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Threat of US credit downgrade looms over debt ceiling talks
WASHINGTON (AP) — With one of three major rating agencies warning that America’s AAA credit is at risk, the stakes are growing in the standoff in Washington over raising the nation’s debt limit. The rating agency Fitch has put the nation’s credit on “Rating Watch Negative,” which amounts to a warning that it might downgrade the U.S. credit as a result of the impasse. The government reached the $31.4 trillion debt limit in January, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has resorted to “extraordinary measures’’ since then to keep paying the bills. But Yellen has warned that Treasury will likely run out of money to meet all its obligations as soon as June 1, which is being described as the “X-date.”
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Debt default ‘X-date’ calculations aim to figure out when the US may run short of cash
WASHINGTON (AP) — For all the concern over when the government might run out of money to cover all its bills, it turns out that no one can be absolutely sure exactly when the country faces a potential default — the dreaded “X-date.” Calculating when the country is going to run short of cash requires monitoring major fluctuations in cash flowing into and out of the Treasury and factoring in the timing and size of big payments coming due, among other factors. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned Congress that the government could default as early as June 1. But amid all the squabbling over the debt, the X-date itself has become a subject of political rancor. ___
Companies are finding it’s not so simple to leave Russia. Some are quietly staying put
When Russia invaded Ukraine, companies were quick to respond, some announcing they would get out of Russia immediately. Others vowed to curtail sales and new investment. Billions of dollars’ worth of factories, energy holdings and power plants were written off or put up for sale. More than a year later, it’s clear: Leaving Russia isn’t as easy as the first announcements might have made it seem. Increasingly, Russia has put hurdles in the way of companies that want out, requiring approval by a government commission and in some cases from President Vladimir Putin himself, while imposing painful discounts and taxes on sale prices. They also risk running afoul of Western sanctions and public opinion.
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Expect big crowds for the summer travel season — and big prices, too
NEW YORK (AP) — The unofficial start of the summer travel season is here, with airlines hoping to avoid the chaos of last year and travelers scrounging for ways to save a few bucks on pricey airfares and hotel rooms. Some travelers say they will settle for fewer trips than they hoped to take, or they will drive instead of fly. Others are finding different money-saving sacrifices. AAA predicts that 37 million Americans will drive at least 50 miles from home this weekend, an increase of more than 2 million from Memorial Day last year but still below pre-pandemic numbers in 2019. The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 10 million travelers between Friday and Monday, a 14% increase over the holiday in 2022 and slightly more than in 2019.
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Twitter’s launch of DeSantis’ presidential bid underscores platform’s rightward shift under Musk
NEW YORK (AP) — While shaky and skewered by critics, Twitter’s forum for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to announce his presidential run nevertheless underscored the platform’s unmistakable shift to the right under new owner Elon Musk. He has promoted the platform as a haven for free expression, but it has been flooded with extremist views and hate speech since he bought it. That is raising alarms that Twitter will become an open forum for conspiracy theories, fake content and election misinformation as the country heads toward the 2024 presidential election. Though Democrats wince at the direction Musk has taken Twitter, most are staying put, saying they don’t want to cede such an important space.
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Elon Musk wants to build a digital town square. But his debut for DeSantis had a tech failure.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Elon Musk wants to turn Twitter into a “digital town square,” but his much-publicized Twitter Spaces kickoff event, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announcing his run for president, struggled with technical glitches and a near half-hour delay Wednesday. The billionaire Twitter owner said the problems were due to “straining” servers because so many people were trying to listen to the audio-only event. But even at their highest, the number of listeners listed topped out at around 420,000, far from the millions of viewers that televised presidential announcements attract.
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Debt ceiling talks teeter on the brink, as lawmakers leave town for weekend without a deal
WASHINGTON (AP) — Both President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are speaking hopefully of the likelihood of an agreement to raise the government’s debt limit and avert an economically chaotic federal default. Yet House Republicans are pushing debt ceiling talks to the brink. As they prepare to leave town Thursday for a long Memorial Day recess, it’s a display of risky political bravado. They’re just days out from a potentially devastating debt default if Congress fails to act to raise the borrowing limit. Both sides are still meeting, and Biden said he and McCarthy have been speaking as well.
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Stock market today: AI frenzy pulls Wall Street higher despite DC debt woes
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street’s building frenzy around artificial intelligence helped yank the market higher, even as worries worsen about political rancor in Washington. The S&P 500 rose 0.9% Thursday after chipmaker Nvidia gave a monster forecast for upcoming sales as it benefits from the rush into AI. Because of its immense size, Nvidia is one of the most influential stocks in the market, and it helped push the Nasdaq up 1.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.1%, and the majority of stocks fell. Treasury yields rallied after reports suggested the U.S. economy is in better shape than feared.
___ The S&P 500 rose 36.04 points, or 0.9%, to 4,151.28. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 35.27 points, or 0.1%, to 32,764.65. The Nasdaq composite gained 213.93 points, or 1.7% to 12,698.09. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies lost 12.40 points, or 0.7%, to 1,754.60.
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