Financial Mindset

In 2020, a disgruntled litigant posing as a deliveryman opened fire at the New Jersey home of District Judge Esther Salas, killing her 20-year-old son Daniel Anderl. Five years later, as President Donald Trump  steps up his criticism of federal judges  who have blocked some of his agenda, dozens of judges have had unsolicited pizzas delivered to their homes, often in Daniel Anderl’s name. District Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. of Rhode Island, who stalled Trump’s initial round of across-the-board spending cuts, is among those who received pizzas in Anderl’s name. His courtroom also has been flooded by threatening calls, including one profanity-laced one that called for his assassination. McConnell, Jr. played a recording of the call during an unusual discussion Thursday where multiple federal judges discussed threats they have received — a notable conversation because judges usually only speak publicly from the bench and through their rulings, and rarely if ever, about person...

Apple blew past Wall Street expectations with its third-quarter earnings report released Thursday, revealing robust growth driven by persistent iPhone demand, surging services revenue, and resilience in key international markets—even as tariff anxieties and questions over its artificial intelligence (AI) roadmap loomed over the industry . For the quarter ended June 28, 2025 , Apple posted revenue of $94 billion, representing a 10% increase compared to the same period last year. Net income soared to $1.57 per share—up 12% from a year ago and significantly ahead of analyst forecasts, which had pegged earnings per share at $1.43 on expected revenue of $89.22 billion . Gross margin nudged up to 46.5%. CEO Tim Cook celebrated the results, noting “Apple is proud to report a June quarter revenue record with double-digit growth in iPhone, Mac and Services and growth around the world, in every geographic segment.” Apple’s board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, payable A...

Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg spent a lot of time during the past few months building his news superintelligence AI team.  Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg expects to deliver “personal superintelligence for everyone” but his ambitious bets on AI are impacting the company’s cash flows and are likely to hit expenses even harder as Meta soups up its AI capabilities and continues its hiring spree .  The social media giant spent $17 billion on capital expenditures during the quarter , mostly on AI infrastructure and data centers and it expects to continue to spend heavily through 2026. Still, Meta’s shares soared 11.5% in after-hours trading after delivering blockbuster second quarter financial results. Revenue cruised 22% higher to $47.5 billion, and its core advertising business generated $46.6 billion in ad revenue across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. Daily active users grew to 3.5 billion people and profit margins improved, with net income rising 3...

The online brokerage Robinhood soared past analysts’ expectations Wednesday when it posted strong financials for the second quarter. It reported a 7% quarter-over-quarter increase in revenue to $989 million, beating the FactSet consensus of almost $915 million. And it reported earnings per share of 42 cents, a beat of analysts’ consensus of 31 cents.  The fintech “hulk smashe[d]” its earnings, Dan Dolev, a senior analyst at Mizuho Securities, said in a short note after Robinhood posted its quarterly results.  The online brokerage, which lets users trade stocks as well as digital assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum , posted gaudy results despite a decline in crypto transaction revenue, which dipped 36% from the previous quarter to $160 million. In the past, Robinhood’s quarterly fortunes have been closely tied to booms and busts in retail traders’ activity in markets. During the crypto craze of early 2021, for instance, its revenue from crypto transactions made up 41% of the c...

In today’s CEO Daily: Clay Chandler talks to DBS Group’s Tan Su Shan. The big story: E.U. signs trade deal with the U.S. The markets: Investors love a deal. Analyst notes from Deutsche Bank on U.S. negotiations with China, ING on the US-EU trade deal, and Goldman Sachs on the upcoming Fed meeting. Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune .   Good morning. “Even the CEO’s job can be replaced by AI.” That was the WhatsApp message DBS Group’s board sent Tan Su Shan on the day they named her chief executive of Southeast Asia’s largest and most profitable bank. Tan shared the moment with me last week at Fortune ’s Brainstorm AI Singapore conference — and her reaction landed like a challenge to the rest of the audience: “If the CEO can be replaced, so can everything else.” That mix of excitement and existential threat ran through two days of debate among more than 70 leaders from nearly 20 countries.  Singapore’s digital minister Josephine Teo outlined ...

Dan Sheridan has worked at Brooks Running for over 25 years, and he’s been CEO for over a year now, but he says he’s still learning things every day from his own boss: Warren Buffett. The 95-year-old investing legend is famous as the “ Oracle of Omaha” for his deep business acumen. You won’t see Sheridan disagree with that sentiment. “We’re so fortunate,” Sheridan recently told Fortune ‘s Leadership Next podcast , reflecting on Brooks’ status as a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway . “Our ownership structure may be the greatest in the world, right? We’re owned by—who I would call the GOAT of capitalism—Warren Buffett,” Sheridan remarked. “GOAT,” of course, stands for “greatest of all time,” an acronym from the sports world increasingly spreading to other walks of life. The remark is more than a casual compliment. For Brooks Running, being part of the Berkshire Hathaway family has meant a rare degree of stability and confidence, especially in a retail world known for its ...

Mercedes-Benz and Microsoft have collaborated to allow drivers in the new CLA model to record themselves with its in-car camera during Teams meetings. A video stream of the meeting visible to the driver on the car’s central display turns off once they’re in motion, though they can still contribute to the meeting through other new features like “an expanded chat function for reading and writing messages, and the integration of voice control for text input,” a spokesperson told Fortune . Mercedes-Benz and Microsoft have teamed up to bring you more meetings. Now, with “in-car productivity” you can join a Teams meeting while you drive to and from work. The German automaker said its 2026 luxury sedan CLA model includes an in-car camera that allows Microsoft Teams meeting participants to see drivers that are streaming while on the road. The feature marks the latest attempt from Mercedes-Benz to offer “an even more efficient way to work within the vehicle,” according to the carmaker’s ...

Ray Dalio wants investors to reassess their portfolio and consider allocating 15% of their investments to Bitcoin and gold as the federal government continues to increase its debt. Dalio warned that the “economic heart attack” likely to be caused by the rising debt hasn’t been priced into currency and bond markets. Famed hedge fund manager Ray Dalio wants investors to look beyond the traditional 60/40 portfolio made up of 60% stocks and 40% bonds. Instead, the billionaire founder of Bridgwater Associates is urging investors to allocate 15% of their portfolio to gold and crypto. While he didn’t reveal how he allocates his own portfolio, this percentage represented “the best return-to-risk ratio,” he said on The Master Investor Podcast with Wilfred Frost. Dalio noted he owns both gold and crypto, but with a caveat, he owns some Bitcoin but not much. “I’m strongly preferring gold to Bitcoin, but that’s up to you,” he said. The larger issue is the devaluation of money, and gold ...

Fortune 500 consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble is betting an operations veteran can shepherd the industry stalwart behind name brands such as Pampers, Old Spice, Pantene, and Dawn. Shailesh Jejurikar will take over for Jon Moeller next year, P&G announced on Monday. Procter & Gamble is elevating an operations veteran with global experience to lead the consumer goods behemoth as it navigates an ambitious workforce restructuring, tariffs, and geopolitical headwinds. The leadership shuffle comes a month after P&G announced it would cut 7,000 jobs, equivalent to about 15% of its non-manufacturing workforce.  Chief operating officer Shailesh Jejurikar , 58, will officially take the reins on Jan. 1, 2026, the company announced on Monday. Current CEO Jon Moeller will transition to an executive chairman role, where he’ll lead the board and advise Jejurikar, the company said. There’s no timeline for Moeller in the executive chair seat; the P&G board will deter...

One of the provisions of the trade deal that set a 15% tariff on Japan is a pledge from Tokyo to invest $550 billion in key American sectors. The White House said the money will be deployed “at President Trump’s direction,” potentially giving him a bigger say in U.S. industrial policy. But details remain thin, and analysts are skeptical. The pledge from Japan to invest $550 billion in key U.S. industries could show other countries how to clinch a trade deal with the U.S., even as analysts question how real that money is. As part of the agreement that set a 15% tariff rate on Japan, the White House said , a “Japanese/USA investment vehicle” will be deployed “at President Trump’s direction“ into strategic sectors. They include energy infrastructure and production, semiconductors, critical minerals, pharmaceuticals, and shipbuilding, according to a fact sheet from the administration. The U.S. would retain 90% of the profits, though the Japanese government believes profits ...

I’m going to start with a caveat from the top: This is not a formal product review. That’s not my background nor expertise, and if that’s what you are looking for, you are likely to walk away at least a little bit disappointed.  What this is, is a first impression based on hands-on experience with the new Alexa from someone who was once a consistent user of Amazon’s original voice assistant. Back then, I relied on Alexa for the kind of straightforward things many of us did every day: playing music, checking the weather, requesting sports scores, setting timers, and answering the types of questions that grade-school kids would get a kick out of (“Alexa, who would win a battle between a lion and a snow leopard?”). But over the years, Alexa’s performance seemed to deteriorate—it had more trouble understanding basic requests and definitely could not hold a conversation like popular AI chatbots could.  Eventually, my family’s interest—and patience—waned. So I’ve been waiting for ...

President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen   met in Scotland on Sunday to iron out a U.S.-EU trade deal. Without an agreement, the EU was due to get hit with a 30% tariff rate on Aug. 1, up from the current “reciprocal” duty of 10%. Last week, Trump reached a trade deal with Japan that set a 15% rate. The U.S. and European Union agreed on trade terms that include a 15% rate on most EU products as well as hundreds of billions of dollars of investments in American industry. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met in Scotland on Sunday to iron out the agreement. Trump said the EU will invest $600 billion in the U.S. and buy $750 billion worth of U.S. energy products, with “vast amounts” of American weapons in the mix. He also said the EU will be “opening up their countries at zero tariff.” Von der Leyen said the 15% rate was “all inclusive,” but Trump later added that it didn’t apply to pharm...

Banking executives have claimed AI can help both their corporations and their clients. AI tools can speed up know-your-customer checks, help improve customer service channels, or spread access to wealth management tools to those outside the high-net-worth-income bracket. Yet the most pressing need for AI, according to Sopnendu Mohanty, co-founder of the Global Finance and Technology Network (GFTN), is to help banks get loans to low-income populations and solve the financial inclusion challenge.  GFTN is backed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. It was previously known as Elevandi, which organized the annual Singapore Fintech Festival. Now, GFTN has expanded its remit to provide advisory services to emerging markets on how to best leverage technology in their finance sectors, while putting forward Singapore as a model.  During a Wednesday conversation at the Fortune Brainstorm AI Singapore conference, Mohanty laid out why banks still struggle to expand their lending....

U.S. stock futures pointed to more gains after a week filled with record highs as Wall Street cheered the U.S.-EU trade deal announced on Sunday. Investors are also bracing for a frantic week loaded with market-moving events such as earnings from top companies, key economic reports, the Fed’s policy meeting and more trade news. Wall Street looks to begin a jam-packed week on a high note as investors cheer the U.S.-EU trade deal that was announced on Sunday. The agreement with America’s biggest trading partner removes a key source of market uncertainty and the threat of a damaging trade war. It also adds to an increasingly bullish narrative as the S&P 500 notched five record highs last week. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 161 points, or 0.36%. S&P 500 futures were up 0.34%, and  Nasdaq  futures rose 0.46%. The yield on the 10-year Treasury was flat at 4.386%. The U.S. dollar dipped 0.12% against the euro but was steady agains...

Boeing Co. expects more than 3,200 union workers at three St. Louis-area plants that produce U.S. fighter jets to strike after they rejected a proposed contract Sunday that included a 20% wage increase over four years. The International Machinists and Aerospace Workers union said the vote by District 837 members was overwhelmingly against the proposed contract. The existing contract was to expire at 11:59 p.m. Central time Sunday, but the union said a “cooling off” period would keep a strike from beginning for another week, until Aug. 4. Union leaders had recommended approving the offer, calling it a “landmark” agreement when it was announced last week. Organizers said then that the offer would improve medical, pension and overtime benefits in addition to pay. The vote came two days before Boeing planned to announce its second quarter earnings, after saying earlier this month that it had delivered 150 commercial airliners and 36 military aircraft and helicopters during the quarter,...

Multimillionaire Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary looks for three star qualities in the entrepreneurs he goes into business with: those who have a “founder’s mindset,” a balanced talking-to-listening ratio, and executional prowess. From working with the likes of late Apple cofounder Steve Jobs and multimillion-dollar entrepreneurs to being an investor on his hit-TV show, he’s picked up a few patterns of the most successful people.  Multimillionaire entrepreneur Kevin O’Leary knows a thing or two about picking the right people and ideas to invest in. Having worked with greats like Steve Jobs, not to mention his success on Shark Tank backing businesses generating millions, he’s picked up on a few key qualities in great founders.  O’Leary looks for three qualities in the people he chooses to do business with. The 71-year-old investor tells Fortune the most critical trait is having “founder’s mindset”: adopting a frame of mind that prioritizes “signal,” or what has ...