American shoppers are still spending — but they're becoming pickier about where their money goes. Why it matters: Results Thursday from Dollar Tree, Burlington, Best Buy and Kohl's suggest that consumers are still willing to spend on bargains and small indulgences — yet are becoming increasingly selective as higher gas prices and other everyday costs pressure household budgets. The big picture: Retailers gaining traction right now are the ones giving shoppers clear value , convenience or a reason to spend. - Dollar Tree CEO Mike Creedon said customers remain "value focused" as higher fuel prices and broader economic uncertainty pressure budgets. - "People still want to treat themselves," Creedon said, describing Dollar Tree as a…
Corporations are starting to find their backbone: from AI labs resisting military ultimatums to retailers successfully suing the president. Why it matters: The prevailing corporate strategy has been one of high-profile compliance, particularly with the Trump administration. Now, corporates are pushing back, because the cost of that compliance is existential. Driving the news: Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei rejected a Friday deadline from the Pentagon to strip safety guardrails from its AI models for military use. - The standoff: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth demanded "unfettered access" to Claude, rebuffing Anthropic's proposed restrictions on mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous lethal targeting. - The threat: The Pentagon…
The Supreme Court determined that the bulk of President Trump 's tariffs were illegal, and lawmakers and companies are pushing for decisive action on about $175 billion in revenue from the past year. The big picture: Even though the brunt of tariffs was mostly passed onto consumers, any reimbursement is likely to go to the businesses in question — but some companies are already pledging any compensation to their customers. Driving the news: FedEx made the pledge on Friday in a statement following its lawsuit against the U.S. government for a "full refund" of its tariff payments. - "Our intent is straightforward: If refunds are issued to FedEx, we will issue refunds to the shippers and consumers who originally bore those charges,"…