| Bloomberg Evening Briefing Americas |
| |
| The Trump administration retreated from its attempt to freeze trillions of dollars allocated by Congress, including grants, loans and financial assistance, after triggering a national uproar and a rap on the knuckles from a federal judge who partially blocked the potentially unconstitutional edict before it could take effect. Prior to that, lawmakers fielded calls from concerned constituents, Democrats decried what they saw as the latest illegal power grab of the new administration and even some of President Donald Trump's GOP allies expressed unease with the scale and suddenness of the moves. The abrupt reversal—only two days after the freeze was first announced—quickly drew parallels to the chaotic policy rollouts that regularly unfolded during Trump's first administration, something his aides have said wouldn't happen this time around. —David E. Rovella. | |
What You Need to Know Today | |
| But even the latest bit of policy whiplash (see the recent US-Colombia trade war) couldn't dampen the fireworks on Capitol Hill, where Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was excoriated by Democrats over previous public statements critical of and at times in direct opposition to vaccines and other extreme views he's sought to disavow in his bid to be the nation's top health official. Even one Republican pressed Kennedy on how he would reform Medicaid, relied upon by one in five Americans, causing him to stumble in response. Kennedy is the second of Trump's three most unorthodox cabinet picks to reach a hearing. The first, former cable television host Pete Hegseth, survived a string of controversies to become Secretary of Defense. The third will be Tulsi Gabbard, a former member of Congress known for apologist comments in favor of Vladimir Putin and his war on Ukraine, as well as a secret visit to Putin ally Bashar Assad of Syria, whose military with the help of Russia killed hundreds of thousands during the recent civil war. Gabbard, who also has advocated restricting some of the powers of America's intelligence agencies, was nominated by Trump to be the most senior intelligence official in the country. Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., has urged political reprisals on Republicans who vote against her. In the background, the new administration also has been firing Democratic members from two powerful agency boards, discarding previous norms in possible violation of federal law.  Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing in Washington on Wednesday. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg | |
|
| Goldman Sachs Group's alternative investment arm is pushing deeper into warehouses with the purchase of an almost $300 million portfolio of logistics buildings from Blackstone. The bank partnered with a Dallas-based real estate firm to acquire 21 buildings across Las Vegas, Dallas, Cincinnati and parts of Pennsylvania. The properties total roughly 2.1 million square feet and are 92% leased to 68 tenants, including Amazon and Red Bull. Warehouses close to population centers have become increasingly important as US shoppers purchase more and more items online and expect their products to be delivered promptly. At the same time, it's gotten trickier to build these "last mile" facilities because local residents often complain about truck traffic and pollution. | |
|
| The Bank of Canada cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point, but also stopped giving guidance on any further adjustments to borrowing costs. Why? Trump's threats of tariffs against America's closest ally are clouding the outlook. If there were no tariffs, economic growth in Canada would continue to pick up while inflation stays close to the the 2% target, the central bank said. "However, if broad-based and significant tariffs were imposed, the resilience of Canada's economy would be tested," it said in a statement. Canada has promised to retaliate against America if Trump follows through on the threats. | |
|
| President Claudia Sheinbaum brushed off a question as to whether Mexico is expecting Trump to announce 25% tariffs on Mexican goods Feb. 1. "We don't expect it will happen," she said. "But if it does, we have our plan." Expectations are mounting ahead of the date Trump picked as a possible deadline for imposing such tariffs. The actions could threaten the almost $800 billion in trade per year between the two countries and call into question the protections offered by the US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement, signed by Trump in 2020. | |
|
| Nigeria's imports of gasoline are on course for an eight-year low as the country's new mega-refinery pushes out foreign suppliers, boosting the African nation's fuel independence. Shipments into the country stood at about 110,000 barrels-a-day during Jan. 1-24, data compiled by Bloomberg from analytics firm Vortexa show. If that rate were to continue for the rest of the month, the country's imports—most of which come from Europe—would hit their lowest since 2017. "A large part of the slowdown in Nigeria's gasoline imports is due to the ramp up of the Dangote refinery," Vortexa analyst Samantha Hartke said. "Northwest Europe will have to find alternative homes for its gasoline supplies." | |
|
| If OpenAI were a listed company, Monday would have been a very bad day for the stock, Liam Denning writes in Bloomberg Opinion. But Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman also happens to be chairman of another, less well-known company that is listed, a developer of nuclear small modular reactors, or SMRs, called Oklo. Monday, Denning writes, was a very bad day for that stock. Here's why. | |
|
| |
What You'll Need to Know Tomorrow | |
| |
| |
| |
| Bloomberg Invest: When it comes to your world and your money, you want answers from leaders who know how to build empires, protect portfolios and create the next big thing. Held in the heart of New York's Financial District, Bloomberg Invest is an essential gathering that convenes allocators, dealmakers and investors from across the globe. Join us on March 4-5 as we help you track, dissect and navigate the markets with the industry's most influential voices. Learn more here. | |
| Enjoying Evening Briefing Americas? Get more news and analysis with our regional editions for Asia and Europe. Check out these newsletters, too: Explore all newsletters at Bloomberg.com. | |
| |
Like getting this newsletter? Subscribe to Bloomberg.com for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can't find anywhere else. Learn more. Want to sponsor this newsletter? Get in touch here. | | | You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Evening Briefing: Americas newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, sign up here to get it in your inbox. | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment