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Francine the Lowe’s cat returns home after NC adventure

Summary

  • Beloved calico cat Francine went missing from a Virginia Lowe’s
  • Surveillance showed she hitched a ride on a delivery truck
  • Found at a distribution center after traps were set
  • Employees drove 90 minutes to bring her back to the Richmond store

Francine the calico cat is back home at a store in Virginia after going missing for a few weeks, hitching a ride on a truck that turned up at a sister facility in another state.

Two employees from a Lowe’s in Richmond made the 90-minute drive early Monday to pick up Francine, who disappeared in September and recently was discovered at the company’s distribution center in Garysburg, North Carolina.

She was back on the job Tuesday, playing with customers, posing for photos and soaking in affection.

“Francine is one of us,” store supervisor Wayne Schneider said in a telephone interview. “She’s just amazing. What she means here to the store and the employees, you really can’t imagine the outpouring that the employees and also the customers give her daily.”

Francine spends much of her time either at the customer service desk or in the store’s seasonal area. But things went awry in September as the store brought in items for the upcoming Christmas season. Store general manager Mike Sida said that disruption may have prompted Francine to seek comfort elsewhere.

After store employees hadn’t seen Francine for a few days, they reviewed past surveillance video. There were glimpses of her in the appliance section and then the receiving department, where she darted into a truck. An overnight manager is then seen shutting the truck’s door and off it went to Garysburg, about 85 miles (137 kilometers) to the south.

“And then, of course, when she got down to the distribution center, she shot off the truck,” Sida said. “That’s when we found out where she was and she was missing.”

An animal control office set up humane traps at the distribution center, where photos of Francine were posted throughout. The center had dozens of monitoring cameras, and Lowe’s brought in thermal drones to survey the area. An Instagram account unaffiliated with Lowe’s dedicated to finding Francine grew to more than 34,000 followers.

On Saturday, Francine was spotted on camera near the distribution center. After more humane traps were installed, a volunteer checked each trap throughout the night. Finally, one of the traps triggered and Francine’s meows could be heard.

Schneider and Sida got in a car early Monday and drove to get Francine.

“That ride going down, knowing that we were going to get her, was just heartwarming. Knowing she’s safe and that she’s coming back to the store to get off her two-week vacation,” Schneider said.

Francine was a stray when she started living at the Lowe’s store more than eight years ago. Cats are common sightings around feed stores and garden centers, which contain large amounts of grain and seed that can be attractive to mice and rats. In New York City, cats are beloved fixtures of the city’s bodegas and delis.

At the Lowe’s store, Francine “just showed up,” Sida said. “We had a bit of a mice problem. So, of course, I’m like, wow. I like this cat a lot because it’s helping me.”

Lowe’s doesn’t have an official policy about cats in stores. Asked why Francine wasn’t taken to someone’s residence after showing up, Sida said she is loved by employees and the community.

“Francine picked us. We didn’t pick her,” Sida said. “Later, we would embrace her being our . But at the end of the day, she came to us. Where she’s at is where she wants to be. She does whatever she wants.”

Unlike Lowe’s employees, Francine does not wear a vest. She had been previously outfitted with several collars but escaped them all. Now they plan on fitting her with a harness that includes identifying information.

A local brewery will host a “Francine Fest” community event on Wednesday to celebrate the homecoming, while the store is planning its own team party.

Trump, Carney discuss future of U.S.-Canada trade deal

Summary

  • Trump meets Canadian PM at the White House
  • Talks center on future of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement ()
  • Trump open to extending current pact or striking new deals
  • Canada seeks relief from U.S. as relations remain strained
  • Over 75% of Canada’s exports flow to the U.S.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President said Tuesday that he was open to extending the with Mexico and Canada through a renegotiation or seeking “different deals” as he met with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the White House.

Carney made his second visit to the Oval Office ahead of next year’s review of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and as one of the world’s most durable and amicable alliances has been fractured by Trump’s trade war and annexation threats.

The free trade agreement was enacted during Trump’s first term, and it allows the majority of Canadian and Mexican goods to be shipped to the U.S. without tariffs. But Trump has made it clear since returning to office that he wants to reshape the relationship, and he expressed ambivalence over the process as long as he feels like he’s able to improve America’s position.

“We could renegotiate it, and that would be good, or we can just do different deals,” he said. “We’re allowed to do different deals if we want. We might make deals that are better for the individual countries.”

The remarks suggested that Trump is willing to let uncertainty over the agreement’s future linger.

Carney entered the visit hoping to find some relief on sector-specific tariffs. There is fear in Canada over what will happen to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which is critical to Canada’s economy. More than three-quarters of Canada’s exports go to the U.S.

Trump showed a fondness for Carney — something he didn’t display toward Carney’s predecessor, Justin Trudeau — but noted there was a “natural conflict” between the two countries, a point to which the prime minister politely disagreed.

“We want Canada to do great,” Trump said. “But you know, there’s a point at which we also want the same business.”

Asked why the U.S. and Canada have failed to reach a deal on trade, Trump said it’s a complicated situation.

“We have natural conflict,” he said. “We also have mutual love.”

Carney balked at Trump’s use of the word “conflict.”

“There are areas where we compete, and it’s in those areas where we have to come to an agreement that works. But there are more areas where we are stronger together, and that’s what we’re focused on.”

Trump’s talk of making Canada the 51st state and his tariffs have Canadians feeling an undeniable sense of betrayal. The U.S. president made a joking reference to a “merger” between the two countries at the top of his remarks Tuesday.

Relations with Canada’s southern neighbor and longtime ally are at a low point.

“We’ve had ups and downs, but this is the lowest point in relations that I can recall,” said Frank McKenna, a former Canadian ambassador to the United States and current deputy chairman of TD Bank.

“I talk every day to ordinary citizens who are changing their vacation plans, and I talk to large business owners who are moving reward trips away or executive business trips,” McKenna said. “There is an outright rebellion.”

Carney has said the USMCA is an advantage for Canada at a time when it is clear that the U.S. is charging for access to its market. Carney has said the commitment of the U.S. to the core of USMCA means that more than 85% of Canada-U.S. trade continues to be free of tariffs. He said the U.S. average tariff rate on Canadian goods is 5.6% and remains the lowest among all its trading partners.

But Trump has some sector-specific tariffs on Canada, known as Section 232 tariffs, that are having an impact. There are 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, for example.

“Improving relations with the White House ahead of the USMCA review is certainly an objective of the trip, but opposition parties and part of the Canadian public will criticize Prime Minister Carney if he doesn’t achieve some progress on the tariff front at this stage,” said Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal.

Asked by a reporter about the prospect of Canada getting some relief in steel and aluminum tariffs, Trump said it would be something they would discuss.

The ties between the two countries are without parallel. About $2.5 billion (nearly $3.6 billion Canadian) worth of goods and services cross the border each day. Canada is the top export destination for 36 U.S. states. There is close cooperation on defense, border security and law enforcement, and a vast overlap in culture, traditions and pastimes.

About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports are from Canada, and 85% of U.S. electricity imports are from Canada.

Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the U.S. and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager for and investing in for national security.

“The bigger prize would be getting a mutual agreement to negotiate as quickly as possible the free trade relationship,” McKenna said. “If the United States were to threaten us with the six months’ notice of termination, I think it would represent a deep chill all across North America.”

Gold futures rise above $4,000 per ounce for the first time

Summary

NEW YORK (AP) — Gold futures soared above $4,000 per troy ounce for the first time Tuesday, as many investors seek a safe place to park their money during the continuing U.S. .

The going price for New York spot gold had previously closed at $3,960.60 per troy ounce — the standard for measuring precious metals — on Monday.

Gold sales can rise sharply when anxious investors seek secure investments for their money. Even before the shutdown, the asset — and other metals, like silver — had seen wide gains over the last year, as President  ‘s barrage of tariffs cause uncertainty around the outlook for the global economy. More recently, the prospect of lower interest rates has also made gold a more attractive investment than interest-bearing investments.

How much have climbed this year?

Gold futures are up about 50% since the start of 2025 — trading at about $4,003 per troy ounce just after 4 p.m. ET Tuesday. That’s up from around $2,670 at the beginning of January.

Silver has seen an even bigger percentage jump year to date. Silver futures are up nearly 60%, trading at under $48 per troy ounce Tuesday afternoon.

Why are prices going up?

A lot of it boils down to uncertainty. Interest in buying metals like gold typically spikes when investors become anxious.

Much of the recent economic turmoil has spanned from Trump’s trade wars. Since the start of 2025, steep new tariffs the president has imposed on goods coming into the U.S. from around the world have strained businesses and consumers alike — pushing costs higher and helping to weaken the job market. As a result, hiring has plunged while has inched back up. And more and more consumers are expressing pessimism about the road ahead.

The U.S. government shutdown has added to those anxieties. Key economic data has been delayed — and scores of federal employees are already feeling the effects of and working without pay as long as the shutdown lasts, which has no immediate end in sight. Trump has also threatened to use the shutdown to conduct mass firings and perhaps permanently shutter offices in attempt to punish Democrats for voting down GOP legislation.

Giovanni Staunovo, commodity analyst at UBS Global Wealth Management, also points to continued weakness of the U.S. dollar and renewed rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. Last month, the Fed cut its key interest rate by a quarter-point — and projected it would do so twice more this year.

Investments in gold have also been driven by other factors over time. Analysts have previously pointed to strong gold demand from central banks around the world — including amid heightened geopolitical tensions, such as the ongoing wars in Gaza and Ukraine.

“The gold rally started in 2022,” Staunovo said via email on Tuesday. He noted that the “trigger point” was when the U.S. and other Western allies moved to freeze around $300 billion of Russian foreign holdings at the beginning of the war in Ukraine.

What about jewelry?

Many jewelry merchants and dealers have increasingly reported surges in customers looking to check the value of gold they own — sometimes opting to melt or sell family heirlooms to cash in on the precious metal’s rising price.

At the same time, those in the market for gold jewelry may be feeling “sticker shock” if they can’t afford certain products anymore — particularly if it’s something impacted by both rising material costs and tariffs.

Larger retailers like Pandora and Signet, whose brands include Zales and Kay Jewelers, have acknowledged these headwinds in recent earnings calls.

“If I’m a guessing man here, we will see a general price rise for the category,” Pandora CEO Alexander Lacik said in an August earnings call, pointing to rising costs of gold and silver, as well as tariffs, industrywide.

Is gold worth the investment?

Advocates of investing in gold call it a “” — arguing the commodity can serve to diversify and balance your investment portfolio, as well as mitigate possible risks down the road as a hedge against rising inflation. Some also take comfort in buying something tangible that has the potential to increase in value over time.

Still, experts caution against putting all your eggs in one basket. And not everyone agrees gold is a good investment. Critics say gold isn’t always the inflation hedge many claim — and that there are more efficient ways to protect against potential loss of capital, such as derivative-based investments.

“Gold is perceived by many market participants as a safe haven asset. But investors need to be aware it has a volatility of 10-15%,” Staunovo noted. He added that smaller amounts of physical gold, such as gold coins or 1-gram bars, have larger ranges between buying and selling prices.

The Commodity Futures Trade Commission has also previously warned people to be wary of investing in gold. Precious metals can be highly volatile, the commission said, and prices rise as demand goes up — meaning “when economic anxiety or instability is high, the people who typically profit from precious metals are the sellers.”

The commission added that it’s also important to be cautious of potential scams and counterfeits on the market.

Gold demand escalates mercury poisoning warnings

The frenzy for gold has also resulted in health and environmental consequences — with officials pointing to rising demand for mercury, a toxic metal that is key in illegal gold mining worldwide.

Mercury is widely used to separate gold during artisanal or small-scale mining. But it pollutes water, accumulates in fish, makes its way into food and builds up in people’s bodies, leading to neurological and developmental harm. Even small-scale exposure can carry serious risks — putting in danger workers who rely on the industry, as well as residents in affected areas more broadly.

The Associated Press has reported about the effects of mercury poisoning tied to gold mining in countries like Senegal, Mexico and Peru, among other parts of the world.

Wall Street slips after record run as gold tops $4,000

Summary

  • falls 0.4% after hitting record high
  • Dow slips 0.2%, drops 0.7%
  • and losses weigh on market
  • Gold tops $4,000 amid and political concerns

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street’s record-breaking rally ran out of momentum on Tuesday after the price of gold topped $4,000 per ounce for the first time.

The S&P 500 dipped 0.4% from its latest all-time high and broke a seven-day winning streak. The Industrial Average fell 91 points, or 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 0.7%.

Stocks took a pause following a nearly relentless rush higher since April on hopes that the economy will remain resilient and that the Federal Reserve will continue to cut interest rates.

Tesla was the heaviest weight on the market and dropped 4.4% after unveiling cheaper versions of two of its electric car models. The stock gave back most of its leap from the prior day, when speculation and hype built after Tesla hinted at a coming product announcement.

Oracle also helped drag the market lower. It fell 2.5% after a news report suggested it’s making thin profit margins on a key line of business related to artificial-intelligence technology.

The frenzy around AI has been one of the biggest trends guiding Wall Street to record after record recently. It’s been so strong that it’s raised worries that prices have potentially shot too high across the market.

On Tuesday, Dell climbed 3.5% after executives talked up the company’s opportunity for growth because of AI at an investment conference. Advanced Micro Devices rallied 3.8% to add to its surge from Monday, when it announced a deal where will use its chips to power AI infrastructure. IBM rose 1.5% after announcing a partnership that will integrate Anthropic’s Claude AI chatbot into some of its software products.

Much is riding on expectations that the AI investment boom will pay off by making the global economy more productive and driving more growth. Without that increased efficiency, inflation could push higher due to upward pressure coming from the mountains of debt that the U.S. and other governments worldwide are building.

That has optimists on Wall Street buying tech stocks and pessimists buying gold, according to Thierry Wizman, a strategist at Macquarie Group.

have traditionally seen gold as offering protection from high inflation. Its price has soared more than 50% this year not only because of governments’ huge debt loads but also because of political instability worldwide and expectations for lower interest rates from the Fed.

Investors looking to “hedge” themselves, meanwhile, may be buying both tech stocks and gold, Wizman wrote in a research report.

Elsewhere on Wall Street, Intercontinental Exchange rose 1.8% after the company behind the New York Stock Exchange said it had agreed to invest up to $2 billion in Polymarket.

Polymarket offers prediction markets that allow customers to profit from making predictions on events across , financial markets and popular culture, such as who will become New York City’s next mayor or whether the U.S. government will announce this year that aliens exist.

Constellation Brands added 1% after the beer and wine company reported results for the latest quarter that several analysts said were better than they expected. Sales of beer still dropped from a year earlier, though, as CEO Bill Newlands highlighted a “challenging socioeconomic environment that has dampened consumer demand.”

All told, the S&P 500 fell 25.69 points to 6,714.59. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 91.99 to 46,602.98, and the Nasdaq composite sank 153.30 to 22,788.36.

In Toronto, shares of Trilogy Metals more than tripled after the White House said late Monday that it’s taking a 10% equity stake in the Canadian company while allowing the Ambler Road mining project in Alaska to go forward.

late Monday ordered the approval of a proposed 211-mile road through an Alaska wilderness to allow mining of copper, cobalt, gold and other minerals used in production of cars, electronics and other technologies. Trilogy is seeking to develop the Ambler site along with an Australian partner.

In Europe, France’s CAC 40 edged up by less than 0.1% a day after slumping due to the latest political upheaval in Paris. France’s prime minister abruptly resigned on Monday.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.13% from 4.18% late Monday.

U.Va. faculty call for no deal with Trump administration

Summary

  • is one of nine universities offered compact by Trump administration
  • In return for agreeing to political priorities, schools would receive increased access to
  • U.Va. have overwhelmingly voted to oppose university’s signing of compact

faculty members have taken action in recent days to voice their opposition to the deal offered by the to commit to President ‘s political priorities in exchange for improved access to federal money.

U.Va. was among nine major universities encouraged to sign on to a compact that would grant them more favorable access to federal funding — as long as the universities accepted Trump’s priorities on admissions, women’s sports, free speech, student discipline and college affordability. The document, dubbed the “Compact for Academic Excellence in ,” comes after the Trump administration threatened to pull funding from universities that it views as opposing its priorities.

The universities were given a deadline of Oct. 20 to decide whether to enter into the agreement.

In June, former U.Va. President Jim Ryan resigned while the university was under investigation by the Department of Justice’s civil rights division, and he said in a statement that he was doing so in order to help U.Va. preserve federal funds that support research projects and jobs, as well as student financial aid.

Paul G. Mahoney, a former dean of the U.Va. School of Law and a longtime faculty member, was named in August as the university’s interim president.

The 10-page proposed agreement was sent last week to some of the nation’s most selective public and private universities: Vanderbilt, the University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth College, the University of Southern California, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Texas, the University of Arizona, Brown University, and U.Va. It was not stated how or why the schools were selected for the compact.

On Oct. 3, 60 of the U.Va. Faculty Senate’s 66 members voted to oppose the compact, issuing a resolution that says the federal agreement “contains provisions antithetical to the mission and traditions of the university” and “likely violates state and federal law, and infringes upon the constitutional rights of members of the university community.”

Faculty members in the university’s College of Arts and Sciences on Monday overwhelmingly voted in favor of supporting a statement by the college’s Committee on Academic Freedom and Professional Ethics, which called the compact’s existence “a threat to the values of academic freedom to which we are all committed.

“We ask that the interim president, the rector and board of visitors refuse to discuss joining the compact offered by the federal government,” the group’s statement said.

According to an Oct. 5 Cavalier Daily story, Mahoney spoke at a Faculty Senate meeting Friday, saying he had formed a working group to address the ‘s offer. He was met with questions and challenges about whether the compact violates the First Amendment and discriminates against transgender individuals by requiring institutions to define male, female, woman and man “according to reproductive function and biological processes.”

Mahoney and Rector Rachel Sheridan sent a message to the university Monday about the compact, noting that Mahoney had formed a working group to examine the document and advise him on U.Va.’s response.

“The Board of Visitors has confidence in that process and looks forward to working with President Mahoney to address this critical juncture in the relationship between the federal government and American universities,” the email says, adding that community members are invited to give input at a link available only to faculty, staff, students and others affiliated with U.Va. “It would be difficult for the university to agree to certain provisions in the compact. We write to assure you that our response will be guided by the same principles of academic freedom and free inquiry that Thomas Jefferson placed at the center of the university’s mission more than 200 years ago, and to which the university has remained faithful ever since.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Trump administration threatens no back pay for federal workers in shutdown

Summary

  • Trump warns shutdown may not include for 750,000 workers
  • says 2019 law doesn’t guarantee payment
  • President says some people “don’t deserve” to be paid
  • Democrats call move a scare tactic, citing clear law requiring pay
  • Back pay has historically been granted after shutdowns

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — President ‘s administration warned on Tuesday of no guaranteed back pay for during a , reversing what has been long-standing policy for some 750,000 furloughed employees, according to a memo being circulated by the White House.

Trump signed into law after the longest government shutdown in 2019 legislation that ensures federal workers receive back pay during any lapse. But in the new memo, his Office of Management and Budget says back pay must be provided by , if it chooses to do so, as part of any bill to fund the government.

The move by the Republican administration was widely seen as a strong-arm tactic — a way to pressure lawmakers to reopen the government, now in the seventh day of a shutdown.

“There are some people that don’t deserve to be taken care of, and we’ll take care of them in a different way,” Trump said during an event at the White House.

He said back pay “depends on who we’re talking about.”

Refusing retroactive pay to the workers, some of whom must remain on the job as essential employees, would be a stark departure from norms and practices and almost certainly would be met with legal action.

While federal workers — as well as service members of the military — have often missed paychecks during past shutdowns, they are almost always reimbursed once the government reopens.

“That should turn up the urgency and the necessity of the Democrats doing the right thing here,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said at a press conference at the Capitol.

Johnson, a lawyer, said he hadn’t fully read the memo but “there are some legal analysts who are saying” that it may not be necessary or appropriate to repay the federal workers.

But Democratic Sen. of Washington blasted the Trump administration as defying the law.

“Another baseless attempt to try and scare & intimidate workers by an administration run by crooks and cowards,” said Murray, who is the ranking lawmaker on the Senate Appropriations Committee. “The letter of the law is as plain as can be — federal workers, including furloughed workers, are entitled to their backpay following a shutdown.”

Asked a second time about backpay for furloughed federal workers given that the requirement is spelled out in law, Trump said: “I follow the law, and what the law says is correct.”

Northern Virginia Democratic U.S. Rep. Don Beyer, who represents one of the nation’s largest concentrations of federal employees, also was critical of the move.

“The Trump administration is trying to frighten federal employees and their families as a negotiating tactic, which is despicable,” Beyer said in a statement. “The president and Republican leaders should instead be using this time and effort to work with Democrats on a deal that reopens the government, protects Americans’ health care and prevents huge price increases. Federal employees should know that these threats are hollow, and they will be paid when this shutdown ends, as the law requires.”

In a single-page memo from Trump’s Office of Management and Budget under Russ Vought, first reported by Axios, the office’s general counsel seeks to lay out a legal rationale for no back pay of federal workers.

The memo explains that while the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act of 2019 says workers shall be paid after federal funding is restored, it argues the action is not self-executing. Instead, the memo says, repaying the federal workers would have to be part of legislation to reopen the government.

The OMB analysis draws on language familiar to budget experts by suggesting that the 2019 bill created an authorization to pay the federal workers but not the actual appropriation.

Congress, it says, is able to decide whether it wants to pay the workers or not.

For now, Congress remains at a standstill, with neither side — nor the White House — appearing willing to budge. Democrats are fighting for health care funds to prevent a lapse in federal subsidies that threaten to send insurance rates skyrocketing. Republicans say the issue can be dealt with later.

SAIC to acquire Maryland tech firm for $205M

Reston-based federal contractor announced Tuesday it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire SilverEdge Government Solutions from private equity firm Godspeed Capital for $205 million in cash.

Based in Columbia, Maryland, SilverEdge provides technology services and products, such as generative , cybersecurity, data analysis and digital transformation. The company’s clients include the and (currently being rebranded by as the ).

says SilverEdge’s products and expertise will allow it to enhance its offerings to customers and national security missions.

“SilverEdge’s people, culture and innovative approach have driven impressive growth,” SAIC CEO Toni Townes-Whitley said in a statement. “…They share our commitment to advancing National Security missions with speed, and together, we will deliver an expanded suite of products and commercial technologies to help the Department of War and intelligence community achieve their most critical objectives.”

SAIC said SilverEdge’s full workforce, a couple of hundred people, will transition to SAIC upon closing. The company said it plans to “preserve SiverEdge’s differentiated capabilities, products and talent.”

“From day one, our vision was to deliver next-generation cyber, software and intelligence solutions that disrupt the status quo,” SilverEdge CEO Robert J. Miller III said in a statement. “That mission aligns perfectly with SAIC’s focus on innovation and national security. By joining forces, we will continue to push boundaries, expand our capabilities, and deliver even greater value for our customers.”

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of fiscal 2026, before the end of the month, and is subject to customary closing conditions.

SAIC has about 24,000 employees and reported annual revenue of $7.48 billion for fiscal 2025.

S&P 500 hits new highs as AI fuels market rally

Summary

  • rises 0.5%, hitting another record high
  • Nasdaq up 0.8%, Dow slips 30 points in mixed trading
  • surges after chip deal announcement
  • U.S. markets shrug off impact
  • Japanese stocks jump, French markets slump on

NEW YORK (AP) — keeps rising toward more records, and excitement about the artificial-intelligence industry keeps leading the way.

The S&P 500 added 0.4% on Monday, coming off its latest all-time high, amid a mixed day of trading. The Industrial Average was down 66 points, or 0.1%, with an hour remaining in trading, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.9% higher and on track to set its own record.

Advanced Micro Devices helped lead the market and soared 24.9% after announcing a deal where OpenAI will use its chips to power AI infrastructure. As part of the deal, OpenAI could own up to 160 million shares of AMD if it hits certain milestones. AMD’s stock is heading toward its best day since 2016.

A frenzy around AI has been one of the main reasons Wall Street has been hitting record after record, though that’s also raising worries that prices have potentially shot too high. Much of the furor around AI in the last couple weeks has come from OpenAI, which has quickly grown into a $500 billion company, announcing deals with businesses around the world to develop more AI infrastructure.

Another chip company, Nvidia, announced a deal last month where it would invest $100 billion in OpenAI as part of a partnership, creating criticism that the AI investment pipeline was beginning to appear like a circle. Nvidia slipped 1% following the AMD announcement. Because it’s the most valuable stock on Wall Street, Nvidia was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500.

Outside of tech, Comerica jumped 13.5% after Fifth Third Bancorp agreed to buy its rival in an all-stock deal valued at $10.9 billion. The combination would create the country’s ninth-largest bank. Fifth Third’s stock fell 1.8%.

rose 5% after social-media postings by the electric-vehicle maker hinted at a possible product unveiling coming on Tuesday.

Verizon Communications fell 4.8% after the telecom replaced its chief executive. Dan Schulman, a director at the company and former CEO of PayPal, is taking over for Hans Vestburg.

Elsewhere on Wall Street, trading was relatively quiet as the continues to largely ignore the U.S. government’s shutdown. Past closures of the federal government have had minimal effect on the stock market or on the economy, and the bet on Wall Street is that something similar will happen again.

Politics are playing a more active role in stock markets abroad, as Japanese stocks soared and French stocks slumped following their latest political shake-ups.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 4.8% after the country’s Liberal Democratic Party chose Sanae Takaichi as its leader. She was an ally of the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who pushed for lower interest rates and other policies that liked.

The yen’s value dropped against the U.S. dollar on expectations that Takaichi will boost spending, likely adding to inflationary pressures. That in turn helped push up stocks of Japanese exporters, whose products can become more attractive on the global market when the yen is cheaper.

“Obviously, investors like what she has been saying and certainly today judging by the number of stocks that moved and which stocks moved, it seems like pretty much led by foreigners so far,” Neil Newman, head of strategy at Astris Advisory Japan, said about Takaichi.

In Paris, the CAC 40 index slumped 1.4% following the resignation of France’s new prime minister.

Sébastien Lecornu resigned a day after he named his government, drawing a backlash across the political spectrum for his choice of ministers. French politics have been in disarray since President Emmanuel Macron called snap elections last year that produced a deeply fragmented legislature.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.16% from 4.13% late Friday.

The shutdown of the U.S. government likely means delays for U.S. economic reports scheduled for this week, though investors will have some earnings reports to comb through, including from Delta Air Lines, PepsiCo and Levi Strauss.

Despite the shutdown, the Federal Reserve will release minutes from its meeting last month, when it cut its benchmark interest rate for the first time this year. Much on Wall Street is riding on expectations that the Fed will continue cutting interest rates through this year and into next.

Virginia AG candidate Jay Jones under fire for texts

Summary

  • Virginia AG candidate condemned for violent 2022 texts
  • Messages suggested a GOP figure deserved “two bullets to the head”
  • Jones running against incumbent Republican
  • Bipartisan criticism comes as early voting is underway

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia’s Democratic candidate for attorney general has apologized for widely condemned text messages from 2022 that revealed him suggesting that a prominent Republican get “two bullets to the head.”

The texts put the Democratic challenger, Jay Jones, on the defensive in what has been a hard-hitting campaign. Early voting is well underway in Virginia ahead of the November general election.

Jones’ campaign didn’t challenge the accuracy of the texts, first reported by The National Review, and he offered a public apology to Todd Gilbert, the target of the messages. Jones said he took “full responsibility for my actions.” Gilbert was speaker of Virginia’s House of Delegates at the time of the text messages but is no longer a legislator.

Jones has faced a torrent of bipartisan criticism since the messages surfaced. Jones is challenging Republican incumbent Jason Miyares for the job as Virginia’s top prosecutor.

Miyares ripped into Jones on Saturday, questioning his challenger’s fitness for the job.

“You have to be coming from an incredibly dark place to say what you said,” Miyares told reporters. “Not by a stranger. By a colleague. Somebody you had served with. Someone you have worked with.”

Jones and Republican House Delegate Carrie Coyner spoke in a phone conversation following the text exchange, in which Jones described Gilbert’s children dying in the arms of their mother, according to the National Review’s report.

“I have been a prosecutor, and I have been obviously serving as attorney general,” Miyares said. “I have met quietly one-on-one with victims. There is no cry like the cry of a mother that lost her child. None.”

A spokesperson for the Virginia House Republican caucus, contacted on Saturday by The Associated Press, said Gilbert was not commenting on the text messages. Gilbert stepped down as a legislator to become a federal prosecutor this year but resigned a month later.

The revelation about the text messages shook up the campaign and comes as both parties seek advantage in statewide races being closely watched for trends heading into next year’s midterm elections, when control of is at stake. And it comes amid an escalating threat of political violence in the country following the shooting deaths of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and former Minnesota Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband.

In Virginia, other Democrats running for statewide office didn’t mince words in criticizing Jones.

Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, said in a statement Friday that she “spoke frankly with Jay about my disgust with what he had said and texted. I made clear to Jay that he must fully take responsibility for his words.” She vowed to ”always condemn violent language in our .”

Ghazala Hashmi, the Democrat running for lieutenant governor, said “political violence has no place in our country and I condemn it at every turn.” Hashmi added that “we must demand better of our leaders and of each other.” Candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run separately in Virginia.

The Republican Attorneys General Association said Jones should withdraw from the campaign for his “abhorrent” text messages. The group’s chairman, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, said the messages were unacceptable “from someone who wants to represent law enforcement.”

“There is no place for political violence, including joking about it – especially from an elected official,” Kobach said.

Jones did not hold elected office when he sent the text messages about Gilbert to Coyner, who is seeking reelection in a competitive House district. Jones had formerly served as a state legislator, and stepped down in 2021.

In his texts, Jones wrote: “Three people two bullets … Gilbert, hitler, and pol pot … Gilbert gets two bullets to the head.” Pol Pot was the leader of the murderous Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia.

Conyer replied: “Jay … Please stop.” Jones responded: “Lol … Ok, ok.”

In his statement Friday, Jones said: “Reading back those words made me sick to my stomach. I am embarrassed, ashamed and sorry.”

“I have reached out to Speaker Gilbert to apologize directly to him, his wife Jennifer, and their children,” he added. “I cannot take back what I said; I can only take full accountability and offer my sincere apology.”

Navajo firm wins $186K bid for Montana coal lease

Summary

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A Navajo tribe-owned company bid $186,000 to lease 167 million tons of coal on federal lands in southeastern Montana on Monday in the biggest U.S. coal sale in more than a decade.

The offer from the Navajo Transitional Energy Co. (NTEC) equates to one-tenth of a penny per ton, underscoring coal’s diminished value even as President pushes to mine and burn more of the heavily polluting fuel.

Federal officials did not immediately say if they would accept the offer. It was the only bid received. Two NTEC representatives attended the sale at the Bureau of Land Management local office in Billings, Montana. They declined to comment after it was over.

At the last successful government lease sale in the region, a subsidiary of Peabody Energy paid $793 million, or $1.10 per ton, for 721 million tons of coal in Wyoming.

It’s uncertain how much demand there will be for the coal offered Monday next to NTEC’s Spring Creek mine near Decker, Montana. The five power plants using fuel from Spring Creek mine are scheduled to stop burning coal in the next decade, according to an analysis by The Associated Press.

The lease is in the Powder River Basin, the most productive coal fields in the nation. Officials under the Democratic administration of then-President Joe Biden banned sales from the region because of coal’s contribution to climate change but Republicans are attempting to reverse that decision.

NTEC argued in favor of a low market value for coal in the lease area, pointing to government studies that predict coal markets will decline significantly over the next two decades as fewer utilities buy the fuel.

The company bid $147 per acre for tracts of land totaling 1,262 acres (510 hectares). Another sale is planned Wednesday in central Wyoming, where the government is offering 440 million tons of coal next to NTEC’s Antelope Mine.

The sales are going forward despite the because the Trump administration did not furlough workers responsible for reviewing fossil fuel projects.

Many coal plants have been retired over the past two decades as utilities favored power from natural gas and renewable sources such as wind and solar energy.

Selling new coal leases does not necessarily mean the tracts will be mined, said James Stock, a Harvard University economist and former member of the White House Council on Economic Advisers under President Barack Obama.

Despite Trump’s declaration of an energy “emergency” and his calls to expand mining and burning of coal, Stock said it’s unlikely any new coal plants will be built. That means much of the coal that’s being sold under Trump is unlikely to ever be mined, he said.

“I don’t expect these leases to have much real-world impact,” Stock said.

Spring Creek also ships coal overseas to customers in Asia. Increasing those shipments could help it offset lessening domestic demand, but a shortage of port capacity has hobbled prior industry aspirations to boost coal exports.