Ackman walks back accusation Lutnick ‘profits when our economy implodes’
Bill Ackman, Pershing Square Capital Management CEO, speaking at the Delivering Alpha conference in NYC on Sept. 28th, 2023.
Adam Jeffery | CNBC
Ackman is apologizing for accusing Lutnick of being “indifferent” to a stock market crash because he stands to profit from it.
“It was unfair of me to lash out at @howardlutnick,” writes Ackman.
“I don’t think he is pursuing his self interest. I am sure he is doing the best he can for the country while representing the President as Commerce Secretary. It is not an easy job and we don’t know how the sausage was made.”
The new post comes nine hours after Ackman slung the accusation at Lutnick and his investment banking firm, Cantor Fitzgerald.
“I just figured out why @howardlutnick is indifferent to the stock market and the economy crashing. He and Cantor are long bonds. He profits when our economy implodes,” Ackman wrote Sunday night.
“It’s a bad idea to pick a Secretary of Commerce whose firm is levered long fixed income. It’s an irreconcilable conflict of interest.”
— Kevin Breuninger
Trump touts drop in oil prices, driven by recession fears, as a victory
U.S. President Donald Trump talks to members of the press aboard Air Force One during a flight to Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., April 6, 2025.
Kent Nishimura | Reuters
Trump is touting the steep drop in oil prices — driven by fears of reduced demand in the increasingly likely event of a recession — as a policy win.
“Oil prices are down, interest rates are down (the slow moving Fed should cut rates!), food prices are down, there is NO INFLATION, and the long time abused USA is bringing in Billions of Dollars a week from the abusing countries on Tariffs that are already in place,” Trump writes in his latest Truth Social post.
“This is despite the fact that the biggest abuser of them all, China, whose markets are crashing, just raised its Tariffs by 34%, on top of its long term ridiculously high Tariffs (Plus!), not acknowledging my warning for abusing countries not to retaliate,” he writes. “They’ve made enough, for decades, taking advantage of the Good OL’ USA!”
Trump also blames America’s past leaders for “allowing this” to happen.
— Christina Wilkie
Trump’s schedule today: Hosting L.A. Dodgers, then Israeli prime minister
U.S President Donald Trump welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the entrance of the White House in Washington, U.S., Feb. 4, 2025.
Leah Millis | Reuters
Trump has two significant public events on his schedule today.
11:00 a.m. ET: Trump will host the World Series-winning Los Angeles Dodgers at the White House, according to his official schedule.
2:30 p.m. ET: Netanyahu, one of Trump’s closest allies, will participate in a joint press conference with the president at the White House.
The last time Netanyahu visited the White House was in February, as the U.S. worked to finalize the second phase of a cease fire deal in Gaza. It did not hold, however, and Israeli forces have since resumed ground operations in Gaza.
CNBC CEO survey: One-third expect job cuts this year due to tariffs
CNBC’s latest CEO survey finds that a majority of the CEOs polled say they now expect a recession before the end of the year. Of those, around half say that a recession, if it happens, will likely be moderate.
One in three of the CEOs say they expect that their companies will be forced to cut jobs in 2025 due to Trump’s tariff policies.
— CNBC Staff
