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The Federal Reserve plans to loosen capital requirements for the largest U.S. banks, a move aimed at encouraging lending and helping lenders compete with private credit firms. In a speech, Fed vice-chair for supervision Michelle Bowman said upcoming reforms to the implementation of global Basel III “Endgame” rules would slightly reduce overall capital requirements for major banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley. The changes include adjusting how extra capital buffers for systemically important banks are calculated, which would lower surcharges and offset increases tied to Basel reforms. The proposal follows heavy lobbying from the banking industry after earlier plans in 2023 could have raised capital requirements by about 19%. Regulators argue the revisions will better align requirements with actual risk, while critics warn that weakening safeguards could reduce protections put in place after the 2008 financial crisis. Details of the reforms are expected to be released by U.S. regulators this week.

 

Financial Times

New York Times

Reuters

The U.S. economy grew at a 0.7% annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2025, sharply below the government’s initial estimate of 1.4%, with a 43-day federal government shutdown and weaker consumer spending weighing on activity. The Commerce Department said federal government spending and investment fell 16.7%, cutting more than one percentage point from growth. Consumer spending rose 2%, slower than the previous quarter’s 3.5%, while business investment increased 2.2%, supported partly by spending related to artificial intelligence. Exports declined 3.3%, further dragging on growth. For 2025 as a whole, the economy expanded 2.1%, slightly below earlier estimates and slower than 2.8% growth in 2024. Economists said the data suggest the economy lost momentum toward the end of the year, although the final estimate for fourth-quarter GDP will be released in April. 

 

AP News

CNN

CNBC

Wall Street Journal

Inflation measured by the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge remained above the central bank’s 2% target in January, reinforcing expectations that policymakers will keep interest rates unchanged in the near term. The Commerce Department's personal-consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rose 2.8% year over year, slightly lower than December, while core PCE inflation, which excludes food and energy, edged up to 3.1% from 3%. On a monthly basis, overall prices increased 0.3%, and core prices rose 0.4%. The report, which predates the recent Iran conflict, also showed personal income and consumer spending each increased 0.4% in January, continuing a trend in which spending has grown as fast as or faster than income. Economists expect the persistent inflation readings to support the Fed’s decision to keep interest rates on hold at its upcoming policy meeting. Consumers pulled back on goods spending in January coming out of the holiday shopping season, while they continued to spend on essential services like health care. A separate report from the Census Bureau found that new orders for manufactured durable goods in January, down three of the last four months, were flat at $321.2bn. On an annual basis, they rose 10.3%.

 

Advisor Perspectives

Bloomberg

Wall Street Journal

Gene Seroka, chief executive of the Port of Los Angeles, has told the Financial Times that near-inextinguishable lithium-ion battery fires on vessels pose a growing risk to global supply chains.

 

Financial Times

President Donald Trump plans to invoke Cold War-era emergency powers for ​Sable Offshore as it looks to restart ‌production from a cluster of offshore platforms off the southern Californian coast. Trump is preparing ⁠to summon authorities under the Defense Production ​Act to preempt state laws and ease permitting ​for the California oil producer. The planned order would also pave the way for renewed oil production in a move that would allow Trump to ease the global crude supply ‌crunch precipitated by his war with Iran. A spokesperson for California Governor Gavin Newsom called it a “lawless” move and threatened legal action.

 

Bloomberg

The Pentagon is building a new team of investment bankers with private equity expertise to ​invest $200bn over three years in defense deals. The Department of Defense is specifically going after Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and Bank of ​America as prime recruiting targets for the 30-person team. A document reviewed by Semafor prepared by search firm Heidrick & Struggles pitches a chance to “serve your country” and deploy “more capital than most investors deploy in their entire careers.”

 

Semafor

Bloomberg reports that Amazon is planning to shift its annual Prime Day shopping event to late June from its usual July slot, bringing forward one of the biggest promotions in e-commerce. The change will affect both Amazon and its network of third-party sellers, while also moving a major sales boost from the third quarter into the second quarter for financial reporting. In other Amazon news, its Prime Air drone division has withdrawn from the Commercial Drone Alliance, citing disagreements over safety rules for preventing drone collisions with crewed aircraft. Prime Air supports mandatory detect-and-avoid systems for drones, while the industry group opposes the requirement, arguing for alternative tracking methods. Amazon said its own system has already prevented potential mid-air collisions during more than 70,000 flights.

 

Bloomberg

Reuters

Massachusetts-based green cement startup Sublime Systems has cut two-thirds of its workforce after President Donald Trump’s administration canceled a $87m grant that would have supported its first major manufacturing facility. As a result of the loss, “The company has faced compounding challenges in assembling the capital stack required to scale our operations,” a Sublime spokesperson explained. Sublime uses an electrochemical process that eliminates limestone - cement’s main ingredient - which releases carbon dioxide when it is heated up and broken down. Prior to the layoffs, Sublime employed between 80 and 90 people.

 

Bloomberg

Mercedes-Benz has reached a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board, agreeing not to make anti-union threats following the UAW's unsuccessful attempt to organize at its Vance, Alabama plant. The settlement requires Mercedes to inform employees of their union organizing rights. A notice to be distributed states: “WE WILL NOT threaten you with the closure and/or relocation of the facility to a non-union location, like Mexico, or anywhere else, if you choose to be represented by a union.” The UAW alleged that the company violated labor law by retaliating against union supporters. Additionally, Mercedes will revoke disciplinary actions against one employee and will not threaten employees with loss of benefits for unionizing. However, the UAW criticized the terms as insufficient, suggesting that management should read the notice aloud to employees, a request the agency deemed unnecessary.

 

Al.com

The energy shock caused by the Middle East war was a “Covid moment” for many businesses in forcing them to rethink how they power their operations, according to State Street CEO Ron O'Hanley.

 

Financial Times

The Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR) is to implement a Google AI tool to expedite unemployment appeal rulings, a move that has raised concerns among state lawmakers regarding potential issues of transparency and consent. State officials say AI is a way to simplify and expedite existing processes, but they also caution that it must not replace human oversight. As such, two state workers will be involved in the process. “AI is a great tool - but that's what it is. It's a tool,” DETR Director Christopher Sewell said, adding “We have to have human review with everything that we do.” AI skeptic Sen. Skip Daly (D-Sparks) observed: “I don't think there should be a reliance on this, and this is where it starts . . . You get used to it, and then you get comfortable with it.”

 

U.S. News

New research published in The British Journal of Nutrition indicates that ultra-processed foods negatively impact bone health. The study, involving nearly 164,000 participants from the UK Biobank, found that for every additional 3.7 servings of these foods consumed daily, the risk of hip fractures increased by nearly 11%. Dr. Lu Qi, a public health professor at Tulane University, noted that these foods, which make up about 55% of American calorie intake, are linked to lower bone density, particularly in adults under 65 and those with a low body mass index (BMI).

 

US News and World Report