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Federal Reserve Cuts Rates |
The Federal Reserve announced a quarter-percentage-point cut in benchmark rates yesterday, bringing the range to between 4% and 4.25%—the lowest level in almost three years. The bank signaled the possibility of two additional cuts this year.
The decision saw the Federal Reserve prioritizing a hiring slowdown over inflation. A sluggish 22,000 jobs were added last month; weekly jobless claims reached their highest level in four years last week. The US has also downwardly revised job growth by 911,000 for the one-year period ending in March. Those concerns trumped sticky inflation, with consumer prices rising 2.9% annually last month.
The bank voted 11-1 in yesterday’s decision, with the only dissenter being newly appointed Fed Governor Stephen Miran, who preferred a half-point cut. Governor Lisa Cook participated in the meeting after an appeals court ruled the White House lacked authority to fire her. The White House plans to appeal to the Supreme Court. |
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump wrap their two-day state visit to Britain today, hosted by King Charles III and Queen Camilla. Trump is the first elected leader in modern times to be received by the palace on two state visits; his first was in 2019.
The royal family welcomed the Trumps to Windsor Castle with a carriage procession and Britain’s largest military ceremony for a foreign leader in living memory, followed by a white-tie banquet. Trump spends today at Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s country residence, where they are expected to discuss tariffs and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. Earlier this week, the leaders finalized a $42B technology pact featuring investments from Nvidia, OpenAI, and Microsoft.
The visit has elicited several public demonstrations. Four men were arrested for projecting images of Trump with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein onto Windsor Castle Tuesday. Thousands of protesters—from climate activists to pro-Palestinian groups—rallied in London against his visit. |
Texas-based de-extinction company Colossal Biosciences announced yesterday it has successfully grown pigeon primordial germ cells—a step toward its goal of reviving the extinct dodo bird.
Until now, humans have only been able to grow these cells (the precursors for sperm and eggs) for chickens and geese. Colossal now hopes to grow the cells from Nicobar pigeons—dodos’ closest living relatives—tweaking their genes using specimens of the dodo bird preserved in museums. The goal is to inject the cells into gene-edited chickens, which will serve as surrogates. The company, which recently created pups resembling the dire wolf, believes it can produce a dodo-like bird in five to seven years.
The dodo was a large pigeon in Mauritius in the Indian Ocean that had evolved to lose the ability to fly. It is believed to be the first animal species exterminated by humans, with the last documented sighting in 1662. Learn more here (w/video). |
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Sports, Entertainment, & Culture |
> ABC suspends "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" indefinitely following Kimmel's comments about Charlie Kirk during his opening monologue on Monday night's show (More) |
> Gino the gorilla dies at age 44; the silverback gorilla was the oldest gorilla at Disney's Animal Kingdom and had been at the park since its 1998 opening (More) |
> Two-time Olympic medalist Fred Kerley becomes first track athlete to commit to Enhanced Games, a competition allowing use of performance-enhancing drugs (More) | Seattle Mariners' Cal Raleigh hits 56th home run to break Mickey Mantle's record for most single-season homers by a switch-hitter (More) |
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> Ousted CDC Director Susan Monarez testifies before Senate Health Committee; says Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to change the childhood vaccine schedule this month without an independent data analysis (More) |
> Researchers develop AI tool that uses medical records to calculate risk for 1,231 diseases, including Type 2 diabetes and heart conditions (More) | Diabetes 101 (1440 Topics) |
> Wild African chimps easily consume more than the equivalent of two standard alcoholic drinks, according to first-ever measure of ethanol in native fruits (More) |
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In partnership with Pacaso |
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Austin Allison sold his first company for $120M. He also served as an exec for Zillow. But both companies reached massive valuations before regular people could invest. So he built Pacaso differently.
They’ve made $110M+ in gross profits to date by disrupting the $1.3T vacation home market. No wonder some VCs behind Uber, Venmo, and eBay already backed Pacaso. And unlike his previous companies, you can invest in Pacaso as a private company.
But only until midnight tonight, so don’t wait. Invest before this opportunity is gone for good.* |
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> US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 -0.1%, Dow +0.6%, Nasdaq -0.3%) (More) | StubHub shares close down in New York Stock Exchange debut after the ticket reseller raised $800M at a roughly $8B valuation in initial public offering (More) |
> Ben & Jerry's cofounder Jerry Greenfield resigns, claiming parent company Unilever stifled the ice cream brand's independence on social issues (More) |
> Annual inflation among European Union members remains steady at 2%, below estimate of 2.1% and in line with the European Central Bank's target (More) |
Managing the ultra-wealthy: Today's Business & Finance newsletter looks at family offices, which oversee investments and philanthropy for the top 0.01%. Email comes out at 8:30 am ET—subscribe here to receive! |
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> Three police officers are killed and two others wounded in a shooting while serving an arrest warrant in York County, Pennsylvania; the shooter has not been publicly identified as of this writing (More) | President Donald Trump says he will designate Antifa as a terrorist organization (More) |
> France's major labor unions call for strikes and demonstrations today against austerity measures proposed by President Emmanuel Macron's administration; more than 250 rallies planned nationwide (More) | See previous write-up (More) |
> The US and Ukraine launch $150M joint fund to invest in Ukrainian mineral reserves; each committed $75M, will split profits (More) | Saudi Arabia and Pakistan sign mutual defense pact (More) |
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> Goblins in Kentucky
Oxford American | Lora Eli Smith. After the 2022 floods in eastern Kentucky, mysterious goblin-like sightings spread among locals—from creatures in trees to shadowy figures near mines. (Read)
> Healing with Greenery
Big Brains | Paul Rand. How trees, parks, and plastic plants can sharpen our focus, improve mental health, and lower crime by tapping into "soft fascination." (Listen) |
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In partnership with Pacaso |
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Last Chance: Join 11k+ Investors by Midnight |
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When Pacaso opened up the opportunity for everyday investors to buy shares of the company, over 11,000 people invested. The reason why is no surprise. In less than 5 years, Pacaso became the leader in vacation home co-ownership, earning over $110M in gross profits.
And they have no plans to slow down. They’ve even reserved a Nasdaq ticker. But after midnight, this rare investment opportunity will be gone for good. Invest in Pacaso by midnight PT.* |
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