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Markets tumbled again on Monday after President Donald Trump said he won’t rule out an upcoming U.S. recession, sending skittish investors into another sell-off fueled by whiplash over tariffs and overall economic uncertainty. When asked if he expected a recession, Trump told Fox News on Sunday: “I hate to predict things like that . . . There is a period of transition, because what we’re doing is very big. We’re bringing wealth back to America.” Later, when pressed further, Trump said, “All I know is this: Were going to take in hundreds of millions of dollars in tariffs, and were going to become so rich youre not going to know where to spend all that money.” And so this week starts off, as last week ended, with market turmoil and even more discussion about tariffs. While across-the-board tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico are delayed, 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports into the U.S. go in effect on Wednesday, which are aimed at China, but will also affect Canada, Brazil, and Mexico, where we get most of our steel. And many countries are promising to clap back with “reciprocal” tariffs, the costs of which will likely get passed on to American consumers. A look at the numbers shows all three major indexes fell in morning trading, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down almost 1%, the S&P 500 shedding 1.7%, and the Nasdaq shedding almost 3%. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq dropped to their lowest levels since September 2024, according to CNBC. Some of the biggest movers were tech stocks, with Elon Musk’s Tesla shares plunging 8%, Palantir falling 7.5%, chipmaker Nvidia falling 5%, and Meta and Alphabet both losing 4% at the time of this writing. Not a pretty sight. Adding insult to injury, HSBC downgraded U.S. equities, saying “there are better opportunities elsewhere” and turning its eye toward stocks in Europe, citing the ongoing tariff debacle. What is a recession? It’s unclear if we are heading into a recession, but what is clear is how to measure one. A recession is defined as two consecutive negative quarters of gross domestic product (the value of all the goods and services the U.S. produces). But it can also be measured more broadly as a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in production,” according the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)’s Business Cycle Dating Committee, which tracks recessions. It looks at factors like unemployment, industrial production, real income, personal consumption, and wholesale-retail sales to determine the depth and breadth of economic decline. So far, the NBER has not declared a current recession in the U.S. Will there be a recession? Some experts say they are more worried about inflation than a recession, and that while Americans worry about tariffs, that isn’t a great indicator of upcoming consumer spending. (Inflation measures how much prices are going up, while a recession measures a period of time when there is negative economic growth, according to Fidelity Investments.) Demand is showing some fraying around the edges, but it hasnt accumulated to enough to be a meaningful risk of a downturn,” Vincent Reinhart, chief economist at BNY Investments told CNN. Inflation is still a top priority. The Federal Reserve seems to also be more worried about inflation. Based on what we know today, given all the uncertainties around that, I do factor in some effects of tariffs now on inflation, on prices, because I think we will see some of those effects later this year, New York Fed president John Williams said, as reported by CNN. Going forward, one big question will be if inflation worries gain enough steam that we see another rate cut. Meanwhile, Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg Bank, told CNBC on Monday, I dont think we will talk about a U.S. recession. The U.S economy is resilient, I would say, largely despite Donald Trump,” but was quick to call Trump an agent of chaos and confusion.”
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E-Commerce
The world is in chaos, and many of us wish this wasn’t reality but a video game. Coperni, the French fashion label, captured this sentiment in its recent Paris Fashion Week show. The brand’s designersSébastien Meyer and Arnaud Vaillantwanted to re-create old-school gamer culture, with the theme of LAN Party, which was an event in the ’90s where people would gather together to compete in video games. Coperni brought together 200 people to play games like Fortnite and Rocket League for 24 hours. The show captured the aesthetic of the ’90s, along with that era’s fascination with futuristic digital realities, like those depicted in films like Hackers and The Matrix. Well, the future is here. At Paris Fashion Week, Coperni showed off a new collab with Meta and Ray-Ban in the form of translucent black wayfarer sunglasses that can double as a computer. The $549 sunglasses have a built-in camera and open-ear audio, so they can see and hear everything you do. As you use your voice to interact with the AI, it will provide customized insights and recommendations. You can also use the glasses to do things like live translation and play content on Spotify. [Image: Coperni] Meta launched its very first fashion collaboration by bringing Coperni and Ray-Ban branded glasses to the Coperni show. Some models wore the frames and recorded the entire show from their perspective, demonstrating their hands-free recording capabilities. They fit seamlessly into the Y2K looks, featuring lots of sleek black outfits and denim matched with grungy plaid. [Photo: Luca Tombolini/courtesy Coperni] Coperni is known for its exploration of technology. One of its most talked-about moments came in 2022, when Bella Hadid stood on the runway in her underwear before three people came out to spray-paint her outfit on in front of the audience. Its best known accessory is the swipe bag, which has a distinct oval shape. It recently released a version of the bag that featured NASA’s nano-material called Aerogel which is made of 99% air and 1% glass, making it the lightest bag ever made. Coperni created 3,600 pairs of these Ray-Ban Meta x Coperni glasses, which launched at 4 a.m. ESTbut they’re already selling fast on the Coperni, Meta, and Ray-Ban websites.
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E-Commerce
American seniors who have received Social Security overpayments may be in for a nasty surprise after the Trump administration announced the reversal of a Biden-era policy. Specifically, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will revert back to withholding up to 100% of an individuals benefit check in an attempt to claw back overpayments. The changes under Biden had capped that withholding at 10%, so for seniors who may have received overpayments and grown accustomed to only having their monthly benefits reduced by a relatively slight amount, the adjustment could blow a hole in their monthly budgets. Announcing the reverted policy on Friday, the SSA said it will achieve $7 billion in savings over the next 10 years. The change affects overpayments made from March 27 onward, meaning overpayments made before that won’t be impacted. We have the significant responsibility to be good stewards of the trust funds for the American people, said Lee Dudek, SSA’s acting commissioner, in a statement. It is our duty to revise the overpayment repayment policy back to full withholding, as it was during the Obama administration and first Trump administration, to properly safeguard taxpayer funds. Why do SS overpayments happen? Social Security overpayments happen for a number of reasons, including beneficiaries misreporting their income or forgetting to update a change in their living situation or marital status. However, the SSA sometimes simply makes mistakes, as CBS reported last year, meaning an overpayment may be through no fault of the person receiving the benefits. With the Social Security Administration reverting to the original overpayment policy, its possible that some Social Security recipients could see their benefits reduced to nothingthat is, until theyve effectively paid back any overpayments theyd received in full. That could put many seniors in a challenging position in the months ahead. The SSA says it will notify people later this month about the new withholding rate. The withholding rate change applies to new overpayments related to Social Security benefits,” reads the statement from the SSA. “The withholding rate for current beneficiaries with an overpayment before March 27 will not change and no action is required. The withholding rate for Supplemental Security Income [SSI] overpayments remains 10 percent.” Further, it warns that any overpayments made after March 27 will be put into the full recovery rate immediately. As for those who cant afford to see their entire benefit zapped due to an overpayment by the SSA, the agency says to contact the SSA to see what can be done.
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E-Commerce
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