Business

WHEN HE FIRES his trade weapons at China, President Donald Trump often appears to shoot from the hip. Officials in Beijing, by contrast, are said to deliberate much more, convening high-level meetings among ministries and regulators to determine their country’s next steps. More

General Motors’ third quarter results next week will include a $1.6 billion impact from its all-electric vehicle plans not playing out as anticipated. 
GM said its reassessment of its EV capacity and manufacturing footprint is “ongoing,” signaling additional charges could be announced later.
GM’s EV charges comes more than a year after crosstown rival Ford Motor announced a $1.9 billion impact from changing its EV plans. 

A Chevrolet Silverado EV and a Chevrolet Brightdrop, which is assembled in Canada, are seen on display at the Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, February 13, 2025. 
Carlos Osorio | Reuters

DETROIT — General Motors’ third-quarter results next week will include a $1.6 billion impact from its all-electric vehicle plans not playing out as anticipated. 
The Detroit automaker Tuesday morning in a public filing said $1.2 billion of the impact will be non-cash, special charges as a result of adjustments to its EV capacity. The other $400 million in cash is primarily related to contract cancellation fees and commercial settlements associated with EV-related investments, according to the filing. 

The automaker said its reassessment of its EV capacity and manufacturing footprint is “ongoing,” signaling additional charges could be announced for future quarters.
The charges will be reported as special items when GM reports its third quarter results on Oct. 21. That means they will impact the automaker’s net results but not its adjusted earnings, or EBIT-adjusted, which are closely watched by Wall Street.
GM was among the earliest to invest billions of dollars in an EV market that didn’t culminate. At one point, the company was planning to invest $30 billion by this year in EVs, including dozens of new models and capacity for battery production.
The charges come amid changing regulations regarding EVs — particularly the end of $7,500 in federal tax credits — under the Trump administration as compared to President Joe Biden, who championed the vehicles. 

“Following recent U.S. Government policy changes, including the termination of certain consumer tax incentives for EV purchases and the reduction in the stringency of emissions regulations, we expect the adoption rate of EVs to slow,” GM said in the filing.

John Murphy, a longtime analyst with Bank of America, warned earlier this year of such write-downs for automakers that invested heavily in EVs.
“There’s a lot of tough decisions that are going to need to be made,” Murphy, who’s now with Haig Partners, said in June during an event for Bank of America’s “Car Wars” report. “Based on the study, I think we’re going to see multibillion-dollar write-downs that are flooding the headlines for the next few years.”
GM’s EV pullback charges come more than a year after crosstown rival Ford Motor announced a $1.9 billion impact from its EV plans. 
Ford’s included about $400 million for the write-down of manufacturing assets, as well as additional expenses and cash expenditures of up to $1.5 billion that included canceling a large, electric three-row SUV that was already far in development and delaying production of its next-generation electric full-size pickup truck.
GM, which offers the most EV models in the U.S., has made significant gains this year in EV sales, but the size of the market is niche compared with expectations at the beginning of this decade.
Motor Intelligence reported that the Detroit automaker went from an 8.7% market share in all-electric vehicles to begin this year to 13.8% through the third quarter – topping Hyundai Motor, including Kia, at 8.6% through September. It still trails U.S. EV leader Tesla, which was estimated to have a 43.1% market share through September. More

Goldman Sachs has agreed to acquire Industry Ventures, a venture capital firm with $7 billion in assets under supervision, according to a release from the investment bank.
Goldman is paying $665 million in cash and equity, and up to $300 million more based on the firm’s future performance through 2030, the bank said.
The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026.

David Solomon, chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., during an interview for an episode of “The David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer Conversations” in New York, US, on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024.
Jeenah Moon | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Goldman Sachs has agreed to acquire Industry Ventures, a venture capital firm with $7 billion in assets under supervision, according to a release from the investment bank.
Goldman is paying $665 million in cash and equity, and up to $300 million more based on the firm’s future performance through 2030, the bank said. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026.

Goldman Sachs is making the acquisition to bolster its $540 billion alternatives investment platform, part of the self-identified “growth engine” of the investment bank. By identifying and making bets on startups, the venture capital firm can help Goldman create a pipeline of investments for its wealthy clients, as well as provide solutions to tech entrepreneurs.
San Francisco-based Industry Ventures has helped pioneer aspects of the American VC market since its founding 25 years ago, according to Goldman CEO David Solomon.
“Industry Ventures’ trusted relationships and venture capital expertise complement our existing investing franchises and expand opportunities for clients to access the fastest growing companies and sectors in the world,” Solomon said in the release.
“By combining the global resources of Goldman Sachs with the venture capital expertise of Industry Ventures, we are uniquely positioned to serve the increasingly complex needs of entrepreneurs, private technology companies, limited partners, and venture fund managers,” said Hans Swildens, founder and CEO of Industry Ventures.
Industry Ventures has made more than 1,000 investments and said its annual performance was an internal rate of return of 18%.
The bank said it expects that all 45 employees of the venture firm will join Goldman. More

Look no further than the automotive industry for the latest indication of a potential “K-Shaped” economy for U.S. consumers.
Cox Automotive on Monday reported the average price paid for a new vehicle last month topped $50,000 for the first time ever.
The record comes as defaults and repossessions have increased as of late, particularly for consumers with subprime credit

A salesperson (left) shows vehicles to a shopper at a Toyota dealership.
Getty Images

DETROIT — Look no further than the automotive industry for the latest indication that U.S. consumers could be facing a “K-shaped” economy, where the wealthy keep seeing gains while those who have lower incomes struggle.
The average price paid for a new vehicle last month topped $50,000 for the first time ever, Cox Automotive’s Kelley Blue Book reported Monday. Meanwhile, auto loan delinquency rates remain near all-time highs for those with low credit ratings.

Consumers who can afford a new vehicle are on a buying spree, while those on tighter budgets are staying out of the market, according to Cox Automotive executive analyst Erin Keating.
“While there are many affordable options out there, many price-conscious buyers are choosing to stay on the sidelines or cruising in the used-vehicle market,” she said in a statement. “Today’s auto market is being driven by wealthier households who have access to capital, good loan rates and are propping up the higher end of the market.”
Economists have warned the U.S. economy is increasingly “K-shaped” following the coronavirus pandemic, with consumers experiencing different realities depending on their income level.
Wealthier Americans have been assisted by rising house values, lucrative stock market returns and favorable credit, while lower- and middle-income buyers have faced tighter budgets and been hit hard by rising inflation.

“We have already, for a while now, talked about the ‘K-shaped’ outlook for the consumer. Some consumers are doing well. Some are doing less well,” Apollo Global Management chief economist Torsten Slok said Monday on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.” “Now we also having a K-shape for the broader economy, where you have a booming industrial renaissance, but the consumer is facing more headwinds.”

Slok was addressing the overall U.S. market for consumers amid a potential trade war with China, but also said affordability concerns and the increasing rate of auto loan delinquencies by subprime buyers are a problem.
New car buyers have faced rising sticker prices, smaller discounts and higher loan rates since the coronavirus pandemic — especially for those with the worst credit scores.
The average new auto loan rate was about 9% as of the most recent data from August, according to Cox Automotive’s Dealertrack. That included rates of around 18% to 20% for subprime or “deep-subprime” consumers, who have lower credit scores and are more likely to default on a loan.
Last month’s pricing record of $50,080 comes as auto loan delinquencies, defaults and repossessions have increased in recent months and years, particularly for consumers with subprime credit — or those with a FICO score below 620.

Fitch Ratings reports 6.43% of subprime auto loans in August were at least 60 days past due, in line with a record high of 6.45% that was hit in January. Delinquency rates for borrowers with higher scores have remained relatively stable.
The Consumer Federation of America, a nonprofit advocacy group, last month described U.S. auto financing at a “breaking point, as Americans owe over $1.66 trillion in auto debt.”
The report was released as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau received record high numbers of complaints about auto loans. It followed an analysis by the New York Fed last year that found car buyers with above-average credit scores (620-679) were twice as likely to fall behind as they were before the pandemic.
Cars.com’s Edmunds earlier this month reported the share of buyers committing to monthly payments of $1,000 or more accounted for 19.1% of all financed new-car transactions in the third quarter, near the record set the previous quarter at 19.3%.
Rising delinquency rates among other concerns, recently led to subprime auto lender Tricolor unexpectedly collapsing.
Cox’s Keating noted that while tariffs have increased costs and reduced affordability, the record prices last month were driven by the strong sales of all-electric vehicles. Consumers rushed to buy EVs ahead of federal tax incentives of up to $7,500 ending at the end of September.
EVs are typically more expensive than their traditional counterparts, with Cox Automotive reporting the average transaction price for a new EV last month was more than $58,000.
“We’ve been expecting to break through the $50,000 barrier,” Keating said. “That’s today’s market, and it is ripe for disruption.” More

America’s first merger wave began in the 1890s and forged giants in steel, oil and railroads. A second preceded the crash of 1929. Executives assembled conglomerates in the 1960s; private-equity firms dismantled them in the 1980s. The bursting of the internet bubble, the financial crisis and higher interest rates ended takeover waves in 2000, 2007 and 2022. Now an eighth is gathering strength. Like its predecessors, it is energised by technological promise, enthusiastic credit markets, willing politicians and striving bosses. More

Lego’s MRI scanner play sets, which launched in 2023, are significantly reducing anxiety and the use of sedation in children, the company said.
New research from Lego shows that 96% of healthcare professionals said the model helps to reduce children’s anxiety before entering a scanner themselves.
One patient told CNBC the play set has helped him to get accustomed to the claustrophobia of scanners and help other kids learn the same.

People depart a Lego store in Manhattan on August 29, 2024 in New York City. 
Spencer Platt | Getty Images

In July 2023, just two months after his mother fought and won a battle against breast cancer, Sam Lane began to get sick.
Sam underwent several rounds of testing, and the now 14-year-old finally received a diagnosis: a rare brain and spine cancer.

“They said ‘cancer,’ and before I started crying, I said, ‘Dang it, I was going to guess that, but I didn’t want it to be that bad,'” Sam said.
But at his lowest point, on a feeding tube and unable to walk, a nurse offered Sam a bright spot: She said she needed his help to build a Lego MRI scanner set for fellow patients at Boston Children’s Hospital to play with and learn from.
Sam’s mom said she was “blown away” by the level of detail in the play set, made of specialized Lego bricks.
“I remember sitting there saying to him, ‘Sammy, why don’t you take a break? You’ve been working at that straight for some time,'” Christina Lane said. “And he just didn’t even look at me and was like, ‘Nope, this is important… I need to help other kids.'”
Lego’s MRI scanner sets, which feature a scanner, patient bed, waiting room, staff figures and medical instruments, were designed specifically to help children learn about the procedure through hands-on play. The miniature MRI machine table moves back and forth, mimicking a real procedure.

On Monday, the toy company announced that more than 1 million children globally have used the sets to help them prepare for their medical procedures. New Lego research found that 96% of healthcare professionals said the model helps to reduce children’s anxiety, and 46% reported a lesser need to use sedation after the children played with the set.

Lego MRI Scanner play set
Courtesy: Lego

MRIs, which don’t involve radiation, are often used in pediatric care – but with the bright light, loud noises and requirement to stay still, the machines often frighten children and introduce the need for sedation, according to Sam’s child life specialists, Laura Boegler and Alyssa Sachs.
They focus on ways to support psychosocial and emotional wellbeing of patients and families at Boston Children’s Hospital and said opportunities to play are key.
“We often say that play is a universal language, and so the play-based approach of being able to touch and ask questions really helps ease anxieties and misconceptions that any kids have,” Sachs said.
Boegler said having children play with the Lego set before their own MRI scans has significantly helped decrease anxiety and increase familiarity with the procedure.
The set that Sam built is being used to ease other patients’ worries in a way that feels authentic to them.
“An MRI machine, that’s not something that kids are seeing in school, that’s not what they’re talking about at home, so it’s kind of like this new scary thing,” Boegler said. “Using the MRI Lego set, we’re able to show kids in a way that’s comfortable for them.”
Lego doesn’t sell the sets and instead has donated more than 10,000 of the kits to hospitals around the world.
Over the past few years, Lego has worked on expanding its customer base and deepened its strategy to achieve a streak of positive annual growth. The company has begun to cater more to adults as well as kids with more sophisticated and bespoke kits, including a wide range of sets aligned with pop culture like “Harry Potter” to “Wicked.”
The company’s botanical and F1 racing sets, in particular, have brought new customers into the fold.

Icons Tiny Plants by Lego.
James Manning – Pa Images | Pa Images | Getty Images

Christina Lane said the MRI play set her son built helped him feel connected to other children battling cancer.
“To have a little Lego buddy that they can identify with that is going through the same things that they are is really incredible,” she said. “As a mom, as a nurse, as a human being, to be able to support our kids during such a challenging and difficult time through play – truly, it’s essential.”
And the set has even helped Sam in his own journey. Now celebrating over a year cancer-free, he reflected on how his relationship with the machines has changed.
In his first MRI, Sam said he felt claustrophobic and scared, and the noises felt too loud for him to comprehend.
But now, he has a simple and reliable strategy for all of his MRI sessions: “I fall asleep.”
Correction: This story has been updated to correct details of Sam Lane’s cancer diagnosis and treatment. More

JPMorgan Chase on Monday said it is launching a decade-long plan to help finance and take direct stakes in companies it considers crucial to U.S. interests.
The bank said in a statement it would invest up to $10 billion into companies in four areas: defense and aerospace, “frontier” technologies including AI and quantum computing, energy technology including batteries, and supply chain and advanced manufacturing.
That is part of its broader effort, dubbed the Security and Resiliency Initiative, in which JPMorgan said it will finance or facilitate $1.5 trillion in funding for companies it identifies as crucial, an amount is said was 50% more than a previous plan.

JPMorgan Chase on Monday said it is launching a decade-long plan to help finance and take direct stakes in companies it considers crucial to U.S. interests.
The bank said in a statement it would invest up to $10 billion into companies in four areas: defense and aerospace, “frontier” technologies including artificial intelligence and quantum computing, energy technology including batteries, and supply chain and advanced manufacturing.

The money is part of a broader effort, dubbed the Security and Resiliency Initiative, in which JPMorgan said it will finance or facilitate $1.5 trillion in funding for companies it identifies as crucial. It said the total amount is 50% more than a previous plan.
“It has become painfully clear that the United States has allowed itself to become too reliant on unreliable sources of critical minerals, products and manufacturing — all of which are essential for our national security,” JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said in the release.
As the biggest American bank by assets and a Wall Street juggernaut, JPMorgan was already raising funds and lending money to companies in those industries. But the move helps organize the company’s activities around national interests at a time of heightened tensions between the U.S. and China.
On Friday, markets tumbled as President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on Chinese imports after the major U.S. trading partner tightened export controls on rare earths.
In the release, Dimon said the U.S. needs to “remove obstacles” including excessive regulations, “bureaucratic delay” and “partisan gridlock.”

JPMorgan said that within the four major areas, there were 27 specific industries it would look to support with advice, financing and investments. That includes areas as diverse as nanomaterials, autonomous robots, spacecraft and space launches, and nuclear and solar power.
“Our security is predicated on the strength and resiliency of America’s economy,” Dimon said. “This new initiative includes efforts like ensuring reliable access to life-saving medicines and critical minerals, defending our nation, building energy systems to meet AI-driven demand and advancing technologies like semiconductors and data centers.”
The bank said it would hire an unspecified numbers of bankers and create an external advisory council to support its initiative.
This story is developing. Please check back for updates. More

The Trump administration and AstraZeneca have reached an agreement for the U.K.-based pharmaceutical giant to cut drug prices in the U.S.
President Donald Trump has already agreed to a similar pact with Pfizer, which will sell discounted drugs to Medicaid patients through a website called TrumpRx.gov.
It is unclear if AstraZeneca will be exempt from pharmaceutical sector tariffs.

U.S. President Donald Trump participates in a bilateral meeting with Finland’s President Alexander Stubb (not pictured), in the Oval office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., Oct. 9, 2025.
Nathan Howard | Reuters

The Trump administration and AstraZeneca announced Friday they have reached an agreement for the U.K.-based pharmaceutical giant to cut drug prices in the U.S.
The deal with AstraZeneca follows a similar pact with U.S. drugmaker Pfizer, which was announced late last month.

AstraZeneca will agree to sell drugs directly to Medicaid patients at the lowest price offered in other developed countries, or what Trump calls “most-favored nation” pricing, on a coming government website called TrumpRx.gov. AstraZeneca’s primary care medications will be available on the site starting early next year, and the company will offer new prescription medications at most-favored nation pricing, said Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz.
AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot also said the company will be exempt from pharmaceutical sector tariffs as part of the agreement. Pfizer agreed to similar terms with the Trump administration and received a three-year carveout from pharmaceutical tariffs on the condition that it continued to invest in U.S. manufacturing.
AstraZeneca in July said it would invest $50 billion in the U.S. by 2030. The company announced further details about those plans Friday ahead of the reported pricing deal announcement.
President Donald Trump, administration officials and Soriot announced the agreement during a White House event on Friday.
MSNBC earlier reported on the deal.

Trump has pushed drugmakers to cut prices and build out manufacturing in the U.S., as sky-high costs for medicines relative to other developed countries irk voters across the political spectrum. As his administration threatened pharmaceutical companies with tariffs as high as 250% in recent months, many drugmakers announced significant investments in the U.S.
Trump has said he aims to strike pricing deals with other major drugmakers in the weeks ahead. Trump suggested drugmakers and other companies have invested as much as they did because of the threat of higher tariff costs.
“Most of them are here because of tariffs,” he said. More