Who Gets a Seat at the Multipolar Table?

MSFT Plans First Voluntary Buyout In 51-Year History; Gates Foundation To Slash 20% Of Staff Summary:  First CNBC reports MSFT's first-ever Voluntary Buyout in 51-Year Company History, Then a report by BBG on Meta planning 10% Workforce Cut, All Within Hours To note: Reuters First reported Meta's 10% cut late last week (report)   Meta Layoffs  First, Microsoft unveiled a voluntary buyout program, a move that could incentivize thousands of employees to leave. Now, Meta Platforms has reportedly followed with plans to cut 10% of its workforce. Taken together, today's back-to-back announcements suggest that as Big Tech continues...

Watch: Bessent Teases 'Series Of Announcements' To Stabilize Oil; Says Trump's 15% Tariff Will Kick In This Week Authored by Andrew Moran via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), President Donald Trump’s 15 percent global tariff will take effect sometime this week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. Following the Supreme Court’s rebuke of the president’s signature economic policy last month, Trump imposed a 10 percent global tariff, invoking Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. A day later, Trump pledged to raise the rate to 15 percent. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testifies before...

LVMH Posts Biggest Quarterly Drop Since Dot-Com; UBS Sees Luxury Opportunity LVMH, the owner of Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Fendi, Bvlgari, Moët & Chandon, and dozens of other luxury brands, just posted its worst quarter since the dot-com bust era, making it the worst-performing European luxury stock this year as demand for luxury handbags, shoes, watches, perfumes, and wines continues to soften amid an intensifying Middle East conflict. LVMH shares in Paris tumbled 28% in the first quarter, exceeding quarterly declines seen during Covid and the 2008 financial crisis,...