Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
The United States has not seen a trade gap this small since the aftermath of the global financial crisis, and the shift is arriving for unusual reasons. A surge in gold shipments, a pullback in pharmaceutical imports, and softer demand for foreign goods have combined to push the monthly deficit in goods and services to…
The fatal shooting of a Minneapolis driver by an ICE officer and the FBI’s decision to seize the investigation for itself have collided into a single, volatile flashpoint over policing, immigration, and federal power. Instead of the usual joint inquiry with Minnesota authorities, federal agents have pushed state investigators aside, triggering accusations of secrecy and…
President Donald Trump is asking Congress to sign off on one of the largest peacetime military spending plans in American history, arguing that the United States must rearm quickly in what he calls “very troubled and dangerous times.” The proposal would lift the Pentagon’s annual budget to $1.5 trillion and reset the political debate over…
Wendy’s is confronting one of the most bruising resets in its modern history, with hundreds of restaurant closures tied to a roughly $300 million revenue hit and 8,000 jobs on the line. The fast food chain is shrinking its U.S. footprint after a prolonged sales slowdown, betting that a leaner network of stronger locations can…
Beijing is trying to turn a tropical island the size of Belgium into the world’s newest duty-free playground at the very moment its trade surplus in goods has blown past the $1 trillion mark. The juxtaposition captures how China is leaning on both external demand and tightly managed internal experiments to keep growth on track….
Gold’s blistering rise has turned a traditionally sleepy hedge into the most closely watched asset in global markets, and Ray Dalio is treating that move as a warning siren rather than a victory lap. The billionaire investor argues that the surge reflects deepening stress in currencies, bonds, and stocks, and that ignoring what gold is…
The White House has moved from offhand musings to formal planning as President Donald Trump again presses to bring Greenland under United States control, this time explicitly keeping military force on the table. Officials now describe acquiring the vast Arctic island as a national security priority and say the administration is weighing diplomatic, economic, and…
When Nicolás Maduro quietly loaded Venezuela’s bullion onto planes bound for Europe, he was not just moving metal, he was trying to buy time for a collapsing petrostate. The clandestine transfer of national treasure to Swiss vaults turned gold into a last-resort lifeline, shielding it from creditors and political rivals while the domestic economy buckled….
The world is swimming in crude, yet Washington is trying to pull Venezuela’s barrels back into the market and under tight political control. That tension between oversupply and geopolitics will determine whether buyers are willing to pay a premium for one of the dirtiest and most politically fraught oil streams on the planet. I want…
President Donald Trump has opened a new front in his long running clash with corporate America, ordering major defense contractors to stop rewarding shareholders and instead pour cash into factories, workers, and weapons output. The move targets stock buybacks and dividend payouts at the very moment the White House is pushing for a massive expansion…