FT News Briefing

How Ukraine fell victim to fake arms deals

27 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 kicked off a massive arms procurement race for Kyiv. Officials looked just about everywhere for weap...

Behind the Money: GE Vernova tries to shake its parent’s problems

26 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today, we're bringing you an episode from our fellow FT podcast, Behind the Money. Massive conglomerates used to define corporate best practice. Think...

Swamp Notes: Trump’s next 100 days

24 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week, Swamp Notes goes to London for a live recording. Katie Martin, host of the Unhedged podcast, and Chris Giles, author of the FT’s Central ...

The economic impact of Trump’s budget bill

23 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Republicans in the US House of Representatives narrowly passed President Donald Trump’s major budget bill on Thursday, and BYD has sold more electri...

Will Germany ban the far-right AfD?

22 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Telegram leapt to a $540mn profit last year despite the ongoing legal threat to its leadership, yields on the longest-dated Japanese government bonds ...

CATL’s IPO pops in Hong Kong

21 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

European and Asian investors have pumped record sums into global equity funds that exclude the US market, and shares in Chinese battery maker CATL sur...

A warning shot to the Treasuries market

20 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The US may be stepping back from its role as mediator in the war in Ukraine, and US long-term borrowing costs rose to their highest level since late 2...

Trump administration to roll back banking rules

19 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The UK is holding its first summit with the European Union since Brexit, and US authorities are preparing to announce one of the biggest cuts in banks...

Swamp Notes: Trump’s tilt to the left

17 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Within the space of one week, US President Donald Trump endorsed tax increases for America’s top earners and promised to slash drug prices by up to ...

Can Bill Ackman create a Berkshire Hathaway rival?

16 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Japan has signalled it is prepared to hold out for a better deal with US President Donald Trump over trade tariffs, and investor Bill Ackman is trying...

Turkey after the PKK

15 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

CoreWeave reported a 420% rise in revenue in its first quarter as a listed company and the furious rally in US assets has caught big investors off gua...

UnitedHealth’s big shake-up

14 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The White House unveiled what it says is $600bn worth of defence and artificial intelligence deals with Saudi Arabia, UnitedHealth Group shares sink t...

A sigh of relief on US-China tariffs

13 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Global stocks surged after the US and China slashed tariffs for 90 days, and Brussels is preparing to use capital controls and tariffs against Russia....

Are investors starting to prefer Europe over the US?

12 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

US officials say they made “substantial progress” on trade talks with China, and trade optimism has driven German stocks to record highs. Plus, US...

Swamp Notes: Trump takes on higher ed

10 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Description: US President Donald Trump is in an ongoing standoff with America’s top universities. Harvard lost $2.3bn in federal funding after it re...

The US-UK trade deal

09 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The US and the UK agreed to a trade deal, and the Bank of England cut interest rates by a quarter point. Plus, we hear from an FTC commissioner who wa...

Conflict puts Pakistan’s economy at risk

08 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The US scraps rule that aimed to limit exports of artificial intelligence chips, Pakistan vowed to retaliate after India launched air strikes against ...

A rough start for German Chancellor Merz

07 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

India said it had carried out “precision strikes” on “terrorist infrastructure” at nine sites in Pakistan, Friederich Merz suffered a stinging...

US stocks make full recovery

06 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

OpenAI will remain under the control of the group’s non-profit arm, US stocks have wiped out the steep losses that followed US President Donald Trum...

Berkshire after Buffett

05 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The world’s most famous investor says he plans to step down after six decades leading Berkshire Hathaway, and Chinese exporters are turning to third...

Swamp Notes: The conservative view on tariffs now

03 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

US President Donald Trump has garnered a lot of criticism since he enacted his trade war. But there are people who still defend the tariffs, including...

Australia’s voters go to the polls

02 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Amazon warned of the impact of Donald Trump’s global trade war and issued weaker-than-expected guidance for the second quarter, and Australians head...

Honey, I shrunk the economy

01 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Microsoft posted better than expected quarterly earnings on Wednesday, Spain is trying to figure out what caused a massive power outage, and the Conse...

Japanese investors hope for a corporate shake-up

30 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump unveiled more tariff relief for some carmakers, and shares in a number of companies surged in Tokyo after a plan for carmaker Toyota Moto...

Big oil braces for a rough year

29 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The oil industry is bracing for its worst year since the pandemic, and Spain and Portugal are reeling from a massive power outage. Plus, the FT’s Em...

The elusive Ukraine peace deal

28 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Canadians will head to the polls Monday to pick a prime minister, and a new US proposal to end the War in Ukraine would allow Russia to keep some of t...

Swamp Notes: Trump’s ‘you break it, you buy it’ moment

26 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Just a few weeks ago, US President Donald Trump was ready to levy tariffs on basically every nation. Today, many of those tariffs have been paused or ...

US tariffs bite Chinese industry

25 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Apple plans to shift the assembly of all US-sold iPhones to India as soon as next year, factories in China have begun slowing production and furloughi...

Bessent takes aim at the IMF

24 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sir Keir Starmer and Ursula von der Leyen will on Thursday finalise plans for a new defence pact, US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent has accused the ...

BP’s race to cut costs

23 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Tesla’s first-quarter adjusted profits dropped 39 per cent and the IMF has downgraded outlooks for G7 nations and big economies such as China and In...

The Catholic Church after Pope Francis

22 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Wall Street stocks dropped as President Donald Trump attacked Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell, Pope Francis passed away on Monday after leading the C...

How tariffs are affecting luxury goods

21 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Luxury goods were supposed to be making a comeback this year. But US President Donald Trump’s trade war has complicated that and things are looking ...

The Rachman Review: Iran’s nuclear talks could reshape the Middle East

18 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Swamp Notes is taking this weekend off so instead we wanted to share the latest episode from our fellow FT podcast, The Rachman Review.Nuclear talks b...

Japan and the US talk tariffs

18 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

China’s imports of US liquefied natural gas have completely stopped for more than 10 weeks, and Japan’s chief trade negotiator leaves Washington w...

Emerging markets’ surprising performance

17 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

 Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell is warning that US tariffs are ‘likely’ to put at risk the central bank’s goals of keeping prices and une...

India’s middle-class debt crisis

16 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Nvidia says it expects to take a $5.5bn blow as the US clamps down on the Silicon Valley group’s ability to export artificial intelligence chips to ...

How Argentina pulled off its latest IMF deal

15 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Brussels is exploring legal options that would allow European companies to break long-term Russian gas contracts, and Goldman Sachs had a mixed first ...

Is it glass half-full or half-empty for US banks?

14 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

US tariff exemptions on personal electronics may only be temporary, and big banks posted major earnings on Friday despite some economic headwinds. Plu...

Swamp Notes: The Federal Reserve’s tariff dilemma

12 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

US President Donald Trump’s global trade war has made a mess for the Federal Reserve. Despite an encouraging US consumer price index report this wee...

Uncertainty reigns in US markets

11 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

US inflation fell more than expected to 2.4 per cent in March, and France’s Renault is one of the few carmakers insulated from Donald Trump’s trad...

Trump’s tariff reversal

10 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

US stocks surged on Wednesday after Donald Trump paused ‘reciprocal’ tariffs for 90 days. Plus, the EU and China are working on a new trade relati...

Markets might not have hit the bottom yet

09 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump is pushing ahead with another 50 per cent tariff on Chinese goods, and there are questions about what will happen to nearly $2tn worth of...

Companies look for US tariff workarounds

08 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Equities markets continued to adapt to the tariffs unleashed by US President Donald Trump, oil prices hit a four-year low on Monday, and investors are...

How Italy could decide the EU’s response to tariffs

07 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The UK plans to introduce a lighter regulatory regime for private equity and hedge funds, and Italy may block an EU plan to respond to US President Do...

Swamp Notes: The costs of Trump’s tariffs

05 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week the US imposed new tariffs on most of the world. The FT’s US national editor Ed Luce joins us to analyze why they are baffling economists ...

Trump’s tariffs rattle global markets

04 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

US President Donald Trump’s tariffs caused a global market sell-off on Thursday. Now, there are concerns that these levies will push the US into a r...

Tesla soars on Musk’s potential departure

03 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump launched a barrage of new tariffs on trading partners, and Tesla’s share price jumped on a report that chief executive Elon Musk could ...

What Wall Street expects from Trump’s ‘liberation day’

02 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

US venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz is in talks to invest in social media platform TikTok, US President Donald Trump is expected to lay out h...

Elon Musk transforms Wisconsin court race

01 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Google’s artificial intelligence arm DeepMind has been holding back the release of its world-renowned research, and Elon Musk has poured an unpreced...

CoreWeave tests investor appetite for AI

31 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Investors warn that higher bond yields in Germany could make it harder for EU members to increase defence spending, and the tech world’s largest pub...

Swamp Notes: How Medicaid cuts could shake up Maga

29 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As Congress works through President Donald Trump’s recent budget, one of the likeliest cuts on the chopping block is Medicaid. The government health...

China gives IPOs the green light

28 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

US President Donald Trump’s auto tariffs hit carmaker shares and Chinese financial authorities have told some companies they can start launching mai...

Rolls-Royce flies high

27 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The US will impose tariffs of 25 per cent on imports of foreign-made autos and Piyush Gupta will step down after 16 years as chief executive at Singap...

Spring Statement highlights tough UK economy

26 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Beijing has introduced environmental restrictions that would prevent Chinese companies from buying Nvidia’s bestselling processors, UK chancellor Ra...

Are Musk’s ties jeopardising Starlink?

25 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sources tell the FT that China is considering including services in a multibillion-dollar subsidy programme to stimulate consumption, software giant S...

Foreign investors feel the pinch of US stock slump

24 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Canada’s new prime minister calls snap elections, European investors in US equities have been dealt a double blow, and carmakers try to get ahead of...

Swamp Notes: Why Democrats can’t get their act together

22 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As US President Donald Trump dismantles agencies and challenges institutions across the federal government, Democrats still can’t decide how to...

UK races to avoid Trump tariffs

21 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

European countries are considering how to take on greater responsibilities for the continent’s defence, the UK and the US are negotiating a trade de...

Does the Olympic business model still work?

20 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Federal Reserve is still in wait-and-see mode, a handful of technology start-ups are expected to go public next month, and Turkish police have det...

Boeing struggles in the final frontier

19 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Vladimir Putin has ordered Russia’s military to refrain from striking Ukrainian energy infrastructure for 30 days, and the Israel-Hamas ceasefire wa...

Jack Ma’s AI comeback

18 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Vladimir Putin has allowed a group of western asset managers and hedge funds to offload Russian securities left in limbo by Moscow’s invasion of Ukr...

Saudi Arabia puts outside consultants on notice

17 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

HSBC and UBS are expanding their wealth management arms in India, and the consulting boom in Saudi Arabia is slowing down. Plus, global gold prices ha...

Swamp Notes: Why Trump may want a weaker dollar

15 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week, the value of the American dollar continued to decline. The plunge has been attributed to market volatility over President Donald Trump’s ...

Modi’s tariff tap dance with Trump

14 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Russian President Vladimir Putin has indicated Moscow is unwilling to drop its maximalist demands over any deal to halt the fighting in Ukraine, and I...

Lights out at Northvolt

13 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Elon Musk’s efficiency drive failed to prevent US federal spending rising to a record $603bn in February, European battery maker Northvolt has filed...

Nissan pushes CEO out

12 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The S&P 500 dipped into correction territory on Tuesday and Nissan has pushed out chief executive Makoto Uchida in the wake of the collapse of mer...

Is this dotcom bust 2.0?

11 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Wall Street stocks fell on Monday, and Pimco has recorded a 17% paper profit on its portion of a £3bn emergency loan that it and others are set to pr...

The Trump nominee uniting Democrats and Republicans

10 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Canada’s Liberal party selects a new leader, and US President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Justice Department’s antitrust division is turn...

Swamp Notes: Trump’s transatlantic divorce

08 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

European leaders met twice this week to discuss a plan to protect Ukraine — without US leadership. The rift between Brussels and Washington has grow...

Tariff uncertainty continues market volatility

07 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump’s crypto project made at least $350mn from the launch of his memecoin, and FT markets columnist Katie Martin unpacks the week in market...

The Trump bump on Canadian politics

06 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

US President Donald Trump has handed carmakers a one-month reprieve on tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, and we look at how a few billionaire...

Taiwan looks to play nice with Trump

05 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine was “ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible”, Taiwan is trying to get on US President Donald ...

US defence stocks get left behind

04 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The US is suspending military aid to Ukraine, Chevrolet Silverado’s complex supply chain leaves it particularly vulnerable to a looming trade war, a...

Europe takes the lead on Ukraine peace deal

03 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Cryptocurrencies surged on Sunday after a surprise announcement from US President Donald Trump, and European leaders gathered in London to shore up su...

Swamp Notes: Trump vs the press

01 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week, the White House said it would pick which reporters would get access to Donald Trump. Meanwhile, the US president has sued several press out...

Trump greets Starmer at White House

28 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

US President Donald Trump has said his administration is working on a trade deal with the UK, Santander’s incoming chief accounting officer is under...

The medical bills hurting China’s economy

27 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Nvidia’s revenues soared in the quarter to the end of January as demand for its AI-focused chips boomed, healthcare costs are dragging down the Chin...

Unilever’s CEO gets the boot

26 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Kyiv has agreed terms with Washington on a minerals deal, and finance ministers from many of the world’s largest economies are poised to skip Group ...

Germany’s debt brake problem

25 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The US and Europe battled in the UN and G7 over whether to blame Russia for its war against Ukraine, German election winner Friedrich Merz faces serio...

German voters shift to the right in Sunday’s elections

24 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The center-right Christian Democrats won the most votes in Germany’s election, and the US stock market had its worst day in two months on Friday. Br...

Swamp Notes: Trump tries to bring watchdogs to heel

22 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

US President Donald Trump’s executive order this week seeks to “rein in” independent federal agencies by requiring them to submit draft regulati...

Defending Europe without the US

21 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Investors are urging the EU to make sweeping reforms to its debt securitisation market, Walmart has staged a major comeback, and Chinese ecommerce gia...

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...