From Washington: Why The White House Believes in Its Tariff Strategy
Then, FOX Business White House Correspondent Edward Lawrence analyzes the July jobs report and discusses how a slowing labor market, concerns over tariffs, and other factors could influence the Fed's decision to lower interest rates and the White House's economic plans.
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Why Shopify Stock Is Rising Today
Key Points Investors may be responding to the fact that the E.U. said it won't increase tariffs on the U.S. just yet. But slowing job growth and uncertainty around tariffs could eventually weigh on the economy. Shopify investors should keep a close watch on the company's upcoming quarterly results. 10 stocks we like better than Shopify › Shares of the e-commerce platform company Shopify (NASDAQ: SHOP) were rebounding today after stumbling on Friday after a weaker-than-expected jobs report. Investors regained some of their optimism for the company today, as the European Union says it's delaying some retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. for six months. Shopify investors are closely watching for any positive economic news as they prepare for the company's Q2 earnings report due out on Wednesday. Shopify stock was up by more than 5% this morning and had gained 4.8% as of 11:29 a.m. ET. Some positive news ahead of Shopify's upcoming earnings report Profit growth has been slowing for Shopify, and investors will get more details on which direction it's currently headed when the company reports second-quarter results on Wednesday. In the meantime, investors were responding positively to the E.U.'s announcement that it will hold off on any retaliatory tariffs against the U.S., as it tries to strike a trade deal. Investors were spooked on Friday by a weak jobs report for June and significantly revised jobs numbers for May, which caused a sell-off among many stocks on Friday. So any news that the U.S. isn't entering a new stage of a trade war with the E.U. caused investors to respond positively. Shopify's growth is dependent on how well companies are growing in the U.S. and how many new businesses are started. So any slowdown in the economy will weigh down the company's sales and earnings. The latest job data wasn't a good sign, but with today's gains, it appears investors aren't yet sold on the idea that the U.S. economy is slowing down. Shopify investors will know more very soon Wednesday's Q2 report will prove whether investors' optimism is misplaced or not. It's certainly not time to panic about the economy, but there are significant uncertainties right now as hiring slows down and the dust settles on new tariffs. It could take months for both to work their way through the economy, which means the next few quarters will be especially important to watch for Shopify investors. Should you invest $1,000 in Shopify right now? Before you buy stock in Shopify, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Shopify wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $624,823!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,064,820!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,019% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 178% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 4, 2025 Chris Neiger has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Shopify. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Why Shopify Stock Is Rising Today was originally published by The Motley Fool
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19 minutes ago
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Gas versus renewables: how will the power demand of data centres be met?
Texas is renowned for its ranching industry, but this oldest of American vocations is fast becoming entwined with icons of modern life: solar and wind farms. Among the cattle, Texas is also home to more than 15,300 wind turbines across 239 projects and 197 utility-scale solar farms. 'Solar and wind energy now frequently provide more than 45% of the state's electricity needs,' says Dennis Wamsted of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. With such strong credentials in renewables, it is little wonder that proposals to build more than 100 new gas-fired power plants were met with furore among some. According to non-profit environmental group Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), as of April 2025, plans were afoot to build 108 new facilities and expand 17 others, adding as much as 58GW; there were also proposals, without specific detail, for five other projects. In a June report, the EIP said many of the proposals included requests to access the Texas Energy Fund, which meant using state taxpayer dollars, adding further fuel to the fire. The group identified proposals such as the 930MW three gas‐turbine project near Corpus Christi; the 900MW two gas-turbine project west of Houston; and another 900MW facility to the south-west of the city. Wamsted notes that how many of the proposals EIP identified will actually be built is left unanswered and believes Texas will continue to lead US renewables. However, 'Texas is also the leading market for gas-based thermal power', caveats Pavan Vyakaranam, energy analyst at Power Technology's parent company GlobalData. According to GlobalData, Texas was home to 81.53GW of gas power capacity in 2024, far beyond runner-up Florida's 54.96GW. It is becoming increasingly likely that the state's clean energy push may not go hand in hand with equal efforts to reduce thermal power as the energy transition requires – but why is Texas, alongside other US states and industrialised countries, looking at gas again? Tech needs gas Data centres are increasingly in demand as AI and automation markets boom. In the US, data centre investments nearly quadrupled between 2019 and 2024, according to International Energy Agency (IEA). Wamsted says it is clear that in Texas, data centre buildout is a strong driving force behind the projected increase in power demand placed on the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). This is not just a problem for Texas. IEA data shows that globally, data centre electricity consumption is expected to more than double to around 945 terawatt-hours by 2030. The Trump administration has pushed for data centre and energy co-expansion across US states through favourable conditions such as tax incentives. The latest state to signal its intent to bank on this opportunity was Pennsylvania, which secured investment in excess of $90bn from technology, energy and finance companies to become an AI hub backed by state and federal economic incentives. Although many of the rumoured projects for this hub include clean energy, some are said to contain plans for new natural gas facilities, raising questions of which energy source is best suited to meet date centres' needs. In the US at least, with the Trump administration's preference for hydrocarbons, gas power holds a significant advantage, says Vyakaranam. 'In order to meet such a huge increase in demand [from data centres], there is a need for large capacity additions. With [Trump's] pro-fossil fuel policies in place, it is both more economical and, from clearances perspective, easier to roll out gas-based projects than others like renewables.' He also notes that gas power offers better grid stability with flexibility – able to be quickly started and stopped – and reliability – providing constant power generation to ensure continuous operations for data centres – in comparison to renewables. 'Renewable power, due to its intermittent nature, cannot be a sole solution [for data centres] without any backup power or storage.' However, Wamsted is dismissive of the notion that gas is absolutely needed, saying any rise in demand can be met reliably and economically by renewable sources in markets like Texas with significant renewable capacity. '[In Texas] the 24/7 power demand sought by data centres and other high load users can be supplied by the ERCOT system. Saying data centres require gas or nuclear since they are supposedly more reliable is misleading,' he argues. Do renewables have the power over gas? Wamsted notes that Texas' growing renewables capacity meets much of the state's needs even as demand on the ERCOT climbed by 31.3% between 2016 and 2024. 'Texas actually is a prime example of how quickly we can transition grids from fossil fuels to renewable energy, even without state support,' he says. In theory, Texas could prove it is possible to power the AI future with clean energy. Many Texas-based data centres are already trialling this. In 2024, Sabey Data Center Properties completed the construction of a Tier III two-storey 19,875m² facility in Austin, with a commitment to operate on 100% renewable energy. Similarly, Equinix built a Tier IV facility in Dallas to be entirely powered on renewables. As recently as April 2025, Soluna Holdings' said its 120MW South Texas data centre project, Project Hedy, will also be powered entirely by wind. There are others outside of the US, notes Vyakaranam. Malaysia's Bridge Data Centres is actively integrating 400MW of renewable energy into its operations, with a commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040. The country's AirTrunk Operating is also constructing a data centre with the capacity to generate up to 30MW of renewable energy. Despite these noteworthy blueprints, however, it seems Malaysia will also go big on gas as it tries to reduce coal use, yet balance the economic benefit of a growing data centre industry with the power it needs. With projections that the country will see demand triple in the five years to 2027, it plans to add 6–8GW of gas-fired capacity by the beginning of the next decade, according to the CEO of state utility provider Tenaga Nasional Berhad, Megat Jalaluddin. While the country also has a goal of doubling its renewable capacity by 2030, overall, the transition to clean energy is more a long-term goal than one to meet the urgent demands of data centres. Meanwhile, Vyakaranam says the US renewables sector is facing major challenges under the current administration, with Texas being no exception. 'Trump's position is poised to result in a significant increase in the growth of gas-powered energy production and stagnation of the renewables market,' he says. This approach has its own difficulties. The US, Malaysia and others looking at a gas power boom face stiff competition for gas components – thus, heftier price tags. The substantial increase in the gas-based project pipeline has seen the lead time for gas turbines reach around 5–7 years, according to GlobalData, meaning equipment manufacturers have had to ramp up production as they contend with huge order backlogs. 'Power generation companies, in order to secure turbine supplies, are engaging in aggressive procurement strategies such as making order requests years in advance, diversifying their supplier network, and coming up with different project designs and configurations to avoid any grid reliability shortfalls,' Vyakaranam notes. These considerations threaten Texas' new gas turbine plans as they 'cannot be resolved quickly, if at all', warns Wamsted, adding that engineering, procurement and construction companies have 'limited capability to meet the rapid proposed buildout'. 'Both of these capacity problems are raising the cost of gas-fired generation, which could put a brake on planned additions,' he continues. 'New gas pipelines will be needed for many of the planned expansion efforts, which will take time and have significant capital costs.' Are Malaysia and Texas part of a bigger picture? Vyakaranam believes that renewables alone cannot yet power the world through its AI revolution – instead, gas power has to be part of the mix. 'Although there will be a continued push towards renewables and battery storage innovations, which will eventually help meet data centres' demand,' he says, 'gas and nuclear will have to do some of the heavy lifting in the meantime.' Wamsted takes a different view: 'I would say it is renewables that can quickly and affordably meet the US' rising electricity needs, not gas, which may be sold out through 2030, or nuclear, which is unlikely to add significant new capacity before 2035 at earliest.' He also cautions against relying on gas alone. 'All generation systems require maintenance and have unforced outages during the year […] Relying on one resource – or worse, one facility – would be highly risky,' he says. However, the same could be said about renewables, particularly given their reliance on weather conditions and without the support of energy storage. With data centres – and everything they enable – now part of our world, it seems energy transition hopes are destined to do battle with our thirst for technology. With strong support and opposition for both renewables and gas power to support the AI boom, the reality is likely somewhere in between. Therefore, perhaps Texas and Malaysia have got it right, in spite of the raised eyebrows their approaches elicit. With battery storage still lacking, new gas turbines backlogged and nuclear, at best, a long-term investment, the best way to meet the exponentially increasing demand from data centres may be for renewables and gas power to work together. Of course, even this peculiar collaboration is not enough. To ensure a reliable and sustainable AI future, power capacity additions – regardless of energy source – will need to be paired with efforts to upgrade ageing grids, expand energy storage and decentralise energy systems as a whole, while tailoring energy solutions for each data centre to its local surroundings. "Gas versus renewables: how will the power demand of data centres be met?" was originally created and published by Power Technology, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. 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19 minutes ago
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Schwab Trading Activity Index™: Cautious Optimism in July as STAX Score Edges Upward
Schwab clients were net sellers of equities in July; Net selling was highest in the Information Technology sector while net-buying activity was seen in Communication Services, Health Care and Financials WESTLAKE, Texas, August 04, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Schwab Trading Activity Index™ (STAX) increased to 41.79 in July, up from its score of 40.66 in June. The only index of its kind, the STAX is a proprietary, behavior-based index that analyzes retail investor stock positions and trading activity from Schwab's millions of client accounts to illuminate what investors were actually doing and how they were positioned in the markets each month. The reading for the four-week period ending July 25, 2025, ranks "low" compared to historic averages. "What the July STAX shows us is that while Schwab's retail clients are bullish, that optimism is measured," said Joe Mazzola, Head Trading and Derivatives Strategist at Charles Schwab. "The S&P 500 may have hit new all-time highs in July, but when we consider the ways Schwab's retail clients are engaging with the markets, we're not seeing the kinds of risk-on strategies that would indicate a lot of confidence in the rally's longevity." Stock market volatility fell to five-month lows in July, easing as geopolitical worries receded and the U.S. budget debate got settled relatively easily. Tariff concerns remain in the market, but a deal with Japan in late July with 15% tariffs on its products appeared to calm worries. The Cboe Volatility Index® (VIX) fell beneath 15 by late July, well below its historic 20 average. Economic data generally held up decently during the STAX period, with June seeing 147,000 U.S. jobs created and unemployment dropping to 4.1%, both improvements from May. Retail sales in June grew a healthy 0.6% from May, and preliminary July University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment rose to 61.8, its highest level in five months. Inflation reports in July brought new concerns that tariffs might be factoring into price growth, though monthly gains weren't extraordinary. The June Consumer Price Index (CPI) saw headline CPI up 0.2% and core – which excludes food and energy – up 0.3% from May. And on an annual basis, the CPI rose 2.7%, up from 2.4% in May. Even as services prices saw slower increases, prices of goods ticked higher, to some a sign that tariffs were beginning to take their toll. Prices for toys, clothing, and furnishings rose. Second quarter earnings season got off to a mostly solid start in July, with around 83% of companies exceeding Wall Street analysts' expectations. The estimate for blended second quarter profit growth, which includes companies reporting and projections of companies yet to report, rose while actual earnings from companies reporting the first few weeks of earnings season climbed more than 8%. The rally in July broadened through the month, with nearly 75% of S&P 500 stocks trading above their respective 50-day moving averages by the end of the STAX period. Volatility continued to depress, pushing the VIX to the low 15's, as the S&P 500 failed to record a 1% move for the fourth consecutive week. Stocks briefly dove and yields for the 10-year Treasury note climbed to nearly 4.5%, the high end of their recent range, on media reports that President Trump had asked congressional Republicans if he should fire U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. After reassurance that the termination would not take place, stocks resumed their rally and yields eased. Aside from that spike, the Treasury market generally marched in place during July despite worries that the Republican budget plan could significantly raise U.S. debt (yields trade inversely to Treasuries). Yields again fell below 4.3% for the benchmark 10-year note in early July, but mostly stayed between 4.3% and 4.5%, not far from the Fed's target range. Popular names bought by Schwab clients during the period included: NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA) Tesla Inc. (TSLA) Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR) Inc. (AMZN) UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH) Names net sold by Schwab clients during the period included: Apple Inc. (AAPL) Ford Motor Co. (F) Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) Boeing Co. (BA) Nike Inc. (NKE) About the STAX The STAX value is calculated based on a complex proprietary formula. Each month, Schwab pulls a sample from its client base of millions of funded accounts, which includes accounts that completed a trade in the past month. The holdings and positions of this statistically significant sample are evaluated to calculate individual scores, and the median of those scores represents the monthly STAX. For more information on the Schwab Trading Activity Index, please visit Additionally, Schwab clients can chart the STAX using the symbol $STAX in either the thinkorswim® or thinkorswim Mobile platforms. Investing involves risk, including loss of principal. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Content intended for educational/informational purposes only. Not investment advice, or a recommendation of any security, strategy, or account type. Historical data should not be used alone when making investment decisions. Please consult other sources of information and consider your individual financial position and goals before making an independent investment decision. The STAX is not a tradable index. The STAX should not be used as an indicator or predictor of future client trading volume or financial performance for Schwab. About Charles Schwab At Charles Schwab, we believe in the power of investing to help individuals create a better tomorrow. We have a history of challenging the status quo in our industry, innovating in ways that benefit investors and the advisors and employers who serve them, and championing our clients' goals with passion and integrity. More information is available at Follow us on X, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn. 0825-TAZA View source version on Contacts At the Company Margaret FarrellDirector, Corporate Communications(203)
