Author: News Room

Marjorie Taylor Greene Bought Market Dip Before Trump Paused Tariffs, Profiting From the Rally

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia, disclosed on Monday that she had purchased between tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of stock on April 8 and 9, the day before and the day of President Trump’s announcement that he was pausing a sweeping set of global tariffs, a pivot that sent the stock market soaring out of a sizable slump.Ms. Greene bought between about $21,000 and $315,000 in stocks on those days. The day before Mr. Trump’s move, she also dumped between $50,000 and $100,0000 in Treasury bills, according to required public disclosures made to the House.The…

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White House to Ask Congress to Rescind .1 Billion From NPR and PBS

The White House is planning to ask Congress to claw back more than $1 billion slated for public broadcasting in the United States, according to two people briefed on the plan, a move that could ultimately eliminate almost all federal support for NPR and PBS.The plan is to request that Congress rescind $1.1 billion in federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the taxpayer-backed company that funds public media organizations across the United States, one of the people said. If Congress agrees, that will amount to about two years of the organization’s funding, nearly all of which goes to…

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The Colorful Cult of Le Creuset

April Hershberger is not the only collector of Le Creuset cookware who owns so many pieces that she can’t count them. But she may be the only one who built an entire house around one: the deep-red, nine-quart oval Dutch oven that she received as a gift for her 2006 wedding.It sparked an obsession.She had her kitchen stove, the centerpiece of her home in a restored barn in southeastern Pennsylvania, custom-made to match her collection of Le Creuset cherry-red pots, baking dishes, pitchers, plates and more. Ms. Hershberger, 42, also has pieces in mustard yellow and sunflower yellow, Mediterranean blue…

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What If Mark Zuckerberg Had Not Bought Instagram and WhatsApp?

In 2012, when Facebook’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, cut a $1 billion check to buy the photo-sharing app Instagram, most people thought he had lost his marbles.“A billion dollars of money?” joked Jon Stewart, then the host of “The Daily Show.” “For a thing that kind of ruins your pictures?”Mr. Stewart called the decision “really lame.” His audience — and much of the rest of the world — agreed that Mr. Zuckerberg had overpaid for an app that highlighted a bunch of photo filters.Two years later, Mr. Zuckerberg opened his wallet again when Facebook agreed to buy WhatsApp for $19…

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US Dollar Keeps Falling as Trump’s Tariffs Rattle Investors

The U.S. dollar extended its slide against other major currencies on Monday, the latest sign that investors may be starting to shun what has long been the safest haven in global financial markets.An index that tracks the dollar against a basket of major trading partners fell for a fifth straight day, even as U.S. stocks and bonds rallied. The dollar has fallen by roughly 8 percent this year, trading near a three-year low.There has been a particularly steep decline since President Trump announced tariffs on nearly every country’s imports a few weeks ago. The dollar has lost value against the…

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Trump Signals Tariffs Are Coming on Computer Chips and Drugs

President Trump signaled on Monday that he would soon announce additional tariffs targeting imported computer chips and pharmaceuticals, while suggesting he could also move to relax levies on imported cars and auto parts.The shifting strategy served to underscore the complications and contradictions in the president’s trade agenda, which has roiled markets and spooked the businesses that Mr. Trump is trying to persuade to invest in the United States.For a second day, Mr. Trump hinted that he would soon impose new tariffs on semiconductors, as he looks to shore up more domestic production of a vital component in electronics, cars, toys…

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Goldman Sachs Avoids Mentioning the Word ‘Tariffs’ Amid Trump Trade Policy Uncertainty

Goldman Sachs on Monday revealed its latest financial results and outlook for the future, and in a deft feat of linguistics, its executives managed not to utter the word “tariff” once.Instead, in an hourlong call with analysts, David M. Solomon, the bank’s chief executive, unfurled a bouquet of euphemisms, saying that there had been “landscape changes,” “uncertainty about how certain things that are close will proceed forward” and a change in “constructs” that impacted how international businesses “interact to the U.S. and global economic system.”Asked directly about how the investment bank’s trading business was faring this month, Mr. Solomon stated…

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Video: Mark Zuckerberg Is Back in the Hot Seat in a Crucial Trial

Mark Zuckerberg has appeared before Congress more times than any other tech leader. He will testify again soon — as a witness in a federal antitrust trial. Cecilia Kang, a technology reporter for The New York Times, recalls some of Zuckerberg’s past congressional hearings and explains why the stakes are even higher this time.

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UK Cuts Tariffs on Dozens of Products as Global Trade Tensions Rise

Follow live updates on the Trump administration.The British government ramped up actions to help protect businesses and households from some of the economic tumult created by President Trump’s decision to raise tariffs and upend the norms of global trade.The government said on Sunday it would suspend tariffs on 89 products for about two years to help businesses and consumers save money. The products include those for construction, such as plywood and plastics, and everyday household items, such as pasta and fruit juices.Officials will also increase financing support for exporters by 20 billion pounds ($26 billion), through partial loan guarantees, and…

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Lego Black Market Fetches Big Prices for Little Plastic Bricks

It’s one Lego kit, a collection of small plastic bricks and related accessories. What could it cost? The answer, it turns out, could be thousands of dollars.Lego kits and minifigures, figurines that are a little over 1.5 inches tall, are commanding high prices on the secondary market, with some, like the LEGO San Diego Comic-Con 2013 Spider-Man, valued as high as $16,846.The children’s toys have even become something of an investing opportunity for those savvy enough to know what to look for.But with the eye-popping price tags comes a dark side: Lego kits have become a hot commodity on the…

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