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Business Insider
04-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Fourth of July celebrations may be more muted than you're expecting
Good morning. Happy 249th birthday, America — not that we're counting! — with warm regards from London. As the BI Today team is off for the holiday, I'm bringing you an abbreviated version of the newsletter. In today's big story, why Fourth of July celebrations may be more muted than you're expecting — and why the situation next year could be even worse. Also, don't forget to subscribe to BI's Defense Flash, your new weekly guide to the latest in warfare innovation, defense tech, and more. Subscribe! If this was forwarded to you, sign up here. The big story The surprise guests at your barbecue: tariffs JIM WATSON/Getty, Getty Images; Tyler Le/BI Could you imagine the Fourth of July without fireworks? Well, we aren't quite there yet, but you may be seeing fewer in the sky this evening. That's because many Americans have discovered their sparklers now come with a surcharge. From fireworks to backyard barbecues, President Donald Trump's tariffs are threatening to rain on America's birthday parade. The trade war with China has driven up the price of many of America's favorite pyrotechnics. Meanwhile, higher tariffs, coupled with stubbornly high inflation and a historic low in the American cattle supply, have jacked up the price of everything from beef to ice cream. Although I've never personally celebrated a Fourth of July (my lot was on the other side), those all strike me as crucial components for a quintessentially American celebration. Northwestern University's Medill Spiegel Research Center, which tracks consumer behavior, predicts a 5% drop in Independence Day celebrations this year, largely thanks to those higher prices. BI spoke with Americans who feel like they're being forced to scale back on parties this year — with one discovering that the tariffs will push them $2,000 over-budget. Perhaps even more alarming is the impact the tariffs could have on next year's celebrations. It'll mark the 250th birthday of the US — meaning Americans will likely do it big. Demand for fireworks is expected to surge for the momentous anniversary, but due to long lead times (shipments from China are usually ordered a full year in advance) and uncertainty around where the China tariffs will end up, industry watchers say there's a real risk of significant product shortages and higher prices. In other news Congress has passed Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill.' Here are 4 ways it could impact your wallet. Trump's tax plan won't help Tesla, but 2 other EV companies got a stock boost. Diddy could get a 20-year prison sentence but the reality probably won't be anything close to that. The NCAA settlement is a big win for football players. For other athletes, the picture is murkier. This company is requiring employees take PTO this summer — and is offering some a $1,000 vacation stipend. 'I don't trust it, I don't like it': Lawmakers sound off on why they don't use AI. Robinhood is known for its meme-stock and crypto traders. Its CEO says users are embracing passive investing too. The CEO of a key SpaceX rival says customers are drawn to his company because it's 'even-keeled'. 'Love Island USA' star Elan's brother is running his Instagram. He told us he's ' not doing this for the clout.' What's happening today Samsung Electronics issues Q2 pre-earnings guidance. Nathan's Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest. Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. Grace Lett, editor, in New York. Akin Oyedele, deputy editor, in New York. Amanda Yen, associate editor, in New York. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York. Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York (on parental leave).
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Navigating Big Tech's new era
This post originally appeared in the BI Today newsletter. You can sign up for Business Insider's daily newsletter here. Welcome back to our Sunday edition, where we round up some of our top stories and take you inside our newsroom. Warren Buffett is officially hanging it up. The 94-year-old investing legend plans to resign as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after 55 years in charge. Buffett broke the news to a stadium full of Berkshire shareholders in Omaha. BI's Theron Mohamed was there — here's what he witnessed. The business titan had hinted to shareholders that his reign was coming to an end and carefully prepared for his departure. Following Buffett's announcement, business leaders from Tim Cook to Mark Cuban reacted to the news. Check out some of the famed investor's best quotes. On the agenda today: Why millennials' retirement estimations might just be plain wrong. Inside Big Law's fight against Donald Trump. Influencers are selling get-rich-quick courses to young men skeptical of higher ed. How AI is transforming work for consultants at McKinsey, BCG, and more. But first: Talking all things Big Tech with Alistair Barr, the author of our soon-to-be-launched Tech Memo newsletter. (Sign up to get the first edition in your inbox!) If this was forwarded to you, sign up here. Download Business Insider's app here. Alistair Barr, a longtime tech editor at Business Insider, will be helming a new newsletter for us called Tech Memo. It aims to deliver the best of BI's inside coverage of Big Tech and the broader industry. I connected with Ali about his plans for this new reader service. Ali, what should readers of the BI Tech Memo expect that they won't get elsewhere? This newsletter, for starters, is for people working in tech companies, or who want to. How is the work environment changing? What's the best way to thrive and get ahead in Silicon Valley? Then, anyone who does business with these organizations, and those who want to understand them more intimately, will get great value from this, too. BI has always excelled at providing an exclusive look at what's really happening inside these powerful companies. My goal is to bring the best of this coverage to readers every week. What big themes are top of mind? New, powerful tools, such as AI, are being unleashed across these huge organizations and disrupting how things are done. Changes within tech companies will influence how we all work in the future. And I'm laser-focused on the changing relationship between employees and companies in the industry, so we'll be sharing more insights, such as our piece this week about new Big Tech performance-management approaches. Finally, with tariffs, it will be interesting to see how tech companies adjust their operations, particularly their hardware supply chains. This applies especially to Apple. Who is interesting to you right now? I'm obsessed with Elon Musk and all of his companies. His raw way of blurting out what's on his mind is a stark change from the usual pre-packaged, PR-checked talking points of most executives. Sam Altman is challenging Musk for the crown of "most interesting tech CEO" right now. Then, I'm keen to see how Mark Zuckerberg's more open approach to AI model development will work out (or not). Sign up here for BI's Tech Memo newsletter! Between the dot-com bubble bust and the 2008 Great Recession, millennials started off adulthood at a retirement disadvantage — and they could face even greater upheaval in the decades to come. Current retirement estimates don't factor in the economic impacts of AI, the climate crisis, and more — all things that could make millennials' retirement future rocky. Why retirement assumptions don't add up. When President Trump issued a barrage of executive orders targeting several of the nation's biggest law firms, many struck deals. Four firms chose to fight the administration in court. So far, that gamble looks like it's paid off. In each of the four suits, judges blocked the most consequential elements from each executive order and signaled they'd later rule in favor of the firms. It's creating a rift in the legal profession. Also read: Meet Richard Lawson, the sole Justice Department lawyer taking on Big Law in court Disillusioned with higher education and facing a masculinity crisis, young men are gravitating toward college alternatives. Manosphere influencers are answering the call. Denouncing college as a scam, they're marketing a lifestyle full of fast cars, private jets, and Dubai mansions. All this could be yours, they promise, if you buy their $1,000 course. And young men are buying. Workers at big consulting firms like McKinsey and BCG were initially ambivalent about AI. Now, it's helping them save time on rote tasks, which they've reinvested into more advanced work. The two firms — plus Deloitte, KPMG, and PwC — told BI how they're implementing AI into their workflows, from streamlining writing style to experimenting with AI agents. Here's how the tech is reshaping the industry. Also read: McKinsey, BCG, and Deloitte's new competition is small, fast, and driven by AI This week's quote: "We eat our own dog food." — Ryan Carrillo, who used an assumable mortgage to buy his home. He's the cofounder of which also helps buyers find homes with assumable mortgages. More of this week's top reads: Google is shaking up its compensation to incentivize higher performance. Walmart is once again America's grocery king, but rival Costco is rapidly gaining ground. The smartest things economists are saying about a possible recession. A BI reporter went to Trump's first 100-day rally. The key issue for rallygoers was, surprisingly, not the economy. Inside the first week back at JPMorgan's largest US office, from the memos to the jockeying for desks. BI went to the "Conclave of Silicon Valley." It showed the hold tech has on DC. Starbucks is staffing up its stores with baristas and ditching machines in the latest stage of its turnaround. Spotify cut costs to turn a profit. Now, subscribers are being flooded with music they hate. The BI Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York (on parental leave). Grace Lett, editor, in Chicago. Amanda Yen, associate editor, in New York. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York. Elizabeth Casolo, fellow, in Chicago. Read the original article on Business Insider Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
President Trump is pushing for the Great American Manufacturing Revival. Americans aren't interested.
This post originally appeared in the BI Today newsletter. You can sign up for Business Insider's daily newsletter here. Welcome back to our Sunday edition, where we round up some of our top stories and take you inside our newsroom. Interested in a career pivot? A teacher with no tech experience shared the four résumé tweaks that helped him land a gig at Google. On the agenda today: Steve Bannon tells BI why Elon Musk is "evil" — and his plans for a third Trump term. Real estate agents and Zillow are going to war over listings. Million-dollar payouts and no job security: what it's like to work at a hedge fund. A BI editor accidentally cheated on his taxes. Here's what happened. But first: Back to the factory? If this was forwarded to you, sign up here. Download Business Insider's app here. President Trump is pushing for a return to factory jobs. By and large, Americans don't want them. BI's Emily Stewart is one of the most authoritative and original thinkers on how Trump's economic policies are affecting people and businesses in this country. After her piece this week about whether men, in particular, really want the traditionally "masculine" manufacturing jobs the president is promoting, I sought her thoughts on her beat and the economy broadly. The economic upheaval under President Trump is overwhelming. And yet, you consistently find ways to identify a particular vein and explore it with fresh takeaways. How do you get and sculpt your ideas? I'm lucky that people often come to me with ideas or nuggets — my editors, sources, even friends. Chances are, if someone saw something and thought, "Huh, that's weird/interesting/annoying/scary," they're not alone. I do think it's helpful to ground larger concepts in something that's more real and tangible. The economy isn't some nebulous theoretical concept, it's what we live day-to-day. I obviously read the normal business outlets, but I also listen to the friend who's complaining that the bridesmaid dress she's about to buy got more expensive because of the tariffs. Besides Trump, what other economic trends are fascinating you right now? There's a palpable anger across America at the ultrawealthy and corporations that's manifesting in really interesting ways. I've written about it in my coverage of middle-class shoplifting, but you also see it in the Tesla protests and even small-time stuff like consumers abusing return policies. People feel like they're being taken advantage of, and — right or wrong — they're finding little ways to lash out and reassert some agency. What would you say makes you both most concerned and most hopeful about the US economy? I know it's cliché, but there's so much uncertainty now that it makes it hard to imagine what stability would even look like. If we do enter a recession, there might not be any appetite on Capitol Hill to shore up the economy, given what happened with post-COVID inflation. What makes me hopeful is that we've been "about to be in a recession" for what feels like forever. The economy is resilient, and consumers have kept spending even though they say everything is terrible. Things feel bad, but maybe it will be fine? It sounds silly to say, but that's the hope. Fresh out of prison for contempt of Congress, Bannon remains an influential force in Trump's Washington. His podcast is a hot spot on the DC media circuit, attracting conspiracy theorists and leading senators alike for guest appearances. Bannon's dedication to Trump hasn't wavered — even though he thinks Elon Musk "has always been evil." BI visited Bannon's sprawling villa in Arizona, where he reflected on his time in prison and shared his vision for Trump 2028. Two days with the MAGA mastermind. Zillow and brokerages haven't been getting along lately. Some real estate agents are gatekeeping listings, and the search site is fighting back. While Zillow is garnering some support for its new rule banning these "secret" listings, one of its rivals thinks it's all just a "power play." Either way, it's clear that the industry is on the precipice of a homebuying war. Homebuyers will still pay the price. Also read: The golden age of house hunting is over It's easy to understand the allure of working at a hedge fund — payouts can reach tens of millions of dollars, and right now there's plenty of opportunity for savvy traders to stand out. The downside? There's virtually no job security. Firms can be quick to cut and replace underperformers. "These aren't places to build a career usually," one former portfolio manager said. "It's a place to survive and get paid while you can." This piece is the second in our series on the Path to Wall Street. What it's like to work at a hedge fund. One tax season, BI's Zak Jason received a letter from the IRS. He soon realized he messed up his taxes: He forgot to attach his W-2 and declare his salary on his tax return. Jason wasn't alone. Several million Americans fail to properly file their taxes each year. He also learned the system doesn't have to be this way. Playing a game of chicken with the IRS. This week's quote: "Generally at Yale, not every student there is trying to become a startup founder or entrepreneur, so we saw that fire in each other and connected over that." — Sneha Sivakumar on meeting her cofounder, Anushka Nijhawan, in their freshman year. Their startup Spur just raised $4.5 million. More of this week's top reads: AmeriCorps and Peace Corps workers were building careers — then the DOGE cuts came. This is Mark Zuckerberg's theory of why Facebook is losing cultural relevancy. Wall Street dealmakers thought Trump was the answer. Now, they're not so sure. Sam Altman's play for a social network could get him data — and under Elon Musk's skin. It's easier than ever for businesses to jack up prices. Vibe coding is changing the way investors think about founders. Tesla showroom design makes them perfect targets for anti-Elon Musk protests. Netflix is charging ahead as one of the stock market's favorite recession plays. The BI Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Grace Lett, editor, in Chicago. Amanda Yen, associate editor, in New York. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York. Elizabeth Casolo, fellow, in Chicago. Read the original article on Business Insider
Yahoo
13-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New real-estate rules mean searching for homes could be changed forever
This post originally appeared in the BI Today newsletter. You can sign up for Business Insider's daily newsletter here. Welcome back to our Sunday edition, where we round up some of our top stories and take you inside our newsroom. Aspiring entrepreneurs, take note: A new AI startup founded by Yale students aims to compete with LinkedIn — and we got a hold of the pitch deck it used to raise $3 million. On the agenda today: Her father created Spider-Man. She was cut off from the Marvel empire. Microsoft is mulling job cuts that could happen as early as next month. Trump is reviled from Canada to China. American tourists are paying the price. Our reporter visited Hooters and saw why the chain is facing bankruptcy. But first: House hunting is about to change. If this was forwarded to you, sign up here. Download Business Insider's app here. Many of us lurk on real estate portals like Zillow and Redfin, even if just for fun. Now, users are coming across properties on these sites that appear to be "off-market" but are actually for sale … if you know where to look. Our housing reporter extraordinaire James Rodriguez published a must-read story this week about how new rules for real estate agents are pushing listings away from catch-all platforms toward exclusive brokerage sites. I sat down with James to learn more — and to get his prediction for what's next in the housing market. James, this week you wrote about changes that mean fewer home listings are making it onto sites like Zillow, or are taking longer to land there. That's no fun for lurkers! But overall, does this shift benefit buyers, sellers, both or neither? Buyers are, for sure, the big losers: They just want to see all the homes available for sale, and it's getting tougher to do that. For sellers, they might benefit from a private test run within a brokerage before their property hits very public Zillow. But Zillow says it will penalize sellers who try to do this, and there is certainly a benefit to reaching the widest possible range of buyers. The true winners will be the big brokers and agents who end up controlling access to listings and boosting their bottom lines. In the last year or so, the rules around brokerage commissions and listings have changed — are home buyers and sellers truly better off? Or not so much? The short answer is not really. The status quo is hard to overcome: Agent commissions are roughly the same, and consumers are confused about all the new rules (or don't even know about them). That said, as the news continues to spread, there will be more opportunities for savvy buyers and sellers to negotiate better outcomes. That's why I've spent a lot of time breaking down these changes and what they mean for the average person. You wrote in October that it looked like the housing market would de-freeze by spring. How is that prediction working out? There are definitely some bright spots. Buyers have a lot more options this spring: I wrote that inventory would be the big figure to watch, and the number of homes for sale in March was up almost 30% from a year ago. But both sides are, understandably, cautious right now: The typical mortgage rate jumped this week to around 7%, and there's a lot of economic uncertainty, to put it mildly. Stay tuned! JC Lee has been widely portrayed as the villain of the Stan Lee story: the spoiled, impossible child who exploited her father, then failed to protect him in his final years. People close to JC and her father tell a different story. "The main thing JC inherited from her father is she has a real knack for surrounding herself with con men," one of Stan's closest confidants said. Now, JC is ready to tell her side of the story. The tumultuous life of Stan Lee's only child. Another round of Microsoft cuts could come as soon as May, focusing on middle managers, non-coders, and more low performers, according to people familiar with the matter. It's unclear how many roles will be slashed. However, some Microsoft organizations want to increase their "span of control" and decrease the ratio of product managers or program managers to engineers, sources told BI. Inside layoff discussions. As spring and summer vacations roll in, some American tourists are finding an unseasonally icy welcome abroad. Treated with awkwardness, pity, or straight-up hostility, they're starting to rethink their travel plans. For American expats, their home country becoming the global frenemy means some conversations about President Trump are unavoidable. Even when Americans leave the US, its politics follow them. Warning: traveling while American. Hooters of America filed for bankruptcy in March. BI's Alex Bitter went to one location to find out why. He said the signature tank tops hadn't gone anywhere, and the fries were underwhelming. Hooters is known for its scantily clad waitresses, but the CEO of the chain's founding group wants to make the restaurants more family-friendly. So long, "Bikini Nights." This week's quote: "I've been concerned about Elon Musk back since he was at PayPal, and then with the purchase and dismantling of Twitter." — Actor Alex Winter, who helped kick-start the global Tesla Takedown movement. More of this week's top reads: America is about to become one giant yard sale. Elon Musk's xAI is hiring workers to push its chatbot Grok to the limit. Mira Murati doubled the fundraising target for her new AI startup to $2 billion. It could be the largest seed round in history. Canada has billions in US real estate. Trump's threats put that at risk. A new wave of tech investors is supercharging a boom in female founders. MrBeast wants to build the next Disney. Here's what his company's CEO is pitching to investors. Jensen Huang shot down comparisons to Elon Musk and yelled at his biographer. The author told BI what Huang is like. The BI Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Grace Lett, editor, in Chicago. Amanda Yen, associate editor, in New York. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York. Elizabeth Casolo, fellow, in Chicago. Read the original article on Business Insider
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How to stay calm amid tariffs frenzy
This post originally appeared in the BI Today newsletter. You can sign up for Business Insider's daily newsletter here. Welcome back to our Sunday edition, where we round up some of our top stories and take you inside our newsroom. Have you ever paid attention to the luxury watches "The White Lotus" characters wear? It turns out they might be able to provide some clues into tonight's season finale. On the agenda today: Entrepreneurial young people flock to "mini private equity" as the job market stagnates. First came tech layoffs. Now there's DOGE. What's a Gen Zer to do? Floyd Mayweather Jr. bragged about a $400 million property deal. There's just one problem. "I begin spying for Deel": An ex-Rippling employee details his days of corporate espionage in Ireland court filing. But first: Stay calm. If this was forwarded to you, sign up here. Download Business Insider's app here. The headlines are scary. Stocks are cratering. The trade war is intensifying. Odds of a recession are jumping. Opening your 401(k) is disorienting. But here's the thing: Most market pros say panicking is just about the worst thing you can do right now. Think back to March 2020. The world was shutting down at the onset of the pandemic. Stocks plunged rapidly. Yet, as terrifying as that sell-off was, it proved to be short-lived. Five years later, the S&P 500 is sharply higher than it was back then (even including this year's drop). Vanguard sent a note to customers this week advising them to "resist the urge to deviate from your financial plan" amid rising uncertainty. It noted the market's best- and worst-performing days tend to occur in close succession. "Investors who have stayed the course during downturns have been able to take advantage of market recoveries and have typically come out ahead of those who moved to the sidelines," the fund manager said. Still, the impulse to take drastic measures is strong. It's human nature. My BI colleague Max Adams outlines three things investors can consider to weather the worst of the downturn: don't overreact, consider defensive stocks, and don't try to time the market. If last week taught us anything, it's that the market is not a place to park cash you might need soon. Having some investments in cash or cash equivalents, like a money market fund, is important. Things could get worse before they get better. The S&P 500 is squarely in correction territory. The Nasdaq is already in a bear market. Michael Antonelli, a market strategist for Baird Private Wealth Management, offered a viewpoint that stuck with me. He told clients not to let fear take over during these tumultuous times. "When uncertainty reigns, your reaction to it determines your success or failure," he wrote to clients. "Hunkering down and waiting for a storm to pass is sometimes the correct course of action." How are you navigating the markets? I'd love to hear from you, drop me a line at today@ Well, it's not exactly private equity. MBAs and young professionals are setting their sights on search funds — which seek to buy and grow small businesses — amid white-collar job insecurity. But the model isn't always glamorous, and the memes are rampant. How search funds work. As DOGE layoffs set in, Gen Z is entering a shaky postgrad landscape. Students who hoped to work in public service — or fields relying on federal funding and contracts — are starting to reconsider. How about graduate school or even the private sector? Those aren't so easy, either. Gen Z gets a reality check. Also read: Getting into law school just got harder. Here's how you can stand out. Retired boxing champ Floyd Mayweather Jr. has sought to refashion himself as a budding business mogul. In February, he talked a big game about a $400 million purchase of 62 Manhattan apartment buildings. In the month since his announcement, however, there's been no evidence that any of those buildings have changed hands. It's not his only real-estate claim that doesn't appear to match reality. A boast with no receipts. An ex-employee of Rippling, an HR software company, detailed his days of corporate espionage on behalf of rival Deel in an Ireland court filing. Some memorable moments: hiding in a bathroom, getting an offer to move to Dubai, and smashing a phone with an ax. The accused also said Deel's CEO was directly involved. He says the CEO even brought up James Bond. This week's quote: "I've been saying this for two years. Tesla needs to be Tesla." — Early Tesla investor Ross Gerber, who thinks the carmaker's issues go beyond Elon Musk's DOGE involvement. More of this week's top reads: Deloitte is the biggest loser so far in DOGE's consulting crackdown. Cheating on technical interviews is soaring. Managers don't know what to do. BI's reviews team selects the best tax software of 2025. Here are the 20 highest-paying jobs in America. Adobe's HR chief tells staff: We're done with DEI hiring goals. Meet the two twenty-somethings running Palantir's healthcare AI business. YouTube is about to eclipse Disney as the biggest media company in the world. Building more high-density apartment buildings can lower home prices across a city. The home of Harvard is doing just that. I quit my Big 4 accounting career to fry chicken. I'll never go back to corporate life. Gen Z and millennials are creating a recession-resistant corner of the market. Meet the tiny investment bank behind Newsmax's rip-roaring stock debut. The BI Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Grace Lett, editor, in Chicago. Amanda Yen, associate editor, in New York. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York. Elizabeth Casolo, fellow, in Chicago. Read the original article on Business Insider Sign in to access your portfolio
