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As Boeing’s stock rises on a new foreign deal, US officials signal China may be next to order planes

Summary

  • to buy up to 22 787 Dreamliners
  • Trump valued the deal at $8B but misstated the plane total
  • Ambassador David Perdue says China talks in “final” stages
  • Potential China deal would be Boeing’s first major sale in years
  • closed 2% higher, up 22% year-to-date
  • Company seeks rebound after 2024 setbacks, strike, and fraud charge

Boeing’s stock climbed Tuesday after the American aerospace giant announced a significant jetliner order from Uzbekistan and as optimism builds around a potentially larger aircraft sale to China.

David Perdue, the U.S. ambassador to China, said he thinks negotiations over a possible deal involving Boeing and China are likely in their “final” days or weeks.

“This is a huge order, and it’s very important to the president, very important to Boeing,” Perdue said Tuesday while visiting China with a group of U.S. lawmakers. The ambassador did not give details on the pending transaction.

Perdue’s comments came a day after Boeing said that Uzbekistan Airways would buy up to 22 of its 787 Dreamliners. The Central Asian nation’s flag carrier plans to acquire 14 of the widebody passenger planes and reserved options for adding eight more to the order, Boeing said.

Boeing said the purchase would help the airline expand its international routes, including to the United States, while also “supporting nearly 35,000 U.S. jobs.”

Boeing’s stock price closed 2% higher on Tuesday, bringing its gain for the year so far to 22.2%.

, in a social media post Monday evening, valued the Uzbekistan Airways deal at over $8 billion but erroneously said the order was for 22,787 planes.

Boeing declined to comment on Trump’s Truth Social post and referred questions to the White House. The White House did not respond to multiple emailed requests from The Associated Press seeking to clarify the numbers that the president cited.

Meanwhile, the potential aircraft deal with China would mark the first sale to the country in years. Although Boeing was still delivering planes to China, its business there plummeted in 2019, when the country became the first to ground all 737 Max planes following two crashes that killed 346 people less than five months apart. Chinese airlines did not resume Max flights until January 2023, much later than other carriers in other countries.

“It’s been a while since Boeing airplanes have been sold here in China,” U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said in Beijing on Tuesday. “We’d like to get that deal done.”

Boeing refused to comment on a potential order from China or Chinese companies. The commercial and military aircraft maker has been seeking to reverse its fortunes and public image after a calamitous 2024. In January of last year, a panel called a door plug blew off a 737 Max shortly after takeoff from Portland, Oregon.

In July, federal prosecutors revived a criminal fraud charge against the company in connection with the deadly 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019. A nearly eight-week strike by the machinists who assemble the 737 Max and two other Boeing planes in Washington state halted production and further dented the company’s finances.

Since Trump returned to the White House this year, his administration has made Boeing a focus of its plans to revive U.S. manufacturing.

Trump has said he would meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a regional summit taking place at the end of October in South Korea and intends to visit China in the “early part of next year,” following a lengthy phone call between the two on Friday.

Virginia employers face new costs from Trump’s $100k H-1B visa fee

SUMMARY:

    • President Trump’s $100,000 fee on new could affect Virginia employers
    • Nearly 25,000 H-1B visas were approved for workers tied to Virginia in 2024
    • Virginia’s U.S. senators oppose the change

With nearly 25,000 H-1B visas approved for workers tied to Virginia in 2024, the commonwealth’s companies and universities have a lot at stake following the ‘s move to impose a $100,000 annual fee on the visas for skilled workers.

The Trump administration’s latest plan to overhaul the American immigration system, the $100,000 fee went into effect Sunday. In a Sept. 19 proclamation, said that companies have “abused” the program, which, he wrote, “has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labor.” In particular, Trump singled out companies for outsourcing jobs and paying lower wages to foreign workers.

Under the new program, companies would foot the bill for the $100,000 fee for a worker visa, which previously cost between $1,700 to $5,000. The $100,000 fee is scheduled to expire after a year, but it could be extended if the government determines that keeping it is in the interest of the United States.

The top employers with H-1B visa workers tied to Virginia last year were Amazon.com, which had about 15,000 H-1B visa beneficiaries, and subsidiaries of McLean-based Financial, which had 748 H-1B beneficiaries, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data. CGI Technologies and Solutions, a subsidiary of CGI, which offers IT services and consulting, had 655 H-1B workers.

For H-1B visas, the state listed is the mailing address of the employer, which is not necessarily where the employee will work. Nationally, Amazon has been the employer with the most H-1B workers approved each year since 2020, according to the Pew Research Center.

CGI declined to comment about the new fee on H-1B visas, and Amazon and Capital One did not immediately respond to requests for interviews.

However, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, Virginia’s junior Democratic senator, thinks the fee will wallop Virginia’s economy.

“Slapping a $100,000 fee on H-1B petitions is bad for our economy, especially for startups and small businesses that rely on these visas to hire workers with specialized skill sets,” he said in a statement. “Having a diverse , including workers from all around the world, has been critical to Virginia’s economic growth and success over the years.”

The newly announced H-1B visa fees left some immigrant workers and their employers confused over the weekend, forcing the White House on Saturday to scramble to clarify that a new $100,000 fee on visas for skilled tech workers only applies to new applicants and not to current visa holders.

“Those who already hold H-1B visas and are currently outside of the country right now will NOT be charged $100,000 to re-enter,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a posting on X. “This applies only to new visas, not renewals, and not current visa holders.”

The White House in a social media post also sought to make clear the new rule “does not impact the ability of any current visa holder to travel to/from the U.S.”

But immigration attorneys said that the White House move threatened to upend the lives of many skilled workers and has far-reaching impact on American business.

Kathleen Campbell Walker, an immigration attorney with Dickinson Wright based in El Paso, Texas, said in a posting on LinkedIn that the White House move “inserts total chaos in existing H-1B process with basically a day’s notice.”

Lutnick on Friday told reporters that the fee would be an annual cost for companies.

But a White House official said Saturday that it’s a “one-time fee.” Asked if Lutnick’s comments sowed confusion, the official, who was not authorized to comment publicly about the matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the new fee “currently does not apply to renewals but that policy is under discussion.”

The change and the confusion could discourage skilled workers in other countries from considering the H-1B visa program altogether.

“I fear that steps like this — that have a whole lot more to do with the Trump administration’s hostility toward immigrants than what’s best for our economy — will only take us backward,” Kaine said in his statement.

Virginia’s universities were also scrambling to assess the change this week.

has 298 employees with H-1B visa out of 9,300 total employees, according to Mark Owczarski, university spokesperson. As of now, Virginia Tech’s understanding is that the fee does not apply to university employees with H-1B visas who need extensions or need to amend petitions for changing job locations or duties, Owczarski noted. It also does not appear to apply to individuals who are currently outside of the country and need to apply for a new H-1B visa prior to returning.

“At Virginia Tech, all H-1B requests for extensions and amendments are currently being processed as normal,” Owczarski said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the University of Virginia is also working to understand and asses the impact, if any, of Trump’s proclamation on its workforce.

“Based on our preliminary analysis, we have informed current employees who hold H-1B visas that they are free to travel internationally, but that they should do so with caution,” U.Va. spokesperson Bethanie Glover said in a statement. “We will share more information with that population and others who are interested as we learn more.”

has about 150 employees with H-1B visas, according to Michael Porter, the university’s associate vice president for public relations.

“Many are employed in highly specialized STEM or medical teaching and research roles,” Porter said in an statement. “After the guidance was announced last week, VCU’s Global Education Office sent an email to VCU’s H-1B visa workforce informing them of the proclamation and the need to receive additional clarification.”

Critics: H-1B visas undercut American workers

H-1B visas, which require at least a bachelor’s degree, are meant to hire foreign workers for high-skilled jobs that tech companies find difficult to fill. However, Critics say the program undercuts American workers, luring people from overseas who are often willing to work for as little as $60,000 annually. That is well below the $100,000-plus salaries typically paid to U.S. technology workers.

At least 60% of H-1B visas approved since 2012 have been for computer-related jobs, according to the Pew Research Center. But hospitals, banks, universities and a wide range of other employers can and do apply for H-1B visas.

The number of new visas issued annually is capped at 65,000, plus an additional 20,000 for people with a master’s degree or higher. Those visas are handed out by a lottery. Some employers, such as universities and nonprofits, are exempt from the limits, though.

Trump on Friday insisted that the tech industry would not oppose the move. Lutnick, meanwhile, claimed “all big companies” are on board. Representatives for the biggest tech companies, including Apple, Google and Meta, did not immediately respond to messages for comment. Microsoft declined to comment.

Lutnick said the change will likely result in far fewer H-1B visas than the 85,000 annual cap allows because “it’s just not economic anymore.”

“If you’re going to train people, you’re going to train Americans,” Lutnick said on a conference call with reporters. “If you have a very sophisticated engineer and you want to bring them in … then you can pay $100,000 a year for your H-1B visa.”

Critics say H-1B spots often go to entry-level jobs, rather than senior positions with unique skill requirements. And while the program isn’t supposed to undercut U.S. wages or displace U.S. workers, critics say companies can pay less by classifying jobs at the lowest skill levels, even if the specific workers hired have more experience.

As a result, many U.S. companies find it cheaper to contract out help desks, programming and other basic tasks to consulting companies such as Wipro, Infosys, HCL Technologies and Tata in India and IBM and Cognizant in the U.S. These consulting companies hire foreign workers, often from India, and contract them out to U.S. employers looking to save money.

, Virginia’s senior Democratic senator, worries the fee will make the United States less competitive globally.

“[The] H1-B program is a critical tool that allows American companies and businesses to attract and retain the sharpest minds from around the world — especially those educated at American colleges and universities,” Warner said in a statement. “This policy will punish skilled foreigners who add to our economy and critical industries and will push the American dream out of reach for many American companies and communities. The Trump administration is once again undermining American innovation and handing our adversaries a victory.”

 

Serco appoints new CEO

Michael LaRouche will succeed as of -based on Oct. 1.

According to a Monday news release, Watson is stepping down after seven years with Serco, the North American subsidiary of British parent company Serco Group. He became CEO in 2022, after four years as Serco’s senior vice president of defense business.

LaRouche most recently was founder and president of Emalar, a tech company focused on national security, according to his LinkedIn profile. He previously was president of the Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) national security and space sector for five years.

Before joining SAIC, LaRouche was a vice president at Raytheon (now part of RTX) for 11 years. Before that, he held leadership roles at Lockheed Martin and Hughes Network Systems.

“Michael is an excellent appointment for Serco, and I am delighted to welcome him as our CEO for North America,” Serco Group CEO Anthony Kirby said in a statement. “Michael is a strategic leader and has deep experience in growing businesses, in the United States and internationally.”

LaRouche serves on the board of directors for the Intelligence and National Security Alliance, a nonprofit association focused on advancing intelligence and national security through public-private-academic partnerships. He previously served a three-year term that began in 2020.

He earned an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in the same subject from the University of Colorado.

Serco has more than 100 sites across North America and more than 10,000 employees across the U.S. and Canada. In May, it completed its $327 million purchase of Northrop Grumman’s mission training and satellite ground network communications software business. Parent company Serco Group reported almost 4.8 billion pounds — about $6.4 billion as of Tuesday — in 2024 revenue.

Powell signals Federal Reserve to move slowly on interest rate cuts

SUMMARY:

  • and slip while Dow inches higher after records
  • Nvidia drops 2% after rally tied to partnership news
  • rises on Dreamliner order
  • Kenvue rebounds after Trump’s -autism remarks
  • Gold hits record $3,800, up 45% this year on Fed rate-cut bets
  • Powell to speak following Fed’s first rate cut of 2025

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chair on Tuesday signaled a cautious approach to future interest rate cuts, in sharp contrast with other Fed officials who have called for a more urgent approach.

In remarks in Providence, Rhode Island, Powell noted that there are risks to both of the Fed’s goals of seeking maximum employment and stable prices. But with the unemployment rate rising, he noted, the Fed agreed to cut its key rate last week. Yet he did not signal any further cuts on the horizon.

If the Fed were to cut rates “too aggressively,” Powell said, “we could leave the inflation job unfinished and need to reverse course later” and raise rates. But if the Fed keeps its rate too high for too long, “the labor market could soften unnecessarily,” he added.

Powell’s remarks echoed the caution he expressed during a news conference last week, after the Fed announced its first rate cut this year. At that time he said, “it’s challenging to know what to do.”

His approach is in sharp contrast to some members of the Fed’s rate-setting committee who are pushing for faster cuts. On Monday, Stephen Miran, whom appointed to the Fed’s governing board, said that the Fed should quickly reduce its rate to as low as 2% to 2.5%, from its current level of about 4.1%. Miran is also a top adviser in the Trump administration and expects to return to the White House after his term expires in January, though Trump could appoint him to a longer term.

And earlier Tuesday, Fed governor Michelle Bowman also said the central bank should cut more quickly. Bowman, who was appointed by Trump in his first term, said inflation appears to be cooling while the job market is stumbling, a combination that would support lower rates.

When the Fed cuts its key rate, it often over time reduces other borrowing costs for things like mortgages, car loans, and business loans.

“It is time for the (Fed) to act decisively and proactively to address decreasing labor market dynamism and emerging signs of fragility,” Bowman said in a speech in Asheville, North Carolina. “We are at serious risk of already being behind the curve in addressing deteriorating labor market conditions. Should these conditions continue, I am concerned that we will need to adjust policy at a faster pace and to a larger degree going forward.”

Yet Powell’s comments showed little sign of such urgency. Other Fed officials have also expressed caution about cutting rates too fast, reflecting deepening divisions on the rate-setting committee.

On Tuesday, , president of the Federal Reserve’s Chicago branch, said in an interview on CNBC that the Fed should move slowly given that inflation is above its 2% target.

“With inflation having been over the target for 4 1/2 years in a row, and rising, I think we need to be a little careful with getting overly up-front aggressive,” he said.

Last week the Fed cut its key rate for the first time this year to about 4.1%, down from about 4.3%, and policymakers signaled they would likely reduce rates twice more. Fed officials said in a statement that their concerns about slower hiring had risen, though they noted that inflation is still above their 2% target.

Wall Street holds near its record heights

SUMMARY:

  • and Nasdaq slip while Dow inches higher after records
  • drops 2% after rally tied to partnership news
  • Boeing rises on Dreamliner order
  • Kenvue rebounds after Trump’s -autism remarks
  • Gold hits record $3,800, up 45% this year on Fed rate-cut bets
  • Powell to speak following Fed’s first rate cut of 2025

 

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes are hanging near their record heights on Tuesday as Wall Street takes a moment following a relentless rally.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.2%. The Industrial Average was up 38 points, or 0.1%, as of noon Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.3% lower. All three indexes are coming off their latest all-time highs set the day before.

Nvidia weighed on the market after giving back some of its big gain from the day before, when it announced a partnership with OpenAI to build out data centers. Wall Street’s most influential stock lost 2%.

AutoZone fell 2.9% after reporting a weaker profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected, as the auto parts retailer squeezed less earnings out of each $1 of revenue than it did a year earlier.

But a 1.9% rise for Boeing helped support the market after Uzbekistan Airways agreed to buy 14 of its Dreamliner airplanes and said it may add eight more to the order.

Kenvue climbed 3.3% and recovered much of its drop from Monday, when it had fallen on worries that President would say its Tylenol product may increase the risk of autism in children. Trump did warn pregnant women about taking Tylenol, but he did not seem to cite any significant new research to back it up. Kenvue has disputed any link between the drug and autism.

Gold, meanwhile, continued its record-breaking rally and topped $3,800 per ounce. It’s soared nearly 45% so far this year, even more than the U.S. , in part on expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates to help the slowing U.S. job market. Worries about potentially high because of White House influence on the Fed, along with mountains of debt for the U.S. and other governments, have also vaulted gold’s price higher.

Fed Chair will speak later in the afternoon and give his first public remarks since the Fed cut its main interest rate last week for the first time this year. At the time, he said many Fed officials had penciled in more cuts to rates through the end of this year and into next. But he also cautioned that conditions may change quickly.

The Fed is wary because lower rates can give inflation more fuel, and inflation has stubbornly remained above its 2% target. An update on Friday will show how much prices are rising for U.S. households based on the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation, and economists expect it to show a slight acceleration for last month.

A preliminary report suggested activity at U.S. businesses is still growing, but at a slower pace as tariffs raise prices for them. Companies may be finding it difficult to pass those higher costs fully on to customers because of “weaker demand and stiff competition,” according to S&P Global.

The numbers suggest that inflation could moderate for U.S. households, but not by so much that it drops below the Fed’s 2% target in the coming months, according to Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

In the bond market, Treasury yields ticked lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.13% from 4.15% late Monday.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed amid modest moves across much of Europe and Asia.

France’s CAC 40 rose 0.5%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.7% for two of the bigger moves. Japan’s stock market was closed for a national holiday.

Tylenol maker rebounds a day after Trump’s unfounded claims about its safety

Summary

  • Trump warned against use in pregnancy, citing autism links
  • stock dropped 7.5% Monday, rebounded 6% at Tuesday’s open
  • Company disputed claims, warning of risks if women avoid the drug
  • Analysts see limited lawsuit risk, but reputational concerns remain
  • Kenvue, spun off from J&J in 2023, makes Band-Aids, Listerine and more

Shares of Tylenol maker Kenvue bounced back sharply at the opening bell Tuesday, a day after promoted unproven and in some cases discredited ties between Tylenol, vaccines and autism.

“Don’t take Tylenol,” Trump instructed pregnant women around a dozen times during the White House news conference Monday, also urging mothers not to give their infants the drug, known by the generic name in the U.S. or paracetamol in most other countries.

Shares of the New Jersey consumer brands company tumbled 7.5% Monday. At the open of trading, shares bounced back by more than 6%.

The announcement, which appeared to rely on existing studies rather than significant new research, arrives as Health and Human Services Secretary , a vaccine skeptic, advances the Make America Healthy Again movement that has focused on what it sees as potential causes of autism.

Kenvue disputed any link between the drug and autism this week and warned that if pregnant mothers don’t use Tylenol when in need, they could face a dangerous choice between suffering fevers or using riskier alternatives.

Kenvue was spun off from ‘s pharmaceutical and medical device divisions in 2023 because it was thought that the companies could function more efficiently if they were independent from each other. Aside from Tylenol, the company makes Band-Aids, Listerine and other household brand names.

Citi Investment Research analyst Filippo Falorni wrote that he sees a limited risk of new lawsuits after Trump’s announcement, but thinks “there could be risk to Tylenol consumption given the negative headlines.”

Falorni anticipates a positive reaction for Kenvue’s stock at the opening bell on Tuesday given the lack of new scientific evidence.

The company has fought hundreds of lawsuits related to the product and its alleged ties to autism, but most have been dismissed.

Tylenol made headlines in the 1980s when seven people in the Chicago area were killed after taking the over-the-counter painkiller laced with cyanide. The incident triggered a nationwide panic and led to an overhaul in the safety of over-the-counter medication packaging. No one was ever charged in the deaths.

 

State rejects St. Francis hospital expansion

SUMMARY:

    • Virginia denied ‘s request for 36 new medical surgical beds
    • Four ICU beds were approved due to a regional shortage
    • has refiled the full $106 million expansion request

The Virginia state government has rejected a request from Bon Secours’ St. Francis Medical Center to add 36 medical surgical beds to its facility, arguing that there isn’t enough need for them.

However, the health system has refiled its application in full.

Bon Secours had been seeking the state’s approval to build two additional floors on an existing inpatient tower that would house the 36 beds, along with four more intensive care unit (ICU) beds. The estimated cost of the project is about $106 million.

But on Sept. 2, State Health Commissioner Dr. Karen Shelton rejected the (COPN) request for the 36 beds, although she did approve the part of the request allowing for the four ICU beds.

The state’s COPN program requires owners and sponsors of medical care facility projects to secure approval from the state health commission before they can begin the projects. The program aims to contain costs.

In an August letter recommending denial of the COPN request, state health department adjudication officer Vanessa MacLeod wrote that there is a shortage of ICU beds in the region, with about 73 more needed. She said even with the authorization of the four St. Francis ICU beds, there will still be a shortage.

However, she wrote that “the proposed project in its entirety is not consistent with public need” and called the 36 beds “premature.”

“With a surplus of nearly 435 beds, there is no public need for new medical surgical beds,” she wrote.

The state also examined whether St. Francis is utilizing its existing beds fully.

MacLeod noted that St. Francis implemented 55 new acute care beds in October 2024 and that the health system asserted it needed 36 more medical surgical beds. She said institutional need requires 80% of the medical surgical beds to be occupied.

She noted that St. Francis’ latest published data from 2023 included 130 beds of all classes at 86.4% occupancy, which was before it added 55 beds. Additionally, she wrote that the medical surgical beds St. Francis had allocated to obstetrical beds were not included in its occupancy calculation.

According to the Division of Certificate of Public Need (DCOPN), the occupancy of St. Francis’ medical surgical beds, including those allocated to obstetrics, is 76.5% — falling below the 80% threshold.

DCOPN received 33 letters of support from providers, community members and patients in favor of the 36 beds, noting the area’s growing population and arguing it would ensure patients can have access to the best care possible.

But HCA — another health system in the Richmond region — wrote a letter in opposition, arguing that St. Francis’ proposal is premature and that St. Francis’ application was because other competing providers requested additional beds. recently submitted a COPN request for a $260 million hospital in .

In response to HCA’s letter of opposition, St. Francis argued its application was not premature but “the result of carefully considered facility planning,” and projects like this take a significant amount of time to implement.

Bon Secours spokesperson Jenna Green said in a statement that the hospital intends to keep pursuing the full proposal and that the application has been resubmitted.

“While we are appreciative of the partial approval, Bon Secours remains committed to pursuing the project as originally proposed,” the statement said. “We believe this comprehensive expansion is essential to meeting the growing and evolving health care needs of Chesterfield County and the surrounding region, which we have faithfully served for two decades. The demand for additional medical/surgical beds remains clear, and it is a need echoed by other health systems across greater Richmond.

“We remain hopeful the commissioner will ultimately approve the full 40-bed expansion at St. Francis Medical Center, and we will continue to advocate for this project with steadfast commitment to improving access, advancing health equity and delivering high-quality, compassionate care to the communities we serve.”

In July, Bon Secours broke ground on a three-story, 87,790-square-foot medical office building at the St. Francis Medical Center campus Chesterfield County. The health system expects to be completed in late 2026.

The Bon Secours Richmond Health System has a network of seven acute hospitals, primary and specialty care practices, ambulatory care sites and continuing care facilities across a 24-locality region. Bon Secours also operates four hospitals and one outpatient facility in Hampton Roads.

Amentum to add 3,000 UK jobs

SUMMARY:

    • announced plans to create 3,000 jobs in the UK Thursday
    • Trump and Starmer signed during state visit
    • Major investments in the UK pledged by companies including Microsoft

British Prime Minister gave a shout-out to Chantilly-based government contractor Amentum Thursday at a business reception held during President ‘s state visit to Britain..

During the trip, which included stops at Windsor Castle and St. George’s Chapel, Trump and Starmer signed the Tech Prosperity Deal, an agreement to invest joint resources and expertise into areas such as and . The deal was accompanied by pledges of more than $202 billion in U,K. investment including more than $121 billion from Blackstone, a private equity group.

“To fuel this revolution, we have also struck a new deal on civil ,” Starmer said at the business event held at Chequers, the prime minister’s country home. “I want to thank everybody here for supporting this too with brilliant, job-creating investments from Amentum and others.”

Specifically, Amentum announced plans to create 3,000 new jobs in the over the next four years in nuclear power and defense, an investment worth about $203 million according to the U.K.  A provider of advanced engineering and technology services, Amentum is a lead delivery partner for the U.K.’s new nuclear power stations at Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C. Additionally, Amentum provides technical and product solutions for small modular reactors and fusion research there.

Amentum John Heller attended Thursday’s reception along with top U.S. executives like Apple CEO Tim Cook and CEO Jensen Huang.

Amentum CEO John Heller. Photo courtesy Amentum
Amentum CEO John Heller. Photo courtesy Amentum

“The U.S. state visit reflects the unique strength of the U.K.-U.S. partnership and our shared determination to drive economic growth and prosperity,” Heller said in a statement.

Collaboration between the nuclear industries of the U.K. and the U.S. will help meet Trump’s goal of quadrupling nuclear generating capacity by 2050, Amentum stated in a news release.

Amentum assists U.K.’s national defense by providing services for the Royal Navy’s nuclear submarines, managing the U.K. training estate for the Defence Infrastructure Organization, part of the U.K.’s Ministry of Defence, and delivering program management and engineering support for Atomic Weapons Establishment, the U.K. equivalent to the National Nuclear Security Administration.

“We are stepping up collaboration between our people on both sides of the Atlantic to ensure that we seize opportunities which are tailor-made for our company,” Mark Whitney, president of Amentum Energy and Environment, stated in the news release. “Based on current demand projections, we expect to increase our U.K. head count by 50% over the next four years.  And we are also investing in digital engineering, AI and automation to improve the delivery of critical infrastructure and government programs in the U.K. and the U.S.”

More than 53,000 employees in about 80 countries work at Amentum. In the United Kingdom, the company has 6,000 employees. Amentum reported $3.6 billion in revenue for the third quarter of 2025.

US stocks drift toward more records following Wall Street’s relentless rally

Summary

  • rises 0.4% after morning losses
  • Dow adds 96 points; up 0.6%
  • Nvidia gains on partnership news
  • Oracle climbs on expected algorithm deal

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are drifting toward more records on Monday following ‘s seemingly relentless rally.

The S&P 500 rose 0.4% after erasing what had been a modest loss earlier in the morning. The Industrial Average was up 96 points, or 0.2%, as of 1:30 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% higher. All three are on track to top their latest all-time highs, which were set on Friday.

“Every time the market seems to be running out of momentum, it fools most of us by pushing to higher heights,” said Jay Woods, chief market strategist at Freedom Capital Markets.

A familiar face was again the strongest force lifting the market, Nvidia. Wall Street’s most valuable company rose 3.5% after announcing a partnership to train and run OpenAI’s next generation of artificial-intelligence models. As part of the deal, Nvidia will invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI.

Oracle climbed 4.7% after a senior official in President ‘s administration said the tech giant will receive a copy of TikTok’s algorithm to operate for U.S. users as part of the deal to keep the popular platform running in the country.

Oracle also named Clay Magouyrk and Mike Sicilia as its CEOs, with current Safra Catz becoming executive vice chair of the technology company’s board.

Some of the market’s sharpest action was among companies agreeing to buy one another.

Pfizer said it would buy Metsera and its pipeline of medicines to potentially treat obesity in a deal initially valuing it at $4.9 billion. The price tag could go up sharply, by nearly 50%, if Metsera’s candidates win approval from federal regulators and achieve other milestones.

Metsera’s stock jumped 61.9%, and Pfizer’s added 0.7%.

ODP, which runs Office Depot and Office Max, leaped 33.2% after Atlas Holdings agreed to buy it in a deal valued at roughly $1 billion.

Anywhere Real Estate soared 45.5% after Compass said it would buy the company behind the Coldwell Banker and Corcoran brands in an all-stock deal. They said the combined company is expected to have a total enterprise value of roughly $10 billion, including debt. Compass shares sank 16.6%.

Also on the losing end of Wall Street was Coinbase Global, which fell 3.5% as stocks sank across the crypto industry following a pullback for cryptocurrency prices.

But Coinbase is still up 33% for the year so far thanks to interest in crypto, whose prices have soared to records on expectations for cuts to by the .

Stocks have surged since April on hopes that Trump’s tariffs won’t derail global trade and that the Fed will deliver several cuts to rates to boost the economy. The Fed made its first cut of the year last week, and officials indicated they could deliver more through the end of this year and into next.

The U.S. stock market still faces challenges, though. Chief among them is if the Fed does not cut interest rates as many times as investors expect. The Fed is wary because lower rates can give inflation more fuel, and inflation has stubbornly remained above its 2% target.

An update on Friday will show how much prices are rising for U.S. households based on the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation, and economists expect it to show a slight acceleration for last month.

Plus, stocks already look too expensive to many professional investors after their prices surged so much.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Europe and Asia.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 1%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.8% for two of the world’s bigger moves.

In the bond market, Treasury yields held relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged down to 4.13% from 4.14% on Friday.

Nvidia to invest $100 billion in OpenAI to help expand the ChatGPT maker’s computing power

Summary

  • to invest $100B in to expand AI infrastructure
  • At least 10 GW of Nvidia-powered planned
  • First gigawatt deployment expected in late 2026
  • Partnership follows ‘s $100B equity stake in OpenAI

Chipmaker Nvidia will invest $100 billion in OpenAI as part of a partnership announced Monday that will add at least 10 gigawatts of Nvidia AI data centers to ramp up the computing power for the owner of the chatbot .

Per the letter of intent signed by the companies, the first gigawatt of Nvidia systems will be deployed in the second half of 2026. Nvidia and OpenAI said they would be finalizing the details of the arrangement in the coming weeks.

“This partnership complements the deep work OpenAI and Nvidia are already doing with a broad network of collaborators, including Microsoft, , SoftBank and Stargate partners, focused on building the world’s most advanced AI infrastructure,” the companies said in a release.

The Nvidia-OpenAI partnership comes about 10 days after OpenAI said it had reached a new tentative agreement that will give Microsoft a $100 billion equity stake in its for-profit corporation. OpenAI is technically controlled by its nonprofit.

OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit in 2015 and its nonprofit board has continued to control the for-profit subsidiary that now develops and sells its AI products.

OpenAI’s corporate structure and nonprofit mission are the subject of a lawsuit brought by Elon Musk, who helped found the nonprofit research lab and provided initial funding. Musk’s suit seeks to stop OpenAI from taking control of the company away from its nonprofit and alleges it has betrayed its promise to develop AI for the benefit of humanity.

Earlier this month, the attorneys general of California and Delaware warned OpenAI that they have “serious concerns” about the safety of ChatGPT, especially for children and teens.

The two state officials, who have unique powers to regulate nonprofits such as OpenAI, noted “deeply troubling reports of dangerous interactions between” chatbots and their users, including the suicide of one young Californian after he had prolonged interactions with an OpenAI chatbot. The parents of the 16-year-old California boy, who died in April, sued OpenAI and its , , last month.

OpenAI says it has 700 million weekly active users.

Also, just last week Nvidia announced that it was investing $5 billion in fellow chipmaker Intel, which has struggled to keep up with the frenzied demand for artificial intelligence.