Author: Money Mechanics

McDonald’s has exited the US National Restaurant Association, a trade group representing the country’s restaurant industry, due to disagreements over employee wage policies, as reported by Bloomberg. During a briefing with Wall Street analysts, Stifel Financial Corp’s analyst Chris O’Cull highlighted the company’s departure in a client note. The fast-food giant has opposed the tipped wage model, a system supported by the National Restaurant Association that permits businesses to include tips in meeting the legal minimum wage requirements. Under this model, employers must cover any shortfall if tips fail to bring an employee’s earnings up to the minimum wage threshold.…

Salesforce Inc CRM shares are trading lower Thursday after the company reported second-quarter financial results and issued third-quarter guidance below estimates. Multiple analyst firms lowered price targets following the company’s quarterly results.What Happened: Salesforce beat analyst estimates on the top and bottom lines in the second quarter, reporting revenue of $10.24 billion versus estimates of $10.14 billion, and adjusted earnings of $2.91 per share versus estimates of $2.78 per share.Salesforce guided for third-quarter revenue in the range of $10.24 billion to $10.29 billion versus estimates of $10.29 billion. The company also said it anticipates third-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.84 to $2.86…

The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis announced today that the goods and services deficit was $78.3 billion in July, up $19.2 billion from $59.1 billion in June, revised.U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services DeficitDeficit:$78.3 Billion+32.5%°Exports:$280.5 Billion+0.3%°Imports:$358.8 Billion+5.9%°Next release: Tuesday, October 7, 2025(°) Statistical significance is not applicable or not measurable. Data adjusted for seasonality but not price changesSource: U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis; U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, September 4, 2025Exports, Imports, and Balance (exhibit 1)July exports were $280.5 billion, $0.8 billion more than June exports. July imports were…

In-brief analysis September 4, 2025 U.S. imports of biodiesel and renewable diesel significantly decreased in the first half of 2025 (1H25) compared with the same period in previous years. This decline is primarily due to the loss of tax credits for imported biofuels and generally lower domestic consumption of these fuels. Renewable diesel and biodiesel are biomass-based diesel fuels that can replace petroleum-based distillate and be used to comply with the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) blending requirements for refiners administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In 1H25, U.S. biodiesel imports averaged 2,000 barrels per…

are down after a report from the seemed to suggest that demand for oil was weaker than expected, totally contradicting the big surge that we saw a week before. At the same time, the market is trying to guess about on-again off-again sanctions that may or may not be coming on Russia and the secondary sanctions on India that are keeping the oil market in flux. The market couldn’t get over the fact that the American Petroleum Institute reported a supply increase in crude of 622,000 barrels. That was in contradiction to the expectations of a big draw, and we…

For many investors, the municipal bond sector is about one thing: high after-tax income potential. Thanks to Uncle Sam, interest on muni bonds is free from federal taxes. And in many cases, it’s free from state and local taxes as well. Because of this fact, munis tend to have very high after-tax yields when compared to other bond varieties. Many investors across the income spectrum have turned to munis for this reason. But those high yields aren’t the only reason to be loving the municipal bond sector. It turns out municipal bonds can offer portfolios plenty of benefits besides that…

Adobe is planning to bring its video editing software, Premiere, to the iPhone. The company has listed the app on the App Store with a pre-order link and an expected release date of September 30. The company said that Premier on iPhone will let users edit videos and export them without any watermarks. The app will have some of the same features as its desktop version, including the ability to trim, layer and fine-tune frames. It will also have automatic captions with stylized subtitles, support for video, audio, and text layers, as well as support for 4K HDR. And in…

KEY TAKEAWAYS President Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to move fast to accept and rule on an appeal to overturn lower court decisions that found most of his tariffs are illegal.A federal appeals court last Friday ruled that Trump exceeded his legal authority in implementing many of the sweeping tariffs that have been imposed this year.According to reports, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the Trump administration’s submission to the Supreme Court that the lower court ruling “is already adversely affecting ongoing negotiations.” President Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to move fast to accept and rule…

(Oil Price) – Abu Dhabi’s oil and gas giant ADNOC has drilled some horizontal wells and tested oil to the surface at a shale play in the United Arab Emirates operated by EOG Resources, the chief executive of the U.S. shale giant said at a conference. In May, EOG Resources was awarded a new oil exploration concession for Unconventional Onshore Block 3 (UCO3) by Abu Dhabi. The concession area is nearly 900,000 acres, in an over-pressured, oil prone basin within the Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi. EOG holds 100% equity and operatorship and, in coordination with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, will explore and…

Stock futures are pointing to a slightly higher open on Thursday ahead of the release of a pair of closely followed employment reports this morning.  Futures tied to the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq were recently up 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were flat. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed solidly higher on Wednesday, boosted by the strong performance of tech stocks, which had slumped the previous two sessions. Investors will be keeping close tabs on ADP’s private sector employment report and weekly jobless claims numbers that are due this morning. Recent data…