Bloomberg Businessweek

Featuring some of our favorite conversations of the week from our daily radio show "Bloomberg Businessweek Daily." Hosted by Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec Hear the show live at 2PM ET on WBBR 1130 AM New York, Bloomberg 92.9 FM Boston, WDCH 99.1 FM in Washington D.C. Metro, Sirius/XM channel 121, on the Bloomberg Business App, Radio.com, the iHeartRadio app and at Bloomberg.com/audio. You can also watch Bloomberg Businessweek on YouTube - just search for Bloomberg Global News. Like us at Bloomberg Radio on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @carolmassar @timsteno and @BW See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Watch Carol and Tim LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF. Major US oil executives expressed caution to Donald Trump about reentering Venezuela, even as the president pressured their companies to spend at least $100 billion to revive the country’s crude oil production. Trump convened nearly 20 industry representatives in the East Room of the White House on Friday and predicted they could come to an agreement “today or very shortly thereafter” to restart operations in the oil-rich Latin American country, following the brazen capture of leader Nicolás Maduro. “If you don’t want to go in, just let me know, because I’ve got 25 people that aren’t here today that are willing to take your place,” Trump told the oil representatives. Comments from some of the executives indicated the president may need to do more convincing. While many praised Trump and said they relished the opportunity resulting from last weekend’s military action, they stressed that hard work remained before they could make substantive investments. Exxon Mobil Corp. Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods said that Venezuela is currently “uninvestable.” Today's show features: See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Archer Aviation is designing and developing electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft for use in urban air mobility networks. The company is partnering with cities across the country to submit multiple applications to launch initial air taxi operations under the White House’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP), a first-of-its-kind public-private initiative led by the US Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration to support the safe integration of air taxis in the US beginning as soon as this year. Adam Goldstein is the founder of Archer and has served as its Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors since the company was listed on the NYSE in 2021. He discusses the prospects for an expansive eVTOL rollout in the near-term with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Watch Carol and Tim LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF. US President Donald Trump said he was directing the purchase of $200 billion in mortgage bonds, which he cast as his latest effort to bring down housing costs ahead of the November midterm election. Trump announced the move on Thursday in a social media post. The director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Bill Pulte, said soon after that the president aims for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mae to execute the purchases. “This will drive Mortgage Rates DOWN, monthly payments DOWN, and make the cost of owning a home more affordable,” Trump wrote in his post. He added that his decision not to sell Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during his first term allowed them to amass “$200 BILLION DOLLARS IN CASH” and that he was making his announcement “because of that.” “It is one of my many steps in restoring Affordability, something that the Biden Administration absolutely destroyed,” the president said. Mortgage backed securities rallied relative to Treasuries on the news. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have added billions of dollars of mortgage-backed securities and home loans to their balance sheets in recent months, fueling speculation that they’re trying to push down lending rates and boost their profitability ahead of a potential public offering. Today's show features: See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oshkosh Corporation builds what it calls "purpose-built equipment" to help people advance communities around the world. Headquartered in Wisconsin, Oshkosh employs more than 18,000 team members worldwide, all united behind a common purpose: to make a difference in people’s lives. Oshkosh products are found in more than 150 countries under the brands of JLG, Pierce, MAXIMETAL, Oshkosh S-Series, McNeilus, IMT, Jerr-Dan, Frontline Communications, Oshkosh Airport Products, Oshkosh AeroTech, Oshkosh Defense and Pratt Miller. John Pfeifer has served as the company's president and CEO since 2021. He discuss what Oshkosh Corporation is showcasing at CES 2026 in Las Vegas when it comes to advanced technologies in autonomy, AI, connectivity and electrification. John speaks with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Watch Carol and Tim LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF. President Donald Trump said he would move to ban institutional investors from buying single-family homes, part of a push to address housing affordability ahead of this year’s midterm elections. “People live in homes, not corporations,” Trump said in a social media post Wednesday announcing the effort, adding that he would expound on the plan at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, later this month. The news sent shares of homebuilders, including Toll Brothers Inc., Invitation Homes Inc., KB Home and PulteGroup Inc., down. Shares of Blackstone Inc. — a major investor in single-family homes in the US —fell by as much as 9.3%, though later pared some of those losses. The initiative comes after Trump’s allies have repeatedly raised alarms that affordability has become a political albatross for the GOP heading into the November elections. Trump urged Republican lawmakers Tuesday to avoid losing control of the House this year, saying it would lead to his impeachment. There’s reason for the White House’s concern: Just 36% of Americans said they approved of Trump’s job performance in a Gallup poll released in December, about 2 percentage points higher than his personal low before his first term ended in January 2021. Nearly half of adults described current economic conditions as “poor.” Today's show features: See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's been nearly three decades since Howard Capital Management developed a proprietary indicator, called the HCM-BuyLine, to help protect client assets. This tool overlays all separately managed portfolios, as well as proprietary Mutual Funds and ETFs in an effort to keep assets on the right side of the market. The HCM-BuyLine is based on a proprietary calculation of the strength of the market derived from the ratio of new highs to new lows on the New York and Nasdaq stock exchanges. The tool uses trend analysis – moving averages – to help identify the broad trend in the equity market and determine when to be in or out of the market. Vance Howard, the founder and CEO of Howard Capital Management, discusses his investing outlook in 2026, the impact of recent US military action in Venezuela, and how to respond to key market trends based on the HCM-BuyLine. Vance speaks with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Watch Carol and Tim LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF. A small fleet of ships booked by Chevron Corp. is sailing to Venezuela as the company emerges as the only exporter of the country’s oil following the ouster of President Nicolas Maduro by US forces. Chevron is poised to export more Venezuelan oil this month than last, with at least 11 ships scheduled to arrive in the Venezuelan government-controlled ports of Jose and Bajo Grande, according to preliminary data compiled by Bloomberg. All eyes are on the Houston-based company to see if it will begin shipping out more Venezuelan crude after US President Donald Trump said he wanted “total access” to the country’s vast reserves. Chevron is the only Western firm allowed to produce and export crude oil in Venezuela amid American sanctions and it operates under a license granted by the Treasury Department. It is responsible for nearly 25% of the nation’s production and oversees the crude through delivery to fuel-makers in the US Gulf and East Coast markets. Today's show features: See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Realizing President Donald Trump’s plan for a US-led revival of Venezuela’s beleaguered oil industry could be a years-long and challenging process costing upwards of $100 billion. Years of corruption, underinvestment, fires and thefts have left the nation’s crude infrastructure in tatters. Rebuilding it enough to lift Venezuela’s output back to its peak levels of the 1970s would require companies to invest about $10 billion per year over the next decade, according to Francisco Monaldi, director of Latin American energy policy at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. That’s equivalent to more than a third of what Exxon Mobil Corp. — the largest US oil company — has budgeted this year for capital expenditures around the entire globe. Francisco discusses the many challenges ahead for both Venezuela and the US in the post-Maduro era with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Watch Carol and Tim LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF. Venezuela Regroups With New President, Old Repression Tactics Venezuela’s government is reasserting itself after the capture of Nicolás Maduro, swearing in Delcy Rodríguez as acting president and flashing warning signs that a new wave of repression has begun. As the government continued to churn inside the presidential palace Miraflores, Venezuela’s military counterintelligence officials have been patrolling the streets of Caracas, according to at least two witnesses. At least seven journalists and members of the press were detained on Monday morning and early afternoon, most of them at the National Assembly and its surroundings, according to the national press workers syndicate. Heavily armed security forces and pro-government motorcycle gangs known as colectivos were seen roaming the capital, at times stopping drivers and checking their phones. While they aren’t as influential as they were at the height of Maduro’s power, the State Department has said they have been responsible for killings during protests. Venezuela’s information ministry didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Today's show features: See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oil steadied on the first trading day of 2026 as expectations for a supply surplus offset geopolitical risks to production in several OPEC+ nations. Middle Eastern markets, including derivatives like the regional Dubai benchmark, faltered amid heavy selling pressure on a key trading window in Asian hours, traders familiar with the matter said. Faced with a seasonal lull in consumption, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is leaning toward caution. Tim Moore is a Senior Research Analyst at Clear Street who leads the firm's coverage of the clean energy transition, as well as the oil and gas industry. He discusses the oil market outlook as well as some of the clean energy players that stand to make gains in the year ahead. Tim speaks with Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec and Bloomberg News Big Oil reporter Kevin Crowley on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

President Donald Trump said the US would run Venezuela until a transition could be organized, hours after a US operation captured leader Nicolás Maduro, ousting the strongman from power after months of mounting military and economic pressure on his regime. “We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said Saturday at a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. “So we don’t want to be involved with having somebody else get in, and we have the same situation that we had for the last long period of years.” Trump said the US administration of Venezuela would include deploying US oil companies to the country, though indicated that his embargo “on all Venezuelan oil remains in full effect” and that US forces would stay on alert. Bloomberg's Joe Mathieu and Christina Ruffini speak with: See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Watch Carol and Tim LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani rescinded all executive orders issued by his predecessor over the last 15 months as part of a flurry of actions as the city’s new leader took office Jan. 1. The directive revoked all executive orders former mayor Eric Adams had issued since Sept. 26, 2024, the day he was indicted on federal corruption charges. Those charges were later dropped by the Justice Department under President Donald Trump. Mamdani’s action is designed to ensure “a fresh start for the incoming administration,” the mayor’s office said in a statement. Among the orders revoked were two controversial items, including one that barred certain city officials from engaging in procurement practices “that discriminate against the State of Israel, Israeli citizens, or those associated with Israel.” It also outlined similar guidance for city pension officials to prohibit divesting from Israel-related holdings. An earlier action, adopted in June, codified a broad definition of antisemitism, which some opponents said conflated criticism of Israel’s government with prejudice against Jews. Adams maintained both orders were intended to support the city’s Jewish community, though others argued the more recent action was intended to undermine Mamdani’s term. Mamdani has been a vocal critic of Israel’s government and has supported the “Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions” movement. Today's show features: See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Featuring some of our favorite conversations of the week from our daily radio show "Bloomberg Businessweek Daily." Hosted by Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec Hear the show live at 2PM ET on WBBR 1130 AM New York, Bloomberg 92.9 FM Boston, WDCH 99.1 FM in Washington D.C. Metro, Sirius/XM channel 121, on the Bloomberg Business App, Radio.com, the iHeartRadio app and at Bloomberg.com/audio. You can also watch Bloomberg Businessweek on YouTube - just search for Bloomberg Global News. Like us at Bloomberg Radio on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @carolmassar @timsteno and @BW See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

AST SpaceMobile Inc. this month launched its largest-ever satellite from India, the first in a series of deployments to help the company compete against Elon Musk’s SpaceX in delivering space-based connectivity to mobile phones. The BlueBird 6 satellite took flight from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in southern India aboard the Indian Space Research Organization, or ISRO’s LVM3 rocket. It reached the low-Earth orbit in about 16 minutes, the live cast on YouTube showed. The successful launch is a big boost for the Texas-based company as well as India’s space program which wants to build its orbital space station among other ambitious projects. Investors are taking notice of the growing number of publicly-traded firms within the fast-growing market for services related to space exploration, satellite technology and enhanced telecommunications. Greg Pendy serves as an equity research analyst at Clear Street, focusing on the disruptive technology sector. He discusses the key trends and firms to watch in 2026 with Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec and Bloomberg Tech Co-Host Ed Ludlow on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Watch Carol and Tim LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF. Stocks and bonds slipped along with gold and silver on the last day of 2025, bringing a subdued close to an otherwise buoyant year across asset classes that saw US equities post their third straight double-digit gain. The S&P 500 extended a stretch of post-Christmas losses, paring the benchmark’s advance for 2025 to roughly 17%. Even so, the index is on track for its longest yearly winning streak of gains since 2021. The Nasdaq 100 was down 0.2%. Laggards include big-tech names like Microsoft Corp., Meta Platforms Inc. and Micron Technology Inc. Silver plunged as a run of heightened volatility featuring price moves of 5% or more entered a fourth day. CME Group raised margin requirements on precious-metal futures for the second time in the space of a week following the volatility. Investors have enjoyed blockbuster returns this year in a market that has been powered by optimism about the vast economic potential of artificial intelligence and primed by Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts. It hasn’t been a smooth ride, though, with traders weathering swings triggered by a range of forces including US trade policies, geopolitical tensions, concern over lofty valuations and some uncertainty around the path of central-bank monetary policy. Looking ahead into 2026, market research firm Bespoke Investment Group cautions against expecting solid market performance during the first trading day of the new year. Since 1953, the S&P 500’s median change to kick off a new year was a 0.3% drop, according to a note by Bespoke. The stock market has also traded lower on the first trading day of the each of the past three years, the note said. Today's show features: See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bitcoin briefly topped the $90,000 mark on Monday before erasing gains, leaving traders waiting on a potential breakout after the token missed a Santa rally that sent stocks to record highs. Other cryptocurrencies had also swung, with Ether up as much as 4% to surpass $3,000 before dropping into the red. In the build up to Christmas, Bitcoin was largely unmoved despite the S&P 500 surging to a record close. The wider crypto space has yet to recover from a weeks-long selloff that began in October with the liquidation of some $19 billion worth of leveraged positions, leaving Bitcoin below where it started 2025. Abra is a global platform for digital asset prime services and wealth management that seeks to connect on-chain and off-chain ecosystems for private clients, family offices, hedge funds, venture capital and crypto infrastructure firms. The company's founder and CEO, Bill Barhydt, discusses both the investing and regulatory outlook for Bitcoin and crypto-related assets in 2026. Bill speaks with Carol Massar and Vonnie Quinn on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Watch Bloomberg Businessweek LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF. Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. plans to once again reject a takeover bid from Paramount Skydance Corp. after the rival media company amended the terms of its offer, according to people familiar with the company’s thinking. The Warner Bros. board hasn’t made a final determination, but will meet next week, said the people, who asked to not be identified discussing internal deliberations. Among the board’s concerns, Paramount has yet to increase its offer, which Warner Bros. earlier rejected as inferior to one from Netflix Inc. Paramount, the owner of its namesake studio and MTV, has been waging a public campaign to gather support for its proposal to buy Warner Bros., which owns HBO and CNN. Paramount went public with a $30-a-share cash bid on Dec. 8, three days after Warner Bros. accepted the deal with Netflix, which is only buying Warner Bros.’ studio and streaming businesses. Paramount has since amended its offer twice, most recently by including an assurance from billionaire Larry Ellison that he would personally guarantee $40.4 billion in equity financing and other commitments. Paramount is controlled by Larry Ellison and his son David, a movie producer now assembling a media empire. The Ellisons took control of Paramount in August and have since submitted multiple bids for Warner Bros., which would give their undersized company another of Hollywood’s original studios and more scale in streaming. Today's show features: See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Novi is an AI shopping optimization platform for consumer packaged goods (CPG). It seeks to help retailers and brands ensure their products can be accurately found, trusted, and recommended by AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Claude by verifying and structuring SKU-level product data. Retailers including Macy’s, Sephora, Target, and Ulta, along with thousands of CPG brands, rely on Novi to optimize their product data for AI-driven discovery. Kimberly Shenk, the company's CEO, discusses the impact of artificial intelligence on the retail sector during the holiday season as consumers increasingly use AI agents to perform deep-discount hunting, real-time product comparisons, and personalized gift curation. Kimberly speaks with Carol Massar and Vonnie Quinn on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Watch Bloomberg Businessweek LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF. President Donald Trump’s push to end the war in Ukraine faced new complications on Monday when Vladimir Putin said he would revise his country’s negotiating position after the Russian leader claimed Ukrainian drones targeted his residence. Putin told Trump of his decision in a call Monday, according to the Kremlin, even as Kyiv cast the Russian allegations as a fabrication aimed at derailing the peace process. Trump addressed the dispute while speaking to reporters in Florida, saying that Putin had told him about the purported attack during their discussion. The US president, seeming to side with Putin, said he was “very angry.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has dismissed the Russian claims as a “new lie” and warned that Moscow could be using it as an excuse to prepare an attack on government buildings in Kyiv. Putin said Moscow intends to work closely with the US on peace efforts but will reconsider a number of previously reached agreements, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told Russian newswires. Ushakov added that Putin assured Trump that Moscow will look to continue working with US partners to achieve peace and that the two leaders agreed to maintain their dialogue. Today's show features: See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.