Jonathan Levin

JONATHAN LEVIN HAS WORKED AS A BLOOMBERG JOURNALIST IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE US, COVERING FINANCE, MARKETS AND M&A. MOST RECENTLY, HE HAS SERVED AS THE COMPANY'S MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF. HE IS A CFA CHARTERHOLDER.

Though tariffs are no joke for profit margins, many large companies are finding ways to mitigate the impact, and there’s no clear sign that the levies will precipitate the economic downturn that many initially feared.

Is Wall Street still too bearish on the impact of tariffs?

Analysts are in “Liberation Day” mode when it comes to the companies most sensitive to the levies

Given all the uncertainty, Fed Chair Jerome Powell is right to stay in wait-and-see mode, but he can’t linger there too long once the data breaks.

The Fed is just as confused as the rest of us

The central bank is paralysed by a fog of policy uncertainty, but the data could well necessitate a quick response by autumn

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 13: Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on May 13, 2025 in New York City. Markets opened lower following the announcement that the Labor Department's Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.2% on the month.   Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by SPENCER PLATT / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
THE BOTTOM LINE

Why the S&P 500 is cruising through policy upheaval

Analysts are bracing for an earnings recession in consumer discretionary stocks, but AI’s superstars are offsetting the bleeding

Brookings Institution research projects that about 30% of the workforce could see at least half of their tasks disrupted by generative AI.
THE BROAD VIEW

The AI job suck is the China shock of today

Big economic changes tend to leave some Americans behind. The Trump administration needs to look forward rather than focus on the past.

Whether or not the AI boom is upon us, what’s clear is that the technology seems to have the potential to usher in a period of significant and sustained productivity growth.
THE BOTTOM LINE

The great productivity boom is about to take a break

THE great productivity boom of the 2020s isn’t over, but it’s having an interlude. And it could become a long one if...

“Our independence is a matter of law,” Fed chair Powell said at the Economic Club of Chicago.

Powell shows why Fed independence matters in a turbulent America

In the medium term, investors need to know that the central bank remains committed to its goals of maximum employment and stable...

Warren Buffett made his name as a long-term investor who finds good companies at reasonable prices and rides them for years or decades.

Buffett's US$277b cash hoard after selling Apple is a warning

Warren Buffett has been selling a lot of stock, and that revelation is inducing his many admirers to follow suit. His Omaha, Nebraska-based...

US stocks have delivered a compound annual growth rate of around 17 per cent since the bear-market bottom of 2009, with only two calendar years of negative total returns.

Can Howard Marks spot a stock bubble twice?

The near-universal acceptance of the ‘stocks always go up’ mantra is worrying 

Strategists just don’t have crystal balls, and they sure can’t predict recessions or pandemics. They’re a collection of fallible humans trying to deliver on an impossible task.

Stock bears are going extinct. Time to worry?

It’s that time of year when Wall Street soothsayers look ahead 12 months and try to divine the path of US stocks....

News of the Federal Reserve rate cut decision flashes across the TV screen at the New York Stock Exchange, Dec 18, 2024. The Fed signalled less rate-cutting may be on the cards in 2025 but uncertainty reigns.

The Fed is as clueless as markets

When the stewards of monetary policy are so uncertain, the best course of action is to do nothing