Luke Vargas

I guess I'm just curious why this discount isn't making it more tempting than for countries to go in and buy this oil and get a great deal on it.

Elon Musk has announced a reorganization of his AI startup, XAI, just days after it merged with his rocket and satellite company, SpaceX.

The changes include parting ways with two of XAI's co-founders and comes amid what tech reporter Georgia Wells says is a rapid expansion at the company.

Musk added that he plans to take SpaceX public by July.

And let's quickly spin through some earnings updates we're getting this morning.

Zero alcohol beers are helping to drive sales for Budweiser maker AB InBev.

The world's largest brewer is contending with a broad decline in drinking, especially amongst younger people, but recorded 34% growth in its teetotal portfolio last year, led by Corona Zero.

Hermès is signaling confidence about its 2026 sales growth after logging a strong Christmas shopping season, and Japan's SoftBank has posted a quarterly profit thanks to gains in its Visions Funds business.

Its shares are up more than 9% so far this year, driven by hopes that stronger AI demand will boost its investments in companies like Arm Holdings and OpenAI.

Coming up, we'll unpack what this week's earnings from retail giants tell us about the state of the American consumer.

That's after the break.

Let's turn to earnings this week from retail giants, which are revealing a tale of two worlds in which manufacturers like Kraft Heinz, Coca-Cola and Unilever face a fragile consumer economy.

And yet all the while, American spending isn't dropping.

Dow Jones reporter Amei Look covers retail earnings for us and says years of rising prices have battered consumers' pocketbooks and made them increasingly cost-conscious.

Joining me now with more is Melissa Minco, the Global Director for Retail Strategy and Insights at CINT.

Melissa, your job is to predict consumer behavior so that your firm can work to build suitable tech products to help out companies like some of the ones we've been talking about.

Melissa, Ame there was outlining a tricky environment for big retailers.

I'm curious how you characterize it.

I mean, this is kind of the enigma, especially of the U.S.

economy, right?