Greg Smith

So obviously cost of living pressures globally, but they're doing pretty well.

We're still spending well on things anyway.

So revenue there, $11.2 billion up 17%.

That's the strongest growth since 2022.

Net income, 32% higher, $6 billion.

Payments volume, 9% higher, $3.7 trillion.

Process transactions up by the same, $66 billion.

So we're spending on lots of stuff.

Obviously, the pump as well is a pretty big driver.

But yeah, they've returned capital aggressively, $7.9 billion repurchases, $1.3 billion in dividends, and they're going to repurchase another $20 billion.

And they also lifted their full-year revenue growth guidance.

So yeah, payments networks, they're a pretty good gauge on economic activity and so far consumer spending.

So investors like that, shares jumped 8%, although it does seem like travel spend is biting a little bit.

So we've got Booking.com, the travel engine, they had earnings above expectations, revenue up 16%, but they cut their outlook.

They see four-year revenue growth in high single digits.

That's down from low double digits.

And they say travel disruption is spreading beyond the Middle East and affecting major transit routes like some Europe and Asia.

So I thought that was interesting.

Similar message as well from Hilton, although it sees strong growth in the U.S., offsetting weakness elsewhere.

Right, so we've got obviously the Fed decision and actually notably the highest descent since 1992, so we'll get to that tomorrow.