Not since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic have US consumers been...
Not since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic have US consumers been so pessimistic about the economy. The consumer confidence index fell nearly eight points last month to its lowest reading since May 2020, the Conference Board said yesterday. Meanwhile, the expectations index, which measures how consumers see the next six months of the economy going, fell to its lowest mark in over 13 years. The Associated Press noted that April’s short-term expectations reading came in under 80, which typically augurs a recession.
UPS is cutting 20k jobs. The shipping giant said it...
UPS is cutting 20k jobs. The shipping giant said it plans to cut 20,000 jobs this year as a result of its decision to deliver fewer Amazon packages. In January, the company announced it wanted to cut Amazon deliveries by more than half over the following 18 months to boost profitability and save $3.5 billion in costs. The layoffs amount to ~4% of UPS’s 490,000 employees. While its cuts aren’t related to tariffs, the company did—like many others—suspend its 2025 guidance “given the current macroeconomic uncertainty.”
Robby Starbuck, the conservative activist best known for his anti-DEI campaigns, sued Meta, alleging that its AI falsely claimed he participated in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
Dana Walden, co-chair of Disney Entertainment, is the betting favorite to be named Bob Iger’s successor as CEO, per BetOnline.
Coca-Cola is being boycotted by some customers in Denmark and Mexico due to anger over US foreign policy, the Financial Times reported.
Adidas said tariffs will cause higher prices on all of its US products, including Sambas and other popular sneakers.
Vladimir Putin is demanding that Russia take over four regions of Ukraine in order to agree to end the war, Bloomberg reported.
Today is the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.
U.S. crude stockpiles rose 3.8M barrels last week, API says
The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States...
The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States rose 3.76 million barrels in the week ending April 25, after analysts had estimated a much smaller 390,000-barrel build. The API reported a 4.565 million barrel dip in the prior week.
So far this year, crude oil inventories have increased by more than 23 million barrels, according to Oilprice's calculations of API data.
Gasoline inventories fell in the week ending April 25th by 3.14 million barrels, after falling by 2.180 million barrels in the week prior. As of last week, gasoline inventories are now 3% below the five-year average for this time of year, according to the latest EIA data.
Distillate inventories were also down this week, by 2.52 million barrels in the latest week. In the week prior, distillate inventories fell by 1.640 million barrels. Distillate inventories were already about 13% below the five-year average as of the week ending April 18, the latest EIA data shows.
Cushing inventories—the benchmark crude stored and traded at the key delivery point for U.S. futures contracts in Cushing, Oklahoma—rose by 674,000 barrels, the API data showed, more than offsetting last week’s 354,000 barrel slide.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 300.03 points, or nearly 0.8%, to finish at 40,527.62. The blue-chip index scored its longest winning streak since July 17, 2024, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
The S&P 500 was up 32.09 points, or 0.6%, to end at 5,560.83. The large-cap index has finished higher for six consecutive trading sessions, logging its largest six-day percentage gain since March 2022.
The Nasdaq Composite gained 95.18 points, or nearly 0.6%, ending at 17,461.32.
Oil Prices Fall 2% to 2-Week Low as Trade War Concerns Dampen Demand Outlook
Oil prices fell about 2% to a two-week low on Tuesday...
Oil prices fell about 2% to a two-week low on Tuesday on expectations OPEC+ will boost output even as U.S. President Donald Trump's on-again off-again trade tariffs could reduce global economic growth and demand for the fuel.
Brent crude futuresfell by $1.61 to $64.25 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crudedropped by $1.63 to $60.42.
Trump's push to reshape world trade by imposing tariffs on imports into the U.S. has made it probable that the global economy will slip into recession this year, according to a majority of economists in a Reuters poll.
