Key Events This Week: Warsh Nomination Hearing, Retail Sales, Fed Blackout, Earnings

AI Is "New Front Door To Commerce" As Consumers Ditch Google For Chatbots Shoptalk, one of the retail and e-commerce industry's top U.S. conferences, took place in Las Vegas last week, where Goldman analysts had one key takeaway for clients on Monday morning: AI is beginning to reshape how consumers shop.  Analysts Brooke Roach and Kate McShane, among others, attended the conference and listened to retailers, consumer brands, and technology vendors focus on the evolving consumer space in the era of AI. Their top takeaway was that AI is emerging as a...

US Allies Loudly Reject Trump's Scheme To Blockade Hormuz: 'Not Getting Dragged In' The United Kingdom and several other countries rejected Washington's plan to impose a blockade on Iranian ports and target ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, which has gone into effect Monday. Prime Minister Keir Starmer made clear his stance that "we are not supporting the blockade" in a fresh interview with BBC Radio. He emphasized that the UK is not "getting dragged in" to the US-Israeli war against Iran, but still stated that it's "vital that we get...

"Open The F**kin' Strait": Trump Blasts Iran As IEA Head Warns Of Panic Fuel Hoarding In Asia International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol told the Financial Times this weekend that governments must avoid panic hoarding and refrain from imposing fuel export bans as the Gulf energy shock ripples outward to Asia, Africa, Europe, and eventually reaches the US West Coast. "I urge all countries not to impose bans or restrictions on exports," Fatih Birol emphasized in the interview. "It is the worst time when you look at the global oil markets....