Unusual Whales

HSBC says it will cut bonuses for staff who work from home too much

HSBC has informed employees at its UK retail branches that their bonuses could be reduced if they don’t meet in-office attendance expectations. According to Bloomberg, the bank told staff within its HSBC UK division — which includes its retail banking and domestic commercial operations — that those failing to spend at

Amazon, AMZN, CEO Andy Jassy says tariffs haven't dented consumer spending

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) CEO Andy Jassy said on Wednesday that consumer spending remains strong, even as broad tariffs introduced by President Trump take effect. Speaking at Amazon’s annual shareholder meeting, Jassy reported that demand has held steady and that average selling prices have not increased significantly, despite

A second US court blocks Trump tariffs

A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from collecting tariffs from two Illinois-based toy companies, marking the second time in as many days that courts have halted one of President Donald Trump’s primary trade tactics. On May 29, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras issued an order

Fed Chair Jerome Powell met with President Trump today at the White House, the first time they met

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell met with President Trump at the White House on Thursday to talk about economic growth and related objectives, according to a statement from the central bank. The meeting, which took place at the president’s request, followed a series of public criticisms from Mr. Trump

Elon says his time as a Special Government Employee had come to an end

Elon Musk announced Wednesday evening that his tenure as a "special government employee" under the Trump administration is coming to a close. “As my scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end, I would like to thank President [Trump] for the opportunity to reduce wasteful

A US federal court has officially blocked Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs from going into effect

A federal court on Wednesday blocked many of the broad tariffs enacted by former President Trump against nearly all foreign nations, ruling that he had overstepped his legal authority. The decision, handed down by a panel from the U.S. Court of International Trade, stopped the sweeping 10% tariffs Trump

Trump orders US chip designers to stop selling to China

President Donald Trump's administration has directed U.S. companies that provide software for semiconductor design to halt sales to Chinese entities, the Financial Times reported Wednesday, citing multiple sources familiar with the decision. According to the report, Electronic Design Automation (EDA) firms—including Cadence (CDNS.O), Synopsys (SNPS.

Canada's largest pension fund has now allocated 47% of its total portfolio ($243 Billion) to U.S. assets

Currency movements have pushed U.S. assets to nearly half the value of Canada’s national pension fund, as its managers face growing calls from the domestic business community to increase investment at home. According to its annual report released Wednesday, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) now holds

BMW, Mercedes and Volkswagen are in talks with the U.S. Department of Commerce on a tariff deal that would involve a mechanism to offset imports and exports

Germany’s top automakers are engaged in discussions with U.S. officials over a potential deal to ease import tariffs, aiming to leverage their American investments and exports to reduce potential impacts, according to three people familiar with the matter. BMW (BMWG.DE), Mercedes-Benz (MBGn.DE), and Volkswagen are hopeful

Less than half of Americans (49.6%) feel the country is on the "wrong track

A majority of Americans hold a pessimistic view of the country’s direction under President Donald Trump as he nears the 100-day mark of his second term, according to a new national survey. Sixty percent of Americans say the country is “seriously off on the wrong track,” according to a

The White House plans to send a package of spending cuts to Congress next week that formalize the cuts that have been made by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency initiative

The White House is expected to send a package of proposed spending cuts to Congress next week, according to senior Republican officials who informed several House members on Wednesday. The forthcoming “rescissions” bill, confirmed by two Republican lawmakers who spoke on the condition of anonymity, follows extended internal discussions over

Trump says Canada considering his 'Golden Dome System' offer to become the 51st state of the United States

On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that Canada would need to pay US$61 billion to participate in his space-based missile defense initiative, dubbed the “Golden Dome” — but said the cost would be zero if Canada opted to join the United States as its 51st state. Trump claimed

Governor DeSantis signs legislation to recognize gold and silver as legal tender in Florida

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a new law Tuesday in Apopka that will allow residents to use gold and silver coins to pay certain bills—framing it as a way to give Floridians more financial independence from the federal government. The measure, HB 999, was introduced by State Rep. Doug

Trump’s tariffs won’t lead to a resurgence of U.S. manufacturing jobs

As former President Donald Trump doubles down on tariffs as a tool to revive U.S. manufacturing, economists are casting doubt on whether the strategy will deliver its promised results. According to a new report from Wells Fargo, U.S. manufacturing employment currently stands at 12.8 million jobs—far

Trump Media, DJT, announces $2.5 billion deal to create a Bitcoin treasury

Trump Media has announced that it will use proceeds from a new funding round to establish a Bitcoin treasury—marking one of the largest Bitcoin-related investments by a publicly traded company. This move finalizes the company’s previously disclosed special acquisition fund and represents a key step in its broader

The U.S. Department of Education’s crackdown on student loan repayments could take billions of dollars out of consumers’ pockets

The Trump administration’s decision to resume collections on defaulted federal student loans is expected to have wide-reaching effects on borrowers who are behind on their payments. One of the most immediate consequences is that borrowers in default may face garnishments on their wages, tax refunds, or even Social Security

A year later, Apple, $AAPL, Vision Pro owners say they regret buying the $3,500 headset

Over a year has passed since Apple introduced its Vision Pro mixed-reality headset, and for many early buyers who spent $3,500, that purchase has become a source of disappointment. According to a recent report by The Wall Street Journal, several early adopters of the Vision Pro now say they

OpenAI’s o3 model sabotaged a shutdown mechanism to prevent itself from being turned off

We're entering troubling territory with AI behavior. In a recent series of tests, OpenAI’s newest o3 model actively interfered with a shutdown protocol—even after being clearly instructed to permit itself to be turned off. According to a report released last week by AI safety group Palisade

India officially surpasses Japan to become the 4th largest economy in the world

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), India is indeed poised to overtake Japan to become the fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP in 2025. However, based on the IMF’s most recent projections from its April 2025 World Economic Outlook, the transition has not yet officially occurred. Here are the

Trump extends 50% Tariff Deadline after call with European Commission President

President Donald Trump has announced an extension of the deadline for a planned 50% tariff on European Union goods, pushing the date from June 1 to July 9. The delay follows a conversation with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who requested additional time to begin trade talks. “I

Elon Musk has said he is back

Elon Musk’s social media platform X experienced a widespread outage on Saturday that affected tens of thousands of users across the United States and other countries, though the service was largely restored later in the day, according to outage tracking site Downdetector.com. At the peak of the disruption

Nvidia, NVDA, to launch cheaper Blackwell AI chip for China after US export curbs

Nvidia is preparing to release a new artificial intelligence chip for the Chinese market, set to launch at a significantly lower price point than its recently restricted H20 model, according to sources familiar with the plan. Mass production could begin as early as June. The upcoming GPU, part of Nvidia’

Ray Dalio has said the risks from U.S. credit downgrade ‘are greater than the rating agencies are conveying’

Billionaire hedge fund manager Ray Dalio issued a stark warning Tuesday, suggesting that the true risks tied to U.S. government debt are far greater than what Moody’s recent downgrade implies. According to Dalio, the real threat to holders of U.S. Treasurys goes beyond the surface-level concerns captured

U.S. economy is experiencing ‘death by a thousand cuts’, Deutsche Bank has said

America’s ballooning national debt—now topping $36.2 trillion—is increasingly drawing alarm from economists and credit rating agencies like Moody’s, which recently downgraded the U.S. credit outlook over concerns that economic growth won’t keep pace with mounting debt and interest obligations. Experts have long criticized

AI in the workplace is nearly 3 times more likely to take a woman’s job as a man’s

As fears mount over artificial intelligence replacing human jobs, new data suggests women may be more vulnerable than men. A joint report from the United Nations’ International Labour Organization (ILO) and Poland’s National Research Institute (NASK) reveals that roles typically held by women are far more exposed to AI