Budweiser-maker AB InBev to invest $300 million in US facilities
The Budweiser maker, which said it invested nearly $2 billion over the last five years in 100 facilities across the country, also announced the launch of a new plant in Columbus, Ohio.
The brewer reported a rise in first-quarter profit last week, more than double the increase expected by analysts and boosting its profit margins despite a fall in sales volumes. It said it makes nearly all its domestic sales locally,
AB InBev had previously said it was boosting investments in key brands such as Budweiser and ramping up efforts to grow at-home consumption, as spending elsewhere - including in bars - remains pressured.
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CNN
15 minutes ago
- CNN
Habba is confident she'll be the top US attorney in New Jersey, but it's chaos in the meantime
Federal criminal cases in New Jersey remain in chaos with judges postponing sentencings, plea hearings and status conferences this week as questions swirl about the authority of former Donald Trump lawyer Alina Habba to serve as the acting US attorney. It's not clear how long the pause in activity will last. 'Right now in the District of New Jersey there are bail hearings happening and initial appearances, but otherwise the practice of criminal law is at a standstill,' said a criminal defense lawyer who practices in the state. 'You can't have that happen.' The issue is currently playing out in a drug case, where a lawyer is attempting to have charges dismissed based on the argument that Habba is not serving legally. A federal judge from Pennsylvania, who was transferred the case to hear the arguments, said Tuesday he will first decide whether the defendants, Julien Giraud Jr. and Julien Giraud III, are entitled to any benefit – including the dismissal of his indictment – even if Habba was appointed illegally. The judge said he will only decide the issue of whether Habba is appointed lawfully if necessary. Judge Matthew Brann said the Justice Department provided 'persuasive authority' that even if Habba was appointed illegally that the case should proceed. The Justice Department argued the indictment was handed up last year under a Senate-approved US attorney and authority is conferred to prosecutors on the case through the attorney general. 'It may be the case that determining what relief is available to the Girauds is inextricably bound up with the extent of the statutory or constitutional violation, if any, thereby rendering consideration of the merits question necessary in any event,' said Brann, the chief judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, in an order Tuesday. Habba told CNN, 'I am confident we will win any and all attempts to thwart the well established Article II powers of the Executive Branch and the President of the United States.' The tug of war over whether Habba is legally the acting US attorney in New Jersey comes as the White House has faced difficulty getting its picks for US attorney positions through Congress or adopted by federal judges. The fallout in New Jersey could foreshadow potential challenges in other districts, which could have broader implications on the criminal justice system. The broad near-term impact was referenced by the New Jersey judge overseeing the Giruads' case, before it was transferred to Pennsylvania. 'I don't know ultimately how it's going to end up; but that motion, depending on how it's resolved, may affect how this case is going to proceed. And as a result of that, I think you'll soon find out that other judges are going to stay whatever criminal matters there are pending,' Judge Edward Kiel said during a hearing on Monday when he postponed the trial, according to a transcript of the proceeding. Kiel said decisions made now, such as plea agreements, may need to be redone in the future if the US attorney is invalidated. Plea hearings scheduled for this week were postponed with no future date, according to several lawyers and court dockets. Sentencing in other cases were also postponed. The federal public defender's office in New Jersey is urging the judge to rule narrowly on the issues before him in the Giruads' case. In a letter Tuesday, the defenders' office noted the potential ramifications of the ruling, adding there are other circumstances that could warrant further legal briefing, such as indictments, grand jury subpoenas and other documents that are signed by Habba. 'Because that is a separate question that is not raised by the facts of this case and has not been fully briefed, I respectfully request that the Court not address it at this time,' wrote K. Anthony Thomas, the federal public defender in the state. It's unclear whether other defendants will challenge Habba's authority. Habba was first appointed by Trump as interim US attorney in March, a position that expired at 120 days. Habba selected as First Assistant US Attorney Desiree Grace, a well-respected prosecutor in the office. The district court in New Jersey earlier this month declined to appoint Habba US attorney and instead elected Grace to serve as US attorney. Attorney General Pam Bondi fired Grace and Habba resigned her position. Bondi appointed Habba as a special attorney and designated her as the first assistant US attorney, effectively making her acting US attorney again. The Justice Department argues Habba's appointment is valid under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and other executive powers. 'Whether or not Ms. Habba technically qualifies as Acting United States Attorney, the Attorney General has validly delegated to her the authority to supervise all pending prosecutions and other matters in the USAO-NJ, subject in turn to the supervision by the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General, both of whom are Senate-confirmed,' the Justice Department wrote in a court filing Tuesday. 'The FVRA therefore permits her to 'perform the functions and duties of the office' of United States Attorney 'in an acting capacity' for as long as she serves as First Assistant, until the statutory time limits expire or a permanent officeholder is nominated and confirmed.' Lawyers say whether the uncertainty helps or hurts clients is a case-by-case matter but for now it's causing chaos. One attorney, who did not want to be identified, said everyone is trying to figure out what to do. 'I think right now they're building the plane as they're flying it,' the attorney said.
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trading Day: Stocks stumble, dollar up as Fed looms
By Jamie McGeever ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) -TRADING DAY Making sense of the forces driving global markets By Jamie McGeever, Markets Columnist The S&P 500 and Nasdaq ground out new highs on Tuesday but closed in the red, as earnings optimism faded and investors took chips off the table ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy decision and steer on Wednesday. More on that below. In my column today I look at the key part retail investors are playing in Wall Street's rise and how it may be different from previous market rallies. If you have more time to read, here are a few articles I recommend to help you make sense of what happened in markets today. 1. IMF nudges up 2025 growth forecast but says tariff risksstill dog outlook 2. Dollar shedding its tariff risk premium: Mike Dolan 3. Fed's policy toolkit may be headed for fundamentalchanges 4. Bond investors warm to risk, with Fed staying put in'Goldilocks' economy 5. Enough apologies: How Japan is shaking its price hikephobia Today's Key Market Moves * FX: Dollar index hits 5-week high, ends the day up 0.3%.Euro slides again, now off 1.5% in just two days. * STOCKS: U.S. stocks close in the red, led by the Russell2000's and Dow's declines of 0.6% and 0.5%, respectively. * SHARES/SECTORS: S&P 500 industrials down more than 1%,UPS, UnitedHealth, Boeing among big decliners after results. * BONDS: U.S. 2s/10s curve flattens for eighth day innine. 30-year yield down 10 bps, biggest fall since February. * COMMODITIES: Oil leaps 3.5%, biggest rise since June 17,as Trump pressures Russia over Ukraine and on global tradeoptimism. Brent above $73/bbl, WTI futures above $69.50/bbl. Stocks stumble, dollar up as Fed looms A day of consolidation and reversal across major equity and bond markets on Tuesday saw Wall Street ease and Treasury yields fall back as investors braced for Wednesday's Fed meeting and press conference from Chair Jerome Powell. No change on rates is the near-unanimous expectation across markets. So the focus will be on how Powell assesses the recent U.S. trade deals with Japan and Europe, the tariff impact on growth and inflation, and perhaps more intriguingly, the barrage of criticism flowing his way from President Donald Trump. Data on Tuesday showed that the U.S. goods trade deficit unexpectedly shrank to a near-two-year low in May, auguring well for a rebound in growth in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs economists upgraded their annualized Q2 GDP growth tracking estimate to 3.1% from 2.6%. The International Monetary Fund lifted its global growth forecasts too, signaling that the worst-case tariff scenarios have faded from view. But huge trade uncertainty still persists, on top of geopolitical tensions, a murky interest rate outlook and large fiscal deficits. Much of the immediate trade uncertainty centers on the U.S.-China nexus. High-level talks in Stockholm ended on Tuesday with both countries agreeing to seek an extension of their 90-day tariff truce. But if Trump doesn't agree to extend the August 12 deadline, tariffs could "boomerang" back to April 2 levels or maybe higher, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. The currency market, however, showed no sign of reversal on Tuesday. The dollar rose for a second day following the U.S.-European Union trade deal, a solid rebound that suggests the greenback may be shedding its elevated trade risk premium. A stronger dollar is not in the Trump administration's playbook though, and it will be fascinating to see how the White House responds if it continues to appreciate. Given Trump's views on the Fed, calls for lower rates would be a reasonably safe bet. All eyes now turn to the Fed and Powell's press conference on Wednesday, a day jam-packed with other major events. They include: second quarter U.S. and euro zone GDP estimates, an interest rate decision from Canada, and U.S. earnings reports from Meta and Microsoft. Retail replaces 'smart money' as Wall Street rocket fuel Retail investors are often late to Wall Street parties, only catching the rally once it's established and "smart money" is looking for the exit. But that doesn't appear to be the case this time around. Flow and survey data show that – far from playing catch-up – retail investors are a key force behind the latest U.S. equity whoosh that has been lifting the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to new highs on a near-daily basis. Retail investor participation as a share of total S&P 500 flow last week reached 12.63%, according to calculations by Goldman Sachs analysts. That's the highest share since February and well above the recent average, as retail participation has rarely exceeded 13% in the last few years, their figures show. Retail investors have been the "primary" driver of the current rally, Barclays equity strategists suggest, pouring more than $50 billion into global stocks over the last month. And their enthusiasm for equities is continuing to build, while institutional participation remains "muted", Barclays strategists note. "Re-risking seems to be the priority for small investors as improved sentiment into 2Q25 earnings, resilient macro data and Fed cut speculation combine to outweigh still-lingering tariff threats and deficit concerns," they wrote last week. This optimism was underscored in Morgan Stanley's latest quarterly survey of retail investors published last week. It shows 62% of those polled are now bullish U.S. equities, and 66% reckon the U.S. market will rise by the end of the quarter. These are both the highest levels since the survey was launched two and a half years ago. LONG KRISPY KREME This surge in retail activity could be a positive development. At a basic level, broader participation and democratization of the market is to be welcomed. And some analysts reckon the retail investor community has matured since 2021 when the "meme stock" frenzy spilled over into the wider market. But current retail trading still includes some of this highly speculative, often options-related meme stock activity, with the main targets this time around being heavily shorted names like Krispy Kreme, GoPro and Kohl's. Indeed, Bank of America analysts note, "zero-day to expiry" options that are popular with retail investors recently accounted for more than 60% of all S&P 500 options trading activity. And the longer the rally continues, the more fears of a major correction that crushes the retail community are bound to grow. These fears are not unwarranted. The latest figures from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) show that margin debt in U.S. stocks has crossed the $1 trillion mark for the first time. This represents both retail and institutional investors' activity, but according to JP Morgan analysts, the retail cohort is predominantly responsible for the rise. Of course, investors' margin debt would be expected to rise over time in line with inflation and the underlying equity indices, particularly in a bull market. But some analysts still consider rising margin debt a sign of market froth or outright over-exuberance. REGULATORY EASING On top of all this, retail investors may soon get a helping hand from Washington. A series of what Bank of America analysts call "financial regulation policy-easing" measures are being lined up that will facilitate retail investors' trading in equities and other less-liquid markets. For example, the Trump administration is drawing up an executive order to allow retail investors to add private equity into 401(k) retirement funds. Media reports also suggest FINRA is considering proposals to ease the "Pattern Day Trading Rule" – which was set up to limit highly speculative trading practices – by slashing investors' minimum margin account balance requirements to $2,000 from $25,000 currently. Of course, with deregulation comes higher risk and lower protection for investors. But for now, retail investors are in the driver's seat and enjoying the ride. What could move markets tomorrow? * Australia CPI inflation (Q2) * Japanese earnings, including Toyota, Nissan, Panasonic * Euro zone GDP (Q2, flash estimate) * Canada interest rate decision * Brazil interest rate decision * U.S. GDP, PCE inflation (Q2, advance estimate) * U.S. ADP private sector employment (July) * U.S. Federal Reserve policy decision and statement, ChairJerome Powell's press conference * U.S. earnings, including Meta and Microsoft Want to receive Trading Day in your inbox every weekday morning? Sign up for my newsletter here. Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias. (By Jamie McGeever; Editing by Nia Williams) Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Bloomberg
17 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
US, China Agree to Tariff Truce Extension
"Balance of Power: Late Edition" focuses on the intersection of politics and global business. On today's show, Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, says President Donald Trump's tariffs are to blame for higher interest rates and comments on the Senate's "ROAD to Housing Act." Evelyn Farkas, Executive Director of Arizona State University's McCain Institute, discusses why Russian President Vladimir Putin doesn't take President Trump's Ukraine ceasefire threat seriously. (Source: Bloomberg)
