Walmart’s $1 Trillion Milestone and Japan’s $36B US Energy Investment

[00:00] Vanessa Calderon: From Neural Newscast, I'm Thomas Keene. [00:03] Vanessa Calderon: And I'm Vanessa Calderon. [00:04] Vanessa Calderon: Today, Walmart is nearing a historic $1 trillion market cap. [00:11] Vanessa Calderon: We also look at a massive pledge from Japan to invest $36 billion in American energy projects. [00:20] Thomas Keane: Plus, a $7 billion settlement proposal from Bayer and a federal court ruling that restores power to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. [00:29] Vanessa Calderon: Walmart is on the verge of becoming the first traditional retailer to reach a $1 trillion valuation. [00:36] Vanessa Calderon: This milestone comes just ahead of the company's highly anticipated earnings report this Thursday. [00:41] Thomas Keane: The retail giant is successfully shedding its image as just a discount store. [00:46] Thomas Keane: It is building a massive e-commerce and advertising business. [00:50] Thomas Keane: These segments now rival the scale of major tech players. [00:54] Vanessa Calderon: Shares have climbed steadily as the company leverages its physical stores for rapid home delivery. [01:00] Vanessa Calderon: Growth is also being driven by the Walmart Connect platform, which has seen a surge in ad revenue. [01:06] Thomas Keane: Even with overall consumer sentiment remaining low, Walmart is winning over high-income shoppers. [01:13] Thomas Keane: At the same time, the company continues to maintain its core base of value-conscious customers. [01:19] Vanessa Calderon: Turning now to the broader markets, the S&P 500 posted modest gains yesterday. [01:24] Vanessa Calderon: Technology shares recovered from their earlier losses to lead the index higher. [01:28] Thomas Keane: Nvidia and Apple led the rebound after a rocky start to the week. [01:33] Thomas Keane: Their gains helped the tech sector end the day up about 1%. [01:36] Vanessa Calderon: In other news, Japan has announced a $36 billion investment in the United States. [01:42] Vanessa Calderon: This capital will fund three major industrial projects across Ohio, Texas, and Georgia. [01:49] Thomas Keane: The centerpiece is a $33 billion natural gas facility in Ohio. [01:54] Thomas Keane: Once completed, it will be the largest facility of its kind in history. [01:59] Vanessa Calderon: This project is expected to generate over 9 gigawatts of power. [02:03] Vanessa Calderon: It marks the first phase of a larger $550 billion trade agreement between the two nations. [02:09] Thomas Keane: Meanwhile, Bayer has proposed a $7.25 billion settlement. [02:14] Thomas Keane: The deal aims to resolve thousands of lawsuits claiming its weed killer, Roundup, causes cancer. [02:20] Vanessa Calderon: The agreement covers both current and future claims of non-Hawkins lymphoma. [02:25] Vanessa Calderon: It was filed in a Missouri court near the headquarters of Bayer's Crop Science Division. [02:29] Thomas Keane: Bayer has already spent $10 billion on previous settlements. [02:34] Thomas Keane: However, 65,000 cases are still outstanding while the Supreme Court prepares to weigh in on the matter. [02:40] Vanessa Calderon: Still, legal challenges for the administration continue. [02:44] Vanessa Calderon: A federal judge recently ruled that efforts to weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were illegal. [02:51] Thomas Keane: The ruling forces the restoration of funding for the agency. [02:55] Thomas Keane: The Bureau effectively shut down after the administration moved to cut its budget and its authority. [03:02] Vanessa Calderon: Advocates argue that consumers lost more than $15 billion because of the weakened oversight. [03:08] Vanessa Calderon: The regulator was originally established to prevent another financial crisis like the one in 2008. [03:15] Thomas Keane: Next, a new Reuters and Ipsos poll shows that public approval of the administration's [03:21] Thomas Keane: immigration policies has hit its lowest point yet. [03:24] Vanessa Calderon: The decline is especially sharp among American men. [03:28] Vanessa Calderon: This shift occurs as the White House continues aggressive enforcement while facing legal [03:34] Vanessa Calderon: pushback on asylum restrictions. [03:36] Thomas Keane: This creates a significant political hurdle for the president. [03:40] Thomas Keane: The administration is moving forward with its hardline immigration agenda despite the [03:45] Thomas Keane: falling approval numbers. [03:46] Vanessa Calderon: I'm Thomas Keene. [03:47] Thomas Keane: And I'm Vanessa Calderon. [03:49] Thomas Keane: Thank you for joining us. [03:50] Thomas Keane: Neural Newscast is AI-assisted, human-reviewed. [03:54] Thomas Keane: View our AI Transparency Policy at neuralnewscast.com.