Bloomberg News Now: Fed Renovations, S&P 500 Rally, GM Tariffs, and More

Federal Reserve Renovations Under Scrutiny

• 🏛️ Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has called for a review of the Federal Reserve's building renovations in Washington.
• 💰 The renovations are reportedly over $700 million over budget, sparking speculation about potential political motivations.
• 📣 Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna is urging the Justice Department to investigate Jerome Powell for allegedly misleading Congress about cost overruns, despite a lack of evidence.

Stock Market Performance and Outlook

• 📈 The S&P 500 closed at a new record high, with expectations for a double-digit increase in the second half of the year.
• 💡 Strategists like Christopher Harvey are highly bullish, predicting the S&P 500 to surpass 7000 by year-end, citing strong fundamentals and a secular trade in AI.
• 🌍 Major asset managers are increasing bullish bets on technology shares and emerging market assets, anticipating continued market rallies.

Corporate Earnings and Trade Tensions

• 🚗 General Motors (GM) is expected to report increased vehicle sales, but also significant impacts from Trump's tariffs on imported cars and parts, estimated at over $5 billion for the year.
• 🤝 U.S. and Japan trade negotiators met to discuss tariffs, with potential universal tariffs on Japanese exports to the U.S. set to rise to 25% if no deal is reached.
• 🔒 BlackRock is restricting the use of company devices for staff traveling to China due to growing geopolitical tensions and jitters around business travel.

Cybersecurity and Media News

• 💻 Microsoft is working to fix a vulnerability in its SharePoint software that has been exploited by hackers to breach national government systems.
• 📰 The Jeffrey Epstein case is impacting legislative business, with Democrats using hearings to call for the release of files, leading to indefinite postponements.
• 📰 President Trump is suing The Wall Street Journal over an article about a birthday letter to Epstein, and The L.A. Times owner plans to take the newspaper public.