What's Your iPhone Breaking Point?
Most customers will happily pay more for the latest iPhone if Apple increases prices to maintain margins due to Trump's tariff policies, explains Bloomberg Opinion columnist Dave Lee. (Source: Bloomberg)
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19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Elon Musk's Reign of Corruption Chronicled in Elizabeth Warren Report
As Elon Musk departs the Trump White House — at least officially — a new Senate report examines how the world's richest man leveraged his access to the levers of federal power to boost his myriad personal businesses including his electric vehicle company Tesla, aerospace contractor SpaceX, social media platform X, and brain chip firm Neuralink. Musk is leaving his post as a 'special government employee' — a status that limited his stint in the executive branch to 130 days. As Donald Trump made clear in a press conference, where he gave Musk a 'key' to the White House, the billionaire's influence will live on, as will his crusade against his own regulators. Issued by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the report is titled 'Special Interests Over the Public Interest: Elon Musk's 130 Days in the Trump Administration' and features a list of 130 actions by Musk, his companies, and family members that 'raise questions about corruption, ethics, and conflicts of interest.'Musk, of course, was Trump's biggest benefactor in the 2024 campaign, spending nearly $300 million to put Trump and Republican candidates into office. He then camped out at Mar-a-Lago during the presidential transition and moved to Washington with the 47th president. At times appearing to be the nation's true chief executive, Musk commanded the forces of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and sent critical agencies like USAID (the U.S. Agency for International Development) through the 'woodchipper,' likely condemning millions of vulnerable people across the globe to death by preventable diseases. The Warren report is focused on Elon's use of political power to boost his businesses, or secure special benefits — from regulatory relief to rich new contracts — that favor his fortunes and his family. The report clarifies that 'Not every action listed… represents a violation of federal law,' but argues instead that 'Musk has violated norms at an astonishing pace' while engaging in and supporting actions that are 'hurting the American public.' It labels this 'scandalous behavior regardless of whether it subjects him to criminal prosecution.' The Warren report divides its list into 15 categories, which Rolling Stone can exclusively preview below: The report highlights the time, when Tesla showrooms were increasingly beset by public protests, that Trump turned the White House lawn into a Tesla lot. The report highlights more than 20 instances of Musk or DOGE helping Musk's enterprises secure new contracts on an inside track on rich lines of business. For example, it highlights Rolling Stone's report about how staff at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) were instructed to find 'tens of millions' of dollars for a rich new Starlink contract. As well as a new $100 million NASA contract for SpaceX to launch an asteroid monitoring space telescope. When Trump took office, Musk companies faced federal penalties and enforcement actions totalling up to $2.4 billion, according to the report. Warren highlights CNBC reporting that the federal government has allowed nearly 40 cases against Musk companies to effectively go dormant, while others, including a Department of Justice case against SpaceX for alleged anti-immigrant discrimination in hiring, have been dropped. The report describes how Musk and the administration have targeted agencies with powers to regulate Musk businesses — including 'gutting their staff, throwing sand in the gears of their operations, and embedding DOGE staff loyal to Musk.' A key example of this is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has authority to police Musk as he turns X into a payment platform. 'Delete CFPB,' Musk has posted, and the administration has tried to bring the agency to its knees. (Read Rolling Stone's interview with Warren on this topic.) Musk operates in many highly regulated areas, from launching rockets to biomedical brain implants. The FAA has, under Trump, become a service agency for SpaceX, clearing the way for rocket launches despite frequent catastrophic failures. In Trump's auto tariff battles, the administration announced that cars with 85 percent domestic content were spared the levy — a category that reportedly only includes Teslas. Never before has a presidential megadonor had so much unfettered access to government data, insight, and decisionmakers. The report highlights Musk's role as a dominant participant at Trump cabinet meetings, despite having no cabinet-level post, who was 'privy to upcoming policy changes at the highest level of government,' many of which could boost his bottom line. Musk has been deeply enmeshed, through DOGE, in the HR decisions of the federal government — firing tens of thousands of employees while installing loyalists throughout the bureaucracy. Many of these lackeys now have permanent government gigs, and will be able to carry out Musk-aligned policy without his active direction, including the head of the Federal Communications Commission, which has oversight of radio spectrum needed by Starlink, SpaceX's satellite internet business. The report links Musk to the Trump administration's sudden, curious interest in the cause of white Afrikaaners from South Africa, who have been granted refugee status amid Musk's trumped-up allegations that they face a 'genocide' — even as other truly vulnerable people from around the world are being denied admission to the United States. The report highlights a Wall Street Journal investigation into perceived threats from X execs who intimated that a planned merger between ad conglomerates might face trouble if ad clients didn't ramp up their spending on the social media platform. The report links Musk to the Trump Federal Trade Commission's 'seemingly baseless' investigation into whether Media Matters colluded with advertisers. X sued the watchdog in late 2023, after Media Matters reported that ads on the platform were being served up against 'pro-Nazi' content, leading large brands to suspend campaigns on the platform. The report links Musk's White House influence to favorable provisions of the House budget bill, including funding for the 'Golden Dome,' a space-based missile defense program that seems ready-made for Starlink. Warren's report highlights dozens of deals that Musk companies have inked with countries that are under tariff threat from the administration, as well as Musk accompanying Trump's tour of Persian Gulf countries, where the DOGE chief announced deals of his own — including that Neuralink had inked a deal to begin clinical trials in the United Arab Emirates. The report highlights how Musk's power is translating to deals for family members, including his brother recently inking a deal with Gulf states to mount drone light shows while his dad is reportedly in talks to build a Musk Tower in Dubai. Musk's fruitless effort to finance a conservative takeover of the Wisconsin state Supreme Court is highlighted in the report, as is his call for judges who oppose Trump to be impeached. Despite his pledge of 'maximum transparency' by DOGE, Musk himself has hidden his norms-busting activities behind a veil of secrecy, the report concludes, failing to make public his vast financial holdings, or what if any waivers of federal ethics requirements he may have received. More from Rolling Stone Trump Has 'Broken' Musk, Jon Stewart Roasts Tech Billionaire After White House Departure Crypto Bros Celebrate Themselves at Bitcoin's Most MAGA Convention Yet Trump Tries to Blame Biden for Colorado Attack Best of Rolling Stone The Useful Idiots New Guide to the Most Stoned Moments of the 2020 Presidential Campaign Anatomy of a Fake News Scandal The Radical Crusade of Mike Pence
The Verge
23 minutes ago
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Apple's 2024 M4 MacBook Pro with a 1TB SSD has never been this cheap
If you're thinking about getting a MacBook Pro, but you aren't exactly sure which of the many configurations is best for you, perhaps this discounted model might be just what you're after. The latest 14.2-inch model with an M4 chip (10-core CPU, 10-core GPU), 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage is $1,457.87 at Amazon, down from $1,799, a savings of $341. That'll likely still sound expensive unless I include the necessary context, which is that this space black model costs just over $10 more than the model with half as much storage at the time of publishing. Apple's storage upgrades are notoriously pricey if you buy direct, but not with this deal. The only downside is that, currently, Amazon's delivery window is between June 20th and July 7th. Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2024, M4) $179919% off $1458 The entry-level MacBook Pro with M4 starts with 16GB of RAM — double that of its predecessor — and a 512GB SSD for the same starting price of $1,599. It also gets a third USB-C / Thunderbolt 4 port and comes in a new space black option. Compared to previous generations of Apple's overhauled MacBook Pro, you're getting more for your money with this one, even if you buy it at full price. This 2024 model has more ports, more RAM, a better screen, and an improved 12-megapixel webcam that easily tops its predecessors. In short, it feels like less of a compromise to buy this instead of shelling out hundreds more for an M4 Pro model. Read our review of the 2024 14-inch MacBook Pro.
Business Insider
24 minutes ago
- Business Insider
Bank of America says to bet on this neglected part of the Trump trade
A part of the market once considered a classic "Trump trade" has been left behind by investors, but they might want to reconsider, Bank of America said. Enthusiasm for energy stocks has fizzled out among big investors, despite the president's mantra of " drill, baby, drill." According to Bank of America, large-cap active mutual funds have reduced their energy holdings the most out of any sector in the past three months, and hedge funds are shorting energy more than any other S&P 500 sector. The downbeat views on energy follow a lackluster performance during Trump's first term. However, while institutional players flee the space, Bank of America sees an opportunity. The bank still sees plenty of upside and upgraded its rating to overweight in a note last month. It's not just the fact that institutional buyers may be nearing capitulation, though. Energy is a top performer in times of inflation and stagflation, thanks to the sector's focus on cash dividends. Bank of America pointed to the sector's strong free cash flow generation as a sign that energy stocks are in good shape and can provide income to investors in times of rising prices. The sector is also well insulated from tariffs compared to other parts of the market, as Bank of America believes energy companies would be largely exempt from protectionist trade policies. Historically, the energy sector has been sensitive to oil prices, which could be a concern crude remains stuck in a rut. But since 2016, the energy sector's sensitivity to oil has dropped by a third, which Bank of America attributes to the sector's focus on distributing dividends. That means the sector will be shielded in a stagflationary scenario with lower growth and energy prices. "If stagflation is the base case, Energy is more likely to outperform than underperform," Savita Subramanian, head of US equity and quantitative strategy at the bank, wrote.
