FT News Briefing
Episodes
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...
Three big economic ideas that explain the US election
22 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Share buybacks on mainland China’s biggest exchanges have soared to a record high this year, and Israel has attacked an Hizbollah-affiliated financi...
Uber’s drive for ‘super app’ status
21 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Trading in the world’s second-largest IPO of 2024 begins on Tuesday, but retail investors have given a lukewarm reception to Hyundai Motor India’s...
Swamp Notes: Election denialism is still in style
19 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The 2020 US election was one of the most contested in American history, and it culminated in an unprecedented attack on the US Capitol building by sup...
Chipmakers send tech shares yo-yoing
18 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Israel says it has killed Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s leader and the architect behind the October 7 2023 attacks. Mixed quarterly earnings from chipmakers...
Israel accused of implementing ‘starvation plan’ in Gaza
17 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Rights groups say Israel appears to be implementing a controversial plan to force Hamas into submission by laying siege to the north of Gaza. BHP’s ...
Private credit’s growing ‘IOU’ habit
16 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Shares in ASML led a tech rout on Nasdaq on Tuesday after the chipmaker warned of a slower recovery in the semiconductor market, and Goldman Sachs’ ...
Pressure builds on Beijing to boost economy
15 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
OpenAI is considering a largely untested company model to protect chief executive Sam Altman from outside interference, and virtually all global insur...
US banks ride ‘soft landing’ high
14 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Russia has expanded the capacity of its shadow fleet of oil tankers despite western sanctions, and US bank stocks hit their highest level since before...
Swamp Notes: Will Republicans take back the Senate?
12 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Both chambers of the US Congress are like the country they represent: narrowly divided. But while Democrats currently hold a one-seat Senate majority,...
Japanese PM’s uphill battle to win back voters
11 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The French government has proposed a budget for next year with some €60bn worth of spending cuts and tax increases, and Hurricane Milton ploughed ac...
US considers breaking up Google
10 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
HSBC’s top-paid bankers to bear the brunt of cost-cutting restructuring, and the UK Conservative party leadership race has been whittled down to two...
India’s belated oil rush
09 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The head of KPMG US says the industry urgently needs to make it easier to become an accountant, and the EU is suing Hungary’s government over a new ...
Strikes threaten Boeing’s bottom line
08 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Big bank bosses join a growing list of prominent financiers expected to skip COP29 next month, and Spain proposes a new mechanism to help harmonise th...
Israel marks one year after October 7
07 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A new report forecasts that Donald Trump would raise the US debt by twice as much as Kamala Harris, and Elon Musk’s SpaceX is quietly opening up a n...
Swamp Notes: How the Middle East conflict is shaping the election
05 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Biden administration has tried and failed to contain fighting in the Middle East over the past year - and now, the conflict is close to spiralling...
Markets keep calm despite global tensions
04 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A strike that closed US east and Gulf coast ports will be suspended, and market reaction to escalations in the Middle East remains minimal. Plus, Ital...
Displacement pushes Lebanon to the brink
03 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
UK house sales rise at the fastest rate in three years, mass displacement in Lebanon risks overwhelming a country battered by economic crises, and Bru...
A day of escalation in the Middle East
02 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Iran fires missiles at Israel, hours after the IDF launches a ground offensive in Lebanon. France’s new Prime Minister Michel Barnier announced tax ...
AI start-ups generate revenue at record pace
01 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
SoftBank will invest $500mn into OpenAI as part of a fundraising round that will give the start-up a $150bn valuation, and Chinese equities post their...
Hizbollah reels after the death of its leader
30 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the wake of Hassan Nasrallah’s death, Hizbollah looks for a way forward, and French far-right leader Marine Le Pen goes on trial for allegedly em...
Swamp Notes: Harris and Trump pitch their economic visions
28 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Voters consistently tell pollsters that economic issues are their top electoral concern. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have spent the past few weeks ...
How extremist settlers in the West Bank became the law
27 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
UK chancellor Rachel Reeves may backtrack on a key tax plan, Saudi Arabia is ready to abandon its unofficial price target of $100 a barrel for crude, ...
Banks warm up to nuclear power
26 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
OpenAI’s chief technology officer is leaving the company, major banks pledge to increase their support for nuclear energy, and hopes of an M&A c...
China unleashes stimulus blitz
25 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The US Department of Justice has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Visa, China has unleashed a swath of stimulus measures to jump-start growth and th...
A hostile takeover looms in European banking
24 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The US proposed effectively banning Chinese cars, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz came out against a UniCredit takeover of Commerzbank and Israel carrie...
Looming US port strikes threaten supply chain
23 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Olaf Scholz’s SPD narrowly fends off the AfD in Brandenburg’s state election, and chipmaker Qualcomm approaches Intel about a potential takeover. ...
Swamp Notes: Misinformation as a campaign strategy
21 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his running mate senator JD Vance have spent the past few weeks pushing a false claim that Haitian mi...
Europe’s battery darling runs out of juice
20 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The S&P 500 hit a record high, Europe’s biggest hope for dominance in EV batteries is struggling to hang on and the Bank of England held interes...
The Fed’s first rate cut in 4 years
19 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Federal Reserve’s interest rate easing began with a half-point cut, and the UK’s financial watchdog has stepped up pressure on banks to offer ...
Solar energy’s moment in the sun
18 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
BlackRock and Microsoft are launching a $30bn data centre fund to meet the growing demands of artificial intelligence, and BP puts its onshore US wind...
OpenAI launches its next generation of tools
17 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The EU is preparing to provide up to €40bn in new loans for Ukraine by the end of the year, and Boeing is considering temporary furloughs as its mac...
China’s start-up winter is here
16 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Both the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England are set to announce interest rate decisions this week. In China, venture capital finance has dried up...
Swamp Notes: Harris and Trump meet on the debate stage
14 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On this week’s special episode of Swamp Notes, four FT journalists discuss the historic first debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, and ans...
Abu Dhabi bids for Germany’s industrial jewel
13 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Investors snapped up consumer staples such as Coca-Cola and Colgate-Palmolive amid concerns over a potential slowdown in the US economy. Abu Dhabi’s...
UniCredit eyes a new era in European banking
12 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Italian lender UniCredit has amassed a 9 per cent stake in Commerzbank, and US inflation fell to 2.5 per cent in August. Plus, Argentines are decl...
The EU’s €13bn bite into Apple
11 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The EU’s top court orders Apple to pay €13bn in back taxes, and the Federal Reserve halves its proposed capital requirement increase for the large...
France’s looming deadline
10 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Apple launches the iPhone 16 with generative AI features, and France’s new PM needs more time to submit the country’s debt plans. Kamala Harris is...
Tesla’s EVs stall in China
09 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Enthusiasm about artificial intelligence masks a recession in the technology sector, and a new exchange traded fund looks specifically for ‘reject’...
Swamp Notes: How protectionism got trendy
07 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Democrats and Republicans have taken a protectionist turn on trade policy over the past few years. They say it’s to protect national security, but t...
France finally gets a new PM
06 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
President Emmanuel Macron has named the EU’s former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier as France’s next prime minister. Plus, Europe’s sustainable...
Volkswagen’s dire warning
05 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Volkswagen calls for drastic measures to bolster profits, and President Joe Biden wants to block a Japanese company’s acquisition of US Steel. Plus,...
The glitch in China’s AI plans
04 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Big tech groups including Nvidia led a broad US stock market sell-off on Tuesday, and Huawei’s AI chips are dealing with some bugs. Plus, US homebui...
Who audits the auditors?
03 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The UK blocks some arms shipments to Israel, audit firms are fighting against new oversight rules in the US, and the same technology that brought us C...
Germany’s far-right AfD makes history
02 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Germany's far-right makes significant inroads in state elections, and Israel’s largest union calls for a general strike. Plus, so-called ‘greedlat...
Swamp Notes: Is mainstream media old news for Harris and Trump?
31 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have different approaches to the media: Trump talks a lot, and Harris talks a little. But the candidates share one thin...
The ABCs of CBDCs
30 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Turkey’s stock rally hits reverse as juicy interest rates lure savers out of the market, and the FT’s Polina Ivanova explains how Telegram is a li...
Ford loses its grip on the wheel
29 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Nvidia’s record-breaking earnings still somehow disappointed investors, China’s use of the renminbi in cross-border trading is at a record high, a...
The US-China ‘cat and mouse game’
28 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Japanese operator of 7-Eleven is discussing ways to defend itself against a takeover bid by Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard, Chinese export co...