Treasury secretary Scott Bessent testifies before the Senate Finance Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 3, 2026. Despite data to the contrary, the Treasury Secretary made the case that the K-shaped economy — shorthand for the divergent fortunes of the rich and poor — no longer exists. (Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times) By ALAN RAPPEPORT Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent downplayed the impact of inflation on lower-income Americans, declaring this week that the “K-shap

As the U.S. stock market soars to fresh record highs this week, investors say a powerful corporate profit engine, a reset in high-flying AI shares and still-reasonable valuations can further fuel the rally. The benchmark S&P 500 on Tuesday posted its first record closing high in two months. In ​between, swoons in high-flying semiconductor and other technology shares weighed down indexes, but stocks gained sharply in recent days, boosted by signs of calming U.S.-Iran tensions.

President Donald Trump attends a working lunch with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, left, in Evian-les-Bains, France, during the G7 Summit, June 17, 2026. In a meeting on Tuesday, Aug., 4, 2026, with top artificial intelligence companies, White House officials said the federal government planned to review only certain types of artificial intelligence models for potential security risks and not others, according to four people familiar with the discussions. (Photo by Haiyun Jiang/The N

As the U.S. stock market soars to fresh record highs this week, investors say a powerful corporate profit engine, a reset in high-flying AI shares and still-reasonable valuations can further fuel the rally. The benchmark S&P 500 on Tuesday posted its first record closing high in two months. In ​between, swoons in high-flying semiconductor and other technology shares weighed down indexes, but stocks gained sharply in recent days, boosted by signs of calming U.S.-Iran tensions.

A new field of “tokenomics” has emerged to measure the return on all the money companies are pouring into artificial intelligence. (Nicolás Ortega/The New York Times) By LYDIA DePILLIS Corporate America was enthusiastic about artificial intelligence. Until it got the bill. Whiplash around spending on “tokens,” the units of computing power in which AI is sold, is hitting engineering teams and boardrooms. First there was “tokenmaxxing,” as executives encouraged as much AI use a

The S&P 500 and the ⁠Dow ⁠closed at record highs on Tuesday, powered by the ⁠latest batch of earnings from AI-related companies such as Caterpillar and Palantir that assuaged demand concerns, while crude prices and ​Treasury yields dropped on hopes for a deal in the Iran war. Palantir Technologies soared 29.5% and recorded its biggest daily percentage gain since February 2024, after raising its annual revenue forecast. Caterpillar, seen ‌as a bellwether for the global industr

Customers during the opening of Chipotle’s first restaurant in the country, in the San Pedro Garza García suburb of Monterrey, on July 16, 2026. As the Mexican-inspired American chain makes its debut in Mexico, it faces a major hurdle: convincing Mexicans to buy an Americanized take on their own national cuisine. (Luis Antonio Rojas/The New York Times) By JAMES WAGNER The line of nearly 200 customers for the restaurant’s recent grand opening stretched on both sides of the mai

U.S. stocks kicked off ⁠August ⁠on a strong note to send the Dow ⁠Industrials to a closing record high, as signs of de-escalating U.S.-Iran tensions pulled down oil prices and Treasury yields ​in a busy week for earnings and economic data. Crude prices settled down about 5% after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that talks with Iran to reopen the ‌Strait of Hormuz would take place on Monday, ‌though Iran disputed that talks were planned. The drop in oil prices helpe

By KAREN WEISE Tech giants are setting records every few months for how much they are spending on artificial intelligence — but this time, some jitters are also growing. On Thursday, Amazon said its capital expenditures totaled $53 billion in the second quarter, up 69% from a year earlier, as it built AI data centers and other infrastructure. It joined a parade of other big tech companies, with Meta on Wednesday reporting that its costs had risen 55% from last year, while Mic

Wall Street ended higher on Friday, lifted by Amazon as the tech heavyweight’s strong quarterly report bolstered investor confidence in AI-related stocks, while Apple dropped after its results disappointed investors. Amazon.com surged over 15% after posting ​its biggest quarterly revenue growth in over four years. Its results, along with a similar report from Microsoft on Wednesday, alleviated investor concerns about potential overspending on AI ‌data centers. Worries that he