Trump and Senator Dave McCormick team up to promote energy investments in Pennsylvania
Neither the White House nor McCormick's office gave breakdowns of the $70 billion or what the investments entail.
Get Starting Point
A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.
Enter Email
Sign Up
McCormick, a Republican first-term senator who is organizing the inaugural event, says the summit is meant to bring together top energy companies and AI leaders, global investors and labor behind Trump's energy policies and priorities. He says the investments will spur tens of thousands of jobs in Pennsylvania.
'Pennsylvania is uniquely positioned because of abundant energy, of incredible skilled workers, technology,' McCormick said in a Fox News interview Monday promoting the summit. 'We need to win the battle for AI innovation in America, and Pennsylvania is at the center of it.'
The list of participating CEOs includes leaders from global behemoths like Blackstone, SoftBank, Amazon Web Services, BlackRock and ExxonMobil and local companies such as the Pittsburgh-based Gecko Robotics, which deploys AI to bolster energy capacity. Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, will also attend.
Advertisement
Administration officials speaking at the summit include White House crypto czar David Sacks, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
In the Fox News interview, McCormick credited his wife, Dina Powell McCormick, with the idea for a summit. Powell McCormick served as Trump's deputy national security adviser in his first term and is a former Goldman Sachs executive who is now at BDT & MSD Partners, a merchant bank.
Pittsburgh is home to Carnegie Mellon University, a prestigious engineering school, plus a growing industry of small robotics firms and a so-called " AI Avenue " that's home to offices for Google and other AI firms. It also sits in the middle of the prolific Marcellus Shale natural gas reservoir.
Pennsylvania has scored several big investment wins in recent months, some of it driven by federal manufacturing policy and others by the ravenous need for electricity from the fast-growing AI business.
Nippon Steel just bought U.S. Steel for almost $15 billion, getting Trump's approval after pledging to invest billions alone in U.S. Steel's Pittsburgh-area plants.
Amazon will spend $20 billion on two data center complexes in Pennsylvania, with more to come, while a one-time coal-fired power plant is being turned into the nation's largest gas-fired power plant to fuel a data center campus. Meanwhile, Microsoft says it is spending $1.6 billion to reopen the lone functional nuclear reactor on Three Mile Island under a long-term power supply agreement for its data centers.
Shapiro, elected in 2022, has been pushing for the state to land a big multibillion-dollar industrial project, like a semiconductor factory or an electric vehicle plant.
Advertisement
In his first budget speech, Shapiro — who is viewed as a potential White House contender in 2028 — told lawmakers that Pennsylvania needs to 'get in the game' and warned that it would take money.
He didn't land a mega project, but he instead has worked to play up big investments by Amazon and Microsoft, as well as Nippon Steel, as he prepares to seek a second term.
Levy reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Stocks Fade as Expectations are Trimmed for Fed Rate Cut in September
The S&P 500 Index ($SPX) (SPY) on Tuesday closed down -0.40%, the Dow Jones Industrials Index ($DOWI) (DIA) closed down -0.98%, and the Nasdaq 100 Index ($IUXX) (QQQ) closed up +0.13%. September E-mini S&P futures (ESU25) fell -0.50%, and September E-mini Nasdaq futures (NQU25) were unchanged. Stock indexes rallied early Tuesday due to a favorable core CPI print of +0.2% m/m, but then faded as T-note prices fell and as expectations for a Fed rate cut in September were trimmed to 58% from 65%. The 10-year T-note yield rose +5 bp, and the 30-year T-bond yield rose back above the 5% mark for the first time in 6 weeks. Palantir Just Launched Warp Speed for Warships. Does That Make PLTR Stock a Buy? This Analyst Just Doubled His Price Target on AMD Stock Dear Nvidia Stock Fans, Mark Your Calendars for July 16 Markets move fast. Keep up by reading our FREE midday Barchart Brief newsletter for exclusive charts, analysis, and headlines. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was undercut by negative breadth with 26 of the 30 stocks showing declines, led by American Express (AXP), Home Depot (HD), UnitedHealth (UNH), and Merck (MRK). Tuesday's CPI report received some favorable initial media attention due to the slightly weaker-than-expected +0.2% m/m increase in the core CPI, which was partly driven by lower car prices. However, there were some scattered signs in the CPI report of upside pressure from tariffs, and that pressure is expected to increase in the coming months. Also, both the headline and core CPI reports on a year-over-year basis rose from May. Specifically, the June US CPI rose +0.3% m/m, which was in line with market expectations, while the year-over-year figure of +2.7% was slightly worse than expectations of +2.6% and was up from May's +2.4%. The June US core CPI rose +0.2% m/m, which was slightly better than expectations of +0.3%. On a year-over-year basis, the June US core CPI was in line with expectations at +2.9% y/y but rose from May's +2.8%. Expectations for a -25 bp Fed rate cut were little changed for the July FOMC meeting but were trimmed to 58% for the September meeting from 65% on Tuesday. Federal funds futures prices are discounting the chances for a -25 bp rate cut at 3% at the July 29-30 FOMC meeting and at 58% at the following meeting on Sep 16-17. There was some positive trade news Tuesday after Treasury Secretary Bessent said that US-China trade talks are in a "very good place" and that the US-China deadline is flexible and told market participants "not to worry about August 12." Mr. Bessent confirmed that the Trump administration has told Nvidia that a license for the sale of its advanced H20 GPU chips to Chinese firms will be granted and is "all part of a mosaic" in the US-China negotiations. He also said he hopes to meet with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in August. There was also some positive trade news after President Trump announced that his administration had reached a trade deal with Indonesia. However, US imports from Indonesia, totaling around $2.8 billion, will face a US tariff of 19%, which is likely to raise the price that US consumers pay for Indonesian goods. Stocks have been undercut by recent negative US trade news. Over the weekend, President Trump announced that the US will impose 30% tariffs on US imports from the European Union and Mexico, effective August 1. Mr. Trump said last Thursday that a 35% tariff on some Canadian products would take effect on August 1, up from the current 25%. Last week, Mr. Trump imposed a 50% tariff on copper imports, which will include semi-finished goods, and stated that drug companies could face tariffs as high as 200% on imports if they don't relocate production to the US within the next year. Tuesday's July Empire manufacturing index report of 5.5 was stronger than expectations of -9.2, and was up from June's level of -16.0. The price of Bitcoin (^BTSUSD) fell -3% Tuesday after the House failed to approve a procedural vote to begin consideration of three bills backed by the crypto industry. Bitcoin has rallied sharply in the past several weeks, driven by hopes for favorable crypto regulation from Washington. The US House Committee on Ways and Means plans to hold an oversight subcommittee hearing on July 16 entitled "Making America the Crypto Capital of the World," which may promote crypto-friendly regulations. The markets during the remainder of this week will focus on any fresh news on tariffs or trade deals. On Wednesday, June PPI final demand is expected to ease to +2.5% y/y from +2.6% in May, and June core PPI is expected to ease to +2.7% y/y from +3.0% y/y in May. Also, on Wednesday, June manufacturing production is expected to fall by -0.1% m/m. Finally, on Wednesday, the Fed will release its Beige Book. On Thursday, June retail sales are expected to climb by +0.1% m/m and +0.3% ex-autos, and weekly initial unemployment claims are expected to climb by +7,000 to 234,000. Also, on Thursday, the July Philadelphia Fed business outlook survey is expected to climb +3.0 points to -1.0, and the July NAHB housing market index is expected to rise +1 to 33. On Friday, June housing starts are expected to climb +3.3% m/m to 1.298 million, and June building permits are expected to slip -0.6% m/m to 1.386 million. Also, the University of Michigan's US July consumer sentiment index is expected to climb +0.8 to 61.5. Earnings season began in earnest this week with a focus on big bank earnings results. Key earnings reports on Wednesday include Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and United Airlines. Key reports on Thursday include PepsiCorp, Abbott, US Bancorp, GE Fifth Third, and GE. Key reports on Friday include Schwab and American Express. The consensus is for the S&P 500 companies to show Q2 earnings growth of +2.8% y/y, the smallest increase in two years, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Also, only six of the eleven S&P 500 sectors are projected to post an increase in earnings, the fewest since Q1 of 2023, according to Yardeni Research. Overseas stock markets on Tuesday closed mixed. The Euro Stoxx 50 fell -0.31%. China's Shanghai Composite closed down -0.42%. Japan's Nikkei Stock 225 closed up +0.55%. Interest Rates September 10-year T-notes (ZNU25) on Tuesday fell -14.5 ticks. The 10-year T-note yield rose by +5.2 bp to 4.485%. T-note prices were undercut by reduced expectations for Fed easing, as the market cut expectations for a rate cut at the September meeting to 58% from 65%. Also, the 10-year breakeven expectations rate rose to a 4.75-month high and ended the day up +1.0 bp at 2.414%. Also on the bearish side for US bond prices, the Trump administration's campaign against Fed Chair Powell continued Tuesday, fueling concern among bond vigilantes about the Fed's independence and the possibility of politically driven interest rate cuts that could be inflationary. US Treasury Secretary Bessent said that Fed Chair Powell should step down as a Fed Governor when his term as Fed Chairman ends in May 2026, in line with tradition. Mr. Powell's term as a Fed Governor lasts until January 2028, well beyond the expiration of his term as Chairman in mid-May 2026. Mr. Bessent also stated that he is part of a formal process that has already begun to decide who President Trump will appoint as the new Chairman when Mr. Powell's term ends in May 2026, or earlier, "for cause," based on attacks on how Mr. Powell has handled the renovation of the Fed's building in Washington. European government bond yields were mixed. The 10-year German bund yield fell -1.7 bp to 2.712%. The 10-year UK gilt yield rose +2.5 bp to 4.625%. Swaps are discounting the chances at 2% for a -25 bp rate cut by the ECB at the July 24 policy meeting. US Stock Movers The Magnificent Seven stocks generally closed higher on Tuesday, except for Meta Platforms (META) and Tesla (TSLA), which closed more than -1% lower. Apple (AAPL) closed slightly higher after news that it reached a $500 million deal to buy rare-earth minerals from Pentagon-backed MP Materials Corp. In Tesla (TSLA) news, the company opened its first India showroom. Also, Bloomberg reported that Tesla's top sales executive in North America, Troy Jones, has left the company after a 15-year stint. Chip stocks showed some strength Tuesday, and helped keep the Nasdaq 100 index in positive territory, after the Trump administration indicated that it will loosen US restrictions on chip sales to China. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) rose more than +6%, and Nvidia (NVDA) rose more than +4%. Arm Holdings (ARM) rose more than +2%. Cryptocurrency-exposed stocks closed lower on Tuesday as bitcoin (^BTCUSD) fell -3% on the failure of the House to approve a procedural vote to consider crypto-friendly bills. Riot Platforms (RIOT) fell more than -3%, and Mara Holdings (MARA) fell by more than -2%. MicroStrategy (MSTR) fell -1.9%, and Coinbase (COIN) fell -1.5%. BlackRock (BLK) fell by more than -5% after it reported that long-term asset inflows were less than market expectations. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) fell -0.7% after it raised its full-year expense guidance. Copper miners traded lower after Morgan Stanley downgraded the sector's prospects due to expectations that 50% tariffs will lead to reduced US demand for copper products. Freeport McMoRan (FCX) fell -3%, and Southern Copper (SCCO) fell -2.4%. Earnings Reports (7/16/2025) Prologis Inc (PLD), Progressive Corp/The (PGR), M&T Bank Corp (MTB), PNC Financial Services Group I (PNC), Bank of America Corp (BAC), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Goldman Sachs Group Inc/The (GS), Morgan Stanley (MS), United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL), Kinder Morgan Inc (KMI). On the date of publication, Rich Asplund did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on 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
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Texas adds transgender bathroom bill to agenda for special legislative session to deal with deadly flooding
A transgender bathroom bill was added to the agenda for Texas' special legislative session to deal with the deadly flooding event on July 4. The 30-day session was called by Governor Greg Abbott in June to deal with six bills he had vetoed. But when flash flooding in Central Texas devastated communities along the Guadalupe River earlier this month, disaster preparedness became a focal point of the session. More than 130 people have died, and just under 100 remain missing, Abbott said Monday. Following the disaster, questions have been raised over whether more could have been done to prevent at least some of the deaths. Last week, Abbott released an 18-point agenda for the special session, which included four points related to the flooding or natural disasters in general. A transgender bathroom bill was added to the agenda for Texas' special legislative session to deal with the deadly flooding event on July 4 () Last week, Governor Greg Abbott released an 18-point agenda for the special session, which included four points related to the flooding or natural disasters in general () Lawmakers will discuss legislation to 'improve early warning systems' and 'strengthen emergency communications' in flood-prone areas. Legislation to 'provide relief funding for response to and recovery from' the early July storms will also be discussed. There is also a more general agenda point to 'evaluate and streamline rules and regulations to speed preparedness for and recovery from natural disasters.' Besides the agenda points related to the flood disaster, Abbott included a point to discuss 'legislation protecting women's privacy in sex-segregated spaces' among other points, such as making it a crime to provide hemp-derived products to those under 21 years old and anti-abortion legislation. Monday was the first day lawmakers could file bills for the special session, and of the 82 bills filed, none were related to the deadly floods, NBC News reported, citing its Austin affiliate, KXAN-TV. Among the measures was a Republican-led bill, known as the Texas Women's Privacy Act, which requires transgender people to use bathrooms that align with their sex assigned at birth in public schools, government buildings and correctional facilities, per NBC News. Under the bill, these public entities could face financial penalties and be sued if they violate the bathroom rules. The regular legislative session, which ended in early June, saw 88 anti-LGBTQ bill proposals, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. Only four were signed into law. There are currently 19 states that have some sort of ban on transgender people using public bathrooms consistent with their gender identity, according to the think tank Movement Advancement Project. The bathroom bill would make transgender people use bathrooms that align with their sex assigned at birth in public places such as schools ()
San Francisco Chronicle
34 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Trump wields tariffs to sway Putin on Ukraine. Here's how they might work, or not
WASHINGTON (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has sacrificed an estimated 1 million of his soldiers, killed and wounded, in a three-year campaign to crush Ukraine. Now President Donald Trump is betting that his go-to economic weapon — tariffs — can succeed where Ukrainian drones and rockets haven't, and finally persuade Putin to end his war. Tariffs, which the U.S. president has called ' the most beautiful word in the dictionary,'' are taxes on imports. They are Trump's all-purpose fix — a tool he deploys to protect American industry, lure factories to the United States, tackle drug trafficking and illegal immigration, and raise money to pay for his massive tax cuts. On the campaign trail last year, Trump promised he'd negotiate an end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 24 hours. But months have passed without a peace deal, and the president has recently expressed frustration with the Russians. 'We're very, very unhappy with them ... I thought we would have had a deal two months ago, but it doesn't seem to get there,' Trump told reporters Monday. So in addition to agreeing to send more weapons to Ukraine, he's once again unsheathing tariffs. He said Monday the U.S. would impose 100% tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil, natural gas and other products if there isn't a peace deal in 50 days. The levies are meant to cause Russia financial pain by making its trading partners think twice before buying Russian energy. 'I use trade for a lot of things,'' Trump said, "but it's great for settling wars.' 'Unilateral tariffs are likely to be ineffective in influencing Putin's actions,' said Douglas Irwin, a Dartmouth College economist who studies American trade policy. "Financial sanctions in cooperation with European and other allies are much more likely to damage Russian economy, but whether they soften Russia's approach is also uncertain.'' The secondary tariffs idea isn't new. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut earlier this year introduced legislation that would impose a 500% tariff on countries that buy Russian oil, petroleum products and uranium. If Trump goes through with his threat, his 100% tariffs have the potential to disrupt global commerce and push oil prices higher. They might also complicate Trump's efforts to strike separate trade deals with countries like China and India. The 100% tariffs would likely target China and India Since December 2022, when the European Union banned Russian oil, China and India have bought 85% of Russia's crude oil exports and 63% of its coal, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, a Finnish nonprofit. So they would likely be the two countries most affected by Trump's 100% import taxes. Trump has already tangled with China this year, and things did not go well. In April, Trump plastered a 145% levy on Chinese imports, and Beijing counterpunched with 125% tariffs of its own. The triple-digit tariffs threatened to end trade between the world's two biggest economies and briefly sent financial markets reeling. China also withheld shipments of rare earth minerals used in products such as electric vehicles and wind turbines, crippling U.S. businesses. After showing how much pain they could inflict on each other, the United States and China agreed to a ceasefire. A new 100% secondary tariff 'would blow up that deal,' said Gary Hufbauer, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. 'China is particularly well-placed to hold out,' said Nicholas Mulder, a Cornell University historian. "All this would get us back to a position of full confrontation that would be uncomfortable for all sides.'' Hufbauer also noted that the secondary tariffs would also likely end 'any rapprochement with India'' — the world's fifth-biggest economy and one with which Trump is pursuing a trade deal. Energy prices could climb If Trump goes ahead with the tariffs, 'it would invariably lead to higher global energy prices,'' especially for natural gas, economists Kieran Tompkins and Liam Peach of Capital Economics wrote in a commentary Monday. Other oil-exporting countries have enough spare capacity to ramp up production and offset any loss of Russian oil exports in global market. But if they did, the world would have no buffer to rely on if there were an oil shock caused by, say, conflict in the Middle East — and prices could skyrocket. 'Removing that spare capacity would be akin to riding a bike with no shock absorbers,'' Tompkins and Peach wrote. The Russian economy has been resilient After Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the United States and its allies slammed Russia with sanctions. Among other things, the U.S. froze the assets of Russia's central bank and barred some Russian banks from using a key international payments system run by Belgium. With its allies from the Group of Seven rich nations, it also capped the price that importers could pay for Russian oil. The sanctions were expected to crush the Russian economy, but they didn't. Putin put Russia on a wartime budget, and high defense spending kept unemployment low. Military recruits were given big sign-up bonuses and the families of the fallen received death benefits, pumping income into some of Russia's poorer regions. To keep its oil sales going, Russia deployed "shadow fleets,'' hundreds of aging tankers of uncertain ownership and dodgy safety practices that delivered oil priced above the G7 price cap. 'The experience of the G7 oil price cap against Russia showed how challenging the enforcement of measures against the Russian oil trade can be,' Mulder said. Last year, the Russian economy grew 4.1%, according to the International Monetary Fund. But strains are showing, partly because Putin's war has made Russia a pariah to foreign investors. The IMF forecasts growth will decelerate to 1.5% this year, and last month the Russian economy minister warned the country is "on the brink of going into a recession.'' Trump's tariffs could increase the pressure, in part by driving down Russia's energy exports — and the revenue the Russian government collects from an energy tax. Tariffs are mostly untried as a diplomatic lever 'To my knowledge, tariffs have never been applied as an explicit anti-aggression measure,' said Mulder, author of a 2022 history of economic sanctions. "I am skeptical that the secondary tariffs threat will be effective.'' For one thing, he said, it's unclear whether Trump will actually impose them after 50 days. The president has repeatedly announced tariffs against other countries, and then sometimes suspended or tweaked them. For another, the secondary tariffs would target countries — namely China and India — that might have some sway in Moscow. 'The United States needs cooperation and collaboration to bring Russia to the negotiating table,' said Cullen Hendrix, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute. "Threatening to harm the actors who actually have leverage over Moscow may backfire.''
