Luke Vargas

Stock markets rally as President Trump says he has no plans to fire the Fed chair. Plus, Tesla stock surges after Elon Musk says his work in D.C. could be winding down. And federal contractors offer billions in cost cuts to win over an administration skeptical about their contributions.

Stock markets rally as President Trump says he has no plans to fire the Fed chair. Plus, Tesla stock surges after Elon Musk says his work in D.C. could be winding down. And federal contractors offer billions in cost cuts to win over an administration skeptical about their contributions.

It's Wednesday, April 23rd. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. And here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today.

It's Wednesday, April 23rd. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal. And here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today.

Markets around the world are breathing a sigh of relief this morning, with stocks gaining after President Trump last night signaled a softer tone on China tariffs and said he isn't planning to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Markets around the world are breathing a sigh of relief this morning, with stocks gaining after President Trump last night signaled a softer tone on China tariffs and said he isn't planning to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Those Oval Office comments came after Trump lashed out at the Fed chair last week, writing in a social media post that Powell's termination cannot come fast enough, prompting a sell-off in American assets like the dollar and U.S. treasuries and pushing safe haven assets like gold to a new record high. Trump also said that the 145% tariff on China was too high.

Those Oval Office comments came after Trump lashed out at the Fed chair last week, writing in a social media post that Powell's termination cannot come fast enough, prompting a sell-off in American assets like the dollar and U.S. treasuries and pushing safe haven assets like gold to a new record high. Trump also said that the 145% tariff on China was too high.

That boosted Japanese and Korean stocks in particular, as tech companies with large exposure to the U.S. market like TSMC and Foxconn rallied on the prospect of a de-escalation in hostilities between Washington and Beijing.

That boosted Japanese and Korean stocks in particular, as tech companies with large exposure to the U.S. market like TSMC and Foxconn rallied on the prospect of a de-escalation in hostilities between Washington and Beijing.

Shares of Tesla are up more than 5% in off-hours trading after the EV maker reported first quarter earnings that included word of a 13% slide in vehicle deliveries and a more than 70% decline in net income. But the headline news is that CEO Elon Musk signaled that his work with the Trump administration could be coming to an end. Stephen Wilmot is the journal's European Autos reporter.

Shares of Tesla are up more than 5% in off-hours trading after the EV maker reported first quarter earnings that included word of a 13% slide in vehicle deliveries and a more than 70% decline in net income. But the headline news is that CEO Elon Musk signaled that his work with the Trump administration could be coming to an end. Stephen Wilmot is the journal's European Autos reporter.

Stephen, I think the best way for us to understand Tesla's situation now is to hear from Musk himself. So I'm going to play a few clips here from yesterday's earnings call, starting with Musk explaining his early work setting up the Department of Government Efficiency was mostly done. Here he was.

Stephen, I think the best way for us to understand Tesla's situation now is to hear from Musk himself. So I'm going to play a few clips here from yesterday's earnings call, starting with Musk explaining his early work setting up the Department of Government Efficiency was mostly done. Here he was.

Stephen, was that the answer investors were looking for that might explain Tesla's stock gaining after these results?

Stephen, was that the answer investors were looking for that might explain Tesla's stock gaining after these results?

About Tesla's future, Musk was speaking in quite glowing terms about its automotive business, promising that a driverless taxi service from the company would be launching this summer. And he also talked about other business units like the company's AI products, its pivot into robotics. These are things that Tesla has touted for a long time, its non-automotive work.

About Tesla's future, Musk was speaking in quite glowing terms about its automotive business, promising that a driverless taxi service from the company would be launching this summer. And he also talked about other business units like the company's AI products, its pivot into robotics. These are things that Tesla has touted for a long time, its non-automotive work.

And yet Musk did try to get more specific here, putting some dates on when he thought this would all start to benefit the company's bottom line. Let's hear that.

And yet Musk did try to get more specific here, putting some dates on when he thought this would all start to benefit the company's bottom line. Let's hear that.