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2 hours ago
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Score Up to $136 Off These High-Spec Apple Mac Mini Desktop Computers Today
Apple is responsible for some of the best laptops around, but not everyone needs a portable computer. If you're someone who works at a desk all the time, a Mac Mini might be a better option. It's small and powerful, and it's considerably cheaper than buying a MacBook. Even better, Amazon is now offering some of the more powerful models with up to $136 off. We don't know how long these special prices will last, so we suggest ordering your new Mac Mini sooner rather than later. You don't need to enter any codes or clip any coupons, so ordering is quick and easy. Apple Mac Mini (24GB, 512GB): $1,263 (Original price: $1,399) See at Amazon The biggest discount is available on a Mac Mini with the M4 Pro chip, 24GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. This machine comes with a 12-core CPU and 16-core GPU, so plenty of power for gamers and creatives alike. This machine normally sells for around $1,399, but you can get yours today for just $1,263. Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money. Alternatively, you can choose the M4 Mac Mini with 24GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. This machine normally retails for around $999, but it's now available for $906 as part of this sale. Both of these Mac Minis are small enough to take up almost no space on your desk. That makes them a solid option for anyone with limited space, but who still requires plenty of power from their computer. Looking to spend as little as possible? The entry-level Mac Mini with an M4 chip, 16GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD is available for just $548 -- a 9% discount compared to the original $599 price. Why this deal matters The Mac Mini is an oft-forgotten machine but it is often the best option for a ton of people. It's fast, small and quiet. These machines are more capable than most, and at this price now is the perfect time to pick one up.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
This could be the most consequential week for the economy in years
The state of President Donald Trump's economy is about to come into full view. A slew of crucial economic data is set for release this week, including the jobs report, inflation, consumer confidence and corporate earnings. We'll get the first glimpse at America's second-quarter gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the economy. And, most crucially, the Federal Reserve will decide whether to cut rates or hold steady one more time. As if that weren't enough, Trump's trade polices also come due: Friday is the administration's self-imposed deadline for settling tariff rates for all 200+ US trading partners. Trump's top economic advisers will be negotiating a trade framework with China in Sweden. And an appeals court will hear arguments this week about whether the bulk of Trump's tariffs are even legal, to begin with. Altogether, the data could paint a picture of an economy that is resilient — but slowing under the weight of Trump's dizzying tariff changes, reductions in government workers and spending, and an aggressive deportation of foreign-born workers. Here's a look at what to expect this week and why the data matters: Corporate earnings Some of the biggest names in tech are set to release earnings this week, including Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and Apple. That will set the tone for market sentiment. Tech stocks have fueled record market growth in recent months as investors focus on gearing up for AI expansion. So far, around 80% of S&P 500 companies reporting earnings this season have beaten estimates, according to FactSet. Overall, stocks have marched higher into record territory recently, supported by cautious optimism in trade deals and better-than-expected economic data. That has emboldened Trump to push harder on his trade deals, telling NBC News earlier this month that markets hit new highs because 'tariffs have been very well received.' Why it matters: Strong earnings could continue to boost the stock market, which is starting to look a bit expensive for some investors. That could also convince Trump that the market — which turned on him in April — has acquiesced to his plan for higher tariffs. Consumer confidence and sentiment Two separate reads on the way Americans are feeling about the economy are set to be released this week. Consumer confidence, as measured by Conference Board, sank to the lowest level since the pandemic when Trump slapped massive tariffs on major trading partners. Shoppers expressed concern about the negative impact on the economy and prices. But consumers are generally more optimistic now that trade deals are beginning to emerge. The consumer sentiment survey from the University of Michigan continues to show that shoppers are wary of inflation levels rising again, after the economy batted down historic price increases following the pandemic. Although sentiment has rallied back from near-record lows earlier this year, it remains depressed because of Trump's trade policy. Why it matters: Economists pay close attention to consumers' optimism, since their spending powers two-thirds of the economy — and when shoppers think prices are about to rise, they tend to pull back. The latest retail sales data shows that consumers are spending cautiously. Second-quarter GDP GDP is a key indicator of economic success and, arguably, a validation of Trump's policies. But this quarterly assessment has slumped in recent months, even shrinking in the first quarter of the year for the first time since 2022. Economists expect an improvement for the April-June quarter as imports rebalance after companies raced to front-load their purchases ahead of Trump's tariffs. They warn that, just as an inventory spike may have artificially hurt GDP in the first quarter, companies working through their warehoused goods in the second quarter may make the economy look better than it actually is. Why it matters: The US economy is large and resilient, and it has continued to support hundreds of thousands new jobs each month for years. But if Americans are getting cold feet, things could take a turn for the worse. Fed decision Trump has repeatedly — and publicly — berated Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not lowering the bank's interest rate (their recent détente notwithstanding), but the central bank is overwhelmingly expected to hold rates steady Wednesday at the conclusion of its two-day monetary policy meeting. In an unusual kink, two governors are expected to vote against the consensus of the board, which hasn't happened in three decades. With the job market still relatively strong, most Fed officials have said the economy can withstand higher rates for the time being. Meanwhile, they want to wait to see how Trump's policies of high tariffs and deportation of foreign workers impact inflation and the labor market. Why it matters: The bank is widely expected to start cutting its key overnight lending rate in September — a good sign for Americans hoping to borrow money, and especially for first-time homebuyers, who have been effectively locked out of the market with mortgage rates close to 7%. Inflation The Fed's favorite inflation gauge, the Personal Consumption Expenditures index, has been creeping higher — moving further away from its 2% goal in recent months. That's just one factor behind the central bank's position on rate cuts. Why it matters: Shoppers have been pulling forward purchases, including back-to-school items, to mitigate expected higher prices, but the July data will likely still bear the fingerprints of Trump's tumultuous trade policy: Items like furniture and toys are starting to reflect elevated costs as pre-tariff inventory is depleted. Trade deadline Trump's pause on the hefty and unpopular tariffs he rolled out in April expires on August 1. In the intervening period, the White House has scrambled to make deals with a slew of partners, announcing preliminary arrangements with the UK, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan. As the final deadline approaches, Trump said Friday he would be sending out letters to roughly 200 countries this week unilaterally setting a range of tariff rates. 'It's basically going to say, you're going to pay 10%, you're going to pay 15%, you're going to pay maybe less, I don't know,' Trump told reporters before he left for a trip to Scotland. US markets are 'very, very fixated' on the levels that are set, and an effective tariff rate beyond 20% on major trading partners could trigger a downturn on Wall Street, one analyst told CNN. Why it matters: Trump's tariffs that are currently in effect have raised the effective US tariff rate — the average tax that US importers pay on foreign goods — from around 2% to 18%, the highest since 1934, economists at Yale's Budget Lab said in a recent report. That works out to $2,400 a year in added costs for the average American household. The US economy and markets have been able to withstand that so far. A considerably higher tariff rate could put that to the test. Trade negotiations Talks with China are ongoing, however. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is set to meet Monday and Tuesday with Chinese officials to iron out the details of the framework the two countries agreed upon at their London and Geneva meetings. Trump in April slapped a 145% tariff on imports from China, prompting Beijing to respond with a 125% tariff on imports from the United States. That effectively created a total embargo between the world's two largest economies before they agreed on a pause until August 12. Meanwhile, on Thursday, the US Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments about whether Trump can use his emergency powers to levy tariffs after a lower court ruled he had exceeded his authority in doing so. Why it matters: One of the Trump administration's goals is to shift China towards a more consumer-driven domestic economy, thereby reducing global oversupply of its manufactured goods. While it's unlikely that the United States will dramatically reshape Chinese President Xi Jinping's economic policy, small changes could open some of China's market to US manufacturers, while helping to increase American factory jobs. Jobs report Trump has promised a 'Made in America' revival, but the July jobs report is expected to show that average monthly employment gains have dropped to a level not seen since 2010 (excluding the pandemic-era losses). The labor force has shrunk in recent months, a potential indication of how anti-immigrant rhetoric and mass deportations are weighing on employment. In addition, the most recent report showed that the manufacturing sector lost jobs for the second-straight month — a murky development for one of Trump's benchmark economic priorities. Why it matters: America's labor market has been its strong suit for years, routinely defying expectations since the pandemic. But it's showing cracks. Americans who lose their job are now staying unemployed for longer as businesses stall on making decisions, including hiring, as the trade war continues to raise costs. 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Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Better EV Stock: Alphabet vs. Tesla (Hint: Robotaxis Are the Key)
Key Points The future of the auto industry lies in electric vehicles and ridesharing in autonomous vehicles. After many years in service, Waymo still can't point to a timeline of profitability. Tesla also faces challenges with its robotaxi offering, but it's well positioned, provided it can demonstrate safety and efficacy. These 10 stocks could mint the next wave of millionaires › Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) isn't, strictly speaking, an electric vehicle (EV) company. However, its autonomous driving technology company, Waymo, is committed to only using EVs in its fleet. Funnily enough, it could be argued that Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) isn't really a pure EV company either. After all, most of its sky–high valuation is attributable to the potential of its robotaxis. However, the comparison of these two as EV companies is valid because the future of the auto industry is EVs, and ridesharing in autonomous vehicles will be a larger part of the industry in the future. But which company is better placed, and which is the better stock? Alphabet vs. Tesla It's entirely possible that Alphabet could decide to spin off Waymo, not least because it reportedly could be valued at more than $45 billion. Meanwhile, one of Tesla's biggest supporters, Cathie Wood's Ark Invest, ascribes 88% of Tesla's enterprise value (market cap plus net debt) to robotaxis in its investment case for the stock, producing an expected value of $2,600 for the stock in 2029. As I have previously discussed, the Ark targets should be taken with a pinch of salt, as its track record on Tesla hasn't been good. However, Ark's core argument is sound and points to Tesla being potentially a far more valuable stock than Waymo ever will be. Pathways to profitability The core argument is that Tesla's business model is scalable to profitability while Waymo's is far less so. The issue of Waymo's profitability arose in a recent CNBC interview with Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana, where she was asked whether Waymo is profitable. She replied, "We're proving out that it can be a profitable business." When asked when Waymo would be profitable, she replied, "not clear." It's also not clear if Alphabet/Waymo doesn't have an internal forecast for when it will hit profitability, or if Mawakana preferred not to divulge what the company considers an uncertain forecast. However, it's inconceivable that Alphabet is not internally crunching the numbers on this, and if it does decide to spin off Waymo, it's a question that needs to be answered. The point here is that a business that can't be profitable isn't worth anything, let alone $45 billion, so at some point, its management is going to have to set some timelines. Tesla and timelines Whereas investors need to hear more about timelines from Waymo, whose public self-driving ride-hailing service was launched in 2018, there's probably a need for fewer declared timelines from Tesla, or, rather, a need for more accurate ones. For example, in 2019, CEO Elon Musk famously told investors to expect a million self-driving vehicles on the road by mid-2020. In April 2022, he also stated that Tesla aspired to reach volume production of a dedicated robotaxi (Cybercab) in 2024 -- a timeline that has now been pushed back to 2026. These timeline estimates matter because plugging overly optimistic assumptions from them into valuation models can produce dramatically erroneous conclusions. Why Tesla is better positioned With all that said, Tesla has clear advantages over Waymo, provided it can demonstrate safety and reliability and achieve regulatory approvals. Its advantages include: Lower vehicle costs, with Musk aiming for a $30,000 price tag for a dedicated robotaxi, the Cybercab. Meanwhile, Wall Street analysts estimate Waymo's current vehicles cost more than $120,000. In addition, Tesla manufactures its own cars (Waymo does not), and existing Teslas can be converted into robotaxis using Tesla's as-yet-unreleased-to-the-public unsupervised full self-driving (FSD) software, giving Tesla a significant advantage in scaling the robotaxi business. Tesla's use of camera-centric technology is inherently less expensive than Waymo's combination of cameras, light detection and ranging (Lidar) lasers, and high-definition maps. Every Tesla car (robotaxi or not) on the road is effectively a data gatherer, with the data used to improve the AI that powers its AI models. As such, even though Waymo was first, Tesla has significantly more data than Waymo. Which is the better EV stock? Waymo may become profitable in the future, particularly if Lidar costs continue to drop. However, it's challenging to think that it will be a strong competitor to Tesla, provided Musk's company can master safe, unsupervised FSD using a camera-centric approach. That's a big "if" at this stage, but it becomes a smaller "if" as time goes by and Tesla expands its nascent robotaxi offering across new geographies. Tesla's next robotaxi launch is expected to be in Phoenix, as it plans to continue slowly building its robotaxi business. I think Tesla is the better EV stock when comparing Tesla and Alphabet. Should you buy stock in Tesla right now? The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now. 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 $636,628!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,063,471!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,041% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 183% 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 July 21, 2025 Lee Samaha has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet and Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Better EV Stock: Alphabet vs. Tesla (Hint: Robotaxis Are the Key) was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
