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Trump Backtracks – by Justin Vaughn

(Justin Vaughn, Editor, Options Trading Report) The shortened week finished in disarray…as the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 527 points or 1.3% at Thursday’s close. The Nasdaq Composite was off 0.1% while the S&P 500 eked out a small gain of 0.1%. It was a turbulent 4 day week as investors continued to parse President Trump’s tariff policies, specifically his ‘90 day assessment period and the institution of ‘new restrictions’ on China. The Trump-Powell debacle … Read more…

US agency to ease self-driving vehicle deployment hurdles, retain reporting rules

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Trump administration said Thursday it aims to speed up the deployment of self-driving vehicles but will maintain rules requiring reporting of safety incidents involving advanced vehicles. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Thursday released a new framework to boost autonomous vehicles. “This administration understands that we’re in a race with China to out-innovate, and the stakes couldn’t be higher,” Duffy said. “Our new framework will slash red tape.” The … Read more…

Trump: not happy with Russia strike on Kyiv, putting pressure on Russia

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump said on Thursday he was not happy with Russia’s strikes on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv overnight and said without elaborating the U.S. was putting a lot of pressure on Russia to make a deal. “You have no idea what pressure I’m putting … We’re putting a lot of pressure. We’re putting a lot of pressure on Russia, and Russia knows that,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. He … Read more…

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Wall Street watchdog staff shrinks 16% in last year, includes key units, sources say

By Douglas Gillison and Chris Prentice WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) -The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has lost 16% of its workforce since this time last year, two sources briefed on the matter said, leaving Wall Street’s top regulator with gaps across key divisions at a time of market turmoil. Most of those staff members left since February when more than 600 accepted Trump administration offers to resign and retire early, according to one of the … Read more…

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Exclusive-US Justice Dept grant cuts valued at $811 million, people familiar say

By Sarah N. Lynch and Peter Eisler WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Justice Department is terminating grants totaling $811 million for a wide range of services to crime victims, including trauma recovery centers and sign language interpretation, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The grants were worth $811 million when awarded, a total reported exclusively by Reuters. It was not immediately clear, however, how much of this funding remained unspent when the cuts occurred. … Read more…

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Meta opens Threads to advertisers globally

(Reuters) -Meta Platforms said on Wednesday it is expanding advertising on its social network Threads to all eligible advertisers globally, as it looks to generate new revenue streams amid brand uncertainty over tariffs. Launched in July 2023, the Threads app was positioned as a challenger to Elon Musk-owned X, in a bid to win users from the de facto micro-blogging site amid its chaotic takeover by the billionaire entrepreneur. Meta, one of the world’s largest … Read more…

Tankers chartered by Chevron to move Venezuelan crude seek other business

By Arathy Somasekhar HOUSTON (Reuters) -Some tankers Chevron had chartered to move crude from Venezuela to the United States this month are now being marketed for spot contracts elsewhere, sources said, after state company PDVSA canceled loading permits and ordered the firm to return cargoes amid payment uncertainty related to sanctions. The marketing of the vessels indicates that Chevron does not expect to load all the cargoes it typically ships from Venezuela in a month … Read more…

TSMC shows off new tech for stitching together bigger, faster chips

By Stephen Nellis and Max A. Cherney SANT CLARA, California (Reuters) -Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co on Wednesday unveiled technology for making faster chips and putting them together in dinner-plate sized packages that will boost performance needed for artificial intelligence applications. It said its A14 manufacturing technology will arrive in 2028 and will be able to produce processors that are 15% faster at the same power consumption as its N2 chips due to enter production this … Read more…

Investors relieved Musk will refocus on Tesla, but worry about brand damage

By Akash Sriram and Abhirup Roy (Reuters) -Tesla investors breathed a sigh of relief after CEO Elon Musk said he would refocus his attention on the electric automaker, but that promise did not entirely dispel worries that his right-wing shift had irrevocably damaged the company’s brand. The automaker’s shares rose nearly 8% on Wednesday after Musk said he would cut back his work for U.S. President Donald Trump to a day or two per week … Read more…

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Spirit AeroSystems top engineer to lead Wichita site after Boeing deal closes -letters

By Allison Lampert (Reuters) -Spirit AeroSystems’ chief engineer Sean Black will lead the supplier’s site in Wichita, Kansas, after Boeing completes its acquisition of Spirit this year, according to letters to employees on Tuesday from both companies. U.S. planemaker Boeing last year said it had reached an agreement to acquire the struggling aerostructures manufacturer, which it had spun off two decades ago. The deal is expected to close sometime this year. Black will become general … Read more…

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