Money, Wealth & Power—A Daily Look at the Financial World
Top brokerages are projecting that the S&P 500 will climb higher in 2026, a forecast that carries significant weight as artificial intelligence reshapes how firms allocate capital and which companies earn their place in the benchmark index. The prediction, drawn from a poll of leading Wall Street firms, signals that the index’s composition and trajectory…
United Parcel Service is planning to shut down facilities across the United States as part of a cost-reduction campaign tied to major job cuts in 2026. In late January, UPS said it expects to cut as many as 30,000 positions and close 24 buildings during the first half of 2026, according to the Associated Press….
Boeing has secured commitments for close to 100 jets from two Vietnamese airlines, a package that the Wall Street Journal valued at more than $30 billion at list prices. Vietnam Airlines signed a deal for 50 Boeing 737-8s, while Sun PhuQuoc Airways also reached agreements with Boeing that bring the combined total to roughly 90…
The United States ran a record goods trade deficit in 2025, blowing past prior highs even as President Trump’s reciprocal tariffs took effect across much of the year. Federal data released on February 19, 2026, shows the annual goods deficit hit $1,240.9 billion, while the broader goods-and-services deficit totaled $901.5 billion. While the overall deficit…
Corporate bankruptcy filings across the United States have climbed sharply for two consecutive fiscal years, and the companies seeking court protection now span well beyond the retail sector that dominated earlier waves. Business petitions jumped 33% to 22,762 in fiscal year 2024, and the upward trend continued into fiscal year 2025, with business filings reaching…
Amazon has overtaken Walmart as the world’s largest company by annual sales, ending a reign that the Arkansas-based retailer held for more than two decades. The shift became clear after both companies reported their full-year results, with Amazon’s consolidated net sales for 2025 reaching $716,924 million and Walmart posting record but slightly lower revenue. The…
ByteDance, the Chinese tech giant behind TikTok, is moving quickly to build out an artificial intelligence research team in the United States, with Bloomberg reporting that the company is advertising nearly 100 open roles in cities where it already has major offices. The hiring push centers on the company’s Seed division, an advanced AI research…
Walmart reported its fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings on February 19, 2026, posting total revenue growth of 5.6% year over year and pointing to higher-income households as a key driver of its recent market share gains. The results cap a fiscal year in which the retailer hit record annual revenue, as the Financial Times reported. For…
SpaceX and Blue Origin are redirecting attention and engineering capacity toward the Pentagon’s fast-growing missile defense program now branded as Golden Dome, as congressional funding, new contract solicitations, and a $175 billion price tag from the White House accelerate the initiative from policy paper to procurement reality. The shift signals that the largest commercial space…
Investor and television personality Kevin O’Leary has publicly condemned California’s proposed one-time 5% wealth tax on billionaires, calling the ballot initiative “insane” and urging the state’s residents to remove the political leaders backing it. The measure, filed as A.G. File No. 2025-024, would impose a 5% levy on the total net worth of Californians whose…