor Gavin Newsom is facing pointed questions about why California has become the most expensive state in the country, according to federal price data, even as the state has spent tens of billions of dollars on housing and homelessness programs that state auditors say lack consistent outcome tracking. The pressure comes as utility costs climb,…

President Trump imposed a temporary global import surcharge after the Supreme Court struck down his broader tariff program on February 20, 2026, shifting the legal basis for trade barriers to a rarely used statute. The move started at 10% and was later raised to 15%, forcing many American businesses to recalculate costs on a wide…

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, said in a Fox News interview on February 22, 2026, that “out-of-control” costs in housing, groceries, healthcare and other household categories are fueling an affordability crisis that neither political party has resolved. His remarks follow a series of public appearances in which Jeffries has tried…

Federal employment data suggests Texas may be closing the gap with New York in finance-sector jobs, a shift that challenges Wall Street’s long-held dominance over American financial services. The finding, drawn from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ near-census employment counts, arrives as Texas aggressively builds new market infrastructure and courts institutional capital. For workers, firms,…