Bloomberg News Now: Market Opening, Morgan Stanley Earnings, Trump's China Trade Threat, and AI Investments

Market Opening and Big Bank Earnings

• 📈 The trading day on Wall Street began with stocks in the green, the S&P 500 higher by 7/10 of 1%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 4/10 of 1%, and the Nasdaq Composite leading gains up nearly 1%.
• 🏦 Morgan Stanley capped off earnings season with strong beats across the board, particularly in wealth management, reporting revenue significantly higher than analysts expected.
• 💰 Morgan Stanley's stock traders also performed exceptionally well, even outperforming Goldman Sachs in a key business area.
• 📊 Bank of America also reported strong results in investment banking and net interest income, with shares up 4.5% at the open.

Trade Tensions and Geopolitical Developments

• ⚠️ President Trump threatened to stop buying Chinese cooking oil in response to Beijing's soybean imports from the U.S., though the impact is considered asymmetrical due to the small volume of cooking oil imports from China.
• 🗣️ Treasury Secretary Scott Besson stated the U.S. has more powerful levers to pull with China and that working-level conversations are ongoing.
• 🤝 Besson still anticipates President Trump will meet with China's Xi Jinping at the end of the month.
• 🕊️ Israel is considering cutting aid to Gaza in half due to Hamas's slow release of deceased hostages, with Hamas having handed over four bodies overnight.

Government Shutdown and Economic Impact

• 🏛️ Secretary Besson called on moderate Democrats to reopen the government, estimating the shutdown could be costing the U.S. economy $15 billion per day.
• 💰 He assured that military paychecks would not be missed due to a shift in Pentagon research funds.

Major Investment and Business Deals

• 💻 A group of investors, including BlackRock, is making a significant $40 billion commitment to AI by acquiring Aligned Data Centers.
• 🎬 Warner Brothers Discovery reportedly rebuffed a takeover approach from Paramount's Skydance, led by CEO David Ellison.