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Yahoo
15 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Howard Lutnick Steps in After Trump Appears Clueless on Latest Tariff Drama
President Donald Trump's commerce secretary had to step in after he appeared lost on the latest development in his sprawling trade war. Speaking to reporters in New Jersey on Sunday, Trump announced that the administration would be sending out about a dozen letters throughout the week warning other countries that tariffs will be reinstated if they don't close a trade deal soon. Treasury Scott Bessent said earlier in the day that the tariffs would come back into effect on Aug. 1, effectively extending the original July 9 deadline. When a reporter asked Trump when the tariff rates would change—if at all—the president didn't seem to have a clue. 'What are you talking about?' he said, prompting the reporter to repeat herself. 'They're going to be tariffs. The tariffs are going to be the tariffs. I think we'll have most countries done by July 9, either a letter or a deal.' Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick then swooped in to clarify: 'Tariffs go into effect Aug. 1, but the president is setting the rates and the deals right now.' The administration's 90-day pause on its tariff rollout is set to expire on Wednesday, meaning that countries may soon face levies of 10 to 70 percent, as announced in April. Bessent told CNN's State of the Union, however, that it remains to be seen what happens next. 'President Trump is going to be sending letters to some of our trading partners saying that if you don't move things along, then on Aug. 1st, you will be boomerang back to your April 2nd tariff level,' he said. 'I think we're gonna see a lot of deals very quickly.' The announcement postpones the original July 9 deadline, but Bessent refused to call it an extension. 'It's not a new deadline,' he argued. 'We are saying this is when it's happening. If you want to speed things up, have at it. If you want to go back to the old rate, that's your choice.' Asked whether the administration was expecting to sign any deals this week, Lutnick played it vague. 'Well, the president is right in the midst of discussing all sorts of deals with all sorts of countries,' he said. 'And I'm going to be with him when he makes that decision.' The first batch of letters is set to go out at noon Eastern Time on Monday, Trump said in a Truth Social post. The president also issued a veiled threat against any country that cozies up to BRICS, a group of countries composed of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. 'Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy,' Trump wrote, without offering any further details. The on-again, off-again tariff rollout has earned the president a moniker among Wall Street brokers: TACO, which stands for Trump Always Chickens Out. The nickname angered Trump, who countered that 'it's called negotiation.' But an unnamed White House insider told Politico that the tariff chaos is all just part of a show. 'Trump knows the most interesting part of his presidency is the tariff conversation,' the insider said. 'It's all fake. There's no deadline. It's a self-imposed landmark in this theatrical show, and that's where we are.'
CNN
18 minutes ago
- CNN
Four months of rain in hours: How the deadly Texas floods unfolded
CNN's Ed Lavandera reports on the ground in Texas after months-worth of torrential rain triggered deadly floods. How did the devastation unfold?
Yahoo
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- Yahoo
Stocks to watch this week: Shell, TSMC, Levi Strauss, Vistry and Jet2
Tariffs are set to be the focus for investors in the next week, with US president Donald Trump's deadline for the resumption of sweeping duties coming up on 9 July, but there are also a number of major companies due to report. Shell (SHEL.L) will kick off the week's company reporting, with the oil major due to update on second quarter performance on Monday. Investors will be looking at TSMC's ( TSM) latest monthly sales figures, given the company is the world's largest contract chipmaker, helping to give a sense of demand in the sector. In the world of retail, investors will be keeping an eye on results from Levi Strauss (LEVI) to see how the jeans brand is navigating tariff uncertainty. Back in the UK, Vistry (VTY.L) will be in the spotlight, with investors hoping the housebuilder's troubles are behind it after issuing three profit warnings towards the end of last year. Given Jet2 (JET2.L) has already provided some guidance on performance for the year in a trading update, the focus will be on the travel company's outlook for the year ahead. Here's more on what to look out for: The share prices of FTSE 100-listed (^FTSE) companies Shell (SHEL.L) and BP (BP.L) have fluctuated in the past month thanks to big swings in oil prices, as conflict between Iran and Israel sparked concerns about disruption to supply through the Strait of Hormuz. While a ceasefire between the two countries appears to be holding, traders continue to watch developments around the issue of Iran's nuclear programme, in terms of how this impacts tensions in the Middle East. However, oil prices have steadied in the wake of the truce, with investors now focused on an expected decision to increase supply when major producers meet this weekend. The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+, are widely expected to agree on a production increase of 411,000 barrels per day. Prior to the June spike in oil prices, fears that tariff-fuelled economic downturn could dampen demand for fuel weighed on the commodity. This has contributed to longer-term concerns about slowing demand putting pressure on companies' refining margins, which reflect the profits made from processing oil. Read more: Global economy to slow amid 'most severe trade war since 1930s', says Fitch In the first quarter, Shell (SHEL.L) posted a global indicative refining margin of $6.20 a barrel, which was up from $5.50 in the fourth quarter, but down from $12 for the same quarter last year. The Anglo-Dutch energy major reported adjusted earnings of $5.58bn (£4.09bn) for the three months to March, down 28% from $7.73bn a year earlier but ahead of the $5.09bn forecast by analysts polled by London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG.L). Despite the fall in profits, Shell (SHEL.L) announced another $3.5bn in share buybacks with the release of the results in May, which marked its 14th consecutive quarter of repurchases of at least $3bn. Meanwhile, BP (BP.L) reported a significant drop in first-quarter profit. The company reported an underlying replacement cost profit — a key metric used as a proxy for net profit — of $1.38bn (£1bn), falling short of the $1.53bn forecast by analysts polled by LSEG (LSEG.L). BP's (BP.L) weaker performance has led to speculation that the oil major has become a takeover target, with reports that Shell (SHEL.L) was in talks to make a bid on its rival. However, Shell put paid to the rumours in a statement to markets at the end of June, saying it had "no intention of making an offer for BP". Attention will now turn to Shell's (SHEL.L) second quarter update release on Monday, which should give investors an idea as to how the oil major has been performing ahead of it publishing the full results on 31 July. TSMC's ( TSM) June sales data will also give a sense of how the chipmaker has performed in the first half of the year. For May, TSMC ( TSM) posted net revenue of TWD320.52bn (£8.11bn), which was down 8.3% on the previous month but up nearly 40% on the same month last year. The chipmaker has guided to net revenue of $28.4bn to $29.2bn for the second quarter, which would be up from $25.5bn for the first quarter. TSMC ( TSM) is due to release its full second quarter results on 17 July. In a note on Thursday, Barclays (BARC.L) analysts, who have an "overweight" rating on the stock, said that they continued to see the stock as a "core holding". Read more: Whatever happened to NFTs? "Monthly sales data so far this quarter shows continued strong revenues meaning over 2/3s of quarterly guidance has already been achieved," they said. "Thus we think TMSC ( TSM) can beat its guidance for revenues and we see scope for an upgrade to FY (full year). The analysts added: "The debate we think is on 2H and whether TSMC ( TSM) is able to deliver further sequential growth or if what we believe have been pull-in benefits limit quarterly growth from here. We increase our USD revenues for 2025 and now model +33% growth yoy, and if pull in activity has been limited then we think our estimates could be conservative." Year-to-date TSMC's ( TSM) Taipei-listed shares are less than 1% in the green, as tariff-related volatility has weighed on chip stocks more broadly. Despite beating expectations in the first quarter, shares in Levi Strauss & Co (LEVI) fell after it posted its results in April, which were released just days after Trump announced sweeping tariffs on "Liberation Day". Levi Strauss (LEVI) maintained its top and bottom line guidance for the year but said this excluded the impact from the tariff announcements but added that it anticipated minimal impact to its margins for the second quarter. Read more: Stocks that are trending today Speaking to Yahoo Finance at the time, Levi Strauss (LEVI) chief financial officer Harmit Singh said the company debated lifting its full-year guidance but felt it was "prudent" to maintain its outlook, given it was early in the year and in light of the tariff announcement. Levi Strauss (LEVI) posted net revenues of $1.5bn in the first quarter, which was up 9% on an organic basis on the same period last year. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.38, compared with $0.25 for the first quarter of 2024. For the year, the jeans maker has guided to 3.5% to 4.5% growth in organic net revenues, while earnings per share are expected to be between $1.20 and $1.25. Shares in Vistry Group (VTY.L) are up 8% year-to-date but have failed to recover from a sharp drop towards the end of last year on the back of profit warnings by the housebuilder. While revenue for the year rose 7% to £17.2bn ($23.5bn), final profit before tax was down 35% to £263.5m. Vistry (VTY.L) is due to share a trading update on Thursday, giving investors a glimpse into what to expect from its actual half-year results in September. AJ Bell's (AJB.L) investment experts Danni Hewson and Coatsworth said: "Analysts will look to chief executive Greg Fitzgerald for reassurance that last year's problems were limited to just two of the four regional operations in the south and that they are now in hand, after a major reorganisation of management there." Read more: The most popular stocks and funds investors bought in June While they said the update is unlikely to be too detailed, areas to watch include any commentary on the housebuilder's forward order book, which stood at £4.4bn at the last count. The company's sales rate per site per week would be another area to keep an eye on, which came in at 0.59 in the first quarter. The outlook for the second half and how that is expected to contribute to full-year profits will also be in focus. Hewson and Coatsworth said current analyst consensus is looking for adjusted pre-tax profit of £270m this year. "Any sign of improved momentum in the order book and sales per outlet, as well as debt reduction, could be taken well, providing 2024's problems are indeed behind Vistry (VTY.L), and there are no more additional charges for cladding remediation, either," they said. "At least the shares are bumping around one times tangible net asset value (NAV), so value hunters have something to ponder there, given the huge derating from two times and more." Shares in Jet2 (JET2.L) surged after its full-year trading update at the end of April and have continued to climb since then, hitting an all-time high in June. For the year, Jet2 (JET2.L) said it expected profit before foreign exchange revaluation and tax to come in between £565m and £570m for the year. That excluded a £10m profit on disposal of assets primarily from our retired Boeing 757- 200 aircraft fleet. The travel company said that this would represent approximately 9% growth on profits for the previous year. Stocks: Create your watchlist and portfolio At the time, Jet2 (JET2.L) said its sale capacity for this summer was 8.3% than the previous year at 18.3 million seats, with new bases at Bournemouth and London Luton airports contributing approximately 4% of this growth. Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2 (JET2.L), said that the 2025 financial year "ended with another year of healthy profit growth, which underlines the resilience, flexibility and popularity of our product offering". "Although still very early in FY26, we are satisfied with progress for summer 2025 so far," he said. Jet2 (JET2.L) also announced plans to launch a £250m share buyback programme, in more welcome news for investors. Monday 7 July Sinovac Biotech (SVA) Tuesday 8 July Unite Group (UTG.L) Quantum Corporation (QMCO) Wednesday 9 July ZigUp (ZIG.L) Thursday 10 July DCC (DCC.L) PageGroup (PAGE.L) Delta Air Lines (DAL) You can read Yahoo Finance's full calendar here. Read more: Key investing trends in June, from defence stocks to Tesla's sales slump What are premium bonds and what are the odds of winning? How the government's benefits changes could affect your taxes
