(Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) |
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The TikTok ban may be delayed for a third time, but that doesn’t mean #vanlife is back. Just ask Winnebago, which revealed that motor home demand has hit a pothole in its disappointing preliminary third-quarter results. A slumping RV industry has historically tracked with recessions, and some believe it to be a strong economic bellwether. The theory goes that buying an RV is one of the most crystallized examples of “having extra cash and feelin’ good.” It’s a solid hypothesis, though it’s probably not what’s more likely the cause this time.
US stocks erased early losses to climb to session highs after President Donald Trump said he had “a very good phone call with President Xi of China” before giving up all those gains in the afternoon to finish in the red as the president had a very public spat with Tesla CEO and world’s richest man Elon Musk — more on that in our main story below. The S&P 500 closed down 0.5%, the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.8%, and the Russell 2000 finished marginally in the red.
❓ Test your knowledge on this week’s news stories with our Snacks Seven Quiz. Here’s the first Q: |
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Since breaking in favor of Trump hard during the 2024 election and making some of his vast resources available to the resurgent candidate, industrialist Elon Musk has formed a political alliance with US President Donald Trump that has changed the face of American politics.
Up until departing from the White House last week, Musk spent the first several months of the administration as the de facto head of a new group within the executive branch called the Department of Government Efficiency. Yesterday, that alliance collapsed in a dramatic public fashion. |
- One point of contention between Musk and the White House was the forthcoming budget, which Musk has said would add to the government’s debt and undercut the mission he was given to help reduce government spending. The bill also axes the federal EV tax credit for customers, which jeopardizes Tesla revenue from selling regulatory credits.
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Thursday morning, Trump made a fairly direct attack on Musk, responding from the Oval Office by saying he’s “very disappointed in Elon. I’ve helped Elon a lot.”
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And thus, the opening blow was struck. “Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate,” Musk wrote in a post on X. “Such ingratitude,” he followed.
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That’s when things got interesting. What happened next shook the entire market. At this point, Tesla stock started dropping, as did Trump Media & Technology Group, the $TRUMP meme coin, and a whole fleet of Trump-adjacent stocks. That might not be a huge deal if this ended at “such ingratitude.” It didn’t, though: |
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It took months to build up the relationship between Donald Trump and Elon Musk, and a few hours on the internet to break it apart. But without that relationship, what’s left are policies that mostly hurt Tesla, like tariffs and cutting the EV tax credit. In fact, analysts at JPMorgan estimated the budget bill alone would cut Tesla’s profits in half. Whether or not this has long-term ramifications on the viability of their individual companies or the overall health of the market remains to be seen, but it was a rowdy afternoon.
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This Celebrity-Backed Gaming Startup Is Closing Soon
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The future of immersive entertainment is here — and Virtuix is sprinting ahead with its Omni treadmill.
This cutting-edge VR treadmill enables players to physically walk and run in 360 degrees through virtual worlds, with applications for gaming, fitness, and even military training. How’s it Going?
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