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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A global trade war is offering Puerto Rico hope as the U.S. territory attempts to strengthen its fragile economy. Government officials are jumping on planes to try and convince international companies to relocate their manufacturing plants to the island, where they would be exempt from tariffs. Any relocation would be a boost to Puerto Rico’s shaky economy as the government emerges from a historic bankruptcy and continues to struggle with chronic power outages. The island also is bracing for potentially big cuts in federal funding under the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, with…
(Bloomberg) — Terrel Hardin was at a diner along Route 66 in western Oklahoma when his phone rang with bad news: The engine on one of his oil rigs had broken. In times past it would be a straightforward $6,000 fix, but President Donald Trump’s trade war has upended supply chains, and he wasn’t sure the part would even be available. Most Read from Bloomberg Tariffs and uncertainty over equipment deliveries mean what was once routine for Hardin’s King Well Service Inc. is now a source of anxiety. It’s made all the worse by plunging crude prices, triggered in part…
Saudi Aramco’s profits over the first quarter of the year fell by 5pc to $26bn (£19.5bn) – Simon Dawson/Bloomberg Uncertainty unleashed by Donald Trump’s trade war has delivered a financial blow to Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil giant ahead of the US president’s high-profile visit to the Kingdom this week. Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, said on Sunday that profits over the first quarter of the year fell by 5pc to $26bn (£19.5bn), as worries over global trade dampened oil prices. This led to the company cutting its dividend from $31bn to $21.4bn in the final quarter of last…
LOS ANGELES (AP) — At the biggest jewelry center in the United States, Alberto Hernandez fired up his machine on a recent day and waited until it glowed bright orange inside before shoveling in an assortment of rings, earrings and necklaces weighing about as much as a bar of soap: just under 100 grams, or 3.2 troy ounces. Minutes later, the bubbling liquid metal was cooling in a rectangular cast the size of a woman’s shoe. An X-ray machine determined it was 56.5% gold, making it worth $177,000 based on the price of gold that day. As gold prices soar…
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil giant Aramco posted first-quarter profits of $26 billion on Sunday, down 4.6% from the prior year as falling global oil prices undermine the kingdom’s multi-trillion-dollar development plans. Aramco, formally known as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., had revenues of $108.1 billion over the quarter, the company reported in a filing on Riyadh’s Tadawul stock exchange. The company saw $107.2 billion in revenues and profits of $27.2 billion the same quarter last year. Saudi Arabia has promised to invest $600 billion in the U.S. over the course of President Donald Trump’s…
Mortgage interest rates are up today. According to Zillow data, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate has risen by one basis point to 6.72%, and the 15-year fixed rate has increased by seven basis points to 6.03%. Mortgage rates typically go up when the U.S. economy thrives and down when the economy struggles. A lot of economic data will be released this upcoming week, especially surrounding inflation. This data could move home loan rates one way or the other — however, it probably won’t cause any dramatic shifts. Dig deeper: How inflation impacts mortgage rates Have questions about buying, owning, or…
WASHINGTON (AP) — What, exactly, the Republican Party stands for in terms of economic policy in the second Trump administration is a question reaching an inflection point. Is it the party that promotes free-market prosperity or a 21st-century populism? Does it stick with the “No new taxes” pledge that has been GOP political orthodoxy for decades or do Republicans tax the rich, as President Donald Trump suggests? Roll back the Obama-era’s health care expansion and the President Joe Biden’s green energy investments or protect the federal flow of investment dollars generating jobs in the states? Slash deficit spending or spike…
(Bloomberg) — US consumer prices probably picked up in April after the smallest advance in nine months, foreshadowing a broader acceleration as many companies seek to pass on higher tariffs. Most Read from Bloomberg A closely watched gauge of prices paid by Americans for goods and services, excluding volatile food and energy costs, is forecast to have risen 0.3%, based on a Bloomberg survey of economists. In March, the so-called core consumer price index inched up just 0.1%. While Tuesday’s report is likely to show limited pass-through so far of higher US duties on imported goods, many economists anticipate the…
Farmworkers harvest lettuce in Brawley, Calif., on Dec. 10. The U.S. farm economy has been squeezed by President Trump’s tariffs. (Sandy Huffaker / AFP / Getty Images) President Trump’s tariffs are upending crop trading, delaying tractor purchases and constraining imports of chemical supplies into the United States. That’s the main message from big agricultural businesses as they report their quarterly earnings, giving an early glimpse into the far-reaching impacts of the U.S. president’s trade war. The disruptions in global trade threaten to extend a years-long slump in the U.S. farm industry, which had already been struggling with ample supplies, depressed…
WASHINGTON (AP) — A top Federal Reserve official said Friday that massive uncertainty created by President Donald Trump’s tariffs has caused some businesses to cut back on hiring and spending, threatening to slow the economy, but he added that it’s not yet clear whether the central bank should cut its key interest rate. Tom Barkin, president of the Federal Reserve’s Richmond branch, said businesses have turned cautious, though are not yet engaging in steep job cuts or other behavior typical of a recession. “The way I’ve been describing it is, it’s really hard to drive when it’s foggy,” Barkin said…