FT News Briefing

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...

Telegram CEO arrest reignites free speech debate

27 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

French authorities detain Telegram’s chief executive as part of a content moderation investigation, which has reignited the debate about free speech...

Money surges into the Harris campaign

26 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Israel’s military launched a wave of air strikes in southern Lebanon on Sunday, small-dollar donations surged to Kamala Harris’s campaign after sh...

Swamp Notes: Democrats find a feeling at the DNC

24 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Democrats from across the US gathered in Chicago for their presidential convention this week, promising to move past the Donald Trump-era of American ...

A soft landing at Jackson Hole

23 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kamala Harris made a bid for national unity at a rapturous Democratic National Convention. Plus, all eyes are on Jackson Hole today, where the Fed wil...

Japan opens for (foreign) business

22 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

PwC faces a six-month business ban in China, and Mexico’s Supreme Court judges go on strike. Plus, a potential takeover of 7-Eleven may set the tone...

Saudi Arabia is keeping it in the kingdom

21 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

China’s flagship fund to buy up unsold housing is off to a limp start, and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is to prioritise domestic spendin...

Kamalanomics goes on defence

20 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The US dollar sinks to its lowest level since the start of the year and Democrats are rushing to defend vice-president Kamala Harris’s economic road...

The Democratic convention kicks off in Chicago

19 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Start-ups, legacy groups and policymakers are working out how to operate in areas of rising weather risks, and start-up failures shot up 60% in the pa...

Swamp Notes: Why more Latinos are voting Republican

17 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Latino voters were once considered a reliable bet for Democrats. But with each passing election, Republicans are making more inroads with them. The FT...

Bonds are back, baby!

16 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A huge US-based oilfield services company is expanding its Russian business, investors are piling into US treasuries, and US retail sales saw their bi...

US inflation hits lowest rate in 3 years

15 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Peace talks aimed at ending the war in Gaza start up again today, US inflation fell to 2.9 per cent in July, and Ukrainian forces are looking to hold ...

Are companies bailing on fossil fuels or doubling down?

14 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

US stocks and Treasuries rallied as traders assessed lower than expected wholesale inflation data, and investors hope that abundant electricity in nor...

Delays hit Biden’s signature manufacturing laws

13 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Russia has trained its navy to hit European targets with nuclear-capable missiles, and 40 per cent of the biggest US manufacturing investments announc...

Western companies hit by Muslim country boycotts

12 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

More Americans trust Kamala Harris to handle the US economy than Donald Trump, European traders this summer are using only a fraction of Ukraine’s v...

Swamp Notes: Another brick in the (blue) Walz

10 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kamala Harris has supercharged Democratic party voters’ enthusiasm in the weeks since President Joe Biden stepped down as the nominee. Can Tim Walz,...

US consumers start pinching pennies

09 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The stock market sell-off earlier this week may have been a bit of an overreaction, and overall consumer spending has been struggling recently. Plus, ...

Google and Meta’s secret deal

08 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Google and Meta struck a secret ads deal to target teenagers, and the FT reports that the UK’s biggest private pension fund dumped £80mn of Israeli...

Can athletics vault into profitability?

07 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Wall Street stocks rebounded yesterday as the markets stabilised from a global rout, Disney is raising its streaming prices and Chinese bonds are caus...

Stock indices get a case of the Mondays

06 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Major stock indices were significantly down around the world yesterday. Plus, the FT’s Lucy Fisher explains why the far right is rioting in England ...

UK leaders court US investors

05 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

UK chancellor Rachel Reeves begins a three-day visit to New York and Toronto on Monday in an attempt to sell Britain as “a stable place to do busine...

Swamp Notes: The Three Party Problem

03 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Only two political parties — the Republicans and the Democrats — have controlled the White House since 1853. However, candidates from other partie...

An historic prisoner swap

02 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Investors were not happy with Amazon’s earnings report and Russia agreed to a historic prisoner swap with western countries. Plus, the FT’s Tommy ...

Tensions escalate between Iran and Israel

01 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

An interest rate cut could be on the table for the Federal Reserve’s next meeting, conflict in the Middle East is intensifying, and the Nasdaq compo...

Miami: a rare bright spot in US office real estate

31 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Microsoft’s AI-fuelled cloud growth fell slightly short of investors’ expectations, the cost of a luxury office space in Miami smashed records, an...

The EU’s trade plan for a potential second Trump term

30 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Britain’s new finance minister blamed the previous Conservative government for a £22bn fiscal hole, and Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro is ...

Big Tech’s Big Stumble

29 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Losses in big tech stocks as investors punish companies over earning reports. The Bank of England may vote to reduce interest rates this week. Fallout...

Swamp Notes: Should Kamala Harris embrace identity politics?

27 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

If Kamala Harris wins the Democratic nomination next month, she would be only the second woman or person of colour that either major US party has ever...

How the Olympics could reshape Paris

26 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Elon Musk is looking to inject $5bn into an AI start-up, and Venezuela’s election on Sunday will decide whether Nicolás Maduro will stay in office ...

Are Indian investors sitting on a bubble?

25 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Biden says it’s time to ‘pass on the torch’, China and the Philippines struck a deal to reduce tensions in the South China Sea, and the Nasdaq c...

Investors roll the dice on prediction markets

24 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Tesla’s net income fell by 45 per cent, investors think Donald Trump will be back in the White House, and the director of the US Secret Service resi...

Kamala Harris takes the stage

23 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The US Congress interrogated its Secret Service chief yesterday, and Kamala Harris is gearing up her prospective presidential campaign. Plus, the FT’...

Joe Biden drops out of US presidential race

22 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

US President Joe Biden has abandoned his re-election bid following overwhelming pressure from fellow Democrats, and India’s prime minister Narendra ...

Swamp Notes: Trump pushes unity at Republican National Convention

20 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Republicans gathered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for their convention this week, just days after their party leader was nearly assassinated. The presiden...

Trump accepts the Republican nomination

19 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump formally accepted the Republican party nomination for president. HSBC’s new chief executive, Georges Elhedery, will face a unique set o...

Viktor Orbán’s world tour irks the EU

18 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Chip stocks dipped yesterday after Trump’s comments rattled investors, the EU spoke up against Viktor Orbán’s recent travels, and a bid to force ...

Nigeria gambles with economic shock therapy

17 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The UK Labour government will present its plans for the upcoming year in the King’s Speech, and Morgan Stanley experienced a slowdown in growth...

Trump’s JD Vance strategy

16 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump announced Ohio senator JD Vance as his vice-presidential nominee yesterday, and a US judge dismissed a criminal case over the former pres...

What’s next after Trump assassination attempt

15 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The US Congress launches a probe into ‘inexcusable’ security failings following the Pennsylvania rally shooting, and workers at an Amazon warehous...

Swamp Notes: Conservatives have big plans for the judicial branch

13 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As president, Donald Trump appointed three conservative justices to the Supreme Court and hundreds of conservative judges to benches across the judici...

Double-edged sword of deregulation

12 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

US inflation fell to 3 per cent, and China’s Communist party leaders will meet next week to discuss the country’s economy. Plus, the FT’s Brooke...

Investors serve, can women’s tennis volley?

11 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Archegos founder Bill Hwang found guilty of fraud, investors are selling off risky US junk bonds, and women’s tennis is getting big investments from...

Iran’s reformist(ish) future

10 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A Russian missile that destroyed a children’s hospital in Kyiv used western technology, investment banking is picking back up, and Shein is injectin...

Nike’s new game plan

09 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Nato leaders are meeting for its 75th anniversary summit amid tensions within their countries, and Europe’s battery industry is feeling the impact o...

The leftwing stuns France

08 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

France’s anti far-right alliance is on track to halt the rise of Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National, Labour’s landslide win is set to enhanc...

Labour wins UK election by a landslide

05 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Rightwing populist party Reform UK makes inroads. Viktor Orbán set to hold meeting with Vladimir Putin to discuss Ukraine peace.Mentioned in this pod...

Robo DJ: YouTube invests in AI-generated music

04 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

SoftBank is looking to invest in AI despite pressure to offer a share buyback, Shell is pausing construction on one of its biggest energy transition p...

Denmark’s cow tax is more than just hot air

03 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The EU is planning to impose duties on substandard Chinese goods, Panama’s president wants to close the Darién gap, and Joe Biden is under pressure...

Unpacking the US Supreme Court Trump immunity ruling

02 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Western banks have cut their workforces in China, the US Supreme Court ruled that former president Donald Trump cannot be prosecuted for his ‘offici...

First round victory for French far-right

01 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Marine Le Pen’s far-right party has battered President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance in the first round of snap parliamentary elections, US ...

Martin Wolf on democracy’s year of peril

30 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Martin Wolf is worried about the threat autocrats pose to liberal democracies. Across the world, billions of citizens are being asked to cast their vo...

Swamp Notes: After the debate, is this it for Biden?

29 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Joe Biden went into Thursday night’s CNN presidential debate hoping to assuage concerns over his mental acuity and fitness for office. But his perfo...

A final goodbye to EY’s Project Everest?

28 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The US is inviting foreign ministers from Israel and Arab countries to the Nato summit next month, EY’s new global chief executive confirmed that th...

Protests push Kenya to abandon tax rises

27 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

JPMorgan is adding India's sovereign debt to its emerging markets index, and violent protests in Kenya stopped its president from signing a bill that ...

Brussels strikes back against Big Tech

26 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Shares of electric vehicle start-up Rivian surged in extended trading after Volkswagen announced a plan to invest up to $5bn, global investment in cle...

UK’s wealthy foreigners look for the exits

25 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Chinese executives are trying to avoid US tariffs by relocating manufacturing, a growing number of wealthy foreigners in the UK are planning on leavin...

India’s AI boom

24 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The EU has devised a legal workaround to sidestep Hungary’s veto on buying weapons for Ukraine, investment vehicles that scoop up risky loans are be...

Martin Wolf and Fiona Hill on democracy’s year of peril

23 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Across the world, billions of citizens are being asked to cast their vote in elections taking place in more than 50 countries, and in many places, pop...

Swamp Notes: Biden’s climate agenda runs out of steam

22 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Americans have inflation and foreign policy on their minds this election. That means that President Joe Biden’s ambitious climate achievements aren’...

The shifting tectonic plates of UK politics

21 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Credit agencies have misrated more than $100bn of commercial real estate debt, new election polls suggest the UK could be in for a seismic political s...

Bank robberies in Gaza

20 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Hamas-backed militants orchestrate bank heists, the ECB raises alarm over Eurozone debt, Malaysia courts Chinese investment, and Softbank debuts “Em...

Nvidia claims top spot

19 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Nvidia capitalises on investor excitement over artificial intelligence, Japan’s TDK is claiming a breakthrough in materials used in its small solid-...

Mr OpenAI goes to Washington

18 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

French business leaders are warming up to France’s far-right and Dubai is trying to optimise a cluster of unique, abandoned islands. Plus, the FT’...

Defence sector goes on a hiring spree

17 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Major defence companies are recruiting workers at the fastest rate since the end of the cold war, global leaders were able to reach a consensus on maj...

Martin Wolf and Raghuram Rajan on democracy’s year of peril

16 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Across the world, billions of citizens are being asked to cast their vote in elections taking place in more than 50 countries and in many places, popu...

Swamp Notes: Elections across the Atlantic

15 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Margaret Thatcher’s election in 1979 foreshadowed Ronald Reagan’s a year later, and the Brexit vote in 2016 took place just months before Donald T...

The target painted on Chinese EVs

14 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Chinese electric vehicle makers look like they will survive the latest tariffs the EU announced this week, and UK Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer laid ...

Fed lays out rate cut plans

13 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Federal Reserve held borrowing costs at a 23-year high yesterday, and Terraform Labs has agreed to pay $4.47bn in a case brought by the US Securit...

Central banks are scooping up the US dollar

12 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Shari Redstone has ended talks with Skydance Media over a deal to control Paramount, the number of central banks seeking to increase their exposure to...

Can Apple catch up in the AI race?

11 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Apple on Monday said it has partnered with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into its devices, and private equity groups are snapping up US accounting firms...

Far right makes big gains in Europe

10 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Far right parties make significant gains in the European Union elections, opposition politician Benny Gantz has resigned from Israel’s emergency gov...

Martin Wolf and Anne Applebaum on democracy’s year of peril

09 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Across the world, billions of citizens are being asked to cast their vote in elections taking place in more than 50 countries, making this a pivotal y...

Swamp Notes: Silicon Valley warms to Trump

08 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Few of Silicon Valley’s biggest names supported Donald Trump in 2016 or 2020. Now, some of them are holding multimillion- dollar fundraisers for him...

The European Central Bank’s cautious first step

07 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The European Central Bank has cut interest rates for the first time in nearly five years, and the European Commission will recommend the start of EU a...

The split road for South Africa

06 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Nvidia’s market value briefly rose past $3tn to overtake Apple as the world’s second-most valuable company, South Africa’s African National Cong...

Opec+’s production conundrum

05 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Gazprom is unlikely to recover gas sales lost as a result of Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine for at least a decade, India’s Prime ...

Investors to delivery apps: where’s my profit?

04 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

US President Joe Biden is moving to sharply tighten immigration rules at the southern border with Mexico, Indian markets hit record highs after exit p...

Russia-China pipeline deal stalls

03 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Russia and China are deadlocked over a deal to build a gas pipeline connecting the two countries, far-right parties in Europe are gaining ground with ...

Martin Wolf and Robert Kagan on democracy’s year of peril

02 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Across the world, billions of citizens are being asked to cast their vote in elections taking place in more than 50 countries, making this a pivotal y...

Swamp Notes: The Trump verdict is in

01 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Former US president Donald Trump was found guilty on 34 felony charges of falsifying business records on Thursday, a first for any current or former A...

Donald Trump guilty on all counts

31 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump has been found guilty of conspiring to buy the silence of a porn actor and Saudi Arabia is selling roughly $12bn worth of shares in its n...

Private equity now says sharing is caring

30 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Europe has only a fraction of the air defence capabilities needed to protect its eastern flank, BHP’s £39bn takeover bid for Anglo American has col...

A pivotal election for South Africa

29 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Hess shareholders approved a controversial takeover bid from Chevron, and South Africans vote today in the most contested election since the end of ap...

Behind the Money: Berkshire after Buffett

28 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This episode features a truncated version of a recent Behind the Money podcast as it travels to Omaha, Nebraska for Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shar...

The ECB readies for rate cuts

27 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The European Central Bank looks almost certain to be one of the first major central banks to cut rates, a tense dispute over Guyana is casting a shado...

Swamp Notes: Can you trust the polls?

25 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

American voters still say the economy is their most important electoral issue, and a growing number are less than pleased with Joe Biden’s economic ...

Ukraine’s ‘Rosie the Riveter’ moment

24 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Elon Musk’s xAI has secured new backing from three Silicon Valley venture capital giants, women in Ukraine have increasingly stepped into roles men ...

Sunak’s early election gamble

23 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Rishi Sunak has taken a huge gamble by announcing a July 4 election, record sales of artificial intelligence chips sent Nvidia’s revenue soaring 262...

PwC’s Evergrande audit comes back to bite

22 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

UK deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden went on a secret trip to the UAE, PwC is bracing for penalties over its audit of collapsed Chinese property dev...

ICC weighs stepping into Gaza conflict

21 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has dealt a shocking blow to the Islamic regime, and the public mood in advanced countries remains low as...

Niger’s first oil exports

20 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi crashed on Sunday, Niger is on the verge of becoming a regional oil major, and western countries...

FTNB Live! News Trivia at FT Weekend Fest

19 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A special live recording of the FT News Briefing at the FT Weekend Festival in Washington, DC on May 4, 2024. Our wonderful colleagues played a friend...

Swamp Notes: Trading tariffs for votes

18 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Joe Biden once criticised Donald Trump’s trade war with China, but things look a lot different in an election year. The FT’s US climate repor...

It’s all about the dollar

17 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The US Supreme Court rejects an existential legal challenge to the country’s top consumer finance watchdog, a $10bn US property fund is running low ...

The cult-like appeal of Modi

16 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The US inflation report sent stocks to record highs and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot on Wednesday. Plus, the FT’s John Reed explains w...

Will investors buy Anglo American’s break-up plan?

15 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Biden administration is encouraging Arab states to participate in a multinational force that could deploy in Gaza once the war ends, Anglo America...

Indonesia’s nickel is a gold mine

14 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The carmaker behind Fiat and Peugeot is in talks to invest in Indonesian nickel, the meme-stock movement came back to life, and Chinese authorities ha...

Rishi Sunak tries to rally Conservatives

13 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tries to revive Conservative morale with a speech in London, four Chinese generative artificial intelligence start-ups h...

Swamp Notes: The Fed’s political pressures

11 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The US Federal Reserve is fiercely independent, but that doesn’t mean politicians always treat it that way. The FT’s US national editor, Edward Lu...

Pandemic winners turned losers

10 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Anglo American’s crucial South African shareholders are open to a takeover offer from BHP, Nippon Steel has vowed to push ahead with its $14.9bn acq...