Category: 4-FrequentNewsStreams

The stock market has been a bit of a roller coaster over the past month. For stock investors who don't need their money now, perhaps it’s no big deal. But if you're eyeing retirement in the near term, what questions should you be asking yourself? We'll discuss with Pam Krueger, host of the PBS personal finance show, “MoneyTrack.” Plus: why Starbucks is letting an algorithm decide the order in which drinks get made.

But times are not normal. New data shows pending home sales are down year over year in most of the country, with the exception of the Midwest. Lack of affordability is a huge issue, but so is uncertainty about the future. Also: stock futures are pointing up this morning after rosy results from tech companies, and why President Donald Trump's tariff policy is the "greatest act of geopolitical self-harm" one political scientist has ever seen.

Tomorrow is May 1st but to workers and community organizers around the world it is better known as May Day, or International Workers' Day. May Day began in Chicago as a labor movement that succeeded in instituting the eight-hour workday. It later became a global symbol of workers' rights and ongoing activism. The movement for workers’ rights today is inspired in spirit and action by this Chicago history, led by immigrants of that era. Chicago is still a city of immigrants, and as the Trump administration continues to target immigrants, Reset discusses the history of May Day and learns what the labor movement today is doing in the current effort to protect workers, families, and communities with guests Miles Kampf-Lassin, senior editor at In These Times Magazine and Jorge Mújica, strategic campaigns organizer, ARISE Chicago. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.

From the BBC World Service: After months of fraught negotiations, the U.S. has signed a deal with Kyiv to share profits from the future sale of Ukraine's mineral and energy reserves. Plus, Facebook's parent company says its users could face a "materially worse" experience after a major regulatory blow from the European Commission. We'll also visit a huge wholesale market to see how businesses in China are faring amid the trade war.

When President Jimmy Carter died late last year, the foundation that runs Wikipedia noticed something unusual: the flood of interest in the late president created a content bottleneck, slowing load times for about an hour.

Wikipedia is built to handle spikes in traffic like this, according to the Wikimedia Foundation, but it's also dealing with a surge of bots scraping the site to train AI models, and clogging up its servers in the process, the organization’s chief product and technology officer Selena Deckelmann told Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino.

The latest GDP calculations and PCE index tell us the U.S. economy is doing … OK. Importantly, the data doesn’t point to stagflation. But the data was collected from January through March 2025, and at this point, March is old news. Also in this episode: American companies ramp up their spending on computers, Nike’s struggle to move sneaker manufacturing out of Asia is a cautionary tale and Texas becomes the biggest state to send public dollars to private schools through school choice vouchers.

We mark 100 days of President Donald Trump’s second term. From sweeping immigration crackdowns, to steep tariff hikes and major federal funding cuts, how is Chicago and Illinois weathering the storm? Reset finds out how our area has been impacted by the Trump administration with Chicago Sun-Times chief political reporter Tina Sfondeles and Chicago Sun-Times reporter covering government and politics Mitchell Armentrout. For a full archive of Reset interviews, head over to wbez.org/reset.

The Commerce Department reported the U.S. economy contracted by 0.3% in the first quarter of this year. We’ll break down the GDP math formula and dig into what the latest report says about where the US economy may be headed. And, should businesses be transparent about the impact of tariffs on prices? A nixed plan from Amazon serves as a cautionary tale of the political risks. Plus, feeling stressed these days? Cow cuddling and bee therapy might help.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

-"Trump blames Biden after GDP shrinks in first quarter, says growth will 'take a while'" from CNBC 

-"Businesses weigh how much to tell customers about tariffs' impact on price" from Marketplace

-"Trump-Bezos call sets stage for tense earnings report from Amazon" from CNBC

-"Trump vs. Amazon’s Brilliant Tariff Idea" from The Wall Street Journal 

-"The Americans Fled Vietnam 50 Years Ago. I Visited the Buildings They Left Behind."  from The New York Times

"Anxious about the world? Cow cuddling or bee buzzing might help ease your stress" from The Denver Post

Got a question for the hosts? Email makemesmart@marketplace.org or leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART.

Gross domestic product shrunk 0.3% from January to March — the first growthless quarter since the pandemic recovery in early 2022. The cause? All the buying up that businesses and consumers did to beat tariff-induced price increases. We'll parse the data. Plus, Stellantis suspends 2025 guidance, Amazon backs away from transparency about the cost of tariffs, and the United Kingdom clamps down on a tax loophole for the rich.

Amazon backtracked yesterday after reporting revealed the company was planning to display how much tariffs were raising prices on individual items and the White House angrily pushed back. Other companies, including Temu and Volkswagen, are being upfront with customers about tariffs’ impact on product prices. We'll hear more. Also on the show: factory activity falls in China, and a view of the economy before Donald Trump took office and 100 days into his second term.