By ROB COPELAND Each quarter, when publicly traded companies report their earnings, they tend to energetically emphasize what’s going well and to glaze over any stumbling blocks. That will be considerably harder to do this quarter, if the results from Goldman Sachs on Monday are an indication. Goldman kicked off Wall Street’s parade of first-quarter earnings reports with stern warnings about the impact of the war in Iran. The bank said that in comparison to a few months ago,

Copies of The Wall Street Journal for sale in Manhattan, April 9, 2025. A federal judge on Monday, April 13, 2026, dismissed President Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the publisher of The Wall Street Journal over its report of his lewd birthday greeting to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. (Juan Arredondo/The New York Times) By KATIE ROBERTSON A federal judge earlier this week dismissed President Donald Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the publish

Wall Street executives said they were stress‑testing or monitoring ⁠private ⁠credit portfolios as the asset class comes under scrutiny, but said ⁠they were comfortable with their exposure. The comments came after three of the six biggest U.S. lenders disclosed about $108 billion financing exposure to private credit or ​related loans during their quarterly earnings. Private credit has been in the spotlight after AI risks, fund outflows and fears of credit stress hammer alterna

A phone is plugged into a mobile battery charger in Miami, Dec. 5, 2017. Southwest Airlines said last week that it would soon limit the number of portable chargers and power banks passengers can have on flights as airlines contend with a recent rise in lithium battery fires on planes. (Scott McIntyre/The New York Times) By HANNAH ZIEGLER Southwest Airlines said last week that it would soon limit the number of portable chargers and power banks passengers can have on flights as

By THE NEW YORK TIMES Oil prices rose and stocks fell Monday after peace talks between the United States and Iran ended without a deal. Hours later, President Donald Trump announced plans to blockade the Strait of Hormuz. It is not yet clear what that escalation will mean for the fragile ceasefire the countries agreed to last week, leaving no clear path to ending a war that is now entering its seventh week. That uncertainty continues to rattle investors eager for a path to st

Wall Street stock indexes advanced and oil ⁠retreated ⁠from highs above $100 a barrel on Monday as ⁠President Donald Trump said Iran wanted to make a deal after the United States responded to the ​collapse of peace talks over the weekend by blocking Iran’s ports. A fragile ceasefire that halted six weeks of U.S. and Israeli air strikes still hung in the balance. ‌Trump said 34 ships had passed through ‌the Strait of Hormuz, which handles about 20% of global oil and liquefied

Angie Howard shops for groceries in Portland, Ore. on Wednesday, April 8, 2026. Higher fuel costs are raising food and travel prices, while a shaky stock market tamps down free spenders. “You go into the grocery store, you buy the things you normally would, and then all of a sudden it’s $20 or $30 more there,” Howard said. (Amanda Lucier/The New York Times) By LYDIA DePILLIS Angie Howard lives in a walkable neighborhood in Portland, Oregon, and works from home, so she has not

Investors will seek evidence in the coming week that the U.S. corporate profit engine ​is humming along, and whether threats to that upbeat business outlook are emerging from the Middle East war and the resulting surge in energy costs. First-quarter earnings ‌season kicks off with reports from major U.S. banks. Expectations for a strong quarter and year for profit growth have underpinned bullish outlooks for stocks. Those expectations have remained intact as the conflict in I

U.S. stocks rallied on Thursday, with the S&P 500 ⁠and ⁠Nasdaq clocking their seventh daily gain, as investors shrugged ⁠off a rise in oil prices and pinned their hopes on the fragile U.S.-Iran ceasefire extending to Israel and Lebanon ​too. In my column today I look beyond the market euphoria uncorked by Tuesday’s announcement of the ceasefire, and outline why the economic, policy and geopolitical backdrop is still pretty sobering for ‌investors. If you have more time to rea

Global bond markets may rebound after the U.S.-Iran truce ⁠but ⁠are unlikely to fully recover from the war-driven selloff because, ⁠even if there is peace, energy prices and inflation will run hotter for longer. The U.S. and Iran negotiated a ceasefire late on Tuesday, ​with President Donald Trump announcing a two-week pause in attacks and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz a condition of the agreement. But renewed attacks by Israel on Lebanon along with further strikes at