Buffett defends trade amid tariff pressures, as Berkshire cash sets record

By Jonathan Stempel and Suzanne McGee OMAHA (Reuters) -Warren Buffett offered a fervent defense of trade on Saturday, saying tariffs should not be a “weapon” and the United States would be better off if other countries shared its prosperity. Buffett spoke at Saturday’s annual meeting of his conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, after a month when U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies prompted big stock price declines and increased fears of recession. “Balanced trade is good for … Read more…

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US State Dept approves $3.5 billion missile sale to Saudi Arabia

By Mike Stone WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. State Department approved a possible foreign military sale to Saudi Arabia of AIM-120C-8 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles and related support for $3.5 billion, the Pentagon said in a statement on Friday. The U.S. is poised to offer Saudi Arabia an arms package worth well over $100 billion during U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to the kingdom in May. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia requested 1,000 Advanced Medium … Read more…

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Big Oil earnings show split in production strategy, shareholder returns

By Sheila Dang and Shadia Nasralla HOUSTON/LONDON (Reuters) -Big Oil’s first-quarter earnings have shown a clear split in how companies are positioned to weather the downturn sparked by a slump in oil prices to a four-year low in April. Investors were focused on whether companies would cut share repurchases, since lower crude prices would leave them with less cash to fund the programs. Buybacks and dividends are key to investor interest in the oil industry. … Read more…

Berkshire endorses Japanese trading houses, could hold them ‘forever’

By Jonathan Stempel OMAHA, Nebraska (Reuters) -Warren Buffett on Saturday gave a full-throated endorsement to the five Japanese trading houses in which his conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway has invested. Buffett spoke at Berkshire’s annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, 1-1/2 months after Berkshire said it raised its stakes in Itochu, Marubeni, Mitsubishi, Mitsui and Sumitomo to as high as 9.8%. Berkshire’s investments in the companies had totaled $23.5 billion at the end of 2024. “In the … Read more…

Unilever to invest $1.5 billion in Mexico, including new factory

By Ana Isabel Martinez MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Consumer goods company Unilever said on Friday that it will invest $30 billion pesos ($1.5 billion) in Mexico between 2025 and 2028 to increase its production capacity. The investment, which was announced at Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s daily morning press conference, will generate 1,200 new jobs, according to a company executive. It includes 8 billion pesos ($407.4 million) for a new factory in the northern Mexican state of … Read more…

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Trump budget proposes drastic cuts for US scientific research

By Ahmed Aboulenein WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The White House wants to reduce U.S. health spending by more than a quarter next year, with the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention facing the brunt of billions of dollars in cuts. President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday proposed a $163 billion cut to the federal budget that would sharply reduce spending in areas including health, education, and housing next year, while increasing outlays … Read more…

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Nvidia is working on China-tailored chips again after US export ban, The Information reports

(Reuters) – Nvidia has told some of its biggest Chinese customers that it is tweaking the design of its artificial intelligence chips so they can be sold to Chinese businesses without clashing with U.S. export rules, The Information reported on Friday. The chip giant has spoken with customers, including Alibaba Group, TikTok-parent ByteDance and Tencent Holdings, the report said, citing three people involved in the conversations. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang alerted customers about his plans … Read more…

Apple partnering with startup Anthropic on AI-powered coding platform, Bloomberg News reports

(Reuters) -Apple is partnering with Amazon-backed startup Anthropic on a new “vibe-coding” software platform that will use artificial intelligence to write, edit, and test code on behalf of programmers, Bloomberg News reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter. “Vibe coding” refers to a programming method where AI agents generate code, a concept gaining popularity in the AI landscape. The new AI coding system is an updated version of Apple’s programming software, Xcode, and will … Read more…

Tariff’s Cloud Worldwide Economy – by Justin Vaughn

(Justin Vaughn, Editor, Options Trading Report) After a turbulent month where peaks and valleys ruled stocks, sending the confused market in, up and down, it somewhat ‘righted itself, recovering much of its losses at the end. Eventful news that the economy compressed in the first three months and constant tariff implications, drove indexes downward. Fears of an upcoming recession are also blurring the market. As investors digested the negative news along with many positive earnings … Read more…

Microsoft preparing to host Musk’s Grok AI model, The Verge reports

(Reuters) -Microsoft is getting ready to host Elon Musk’s Grok AI model, The Verge reported on Thursday citing a source familiar with the plans. The tech giant has been in discussions with Musk’s AI startup xAI in recent weeks to host the Grok model and make it available to customers, as well as Microsoft’s own product teams through its Azure cloud service, the report said. Grok will be available on Azure AI Foundry, Microsoft’s platform for … Read more…