FT News Briefing

Manufacturing on the ballot in Germany

20 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

KKR has submitted a preliminary bid to take a majority stake in Thames Water, and HSBC set out its cost cuts in its annual earnings report yesterday. ...

Why Trump wants Ukraine’s minerals

19 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The US and Russia have agreed to ‘lay the groundwork for future co-operation’ on ending the Ukraine war, and US president Donald Trump has his eye...

China pumps the brakes on Tesla’s autonomous cars

18 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Tesla risks being caught up in the China-US trade war, while US officials head to Saudi Arabia to start peace talks over Ukraine. Indonesia reaches “...

Say hello to the Magnificent 47

17 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

French President Macron holds an emergency meeting in Paris with Ukraine’s allies, and a stock index featuring Europe’s largest banks is outpacing...

Swamp Notes: Trump ices Europe out of Ukraine peace plan

15 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ukraine is dominating discussions at this year’s Munich Security Conference after a call between Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, which e...

Has meme-stock kid Robinhood grown up?

14 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Arm plans to launch its own chip this year, and Shein’s IPO will likely be delayed after US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on tariff-free impo...

Trump excludes Europe from Ukraine peace talks

13 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

European officials are worried about being cut out of a US-Russia peace deal on Ukraine, and US inflation ticked up in January. Plus, China’s leadin...

Elon Musk gatecrashes OpenAI restructuring

12 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Hong Kong tech stocks are flying high, Elon Musk’s nearly $100bn bid for OpenAI comes with a ton of baggage, and the EU says it will retaliate again...

Hizbollah’s murky path forward

11 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

More than 60 partners have left PwC China after a ban over its audit of failed property developer Evergrande, the FT’s Andy Bounds explains what we ...

US dealmaking slides in 2025

10 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

China has imposed retaliatory tariffs on about $14bn of US goods, and US dealmaking has suffered its worst start to a year in a decade. French Preside...

Swamp Notes: How far can Doge go?

08 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or Doge, dominated the headlines this week as agency members gained access to sensitive data at the...

How to trade the trade war

07 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Amazon shares fell after a weaker than expected outlook for the first quarter, and investors are figuring out how to trade in the trade war. Plus, The...

EU pushes ahead with sprawling AI regulation

06 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

US allies across Europe and the Middle East have condemned Donald Trump’s plans to “take over” Gaza, the US cracks down on a trade loophole, and...

US companies endure tariff whiplash

05 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Alphabet’s cloud services missed growth expectations last quarter, American companies are scrambling to protect their supply chains in the face of a...

Commercial real estate crawls back

04 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

US president Donald Trump’s tariffs on Mexico and Canada are paused for now, commercial property investment is starting to recover from a two-year s...

The Trump trade war begins

03 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump hit Canada, Mexico and China with steep tariffs on Saturday, and oil and gas groups are relying more heavily on carbon offsets to reach c...

Swamp Notes: Trump redefines America’s global role

01 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

American foreign aid supports everything from arms sales to HIV treatment. But this week, with the stroke of a pen, Donald Trump suspended nearly all ...

SoftBank wants a piece of the AI pie

31 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Apple revealed quarterly results that slightly exceeded Wall Street expectations, SoftBank is in talks to invest as much as $25bn into OpenAI, and the...

The Fed ignores Trump’s calls to cut rates

30 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Big Tech earnings season is in full swing, the US Federal Reserve held interest rates steady despite pressure from President Donald Trump, and Syria’...

Inside the Trump tariff debate

29 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Advances in artificial intelligence by Chinese start-up DeepSeek caused a frantic sell-off of energy and infrastructure shares, and Donald Trump’s T...

China’s DeepSeek AI triggers tech sell-off

28 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

US tech stocks tumbled after advances by Chinese start-up DeepSeek ignited worries over whether America could sustain its lead in artificial intellige...

Can US oil afford to ‘drill, baby, drill’?

27 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Pressure is piling on the European Union to cut back its sustainability agenda, Wall Street may thwart President Donald Trump’s call for a new oil b...

Swamp Notes: Donald Trump’s ‘vendetta agenda’

25 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump has made a lot of enemies over the years. He spent his first week back in the White House going after them — and is reshaping the feder...

Trump steers the world toward a tax war

24 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A federal judge has blocked US President Donald Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship, and shares in the leading makers of anti-obesity drug...

Trump halts $300bn in clean energy loans

23 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

European bank dividends are at their highest levels since 2007, US President Donald Trump froze billions of dollars in federal funding to green infras...

Markets brace for Trump-era volatility

22 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Netflix added a record 19mn subscribers in the fourth quarter, fuelled by live sports. US stocks rallied while currencies swung the day after Donald T...

Apple is accused of profiting from 'blood minerals'

21 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Belgium has launched a criminal probe into the DRC’s allegation. Donald Trump is sworn in as US president. Davos leaders reject climate banking grou...

Trump returns to the White House

20 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump will become US president for the second time on Monday. Investors pile into a fund that spreads its assets equally across the S&P 500...

Swamp Notes: Corporate America goes Maga

18 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Not long ago, American corporations were promoting racial justice initiatives and promising to combat climate change. That’s all changed in the mont...

Can Hollywood bounce back?

17 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump’s Treasury pick Scott Bessent wants to increase sanctions on Russian oil producers, and the FT’s Stephen Gandel unpacks a bumper earn...

Israel and Hamas agree to ceasefire

16 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Israel and Hamas have agreed a deal to halt the war in Gaza and free the remaining hostages. Wall Street banks notched up profits at the end of last y...

Why China wants Musk to save TikTok

15 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Saudi Aramco is to expand its investments in lithium production, officials in Beijing are discussing using Elon Musk as a broker in a potential sale o...

A power shift in Lebanon

14 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Goldman Sachs is building a new private credit unit, and Nawaf Salam is named as Lebanon’s new prime minister. China’s trade surplus with the rest...

Venezuela’s leader starts another disputed term

13 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The US is on the cusp of a gas boom and the west hits Venezuelan officials with fresh sanctions. A £1.5bn class action lawsuit against Apple goes to ...

Swamp Notes: Greenland, USA

11 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump has an aggressive negotiating method: he makes big threats in order to extract concessions. But now that he’s floated the idea of invad...

Bond vigilantes target government spending

10 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The EU is preparing for president-elect Donald Trump to roll back his predecessor’s executive orders, bond markets have entered a new era of antagon...

Crunch time for Citi

09 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

EU leaders warn Donald Trump not to meddle with the continent’s territories, and Wall Street analysts are betting Citigroup will miss a critical lon...

Canadian politics post-Trudeau

08 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

China’s airlines are rapidly expanding into Europe, and we take a look at what’s next for Canada’s Liberal party following Prime Minister Justin...

China’s central bank overhaul

07 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Justin Trudeau is resigning as Canadian Prime Minister, and Germany’s solar power industry is in trouble. US bankruptcy filings hit their highest ra...

What’s next for US Steel?

06 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Eurozone economists warn the European Central Bank has been too slow to cut interest rates, and US Steel faces a bleak outlook after President Biden’...

Swamp Notes: Where does Musk fit in Maga?

04 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Elon Musk’s first big foray into politics was a success — he used his world-leading fortune and mass media platform to help Donald Trump regain th...

Climate change is coming for your Bordeaux

03 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Tesla’s annual vehicle deliveries declined for the first time in more than a decade, and China’s BYD hit a milestone. Crypto chief Do Kwon makes h...

Activist investors give Japan a wake-up call

02 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The UK’s financial watchdog has failed to remove illegal crypto adverts, and in Japan, shareholder activists are waking companies up from decades of...

Biden’s departing gift to Ukraine

31 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

US stocks dropped for the second straight trading session, the Biden administration said it will unleash almost $6bn in additional aid to Ukraine, and...

Should banks foot the bill for cyber scams?

30 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Defaults on US credit card loans have hit the highest level since the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, and as payment fraud rises, banks and tech co...

Swamp Notes: Listener mailbag, the election and 2025

21 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Are the Democrats doomed? Which world leaders are happiest to see Trump back in the White House? And why are investors flooding into American stocks? ...

Why Microsoft needs nuclear energy

20 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A number of cryptocurrency-focused hedge funds are outpacing their rivals, the Bank of England holds interest rates at 4.75 per cent, and Microsoft ha...

What 2024 taught central bankers

19 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Federal Reserve cuts interest rates by a quarter-point but signals a slower pace of easing, and we look back at what central banks learned in 2024...

Javier Milei scores Argentina economy win

18 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Argentina emerged from a severe recession in the third quarter, Microsoft buys twice as many of Nvidia’s chips as any of its largest rivals, KPMG na...

AI investors look beyond chips

17 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Japan’s SoftBank unveils $100bn US investment plans, fervour around Nvidia cools as investors look to AI’s next winners, and Europe launches its m...

Arm and Qualcomm head to court

16 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Germany’s Olaf Scholz is expected to lose a confidence vote in parliament on Monday, and Arm and Qualcomm’s bitter legal feud over chip design lic...

Swamp Notes: Europe in the age of America First

14 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Europe has been able to predictably lean on the US for decades. But Donald Trump used tariffs and other economic threats to test those assumptions in ...

The dangers of investor groupthink

13 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

HSBC is reviewing its retail banking operations outside the UK and Hong Kong, and the European Central Bank cut interest rates by a quarter-point to 3...

Microsoft bets on AI healthcare

12 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

European Nato members are holding talks about increasing the alliance’s target for defence spending, Microsoft’s artificial intelligence head Must...

Can big oil escape the ‘valley of death’?

11 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund prepares for a petrodollar windfall, while oil majors scale back their $18bn power generation push. Israeli Prime Mini...

Vanguard doubles down on wealth management

10 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Hiring has fallen more sharply in the UK than in other big economies over the past year, Vanguard will break its advisory business into a separate uni...

Syrian rebels topple Assad regime

09 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has resigned and fled the country and South Korean prosecutors have opened an investigation into the country’s pres...

The geopolitics of chips: Chips in the USA

08 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The next superpower will be a tech superpower, and to be that superpower you need to have some control over the semiconductor industry which is drivin...

Swamp Notes: America’s first ‘Bitcoin president’

07 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump once called cryptocurrencies a “scam”. He’s long since changed his tune, and now, crypto enthusiasts are hoping he’ll catapult th...

The never-ending Trump effect on US stocks

06 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Large companies rushed to assess whether top employees have sufficient protection after the murder of a US insurance executive, investors have pumped ...

UK uncovers criminal crypto network

05 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump has nominated cryptocurrency advocate Paul Atkins to chair the US Securities and Exchange Commission, and a dramatic attempt to impose ma...

French prime minister faces no-confidence vote

04 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The French government will face a no-confidence vote on Wednesday, South Korea’s president said he will lift his martial law order, and cryptocurren...

OpenAI explores advertising

03 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Chief executives at Intel and Stellantis stepped down, OpenAI is considering including advertising in its artificial intelligence products and the US ...

Where does the ceasefire leave Hizbollah?

02 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

US government lawyers are clamouring for jobs at corporate law firms ahead of Donald Trump taking office, and Hizbollah declares victory against Israe...

The Economics Show: Would Trump’s tariffs really be that bad?

01 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Trump is returning to office with many of the same policies that characterised his last term. And for economists, none looms larger than the prospect ...

France’s bond market sell-off

29 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

French bond markets take a tumble, Russia threatens a hypersonic missile attack on Kyiv, and Ireland goes to the polls. Plus, Hong Kong’s crypto pla...

Canal+’s blockbuster London listing

28 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Vivendi prepares to spin off Canal+ for a London listing. Christine Lagarde says trade wars threaten global GDP. Sir Alex Younger, former head of UK’...

Ceasefire deal reached in Israel-Lebanon war

27 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Israeli and Lebanese leaders agree to a ceasefire, and Mexico hits back at US president-elect Donald Trump’s tariff plans. Plus, President Joe Biden...

Kennedy injects uncertainty into big pharma

26 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The US Department of Justice is seeking to drop two federal criminal cases against Donald Trump, and Robert F Kennedy Jr’s nomination for top health...

Wall Street’s ‘sigh of relief’ over Trump’s Treasury pick

25 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Huawei is poised to launch its first flagship phone that can run its own apps, and Donald Trump’s nominee to run the Treasury is seen across Wall St...

The Economics Show: What does a Trump presidency mean for immigration?

24 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Clemens of George Mason University is an expert on the economics of migration, and a scholar of its history. With the newly elected President ...

Swamp Notes: Anthony Scaramucci unpacks Trump’s cabinet

23 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump mostly nominated mainstream conservatives to his first cabinet after the 2016 election. Some high-level appointees back then barely knew ...

US hits Gautam Adani with bribery charges

22 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Matt Gaetz has withdrawn his name from consideration for US attorney-general, and billionaire Gautam Adani faces charges over an alleged scheme to bri...

UK inflation creeps back

21 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Nvidia’s third-quarter revenue almost doubled from a year ago, and UK inflation accelerated in October as energy prices rose. Disgraced Archegos fou...

Ukraine strikes Russia with US missiles

20 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Bridgewater is joining forces with State Street’s asset management arm to offer an ETF, Ukraine has struck a military target inside Russia using US-...

US business raises alarm over Trump’s deportation plan

19 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Israel says it struck a “specific component” of Iran’s nuclear programme last month, and US business leaders are warning Donald Trump’s deport...

The US dollar surges

18 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

President Joe Biden has authorised Ukraine to launch limited strikes into Russia using US-made long-range missiles, and the world’s largest economie...

Behind the Money: Wall Street, tech and energy during Trump’s second term

17 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Who will corporate America's winners and losers be under four more years of Donald Trump? This week, the FT’s Brooke Masters, Stephen Morris and Jam...

Swamp Notes: How can Democrats rebuild?

16 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Democratic party is hardly monolithic. But if there’s one thing that’s kept it together over the past decade, it’s been a shared opposition ...

Crypto’s Trump card

15 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Federal Trade Commission is preparing to launch an investigation into anti-competitive practices at Microsoft’s cloud computing business, and th...

Trump’s cabinet takes shape

14 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Republican John Thune will be the next leader of the Senate, and the president-elect gets to work filling out his cabinet. Plus, US inflation rose to ...

Ukraine’s plan to win over Trump

13 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump’s ‘hush money’ case has been paused, Ukraine has been building on its ‘victory plan’ for his incoming administration and SoftBa...

Elon Musk goes to Washington

12 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Calendar year inflows in to exchange traded funds surpassed their previous full-year record at the end of October, and we look at how Donald Trump’s...

China’s $1.4tn fiscal package fails to excite

11 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump’s election victory has sent shockwaves across the renewable energy industry, and China has announced fiscal stimulus to bail out local ...

Swamp Notes: Trumponomics 2.0

09 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Republicans swept to power in Tuesday’s election, winning the White House, the Senate, and probably the House of Representatives. Voter dissatis...

The highs and lows of the ‘Trump trade’

08 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

US stocks rallied after Donald Trump’s election victory, but the euphoria could be short-lived if his policies drive up inflation. Plus, German oppo...

Trump’s second chapter begins

07 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Wall Street stocks hit a record high but investors dumped bonds after Donald Trump’s historic US election victory, and the FT’s Lauren Fedor expla...

How election day unfolded in the US

06 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A divided US electorate made their choice at the polls yesterday, after candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump spent a combined $3.5bn in their rac...

What to expect on US election night

05 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The dollar weakened on Monday as global markets reined in their bets on a victory for Donald Trump in the US presidential election, and the Financial ...

The $250bn in corporate taxes riding on US election

04 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Chinese authorities are demanding wealthy individuals and companies double-check their taxes for unpaid liabilities, and the largest US companies are ...

Swamp Notes: Why the polls aren’t budging

02 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In a campaign full of twists and turns, one thing has stayed surprisingly steady: the polls. On this final pre-election episode of Swamp Notes, the FT...

UK Budget spooks bond markets

01 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Apple reported solid revenue growth in the past quarter, and investors are worried about the additional borrowing set out in UK chancellor Rachel Reev...

UK Labour’s Budget borrows big, taxes more

31 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Microsoft’s quarterly revenue rose 16% on strong cloud computing demand, the UK’s Labour party reveals bold tax increases and borrowing, and the U...

Arm enters the AI race

30 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Alphabet’s profit jumped 34 per cent in the third quarter, and Israel’s parliament approved legislation on Monday that will ban a UN agency for Pa...

Boeing races to avoid credit downgrade

29 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

PwC’s business in Asia contracted sharply in the past year, Boeing announced a $19bn share sale to help avoid a credit rating downgrade, and Volkswa...

Georgia’s disputed election

28 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Iran has signalled that it will pursue a measured response to Israel’s latest strikes, and Georgia’s opposition has called for protests after the ...

Swamp Notes LIVE: A look back at the economy and the election

26 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With the election just over a week away, Swamp Notes visited the University of Michigan to recap the final FT-Michigan Ross poll. Swamp Notes host Son...

Will Russia lead on an alternative to the dollar?

25 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Tesla shares leapt 22% after Elon Musk predicted an electric vehicle sales rebound, and Russia’s pitch for a US dollar alternative failed to excite ...

AI that can control your computer

24 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Boeing’s machinists voted on Wednesday to reject the company’s latest offer and the US has finalised long-awaited ‘open banking’ rules, hoping...

HSBC’s east-west split

23 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Deloitte has cut about 250 UK employees and HSBC’s chief executive has announced an overhaul of the bank. The IMF has warned global protectionism wi...