The White House moved forward with the massive tariffs after neither side showed much interest in making a deal. The 104% includes a previous duty on China + Trump’s 34% tariff announced last week + an extra 50% he slapped on if China did not rescind its retaliatory levy on the US (it didn’t). The escalating tensions between the US and China come as Trump says he’s made progress on deals with other countries, including South Korea. Meanwhile, Trump confidante and Tesla CEO Elon Musk publicly broke with the White House on its tariff policy, calling trade advisor Peter Navarro a “moron” and “dumber than a sack of bricks.”
The DOJ scrapped its crypto investigations unit. The...
The DOJ scrapped its crypto investigations unit. The National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team—the primary federal government unit investigating crypto-related crimes—no longer exists, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche wrote in a memo Monday night. Instead, the Justice Department is outsourcing crypto prosecution to US attorneys’ offices, refocusing on crimes involving terrorism and human trafficking. The move is the latest in a series of crypto-friendly policies enacted by the Trump administration.
Meta is blocking teens under 16 from livestreaming on Facebook without a parent’s permission as part of the company’s efforts to protect young users.
NASA is considering consolidating offices and shifting thousands of jobs amid the Trump administration’s cuts to government spending, Politico reported.
China could ban Hollywood movies in response to increased tariffs, according to a blogger with ties to the Chinese government.
Walgreens beat Wall Street’s revenue expectations in its fiscal Q2 as it prepares to go private with the help of Sycamore Partners.
Sen. Cory Booker’s heart rate remained above 109 beats per minute for most of his record-long, 25-hour Senate speech, per data from his Oura Ring.
U.S. crude oil closes below $60 per barrel as selloff continues on fears of full-blown trade war
U.S. crude oil closed below $60 per barrel on Tuesday,...
U.S. crude oil closed below $60 per barrel on Tuesday, the lowest level in four years as traders fear that President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs will trigger a full-blown, global trade war.
U.S. crude oil lost $1.12, or 1.85%, to close at $59.58 per barrel, the lowest level since April 2021. Global benchmark Brent fell $1.39, or 2.16%, to settle at $62.82 per barrel.
The U.S. benchmark rose much as 1.7% earlier in the session, but pulled back as Trump's China tariffs loom over the market. Prices are down more than 15% since last Wednesday when Trump announced the new round of import taxes.
Helima Croft, global head of commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets, said the oil market faces a "toxic cocktail" of recession fears due to Trump's tariffs and OPEC+'s decision to bring more barrels back to the market.
U.S. stocks make huge U-turn, end down as White House confirms 104% China tariff
U.S. stocks finished sharply lower Tuesday following...
U.S. stocks finished sharply lower Tuesday following a volatile session. The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average extended their declines to a fourth day after the White House confirmed that President Donald Trump is still set to impose 104% tariffs on all Chinese imports on Wednesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 320.01 points, or over 0.8%, to end at 37,645.59, according to FactSet data.
The S&P 500 was off 79.48 points, or 1.6%, to finish at 4,982.77.
The Dow and the S&P 500 were down for four consecutive trading sessions and saw their worst four-day percentage declines since March 2020.
The Nasdaq Composite slumped 335.35 points, or nearly 2.2%, ending at 15,267.91.
U.S. stocks staged a sharp relief rally on Tuesday morning in hopes that Trump would ease tariffs on major trading partners. The Dow rose by as much as 1,461 points, or 3.9%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq each popped over 4% in morning action before erasing all their gains in the afternoon.
According to Dow Jones Market Data, the large-cap benchmark S&P 500 suffered its largest blown percentage gain since 2008, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq saw its worst blown gain in over 40 years.
Texas RRC Issues Preliminary Production Figures for January
The Railroad Commission of Texas late last week released preliminary data on statewide oil and gas production...
The Railroad Commission of Texas late last week released preliminary data on statewide oil and gas production for January 2025. The figures for this month reflect output from 158,555 oil wells and 83,176 gas wells.
Considering these are not final figures, the RRC reported combined crude and condensate output of 143,648,421 bbl, or about 4.634 MMbpd. When this figure is finalized, it will likely be at or above 165 MMbbl, or 5.323 MMbpd.
Texas crude and condensate production averaged 5.475 MMbpd, up 0.2% from the 2023 level but up a noticeable 14.4% since the low point of 2021 (4.784 MMbpd).
Similarly, the RRC reported that natural gas output from Texas gas wells, combined with casinghead gas from oil wells, totaled 1,000.7 Bcf, or 1.001 Tcf, during January. This works out to 32.3 Bcfd. However, as data becomes more finalized, this level should rise to 1,065 Bcf (1.065 Tcf) of gas for the month or greater, equating to 34.4 Bcfd or more.
Texas output of natural gas totaled 12.619 Tcf (34.479 Bcfd) in 2024, up 2.6% from 2023’s level, and up 23.7% from the 10.205 Tcf (27.958 Bcfd) total recorded in 2019.
