Latest news with #Kleinfeld
Yahoo
27-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
4 of your biggest Trump tariff questions answered
I have to be honest with you, the Yahoo Finance community. I'm having conversations I've never had before in my 23-year finance career. During the Great Financial Crisis (aka GFC), the chats with top business leaders were about the world feeling like it was ending as banks went bust and people lost their homes. During the COVID-19 pandemic, similar vibes were in those calls and interviews as the virus shut down businesses and led to mass deaths around the world. But in each of those periods, I remember having the sense that things would be rectified somehow in a not-too-distant future. Listen: how Intel's former CEO sees the impact of tariffs With respect to the current tariff debacle, I'm not getting that same sense of hope from executives who are powering the world's largest economies and asset markets. I can hear the despair and anger in the voices of CEOs who are level-headed, strategic thinkers. Where CEOs came into the year hoping for lower taxes and fewer regulations, they're now going line by line on an ingredient list to figure out how to circumvent a tariff. They're discussing with their boards if decades of overseas manufacturing and supply chain work should be uprooted and transported back to the US — despite capital expenditure build-outs like this possibly taking five to 10 years and costing billions. The group has no true line of sight to a resolution. "And for me, the big question is what is the goal of these tariffs? I mean, are we basically saying we need to level the playing field? You know, then we should sort out these industries and these countries where the playing field is not leveled. But broad-based tariffs doesn't make much sense. Are we saying we need to bring strategic industries back? OK, then let's define the strategic industries and let's also do something that attracts them, not just a barrier, but also that attracts them here," former longtime Alcoa (AA) CEO Klaus Kleinfeld told me on Opening Bid. Watch: Why wealthy investors are buying the stock market dip Kleinfeld's borderline outrage on tariffs is well-aligned with what I am hearing elsewhere in the leadership community. Caught in the middle of this trade war is you, the average investor. I know you have a lot of questions. The best I can offer is a concise dose of insight into the questions I get from you all. I hope this is helpful to your thinking! Major disruption. What I'm most concerned with on this front is twofold. First, how tariffs are impacting a company's cost of goods sold on a micro level. And two, the inability of a company to respond quickly to address tariffs. In a lot of cases, finding new vendors in the US or countries with lower tariffs isn't easily done. You can't just raise a price in the hopes of beating tariffs. The problem is deeply structural, and it will take time — the kind of time the stock market doesn't give to the boardroom. A good example from my interview with Procter & Gamble (PG) CEO Jon Moeller this week: "If you take something like Metamucil, for example, its main active ingredient is psyllium husk, which is grown in a smaller region in India exclusively at the yield levels that we need to make to have it make sense. And so we'll be paying likely a tariff on the importation of that material to produce the global supply of Metamucil, which is manufactured in a plant in Arizona. "There isn't the climate opportunity in the United States to support, again, the yield levels that would be necessary on that kind of crop. So, localizing that isn't an option. We need to find other solutions. And those would include, obviously, unrelated cost reductions. They would include potential pricing." Read more: The latest news and updates on Trump's tariffs You bet they are! Take PepsiCo (PEP), a company I've covered for the better part of 15 years. In that time, I've known it to do three things very well. One, come up with innovative new drinks and snacks. Two, cut costs to boost margins. And three, never warn on guidance. This week, PepsiCo took its full-year profit forecast down to no growth this year. Just three months ago, the company had expected low-single-digit percentage growth. The guidance cut encompasses not only a more cautious consumer but also the hit to margins from aluminum tariffs on its cans. The company also sources its concentrates from Ireland, so expect a tariff hit on that as well. Some further perspective from elevator maker Otis (OTIS) CEO Judy Marks this week: "Right now, some sources for some components are at scale in China that we don't manufacture. We've searched for sources here. We're moving supply around. We've asked suppliers to set up manufacturing facilities here, because it's just not things we would do, but everything else." If there is any saving grace, it's that tariffs don't appear to be sending the economy into a Great Depression-like tailspin. My sense is, however, that the economy is flirting with not growing in the second quarter and possibly meager growth in the third quarter. I'm hesitant to opine on whether we are entering a recession — I don't make $5 million a year to be an economist. I look at what Chipotle (CMG) reported this week — its first sales decline since the pandemic. CEO Scott Boatwright told Yahoo Finance's Brooke DiPalma the consumer is showing signs of pulling back. I thought Chipotle bowls were recession-proof? Alas, no. Also not recession-proof, apparently, is washing your clothes. Here's what P&G's CEO Moeller told me on detergent demand: "What we are seeing is a reduction in consumption. We have these wired homes with the permission of consumers, we can track exactly what's happening in the laundry room, for example, how many loads are done per week, what temperature are those loads, etc. And what you see is a reduction in the number of loads that are done per week currently going from about, if you go all the way back pre-COVID, about five loads per week to now about three and a half." Read more: What Trump's tariffs mean for the economy and your wallet I can't tell you how many leaders in January told me on and off the record that tariffs would not lead to price increases. I didn't buy it then, and I darn sure ain't buying it now! That's because the price increases have already started, and more are on the way. So be ready for sticker shock in stores and online. Whirlpool (WHR) CEO Marc Bitzer told me this week that he recently took price increases. Makes sense as a typical washing machine uses at least 70 pounds of steel. Then there was T-Mobile (TMUS) CEO Mike Sievert, teasing smartphone-driven price hikes on consumers in a new chat we had. Geez, can't wait for that Apple (AAPL) earnings release on May 1. "Tariffs are unpredictable at this point. Obviously, we're watching closely. If they come in and they're significant in some way, that's going to have to be borne by the customer. I mean, our model isn't prepared for something like that," Sievert said. Sievert's hot take echoes those from Verizon (VZ) CEO Hans Vestberg and AT&T (T) CEO John Stankey on their respective earnings calls this week. Sievert added, "I think what would happen is prices will rise for smartphones, and then people will slow down their purchases of smartphones and upgrade rates will slow. Those would be the dynamics that would happen." Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi, Instagram and on LinkedIn. Tips on stories? Email Click here for in-depth analysis of the latest stock market news and events moving stock prices Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Say Yes to the Dress'' Randy Fenoli Is Shocked by Bride's Unexpected Request at Bridal Shop: See the Moment!
Will Randy Fenoli say yes to this request? In a sneak peek at the April 5 season premiere of Say Yes to the Dress, Fenoli experiences a first in his 32-year career in the bridal fashion industry. After bride Lori prepares to unveil her surprise in the middle of her appointment, she reveals that she visited Kleinfeld for more than a wedding gown. 'I'm a little nervous to go back because we still have to ask Randy to marry us,' she says of her plans, while her friends and family tell Randy they are 'confused.' Related: Say Yes to the Dress' Randy Fenoli Says His Job Is 'Like a Drug': 'It's Almost Like an Addiction for Me' (Exclusive) As he wonders if Lori might be putting on 'a fabulous pair of shoes' or some jewelry, she steps out with her fiancé Shay by her side. 'What is happening?' her friend asks, telling cameras: 'I know something is up because we know her well enough to know that she would not let him see her in the dress prior to their wedding day.' 'You look so beautiful,' Shay gushes, grabbing Lori's hand. 'I love you so much.' 'I love you too,' she replies. He continues, 'Just seeing you like this, I don't know. I don't want to wait. I want to do this now.' Related: Everything You Need to Know About the 'Say Yes to the Dress' Consultants at Kleinfeld Bridal (Exclusive) Already in shock, Lori throws in another curveball. 'Randy, I hear you're an officiant,' she says. Randy's jaw drops, knowing what's coming next. 'So, Randy, will you say yes to marrying us today?' she asks as her friends and family cheer. The clip comes to an end with Randy speechless, leaving viewers to wait to hear his decision. This is Randy's first season back on Say Yes to the Dress after he took a two-year hiatus. In April, he opened up to PEOPLE about his love for the job, joking that 'it's almost like an addiction for me.' "I will keep on and keep on and keep on, trying to find that perfect dress that makes her feel and look beautiful on her wedding day," he said. "So, yeah, that's a huge thing for me. It's like an adrenaline rush. It's like a drug, it really is for me. It never gets old." "I'm just really excited," he later added of the show's 23rd season. "I just think that the world is on edge waiting for the new season of Say Yes to the Dress. And these little girls that watch the show, they're now married, and maybe had their little girls, so I think it's going to be a whole new generation." Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Say Yes to the Dress premieres Saturday, April 5 at 8 p.m. ET on TLC. Read the original article on People
