U.S. and China likely to extend trade truce to delay sky-high tariffs
The two-day talks, headed by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, are taking place in Stockholm and come ahead of the Aug. 12 deadline for both countries to make progress toward a deal or return to astronomically high tariffs.
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Yahoo
34 minutes ago
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Trump stakes reputation as dealmaker with tariff policy
Donald Trump is staking his reputation as a tough negotiator and slick dealmaker -- that has served him well throughout his life -- with his ultra-muscular, protectionist tariffs policy. On Friday, the White House released a picture of the US president seen with a smartphone pressed to his ear, with the caption: "Making calls. Making deals. MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" Every trade deal announced by the president, who is convinced that tariffs are both a tool and manifestation of America's economic might, is celebrated by his supporters as a show of his negotiating prowess. This week's flurry of rate changes was no different. On Thursday, with the stroke of a black marker, the former real estate developer slapped fresh tariffs on dozens of US trade partners. They will kick in on August 7 instead of August 1, which had previously been touted as a hard deadline. The Republican leader's backtracking, frequently setting trade deadlines only to rescind or extend them -- he most recently granted Mexico a 90-day extension -- has given rise to the mocking acronym "TACO" ("Trump always chickens out"). The jokes implying Trump is all talk and no action on trade have previously struck a nerve for the president. - 'Not chicken' - But analysts believe there will be no going back this time. Trump has "not chickened out," according to Josh Lipsky, an international economics expert at the Atlantic Council think tank. Lipsky told AFP the president is "following through, if not exceeding" what he vowed during his campaign in respect to tariffs. Matthew Aks, a public policy analyst at Evercore ISI, said he did not anticipate a "massive shift" on the latest order, aside from some economies like Taiwan or India striking deals during the seven-day buffer. Following crunch negotiations leading up to the tariffs announcement, Trump struck a series of compromises, notably with the European Union, Japan, and South Korea, setting varying tax rates and touting high investments in the United States. The details of these agreements remain vague and leave the door open to key questions: Are exemptions possible? What will become of key sectors like automobiles, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors? And what of China? The US president and leaders of other countries "have reasons to avoid going into detailed agreements" explained Aks, allowing all sides to present the deals in the most positive, or least negative, way possible to their public. The ability to conclude deals -- often with or without crucial detail -- is, for the 79-year-old Republican, an integral part of his political signature. - 'Art form' - In his book "The Art of the Deal," the billionaire wrote: "Deals are my art form. Other people paint beautifully on canvas or write wonderful poetry. I like making deals, preferably big deals. That's how I get my kicks." Trump explained in his book that he always "protects" himself "by being flexible." "I never get too attached to one deal or one approach." But despite comments about his trade policy reversals, Trump has hardly budged from his trade strategy, and that could prove politically painful. In a survey conducted by Quinnipiac University published in mid-July, only 40 percent of respondents said they supported the president's trade policy, while 56 percent criticized it. The latest employment figures bear the marks of Trump's protectionist offensive, according to experts. Job creation in May and June was revised sharply downward, falling to levels not seen since the Covid-19 pandemic. aue/aks/sla Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Microsoft made $27.2 billion in 3 months and still chose to lay 9,000 people off, in case you thought there was simply no other way
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Every time I feel like I'm getting a handle on the growth-based nature of capitalism—the idea that the number has to go up, and simply making a profit isn't enough, yadda yadda—a stat in an earnings report clocks me over the head and uproots me from whatever mooring I thought I had. For example, did you know that Microsoft made $27.2 billion in net income in its most recent financial quarter? That's 27,000 million dollars, or roughly 0.39 Blizzard acquisitions. If we take Glassdoor's median average game developer salary of $81,000 a year at face value, that's enough to pay the salaries of 335,802 developers for a year. If I do any more napkin math I'm gonna make myself too sad. That's per the Q4 earnings release (thanks, GamesRadar) which compares itself to the same three-month period of last year. Here are the full stats—the harsh industry conditions under which Microsoft made the decision to put 9,000 employees across the company out of work. Revenue was $76.4 billion and increased 18% (up 17% in constant currency) Operating income was $34.3 billion and increased 23% (up 22% in constant currency) Net income was $27.2 billion and increased 24% (up 22% in constant currency) Diluted earnings per share was $3.65 and increased 24% (up 22% in constant currency) As for the entire fiscal year, Microsoft had a net income of $101.8 billion, an increase of 16%. At the very least, this is congruent with Microsoft continuing to boast about how well it's doing, so well in fact that it cancelled Rare's Everwild, called curtains on ZeniMax's shuttered MMO, shoved a pillow over the head of the Perfect Dark reboot, and stilled Warcraft Rumble. If we take Microsoft chairman and CEO Satya Nadella's words from late last month for granted, this is all due to something called the "enigma of success in an industry that has no franchise value", which is "dynamic, sometimes dissonant, and always demanding." Looking at the stats above, I'm not sure it's actually that enigmatic—there's no real conspiracy here. Microsoft's net income increased 24% compared to the same window of time last year. It has made, in the past three months, more money than any of its laid-off developers and employees will ever see in their lives. Multiple thousand lives, in fact. 4,197 if we assume they work 80 years at that median salary and then die. I told you the math was making me sad. Things are even more grim if we take The Verge's report on the fallout of all this as gospel, where one employee claimed that "Microsoft's leadership team had the choice between reducing investment in AI infrastructure for the upcoming financial year or deeply cutting its headcount and operating expenses." Over the past couple of years, Microsoft's presided over the closure of multiple studios, shut down multiple games, and laid off thousands, and whether The Verge's report is right or not, I think we can conclusively say that it's probably not an enigma. It's probably because it didn't want to make slightly less money than it could've been making. Heaven forbid we only increase our quarterly net income by 14%, the horror. Ugh. Put it on the list. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Microsoft made $27.2 billion in 3 months and still chose to lay 9,000 people off, in case you thought there was simply no other way
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Every time I feel like I'm getting a handle on the growth-based nature of capitalism—the idea that the number has to go up, and simply making a profit isn't enough, yadda yadda—a stat in an earnings report clocks me over the head and uproots me from whatever mooring I thought I had. For example, did you know that Microsoft made $27.2 billion in net income in its most recent financial quarter? That's 27,000 million dollars, or roughly 0.39 Blizzard acquisitions. If we take Glassdoor's median average game developer salary of $81,000 a year at face value, that's enough to pay the salaries of 335,802 developers for a year. If I do any more napkin math I'm gonna make myself too sad. That's per the Q4 earnings release (thanks, GamesRadar) which compares itself to the same three-month period of last year. Here are the full stats—the harsh industry conditions under which Microsoft made the decision to put 9,000 employees across the company out of work. Revenue was $76.4 billion and increased 18% (up 17% in constant currency) Operating income was $34.3 billion and increased 23% (up 22% in constant currency) Net income was $27.2 billion and increased 24% (up 22% in constant currency) Diluted earnings per share was $3.65 and increased 24% (up 22% in constant currency) As for the entire fiscal year, Microsoft had a net income of $101.8 billion, an increase of 16%. At the very least, this is congruent with Microsoft continuing to boast about how well it's doing, so well in fact that it cancelled Rare's Everwild, called curtains on ZeniMax's shuttered MMO, shoved a pillow over the head of the Perfect Dark reboot, and stilled Warcraft Rumble. If we take Microsoft chairman and CEO Satya Nadella's words from late last month for granted, this is all due to something called the "enigma of success in an industry that has no franchise value", which is "dynamic, sometimes dissonant, and always demanding." Looking at the stats above, I'm not sure it's actually that enigmatic—there's no real conspiracy here. Microsoft's net income increased 24% compared to the same window of time last year. It has made, in the past three months, more money than any of its laid-off developers and employees will ever see in their lives. Multiple thousand lives, in fact. 4,197 if we assume they work 80 years at that median salary and then die. I told you the math was making me sad. Things are even more grim if we take The Verge's report on the fallout of all this as gospel, where one employee claimed that "Microsoft's leadership team had the choice between reducing investment in AI infrastructure for the upcoming financial year or deeply cutting its headcount and operating expenses." Over the past couple of years, Microsoft's presided over the closure of multiple studios, shut down multiple games, and laid off thousands, and whether The Verge's report is right or not, I think we can conclusively say that it's probably not an enigma. It's probably because it didn't want to make slightly less money than it could've been making. Heaven forbid we only increase our quarterly net income by 14%, the horror. Ugh. Put it on the list. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
