Bloomberg Daybreak: US Edition

Today's top stories, with context, in just 15 minutes.

On today's podcast:
1) President Trump’s tariff policies suffered their strongest political blow yet with the Republican-led US House passing legislation aimed at ending the president’s levies on Canadian imports. Wednesday’s vote represents an increase in political pressure to change course on Trump’s signature economic policy just months before the midterm elections, including by forcing swing-district Republicans affected by the tariffs to weigh when or if to cross the president by voting against his agenda. The vote also signals a growing anxiety over the White House’s economic agenda before elections that are expected to focus heavily on affordability. Democrats were quick to attack the Republicans who voted to protect the tariffs, blaming them for shielding policies that increase the cost of living for their voters. While Trump is almost certain to veto any bill calling for a repeal of his tariff agenda, making it unlikely the measure will ever become law, defections from six Republicans alongside opposition from nearly all Democrats underscore his increasingly tenuous hold on the narrow House majority.
2) Republicans advanced voter ID legislation over the opposition of most Democrats Wednesday as House GOP leaders seek to convince their Senate counterparts to muscle through the bill. Conservatives are touting the measure, which the House passed by 218-213, as necessary to beef up election security ahead of the November midterms and 2028 presidential race. Most Democrats oppose the legislation, dubbed the SAVE America Act, and argue it would amount to voter suppression, especially for marginalized groups. The bill faces steep obstacles in the Senate, where GOP leaders would need 60 votes to overcome the legislative filibuster. House Republicans are urging Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to change Senate rules to advance the bill, but the measure’s House backers are also looking at opportunities to tack it onto must-pass bills.
3) Democratic lawmakers accused Attorney General Pam Bondi of using the US Justice Department to target enemies of President Donald Trump and bungling the release of files on disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein during a fiery hearing Wednesday. “You’ve turned the people’s Department of Justice into Trump’s instrument of revenge,” said Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee in Washington. “Trump orders up prosecutions like pizza. And you deliver every time.” Raskin cited Justice Department probes of former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James and six members of Congress who recorded a video urging military service members to refuse unlawful orders. Prosecutors failed to get grand jury indictments of Comey and James, and the New York Times reported Tuesday that the department also failed to secure indictments of the lawmakers.
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Today's top stories, with context, in just 15 minutes.

On today's podcast:
1) An individual who the authorities described as a person of interest has been taken into custody regarding the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie in Arizona more than a week ago, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday night. The case, which has attracted international attention, took a dramatic turn earlier Tuesday when the Federal Bureau of Investigation released photo and video images of the possible suspect outside Guthrie’s home near Tucson. A video posted on X shows a masked individual wearing gloves approaching the front door with what appears to be a handgun in a holster and carrying a large backpack. Meantime, the AP reports the FBI and Pima County Sheriff's Department were conducting a court-authorized search at a location in Rio Rico, Arizona, in connection with the investigation.
2) At least 10 people are dead and 25 injured after a mass shooting in northeastern British Columbia, according to the police. After a report of an active shooter at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School at 1:20 p.m. local time, responders found six people dead in the school, as well as the suspected perpetrator, who appears to have died from a self-inflicted injury, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement. Three victims were airlifted to hospital with serious injuries, but one died in transit. Police said they also identified a residence that they believed to be connected to the incident, where they found another two people dead. Investigators are now searching additional properties to determine the scope of the tragic event, which appears to rank as one of the deadliest mass shootings in Canadian history.
3) House lawmakers are set to vote Wednesday on whether to reject some of President Trump’s tariff policies, ahead of a midterm election focused heavily on anxiety over the US cost of living. The votes on the measures — starting with a resolution opposing the president’s tariffs on Canada — are set to come after lawmakers on Tuesday night rejected a last-ditch effort from House Speaker Mike Johnson to prevent them. Johnson, one of Trump’s chief allies in Congress, has led a legislative blockade for months to insulate the tariffs, pushing procedural rules that effectively prevented his chamber from ending the president’s sweeping tariff authority. A fresh Johnson-backed measure would have extended that ban through the end of July.
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Today's top stories, with context, in just 15 minutes.

On today's podcast:
1) The relentless surge in memory chip prices over the past few months has driven a vast divide between winners and losers in the stock market, and investors don’t see any end in sight. Companies from game console maker Nintendo Co. to big PC brands and Apple Inc. suppliers are seeing shares slump on profitability concerns. Memory producers, meanwhile, are soaring to unprecedented heights. Money managers and analysts are now assessing which firms can best navigate the squeeze by locking in supplies, raising product prices or redesigning to use less memory. A Bloomberg gauge of global consumer electronics makers is down 10% since the end of September while a basket of memory makers including Samsung Electronics Co. has surged roughly 160%. The question now is how much is priced in.
2) Alphabet Inc. is selling sterling and Swiss franc-denominated bonds for the first time, including an ultra-rare issue of a 100-year note, following a bumper $20 billion deal in the US. Google’s parent company is offering five tranches each of sterling and Swiss franc notes, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified. The 100-year sterling bond is the first sale of such long-dated debt by a technology firm since the dot-com era. The sterling issue includes tenors of three to 32 years as well as the 100 year bond. The Swiss franc deal includes maturities of three, six, 10, 15 and 25-year bonds. Both deals are expected to price later today, the people said.
3) President Trump said his pick to lead the Federal Reserve can stoke the economy to grow at a rate of 15%, an exceedingly rosy target that nonetheless underscores the pressure that Kevin Warsh will face if confirmed to the role. Trump, speaking in an interview with Fox Business, said Warsh was the “runner up” in his last search and that it was a big mistake to pick Fed chair Jerome Powell. It was not fully clear if Trump was referring to year-over-year growth or some other metric. The US economy, which is seen expanding 2.4% this year, has grown at an average annual rate of 2.8% over the past five decades. Gross domestic product has only risen at a 15%-plus pace a few times since the 1950s, including in the third quarter of 2020 as businesses reopened following pandemic-related closures.
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Today's top stories, with context, in just 15 minutes.
On today's podcast:
1) The Seattle Seahawks won their second Super Bowl title on Sunday, beating the New England Patriots by a score of 29-to-13 at Super Bowl LX at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, CA. The Seahawks' defense came out strong, recording six sacks and forcing two interceptions against Patriots quarterback Drake Maye. Seahawks RB Kenneth Walker III was named Super Bowl MVP for his offensive efforts, becoming the first running back to win the award since the Denver Broncos' Terrell Davis in 1998.
2) Chinese regulators have advised financial institutions to rein in their holdings of US Treasuries, citing concerns over concentration risks and market volatility, according to people familiar with the matter. Officials urged banks to limit purchases of US government bonds and instructed those with high exposure to pare down their positions, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private deliberations. The directive doesn’t apply to China’s state holdings of US Treasuries. Communicated verbally to some of the nation’s biggest banks in recent weeks, the guidance reflects growing wariness among officials that large holdings of US government debt may expose banks to sharp swings, the people said. The worries echo those made by governments and fund managers elsewhere amid a brewing debate over the safe haven status of US debt and the appeal of the dollar.
3) Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi secured a historic election triumph, positioning her as the nation’s strongest leader in the postwar era in an outcome that sent stock prices and bond yields soaring. Her ruling Liberal Democratic Party achieved the biggest post-war victory for a single-party in a general election in Japan, an extraordinary transformation of fortunes for a party that was on the ropes last summer before getting behind the nation’s first ever female premier in October. The LDP secured a two-thirds super majority in the 465-seat lower house by itself, according to public broadcaster NHK. A tally of results by NHK early Monday showed that the ruling coalition had won 352 seats in the lower house, expanding its previous razor-thin majority of 233 by a considerable margin. The LDP’s haul of 316 seats gives it a higher proportion of representatives in the lower house than any other party in post-war Japan.
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Bloomberg Daybreak Weekend with Host Nathan Hager take a look at some of the stories we'll be tracking in the coming week.
In the US – a look ahead to S jobs and CPI data, along with a focus on 3 stocks for the week ahead.
In the UK – a look ahead to International Energy Week in London.
In Asia – a look ahead to Softbank Earnings.

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