FT News Briefing
Episodes
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...
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 ...