trendsjournal.com – History Before It Happens

GOING OUT OF BUSINESS TRENDS

The economic landscape has presented an array of challenges that will profoundly affect the business community this year.

CHINA’S AUTOMAKERS CONTINUE STRONG SALES IN APRIL

Coming off a robust first quarter, China’s “new energy” vehicle makers such as BYD and Xpeng reported strong sales continued through April.

U.S., UKRAINE SIGN MINERALS AGREEMENT

On 30 April, the U.S. and Ukraine closed an agreement giving the U.S. access to Ukraine’s mineral resources.

OCEANS ARE FILLED WITH MICROPLASTICS, NEW STUDY SAYS

Researchers across the globe conducted a study to find out the amount of microplastics dispersed across different water levels in oceans and found that these particles are widespread at all depths and distributed across all latitudes on earth—raising new concerns about the impact on human health and the ecosystem.

SPECIAL REPORT: TRUMP’S TARIFFS, THE UPS AND DOWNS, FOR BETTER AND FOR WORSE

Faced with the loss of U.S. trade as Donald Trump’s tariff war began to take hold, China’s factory output shrank in April by the most in the past 15 months, the Financial Times reported.

IDF CONDUCTS AIRSTRIKE NEAR PRESIDENTIAL PALACE IN DAMASCUS

The IDF carried out an airstrike last week in Damascus—near the presidential palace—in what was seen as a message from Tel Aviv that the new government should not deploy forces to the southern part of the country, drawing a swift rebuke from Syria.

ISRAEL INTENSIFIES ITS EFFORT TO TURN THE WEST BANK INTO GAZA

The IDF has intensified its military assault in the West Bank—killing over 900 Palestinians since the Hamas attack in October 2023—which has been called by critics an effort to turn the West Bank into Gaza.

TRUMP’S FIRST 100 DAYS WORST SUCH PERIOD FOR STOCK MARKET IN 50 YEARS

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index of leading U.S. stocks lost 7.7 percent of its value during Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office, the worst outcome for any president’s first three months since Gerald Ford came to the White House in 1974, the Financial Times has calculated.

MORE AMERICANS ARE GLUM ABOUT THEIR ABILITY TO SAVE

A new survey has found that 67 percent of Americans are failing to reach their savings goals and 47 percent now believe they never will. The survey of 2,000 adults across all generations was commissioned by Current, an online financial services app.

U.S. MANUFACTURING CONTRACTS FURTHER IN APRIL

Last month, U.S. factories continued to cut back their output, reflecting a trend to thrift among consumers and worries over the impact of Donald Trump’s global trade war.

ECONOMIC UPDATE—MARKET OVERVIEW

After the U.S. equity markets rebounded from Donald Trump’s April 2 Liberation Day tariff slump, we forecast a pause and then more downward pressure on the market front.

U.S. ECONOMY ADDS 177,000 JOBS IN APRIL

U.S. employers took on an additional 177,000 nonfarm workers last month, signaling “a healthy state of balance” in the labor market, The Wall Street Journal said. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.2 percent.

U.S. RAMPS UP STRIKES ON YEMEN

The U.S. military over the last six weeks has intensified its bombing campaign in Yemen—striking over 800 targets and forcing the group’s leadership to take cover in underground tunnels—but Washington has been sparse on its goals and runs the risk of engaging in a drawn-out conflict with no endgame.

IBM PLANS TO INVEST $150 BILLION IN U.S. BY 2030

IBM will invest $150 billion in its U.S. computer production facilities by the end of this decade, the company announced last week.

STARVING BEES SURVIVE ON HUMAN-MADE POLLEN SUBSTITUTE

As if bees didn’t have enough trouble already. The critters we count on to pollinate our fruits and other crops have been beset by lethal parasites, pesticide poisoning, and the persistent collapse of their colonies.

EUROZONE ECONOMY PERKS UP IN FIRST QUARTER

The collective economy of the 20-nation Eurozone grew by 0.4 percent in this year’s first three months, doubling the pace of growth reached during 2024’s final quarter. If the quarter-on-quarter pace sustains throughout the year, the area’s GDP will grow by 1.4 percent, The Wall Street Journal said.

ECONOMIC UPDATE—MARKET OVERVIEW

Once again, another day of Donald Trump in the White House, and another day of him playing The Trump Card. And with each play of the Trump Card, it is another day of the world wondering what will be the next Wild Card that will be dealt.

AT BEST, WE HAVE 32 YEARS LEFT—HERE IS THE PROOF

Even under current conditions, the dollar is mathematically on track to hit zero within 32 years (by ~2057)… And that’s assuming the devaluation rate stays at 9.5 percent per year. But it won’t.

SPECIAL REPORT: TRUMP’S TARIFFS, THE UPS AND DOWNS, FOR BETTER AND FOR WORSE

The U.S. has temporarily reduced its tariffs on Chinese imports from 145 percent to 30 percent and China has slashed its import fees on U.S. goods from 125 percent to 10 percent.

AS FORECAST: GENERATION AI BEING RAVAGED BY AI DEPENDENCE

Reliance on AI is destroying the abilities of college students to conduct research, write papers and otherwise perform high level intellectual work.

Concept Collage Of Israeli Soldier, Flag Of Israel, Weapon, Sunset

FORMER ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS ISRAEL COMMITTING WAR CRIMES

Moshe Ya’alon, the former Israeli defense minister who accused the IDF of ethnic cleansing in Gaza, said last week that the plans in motion to expel the 2.1 million Palestinians living in Gaza is a “war crime.”

Pamphlets And Flags For Germany's once-fringe Alternative for Germany (AfD) Party.

AS FORECAST: POPULIST PARTIES SURGE

Countries across Europe have seen a seismic shift in support from establishment conservative parties to an upstart populist movement that is focused on fixing economic and societal issues at home while tapping into a festering anger toward the establishment.

May 13, 2025

20250513181537

May 6, 2025

20250506194200

Apr 29, 2025

20250429190656

Apr 15, 2025

20250415175939

Apr 8, 2025

20250408182028

Global Economy

SPOTLIGHT: BIGS GETTING BIGGER

3G Capital, a low-key private equity firm best known for helping Warren Buffet merge food giants Kraft and Heinz, is taking shoe company Skechers private for $9.4 billion in cash.

SPOTLIGHT: DEATH OF THE DOLLAR

Asset managers are converting more of their dollar-based assets into investments in Europe, the Financial Times reported.

CHINA TECH GIANT IS BUILDING END-TO-END SUPPLY CHAIN FOR ADVANCED CHIPS

Huawei, China’s leading maker of computer chips, and two of its affiliated companies are nearing completion of three factories in Huawei’s home city of Shenzhen that will further break the country’s dependence on foreign technologies, the Financial Times was first to report.

The Israel War

Starving Palestinians Wait to Receive Meals From Volunteers In The Mawasi Area Of The Gaza Strip

GAZA DEATH TOLL

The death toll in Gaza reached 52,862 and 119,648 people have been wounded. There are at least 11,000 people missing.

A Student From The City Of Taiz, Yemen Looks At The Rubble Of His School

YEMEN DEATH TOLL

The U.S. and Houthis announced a truce last week that did not involve Israel after a weekslong air campaign by Washington to “annihilate” the Houthis who have enforced a blockade in the Red Sea over Israel’s brutal genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

FORMER ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS ISRAEL COMMITTING WAR CRIMES

Trends in AI

AI CAN MAKE IRRATIONAL DECISIONS JUST LIKE PEOPLE DO, STUDY FINDS

OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 large language models, recent AIs that run on the company’s Chat-GPT platform, are “impressively consistent” in their ability to reason, according to a study by researchers in Australia and Canada.

U.S. AIR FORCE RECRUITS AI TO POWER MINI-DRONES

The U.S. space program in the last half of the 20th century gave us advances ranging from artificial limbs to Tang orange drink mix.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SCRAPS BAN ON EXPORTING AI CHIPS

The Trump administration has abolished a rule, slated to take effect 15 May, that banned exporting AI chips.

Global Economy

The Israel War

Trends in AI

Hi-Tech Science

The above are just a few of the many articles in the latest Trends Journal. CLICK HERE for the full edition.