Charles Schwab's Liz Ann Sonders: Companies are experimenting with pricing
Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab, joins CNBC's 'Squawk on the Street' to discuss outlooks on markets, how to position, and more.
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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
If you annoy Trump, he can annoy you back equally, Howard Lutnick says
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, back in Washington after two days helping to negotiate a US-China trade framework in London, said Wednesday that Trump gave his team permission to back off its aggressive stance against China to get a deal done. Lutnick told CNBC in his first interview since the announcement of the US-China trade agreement late Tuesday night that after 25 hours of negotiations over two days with his Chinese counterparts, the world's two largest economies are in a better place now after a series of escalations over the past month. Both countries, accusing one another of violating the terms of the previous deal agreed upon in Geneva last month, had increased export restrictions on various goods. 'The Chinese had these rare-earth magnets and they were slow-rolling it. When they didn't deliver the rare-earth magnets, we put on our countermeasures,' Lutnick said. 'We were at mutual-assured annoyance.' He said the talks were respectful, without any yelling or screaming, and both countries believe the outcome was a win-win. 'But we needed to make sure when they pulled out their card with these rare-earth magnets, we put in ours that said, 'look you just can't do that to America. America's too great, too strong,'' Lutnick said. He said, for example, the Trump administration could have subpoenaed Chinese banks to open their records and 'see all the things they had done wrong.' And he noted the White House placed curbs on ethane exports to China in retaliation. 'Ethane makes plastic. We supply 98% of their ethane. No ethane, no plastic. Imagine trying to run an economy with no plastic,' Lutnick said. 'If you want to annoy us, the United States under Donald Trump is strong enough to annoy you back equally.' Instead, Lutnick said Trump opted to 'go all positive.' 'He created the right environment for us to do a very positive deal with the Chinese,' Lutnick said. He noted that China has agreed to immediately approve licenses for any US company that requests rare-earth magnets, used in a host of electronics, automobiles, contrast dyes for MRIs and jet engines. And in exchange the United States will remove some of its export restrictions, including ethane – but short of powerful AI chips that the administration believes pose a national security threat if China were able to buy them. Lutnick even said the negotiating room at the opulent Lancaster House provided the team a level of familiarity. 'The room we were in, I never felt more comfortable, because every inch of it was gold-leafed,' he said. 'It was the perfect place to negotiate a Donald Trump deal.' Still, Lutnick cautioned, the United States maintains high tariffs on China and a number of remaining export controls. Despite the 'rare-earth card' that Chinese Premier Xi Jinping played, Lutnick said, 'President Trump holds just as many cards, and because he has the biggest economy now, he holds more cards.' The Trump administration will shift its focus on other trade deals now that it has finalized a framework for an agreement with China. Those next agreements could come as early as next week, Lutnick said. 'There are so many coming but when you've got (Treasury Secretary) Scott (Bessent), (US Trade Representative) Jamieson (Greer) and I spending 25 hours locked in a room with the Chinese, we're not really doing the other deals,' Lutnick said. 'You're going to see deal after deal, they're going to start coming next week and the week after and the week after. We've got them in the hopper.' Lutnick said the White House's trade negotiating team is in 'good shape' on trade agreements with a number of countries. Bessent has said the administration is in active negotiations with 18 trading partners after reaching tentative agreements with the United Kingdom and China. Despite many weeks of negotiations since Trump paused his 'reciprocal' tariffs on April 9 — with a July 8 deadline rapidly approaching — the administration continues to promise looming deals with little progress to show for it. Lutnick said Trump is in no rush to make any deals, preferring to hammer out better agreements that benefit American businesses and consumers. 'Good shape isn't good enough for the United States of America. We want great deals that are fundamental for America,' Lutnick said. 'We can get them done. We need to open these other countries' markets. Our farmers, our ranchers, our fisherman, they are going to have just a great time. Our machinists are going to sell a lot of equipment overseas. Boeing always does amazingly well in these deals.' The key factor, Lutnick said, is opening up US exports to foreign markets that impose tariffs and other non-tariff trade barriers such as taxes and export controls that limit American companies' access to those countries. 'This is the key to us: Can we open up our exports and end this nonsense of a $1.2 trillion trade deficit? And that's what we're working on,' Lutnick said. 'We just want to make sure they're the best deal we can possibly make. We don't want to rush. And Donald Trump isn't going to accept the rush. He only accepts the best from us, and we're going to give it to him.'
CNBC
2 hours ago
- CNBC
Americans pay trillions in rent, but few get credit score boost for it
An estimated $1.4 trillion is paid to landlords of residential properties every year in America, but only 20% of those landlords choose to report the rent paid. That has big implications for the credit scores and credit histories of millions of Americans. Reporting rent paid on time to credit bureaus can significantly boost credit scores, but since it has not traditionally been a common practice, some renters end up having no credit history at all, making them "credit invisible," limiting their ability to get a loan, a car, a house and a lot more. Over 50 million Americans lack a credit history with the three major credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. "We're leaving over $5.3 trillion on the table, we've got to do better," said Wemimo Abbey, the CEO and co-founder of Esusu, which was named to the 2025 CNBC Disruptor 50 list, in an interview on CNBC's "Worldwide Exchange" on Wednesday. Esusu is a credit score reporting service which has partnered with 75% of the largest rental companies and more recently created a direct line for renters to report their rent payments. "We have democratized access because you have a long tail of people who don't live in commercially managed housing," Abbey said. Esusu has deals with Goldman Sachs, Mercy Housing, and Cushman & Wakefield, and partnerships with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to increase the number of units nationally that report rent as part of credit. Credit scores, which range on a scale of 300-850, indicate the ability to pay back bills such as credit cards, and manage and limit debt owed. The lower a score, or the lack of any credit score at all, makes lenders hesitant to extend money, or they might charge extreme interest rates on a loan. Some landlords require a credit score on file to determine eligibility for a rental application, and while it's not the only considered data point, it may influence the landlord to not approve an application. This financial inequity significantly impacts minorities, with approximately 26% of Hispanic consumers and 27% of Black consumers being credit invisible or unscorable, compared to 16% of White and Asian consumers, according to data from Oliver Wyman. Immigrants are also more susceptible to invisibility as their credit file in the U.S. does not take into account their credit history in their origin country. Esusu founders Abbey and Samir Goel grew up watching their families struggle financially as immigrants from Lagos, Nigeria, and New Delhi, India, respectively, which was a founding motivation for Esusu. "When we came here, we didn't have a credit score. We went to one of the biggest financial institutions to borrow money; we were turned away and had to go borrow from a predatory lender who wanted to lend at over 400% interest rate," Abbey said. "My mother sold my dad's wedding ring. We borrowed money from church members and that's how we got started." Abbey said when Esusu started, only 10% of rent payments were reported to credit bureaus. Esusu has established credit scores for 250,000 Americans leading to $50 billion in credit activity, Abbey said. The startup's valuation has now reached $1 billion based on demand for the services. Rent is one of the largest expenditures for most Americans who do not own a home. More than 90% of renters pay rent on time, but since it's not reported, there's no record of it. Reports can be initiated either by the landlord or by the tenant. Commercially managed housing services may already have connections with one or all three credit report services, but may charge a fee to report it. Renters also have the option to directly connect with rent reporting services like Esusu, which charges a monthly fee of $2.50 to report timely payment on the renter's behalf. The record of the amount paid is expected to show up roughly 30 days after it's been paid. But paying rent is not enough; it needs to be paid on time. While some agencies may give 30 days to make up for the missed payment, others may not, and that can negatively impact a credit score. There are some other ways to build credit in addition to the rent reporting for those who lack credit histories or are looking to increase their credit scores. Becoming an authorized user on a family member or friend's credit card is one way. Getting a secured credit card, that has no annual fee, is another option. Using a credit-builder loan, in which banks provide the total loan amount after you've made a certain number of payments, and report your payment activity to the credit bureaus, is also an option for those with limited credit history and those who are credit invisible.
CNBC
2 hours ago
- CNBC
Watch Wednesday's full episode of the Halftime Report — June 11, 2025
"Fast Money Halftime Report" is on the front lines of CNBC's market coverage. Host CNBC's Scott Wapner and the Street's top investors get to the heart of the action as it's happening and help set the agenda for the rest of the day. Watch today's full episode on CNBC PRO.
