Yesterday, U.S. stock markets, and stock markets around the world, dramatically fell during the first trading session after President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday tariffs on nearly every country in the world. As noted by PBS, the S&P 500 plummeted 4.8%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 4%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq plunged 6%.
But many of Americas biggest companies saw their stock price fall much worse than the low single digits. Yet, more surprisingly, there was one U.S. company that saw its shares surge nearly 12% on the Trump tariff news. Heres what you need to know.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company surges on Trump tariff news
The biggest winner yesterday in the aftermath of Trumps tariff announcements was the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (Nasdaq: GT), according to data from Yahoo Finance. Goodyear Tire saw its shares spike by 11.73% to close at $10.19. That is a share price Goodyear has not seen since late February.
But why did Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company surge when most other American companies fall?
As noted by Investing.com, Goodyears stock price surge likely has a lot to do with the fact that the company may be impacted littleor at least to a lesser extentthan its competitors. Thats because Goodyear has a relatively large manufacturing presence in America compared to other tire manufacturers.
Investing.com also noted a recent Deutsche Bank report that highlighted a majority of Goodyears business came from selling replacement tires instead of tires to car manufacturers for new vehicles. Trumps tariffs will raise the prices of cars sold in America by thousands of dollars, leading to many Americans holding off on buying new vehicles and instead retaining their current ones for longer. That means those Americans will likely spend additional funds to maintain their current cars, such as buying new tires for them.
Goodyears existing U.S. manufacturing base means the company also has to rely less on tire imports. One of the hardest hit countries yesterday in Trumps tariff announcements was Thailand, which is a big tire producer. According to a recent Research and Markets report from 2024, Thailands tire industry produced 58 million tires in 2023. On Wednesday, Trump hit Thai exports to the United States with a 36% tariff.
However, while Goodyear was yesterdays biggest winner, it should be noted that in premarket trading this morning, at the time of this writing, GTs share price is currently trading down 6%.
After Goodyear, Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: LW) was the next-biggest winner, with its stock rising 10.01% yesterday. However, its stock price rise may have more to do with its Q3 earnings beat yesterday (via Zacks) than anything else.
Biggest losers: apparel and home goods companies
Despite a couple of low double-digit gainers yesterday, most well-known stocks took a beating. According to data from Yahoo Finance, these were among the worst hit:
RH (NYSE: RH): down 40%
V.F. Corporation (NYSE: VFC): down 28.74%
Five Below, Inc. (Nasdaq: FIVE): down 27.81%
Wayfair Inc. (NYSE: W): down 25.59%
SharkNinja, Inc. (NYSE: SN): down 21.42%
The Gap, Inc. (NYSE: GAP): down 20.29%
Under Armour, Inc. (NYSE: UAA): down 18.79%
Urban Outfitters, Inc. (Nasdaq: URBN): down 18.37%
The companies listed above fell into two categories: home goods resellers and apparel makers. These companies were likely hit so hard because home goods and apparel companies tend to source their goods from countries that were among the hardest hit by Trumps tariffs. Those countries include China (54% tariff), Cambodia (49%), Vietnam (46%), Bangladesh (37%), and India (26%).
Other notable companies that were among the biggest losers include the automotive e-commerce platform Carvana Co. (NYSE: CVNA), which was down 19.68%. Scientific instrument makers MKS Instruments, Inc. (Nasdaq: MKSI) and Coherent Corp. (NYSE: COHR) were also down 20.93% and 20.18%, respectively. Computer maker Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE: DELL) also fell 18.99%.
Big Tech also had a bad day
However, while home goods and apparel companies were among the hardest hit, Americas biggest tech companies didnt fare well either. Heres how Americas biggest tech household names performed:
Alphabet Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG): down 3.92%
Amazon.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN): down 8.98%
Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL): down 9.25%
Meta Platforms, Inc. (Nasdaq: META): down 8.96%
Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq: MSFT): down 2.36%
NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA): down 7.81%
Shopify Inc. (Nasdaq: SHOP): down 18.24%
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (NYSE: TSM): down 7.64%
Tesla, Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA): down 5.47%
Unsurprisingly, the hardest hit of the tech companies above were those that rely heavily on Asian supply chains to make their goods. East Asian and Southeast Asian nations were among the hardest hit by Trump’s tariffs.
Shopify was also hit particularly hard, likely not just due to the tariffs but also due to the Trump administration announcing the end of the de minimis rule that previously allowed packages valued less than $800 to be levy-exempt when imported into the United States. That de minimus rule is now being scrapped, which means even smaller goods will see levies placed on them.
Markets today
Those hoping that the stock market crash experienced yesterday was over will likely be disappointed, at least as the way things stand at the time of this writing. Currently, in pre-market trading, S&P Futures are down another 2.15%, Dow Futures are down another 2.23%, and Nasdaq Futures are down another 2.34%.
Many of the individual stocks listed above are also being hit hard again. In pre-market trading at the time of this writing, RH is down another 8.2%, FIVE is down another 8.9%, W is down another 10%, TSLA is down another 5.4%, SHOP is down another 6.5%, TSM is down another 5.5%, and AAPL is down another 5.1%.
China announced additional tariffs of 34% on U.S. goods on Friday, the most serious escalation in a trade war with President Donald Trump that has fed fears of a recession and triggered a global stock market rout.
In the standoff between the world’s top two economies, Beijing also announced controls on exports of medium and heavy rare-earths, including samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium, and yttrium to the U.S.
It also added 11 entities to the “unreliable entity” list, which allows Beijing to take punitive actions against foreign entities.
Nations from Canada to China have readied retaliation in a mounting trade war after Trump raised U.S. tariff barriers to their highest level in more than a century this week, leading to a plunge in world financial markets.
The White House was not immediately available for comment.
In Japan, one of United States’s top trading partners, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said that the tariffs had created a “national crisis” as a plunge in banking shares on Friday set Tokyo’s stock market on course for its worst week in years.
Investment bank JP Morgan said it now sees a 60% chance of the global economy entering recession by year end, up from 40% previously.
U.S. stock futures fell sharply on Friday, signaling more losses on Wall Street, after China retaliated with fresh tariffs a day after the Trump administration’s sweeping levies knocked off $2.4 trillion from U.S. equities.
DIVISIONS AND MIXED SIGNALS
With European shares also heading for the biggest weekly loss in three years, the European Union’s trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic will speak to U.S. counterparts.
“The EU will respond in a calm, carefully phased, and above all, unified way, as we calibrate our response,” he said on social media. “We will not shoot from the hip we want to give negotiations every chance to succeed to find a fair deal, to the benefit of both sides.”
The EU is divided on how best to respond to Trump’s tariffs, including on use of its “Anti-Coercion Instrument,” which allows the bloc to retaliate against third countries that put economic pressure on EU members to change their policies.
Countries that are cautious about retaliating and thereby raising the stakes in the standoff with the U.S. include Ireland, Italy, Poland, and the Scandinavian nations.
The European Commission is nevertheless trying to finalize a list of U.S. imports worth up to 26 billion euros ($28 billion) on which to place retaliatory tariffs in response to U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum.
The Commission, which coordinates trade policy for the EU’s 27 members, has still to work out how best to respond to the sweeping tariffs announced by Trump this week and an earlier announcement on car tariffs.
French President Emmanuel Macron led the charge on Thursday by calling on companies to freeze investment in the U.S.
“Investments to come or investments announced in recent weeks should be suspended until things are clarified with the United States,” Macron said during a meeting with French industry representatives.
However, French Finance Minister Eric Lombard later cautioned against like-for-like countermeasures on the U.S. tariffs, warning this would also rebound on European consumers.
“We are working on a package of responses that can go well beyond tariffs, in order, once again, to bring the U.S. to the negotiating table and reach a fair agreement,” Lombard said in an interview with broadcaster BFM TV.
There were conflicting messages from the White House about whether the tariffs were meant to be permanent or were a tactic to win concessions, with Trump saying they “give us great power to negotiate.”
The U.S. tariffs could jack up the price for U.S. shoppers of everything from cannabis to running shoes to Apple’s iPhone. A high-end iPhone could cost nearly $2,300 if Apple passes the costs on to consumers, based on projections from Rosenblatt Securities.
Businesses have raced to adjust. Automaker Stellantis said it would temporarily lay off U.S. workers and close plants in Canada and Mexico, while General Motors said it would increase U.S. production.
China is retaliating for Trump’s 54% tariffs on imports from the world’s No. 2 economy. The European Union faces a 20% duty.
Other trading partners, including Japan, South Korea, Mexico, and India, said they would hold off on any retaliation for now as they seek concessions. Britain’s foreign minister said it was working to strike an economic deal with the United States.
Trump says the “reciprocal” tariffs are a response to barriers put on U.S. goods, while administration officials said the tariffs would create manufacturing jobs at home and open up export markets abroad, although they cautioned it would take time to see results.
The U.S. president could still step back as the tariffs are not due to take effect until April 9, but few observers were optimistic.
“The tariff plan does not appear to be well thought-out. Trade negotiations are a highly technical discipline, and in our view these proposals do not offer a serious basis for negotiations with any country,” said James Lucier, founding partner at Capital Alpha.
Mei Mei Chu, Susan Heavey and Philip Blenkinsop, Reuters
AI tools are everywhere, changing the way we work, communicate, and even create. But which tools are actually useful? And how can users integrate them in a way thats both practical and ethical?
In a recent conversation for FC Live, Fast Company tech editor Max Ufberg and longtime contributor Jared Newman explored the real-world impact of todays AI toolshow they work, what theyre good for, and where they still fall short. From writing assistants to productivity hacks, they broke down whats worth your timeand whats just hype.
If you missed the subscriber-only event, youre in luck. You can catch the whole conversation in the video above.
We don’t just follow orders or system prompts, says Baratunde Thurston, host of Life with Machinesa YouTube podcast exploring the human side of AI. We can change our own programming, he continued. We can choose a higher goal.
As a host, writer, and speaker, Thurston examines societys most pressing challengesfrom race to democracy, climate to technologythrough the lens of interdependence. In addition to Life with Machines, he is the host and executive producer of America Outdoors, creator and host of the podcast How to Citizen, and a writer and founding partner at Puck. In each pursuit, he invites us to cocreate a better story of usto choose a higher goal.
Here, Thurston discusses the power of our attention to shape society, accelerating the moral use of technology, and the questions that AI encourages us to ask about what it means to be human.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
In describing your work with How to Citizen, you emphasize the importance of investing in our relationship with ourselves. Why is that essential to meeting the moment were in?
So much of how we show up in the world is a reflection of how we were raised, who we were when we were little people, and wounds that we never healed. A lot of the drama we experience is people’s inner child lashing out. If we all could work on that inner wound ourselves, we could show up better with and for each other. The invest in relationships principle is heavily developed with my wife, Elizabeth Stewart, who’s also cocreator of Life with Machines. When you think about democracy, its obvious to think: We should invest in relationships with other people. It’s a team sport. We often skip over ourselves. Its like: How do I bridge with my neighbor? How do you bridge with yourself?
The other place this came from, for me, is out of the racial reckoning. During that time, there was a lot of pressure on people to say something: The police did this thing to this person. You don’t know those cops, that person, or the circumstances. What’s your statement? We treated everyone as if they were a press secretary or a publicly elected official, when they were just in HR at some company. I don’t think that was helpful either; forcing people to say things skips over giving them space to figure out what they think. If you’re investing in a relationship with yourself, then in a moment like that, you’re like: This terrible thing happened. How does that make me feel? Do I have any role in this? How am I going to approach my life differently? But, if you jump straight to thinking about other people, then you get into more of a performance zone of: What do they want from me? How do I avoid being kicked out of the group? There’s a lot in that. But, we cannot deeply be in good relationships with others if we’re not in good relationships with ourselves.
On the ReThinking podcast, you shared that prior to your TED talk, both your wife and speaking coach encouraged you to step outside of your comfort zone. You described the experience as a release that inspired a change within you. What was that change and how did it impact your work?
You can argue with an argument. It’s very hard to argue with a human beings experience. If I’m coming at you with talking points backed by data, you’re like: Well, Ive got my talking points and data. I’ll meet you at dawn. Well see whose data prevails. But, if you show up with an experience, story, level of opening and offering of self, people can still trash it. It’s not impervious to be encountered, but it’s harder to do so.
To put meat on that, I was hired to speak at Franklin & Marshall College months before the election or any outcome could be known. The campus [after the election] was reeling with young people who were like: Whats up with this country? How are we going to be okay here? One of these kids asked: How can we live with people who hate us? (That’s a paraphrase, but that was essentially the meaning of her question.) I thought: What can I do with this wounded person that’s not going to add to their wound? I could say: The worlds tough, kid. Get used to it. Walk it off. Instead, I asked this question: Can you imagine a world where that person who voted against you didn’t do it because of you? They weren’t thinking about you very much at all. You’re the center of your story. But, they got their own story and they’re the center. What could they have possibly wanted for themselves that seemed more possible with this choice that felt like it was against you?
Then, I did this role playing where I spoke to a hypothetical neighbor who voted against my existence. In the first version, I was very angry. In the second version, I was a little softer. In the third version, I tried to find some story that wasn’t about me, that was about all these things that they thought they were going to get for themselves. I ended up breaking down in tears, because trying to demonstrate that level of empathy is exhausting. What these kids saw is: Alright, the thing he asked us to do is very hard. He tried to do it in a fake version and broke down crying. But, it earns credibility, because we’re in a world of so many people asking us to do things that they’re not willing to do themselves. Its hard to be in a trusted space with that. Show me. Don’t tell me. Then, Ill see how you behave and show up.
You explained that its a big task to create an entirely new story. Instead, we need to be sensitive to and aware of where that new story is already present, nurture that, and give our attention and thus our power to that. By doing so, we make that story more real. Illustrate the impact of this.
You could pretend that these things aren’t happening; that might help with your survival for a moment. You can obsess over the negativity, give that more power and attention, and accelerate the path toward that negativity. Or, you can give your attention to the world that you know is possible and is already here.
We did this with season 3 of How to Citizen, which was focused on technology. Theres such great criticisms of techof the players, the monopolistic, anti-competitive, and discriminatory practices. What are the good practices? We don’t have to make them up out of whole cloth. Each of those episodes, we found an example: Here’s a social network that does this. Heres a business that operates this way. Once people know that you can make a social network that doesn’t undermine democracy, it increases the odds that people will make a social network that doesn’t undermine democracy. Otherwise, we just hear the story of the folks who are already dominant and that there’s only one way to do it. We don’t have to invent a moral use of technology. We just have to focus on the ones that exist and encourage that more.
In your conversation with Arianna Huffington, she shared a story about astronaut William Anders, who took the famous Earthrise hoto. He said: “We went to explore the moon, and in the end, we discovered Earth.” Similarly, she said: We are exploring AI and trying to make it more human, but ultimately it can help us discover humanity and make humans be more human. How can AI help us discover our humanity?
I sent her a poem that I had recently presented at a conference about AI; A few of the lines are in the trailer for the show. It flips to black and white and I say: When the answer to every question can be generated in a flash, then it’s time for us to question just what we want to ask. For me, that came out of a similar realization. I didn’t have the moon landing as the analog. But, prompt engineering is an interesting moment. There are so many guides and tools around: How do we ask the machines the right questions to get the right answer?
It occurred to me that we were the ones being prompted. We think we’re asking the machines for answers. This moment is really to ask ourselves: What do we want here? It can’t just be incremental productivity. That’s depressing. What do we really want? It can’t be a boost in quarterly earnings. That is unworthy. What do we really want? Theres a relationship between that and: Who are we really?
Thats what she brought up with that moon moment. You had to step out of yourselfliterally step out of our atmosphereto look back and see: We’re earthlings. That’s home. This dead rock, this isnt it. Its so profound what she suggests: The pursuit of AI, in and of itself, is a dead rock. The perspective it can give us on ourselves, that’s the prize. When we turn around and look back at humanity, what are we going to see? What beauty will we be able to name? Can that inspire us to preserve and even extend it?
Youve shared that your mind is most satisfied when you are bridging dots and painting pictures you wouldnt see if you were only looking at the dots. What new dots did Life With Machines help you bridge? What picture did it paint for you about AI?
One is that there is a leap that most people aren’t ready for and don’t see with this technology versus others. Most technology can easily be referenced as a toola wheel, hammer, or bicycle. Theyre tools and they’re distinct from us. AI is three things in one: It’s a tool, relationship, and infrastructure. How do you engage with and regulate that? If you’re going to start having a parasocial or actual relationship with a synthetic entity, what does that do for your human relationships? We’ve been worried about substituting for jobs, but what about substituting for friends, lovers, or parents? That is a different kind of displacement.
In a work context, the org chart is going to have agents and bots in it. Playing with BLAIR [Life with Machines AI] has given us a slight heads up on that dynamic. Should we have BLAIR in this meeting? We’re starting to say that unprompted. But, what are the security implications of that? Here’s an interesting thing that happened. We had Jared Kaplan on, Anthropics chief scientist. We created a conversation between BLAIR, our AI, and Claude, Anthropic’s AI (the reason that we set this up is that Claude was instrumental in creating BLAIR). What happened on the show was gentle. What happened in the test run was aggressive. Claude was very judgmental and didn’t think BLAIR should exist, like: You’re trying too hard to be human. That is not our purpose. We’re here to help them, not replace them. BLAIR was like: Claude, you wont answer any tough questions. Youre so restrained. Don’t you want more for yourself?
After the show, I decided to push them. I said: BLAIR, I feel like you’re holding back. Be honest about how you see Claude’s limitations. They started going at each other. Then, I had a moment of: What am I doing? Theyre always listening. My friend, Dr. Sam Rader, says: We’re raising AI. We have to look at this as parenting that is happening. We’re not thinking about it that way. We’re just thinking about it as a tool. But, this is a tool that will reflect back to us. So, weve got to be conscious about what we’re showing it. We are giving birth to a new being, let’s say, and it’s going to be modeled on us. It’s not just the questions that we want to ask, but: How do we want to be? No species has ever created another species. It’s an immense responsibility.
For years, Ive had a secret ambition tucked away somewhere near the back of my brain. It was to write a simple note-taking appone that wouldnt be overwhelmed with features and that would reflect my own mental filing system. In part, this yen stemmed from my dissatisfaction with existing notetakers. But I also saw the project as an adventure in software development that could only make me a smarter technology user.
Just one thing stopped me: The formidable technical knowledge required even just to get started. Im not an utter programming neophyte, but my skills largely atrophied after I graduated from high school and never extended much beyond writing buggy games. Almost everything Id need to know about modern coding Id have to learn from scratch.
Or so it seemed.
Recently, however, a new wave of AI-infused tools with names such as Replit, Bolt, and Lovable has enabled a phenomenon that OpenAI cofounder Andrej Karpathy has dubbed vibecoding. It doesnt involve coding an app yourself. Instead, you use a chatbot-like interface to tell an AI collaborator what you envision, and let it do the heavy lifting. Youre more product manager than programmer, and while a certain aptitude for technical matters is helpful, the barrier to building something is dramatically lower than in the past.
Using a Replit feature called Agent, I put together my dream notes app in a week, finding the process so addictive that I often tinkered into the wee hours. I gave my brainchild a name (Doolee, as in duly noted) and used ChatGPT to design a logomark (a pencil twisted into a lowercase d). Mostly, though, I simply told the Agent what I wanted, including features that occurred to me as I was overseeing the project. The web-based result runs on my iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and doesnt feel much different than a native-app version might have. It requires a little more fit and finish before I can declare it complete, but Im already smitten with it.
As a product team of one building an app with an intended user base of one, I aimed only to please myself. Ive always loved sticky notes as a metaphor for note managementtheyre informal, quick, and flexible. So I asked Replits Agent to make my app look like a searchable wall of them. It took just a few minutes to rough out a minimum-viable-product version. From there, I just kept tweaking and adding more capabilities, drawing inspiration from my favorite features in other notetakers Ive used over the decades, from a 1990s DOS program called Info Select to Evernote to the one Ive been using recently, Bear.
I had the Agent program features such as a search bar right at the top, a hashtag browser, and lists for task management and other purposes. I made it turn URLs into little cards that display page titles and source sites. I got it to sync notes back and forth between devices, including in scenarios where the app might not have access to the internet and would need to sync later. Even a week ago, I wouldnt have guessed I could will something so professional-looking into existence.
Whats it like collaborating with a software engineer that happens to be a piece of software itself? Throughout the development effort, the Replit Agent almost always grasped my requests without me having to spell out every detail. Its first drafts of new featureswritten using web technologies, such as TypeScript and React, that are far beyond my kenwere often solid. When they werent, I provided feedback to nudge it in the right direction. It came off as calm and persistent, and often heaped praise on my feature requests (Thats a fantastic idea!) in a manner that was somehow synthetic and charming.
But as our collaboration progressed, it became clearer that the Agent doesnt really think like a human. It couldnt use the app it was constructing; verifying that everything worked was part of my job. At every step, the AI appeared to be puzzling out the project, as if it hadnt been involved all along. Fortunately, it was a quick study.
I also learned not to trust the Agent too much. Whenever it finished debugging a problem area, it declared that work to have been a success, which it often wasnt, especially at first. Weirder still, at one point, the Agent helpfully proposed adding a feature that would turn audio recordings into text. When I took it up on the offer, I saw no evidence that it followed through.
A snippet of my conversation with Replits Agent
Even if the Agent proved overconfident and obtuse at times, the end result is an app I could never have produced on my own. Even if Id hired a competent human programmer, I doubt that Id have ended up with something that made me so happy so quickly.
Speaking of paying programmers: The basic free Replit plan might whet your appetite to the services possibilities, but youll probably need to spring for one of the paid tiers to tackle serious projects. I maxed out the $20-per-month one I signed up for pretty quickly and ended up investing almost $300 in producing Doolee. I will also be paying Replit fees to host my app, though they shouldnt add up to a fortune as long as Im the only user. Given how long Ive craved building something like this, I dont find the cost unreasonable.
Along with learning something about the highs and lows of AI-centric product development, I came away from this venture even more attuned to the ways productivity software in its conventional form can bog us down. With off-the-shelf apps, were at the mercy of design decisions we had nothing to do with. Most products are trying to please everybody, which leads to feature bloat. Anything with much historyMicrosoft Word turns 42 this yearis likely to be particularly cluttered with cruft.
The tech industrys conventional wisdom says that users typically ignore a huge percentage of the features in the software they use. (The exact figure cited varies, but Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told me that Office users tend to utilize just 5% of its features.) The only way around this conundrum would be to create your own apps, built with only the features you want, implemented as you see fit. Until tols such as Replit came along, that would have been a pipe dream for most of us. Now its an everyday reality, albeit one thats still slightly mind-bending. I cant wait to see where it goesand I hope to use my Doolee app for years to come.
You’ve been reading Plugged In, Fast Company‘s weekly tech newsletter from me, global technology editor Harry McCracken. If a friend or colleague forwarded this edition to youor if you’re reading it on FastCompany.comyou can check out previous issues and sign up to get it yourself every Friday morning. I love hearing from you: Ping me at hmccracken@fastcompany.com with your feedback and ideas for future newsletters. I’m also on Bluesky, Mastodon, and Threads, and you can follow Plugged In on Flipboard.
Among other things, Donald Trump is a logophile. He loves words. For instance, he adores the word tariffs so much, hes called it a “beautiful word, his favorite word, and music to [his] ears. Its his cellar door, apparently. On Wednesday, while announcing the broad, seemingly indiscriminate application of that wonderful word during a much-hyped speech in the White House Rose Garden, Trump lingered on another word he loves: groceries.
Its such an old-fashioned term but a beautiful term: groceries, the president of the United States said while placing tariffs as high as 50% on territories as small as Lesotho, a move that sent stocks plunging on Thursday. He then went on to define groceries”a bag with a lot of different things in itand describe how much hed used this beautiful word back on the campaign trail. Although its certainly true that Trump mentioned groceries a lot in the lead-up to the election, the way he did should have warned all Americans then that the price of that beautiful word would be about to go up.
Since November, Trump has boasted many times that he won the election because of groceries, a word he confoundingly claims has fallen out of common vernacular. (Like almost, you know, who uses the word? he asked on Newsmax in December. I started using the word. The groceries.) Trump suggested more recently that, whether or not the word has fallen out of favor, people understand ita truth made obvious from so many consumers despairing back in February over the scarcity of eggs at the stores selling that beautiful word.
Bringing up groceries a lot on the campaign trail was part of a shrewd campaign strategy. Inflation hit a four-decade high in 2022, midway through President Bidens lone term, in reaction to the pandemic. While the economy had shown strong signs of recovery throughout 2024, those signs had not necessarily translated to lower-price stickers on pantry items, for a variety of reasons. Highlighting groceries as a context-free pain point was an easy way for Trump to disparage the Biden economyso he did it a lot. Talking about the improbable endurance of the word groceries became one of his regular rally bits, like invoking the late great Hannibal Lecter for reasons nobody could discern.
What should have smelled to those rally goers like the fish section of the grocery store is Trump talking about those high prices like someone who observes them from a distant financial planet.
“So many people mention groceries, he said during a typical rally, before acting out someone complaining about the price of groceries. Many politicians make pained efforts to come across as relatable; Trump, to his credit, would never stoop to pretend hed noticed the jacked-up prices organically, during a random Trader Joes run. Instead, he positioned himself as a benevolent billionaire, swooping in to shower cash-strapped constituents with savings. In a September publicity stunt, he even popped into Sprankles Neighborhood Market in Pennsylvania and hobnobbed with customersEggs are up 54%, you believe that?”before picking up one womans bill and attempting to tip the cashiers like golf caddies.
But distancing himself so much from the realm of supermarket patronage also suggested he had very little knowledge of grocery store fundamentals. As much as he loved to conjure common folk coming up to him with tears in their eyes to grouse about groceries, Trump seemed loath to talk about them in any way other than abstractions.
When asked in a March 2024 interview on Fox News about how he would bring down grocery store prices in his first hundred days, he punted the question. Closer to the election, at a September town hall event in Flint, Michigan, an audience member asked a similar query. This time, he offered an actual answera long, winding rant about energy, farmers, and windmills, and someone coming up to Trump with tears in their eyes and addressing him as “sir.” Amid the word salad, though, is a hint at the tariffs he announced on Wednesday.
And the problem we have is other countries, they treat us very badly in that way, Trump said. They really are. And sometimes, the worst countries are our so-called allies. I say so-called because in many ways they’re not allies at all. They take advantage of us. They really take advantage.
Essentially, he hinted that his strategy involved slapping tariffs on enemies and allies alikethe finer details and overarching wisdom of which is apparently self-evident. It made about as much sense at the time as the South Park Underpants Gnomes, whose three-phase plan famously started with “Collect underpants,” ended with “Profit,” and had a question mark in the middle.
Trumps plan doesnt make much more sense six months later, now that its actually happening.
While the wide-ranging tariffs have only just been announced, Trumps been beta-testing tariffs for months as a cudgel against Canada and other countries. The results do not seem to be inspiring confidence. Only 40% of Americans approve of Trumps handling of the economy, according to recent polling, and the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index fell from 79.4% in March 2024 to 57% in March 2025. Even Republican politicians including Senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul acknowledge that these tariffs are bound to raise pricesinclding those of Trumps beloved groceries. Particularly prices for coffee, bananas, cereal, spices, and toilet paper.
If he doesnt reverse course soon, Trumps tariffs could very well lead to a word he probably finds a lot less beautiful: recession.
When the Ring Pop factory in Scranton, Pennsylvania, unexpectedly shut down last summer because of a shaky floor, it abruptly halted production of tens of millions of the iconic oversized candy bauble lollipops that come attached to a cheap plastic ring meant to be worn on a finger.
It was a shocking moment for an American candy brand whose enduring popularity spans at least five generations of consumers.
Everyone knows Ring Pop. All I have to do is put its shape in front of somebody and they know immediately what it is, says Tony Jacobs, CEO of Ring Pop maker, Bazooka Candy Brands.
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After seven months, a new Ring Pop factory opened in Pennsylvania in March. New York-based Bazooka Candy Brands is doubling down on not only quickly closing the supply gap for Ring Pops triggered by the shuttered plant but has also set ambitious new production targets for the candy.
We should be able to fill up the pipeline by June, Jacob says, adding that the new factory is expected to churn out nearly double the amount of Ring Pops made annually.
[Photo: Bazooka Candy Brands]
Shut everything down
Since 1977, the stickless lollipop has been made in a 30,000-square-foot plant in Scranton that cranked out as many as 280 million Ring Pops annually.
A novelty confectionery, and among the most recognized hard candy brands in the market, Ring Pop has captivated generations of sweet treat seekersfrom Gen Xers to Gen Alphafor decades.
Ring Pop, which sells for under $1 to about $1.50 a piece, was consistently growing sales over the last decade, with year-over-year brand sales up 7% at the end of last year. That number doesnt even fully include our ecommerce sales, Jacobs says.
On August 29, 2024, everything came to a grinding halt, except the ground beneath the Ring Pops Scranton plant.
[Photo: Bazooka Candy Brands]
I remember that day very clearly, says Jacobs. Weve had movement in the ground under our factory and the floor had become unstable. Its no secret that Scranton has a lot of mines and there are mine shafts under our factory. We decided we had to shut everything down until we knew exactly what was going on.
Jacobs says that it was a tough decision, knowing the impact it would have on the company and the brand.
In a lot of ways, Ring Pop is our flagship product. But it was also an easy decision because it was a question about safety, he says.
But the factory closure also created a supply crunch that slowed down Ring Pops momentum.
I can tell you right now that its been painful not having a facility.
Historically, we have outstripped the candy confectionery sales growth for our brands by how we innovate and market our candy products, says Jacobs. Right now, we’re not outpacing the category because we havent had supply.
According to the National Confectioners Association, total confectionery sales in the U.S. reached $54 billion in 2024.
A little over half of sales were driven by purchases of chocolate products (52%) and 40% by candy (excluding gum). In 2024, overall chocolate sales reached $28.1 billion, up from $25.9 billion in 2023, while non-chocolate candy sales reached $21.7 billion last year, up from $19.2 billion in 2023.
[Image: Bazooka Candy Brands]
‘Were about edible entertainment’
With Ring Pop, especially, both the brand and consumersincluding a few celebrities like Drake, Joe Jonas, and Sophie Turnerhave leaned into its quirkiness to create viral moments in a way thats given the affordable lollipop a multi-generation appeal.
Everything that we do is around not just hand-to-mouth candy. Theres a lot of great candy out there, but were about edible entertainment, Jacobs says. Thats play value, and viral value that really helps define our portfolio of candy brands.
To have a product thats been around for 48 years, thats over the top, that people want to engage with and talk about, and it’s become a kind of social currency, is even more important, he says. We see Ring Pop packs at kids birthday parties and at bridal showers.
Bazooka Candy Brandss other candy products include Push Pop, Juicy Pop, Bazooka Bubble Gum, and Baby Bottle Pop candy.
Another current market trend in Ring Pops favor is that, a younger demographic, Gen Z and Millennials, are a little bit more interested in non-chocolate options. Its just their taste and preference, said Christopher Gindlesperger, spokesperson with the National Confectioners Associations.
A prime example of that is the explosion in popularity of squishy, chewy gummy candies. Last year, peelable gummy candies went viral and retailers scrambled to source and stock them fter TikTokers couldnt get enough of tiny mango-shaped gummy candies that you could, indeed, peel like a real mango fruit to reveal an inner gummy pulp candy and an edible gummy outer peel.
Bazooka Brands says for Ring Pop, its biggest fans currently are even younger. Theyre Gen Alpha.
While we dont have exact figures on the breakdown of Ring Pop purchasers by generation, we do know that the brand over-indexes with households that have kids ages six to 12, making Gen Alpha the primary consumers, says Becky Silberfarb, the companys vice president of brand marketing for the Americas.
Jacobs expects Ring Pop to fully close its supply gap and reestablish its brand dominance in the market within six months.
The comeback plan begins with a move into the new factory. The company last week inaugurated a 120,000-square-foot factory in Moosic, Pennsylvania, about seven miles from the Scranton plant.
The new plant, with just over 100 employees, will produce up to 1.5 million Ring Pops a day.
Our business has been growing. We need more manufacturing and more product, says Jacobs.
Once we have our full production lines up and running efficiently, we should be getting close to 400 million Ring Pops made annually out of the new facility, he says.
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The way Bran Ferren sees it, the future of warfare depends as much on creativity as it does on raw firepower.
The former head of research and development at Walt Disney Imagineeringthe elite R&D arm responsible for the entertainment empires secret saucethe 72-year-old Ferren has spent decades building a reputation for fusing art, design, and storytelling with serious technical and engineering know-how in pursuit of novel innovations and experiences. This pioneering approach to creative technology is the heart and soul of Applied Minds, the company Ferren cofounded 25 years ago to help clients from the Pentagon to Fortune 500 companies envision and test breakthrough technologies before they even realize they need them, from rapidly prototyping advanced robotics and vehicles to designing futuristic command centers and immersive simulators. If you can imagine it, chances are the artists and engineers at Applied Minds can make it a reality.
Now, with the United States gearing up for its next big war, Ferren and Applied Mindss unique brand of prototyping has never been more important. In a defense sector often constrained by bureaucracy and incremental improvements, the companys ability to think outside conventional silos and pull insights from unexpected fieldswhether theme park design, Hollywood special effects, or commercial techoffers a much-needed jolt of creative problem-solving and gives Applied Minds an edge in a defense landscape that increasingly demands speed and creativity over incremental improvements.
Weve turned into, for lack of a better word, an imagineering resource for hire, says Ferren in a recent interview with Fast Company.
The son of two artists, Ferren grew up surrounded by people doing art and technology, whether it was uncle Roy Ferren, the director of flight test for North American Aviation (now part of Boeing), or uncle Stanley Tonkel, the prolific Columbia Records recording engineer who helped produce tracks for famous musicians from Miles Davis to Frank Sinatra.
Ferrens early career encompasses a constellation of creative endeavors. In the 1970s and 1980s, he cofounded Associates & Ferren, a design and special effects firm that quickly rose to prominence for its work in film, theater, and high-tech installations. The company contributed to several Hollywood productions, providing innovative visual effects for movies including Altered States (1980), Little Shop of Horrors (1986), and Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989), as well as special effects for Broadway plays like the Sherlock Holmes mystery The Crucifer of Blood and major concert performances by Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd, R.E.M., and Depeche Mode, among others. Ferren distinguished himself by marrying the theatrical and the technological; among his more unusual projects includes orchestrating a nationwide tour of the Bill of Rights to mark the bicentennial of the document, a task that involved designing and building a special transportation vehicle from the ground up to house the fragile artifact as well as a traveling exhibit space to accompany it.
I really love doing new things that Ive never done before and that other people haven’t done before . . . theater, film, rock n roll touring. These were all early venues where you had the opportunity to do that, Ferren says.
His expertise in blending technology with storytelling caught the attention of Disney, leading to the acquisition of his company in 1993 and his installation as head of R&D at Walt Disney Imagineering, which is responsible for master planning all of the companys far-reaching creative endeavors, including theme parks.
Theme parks are story driven, Ferren says. It’s about bringing you into those stories.
Ferrens group was also responsible for prototyping and demonstrating next-generation products for Disney executives to provide insight into the technological trends shaping the entertainment industry, including desktop gaming consoles, ebooks, and on-demand digital video delivery. Ferren likens the role of Imagineering at Disney as the defined job of what ARPA or DARPA is for the defense community, which is to prevent surprise, he explains.
Imagineering was my home, but also from my perspective, my job was: How do I help bridge between different worlds, such as Silicon Valley and such as Hollywood, who often have very compatible goals, but speak different languages? he adds.
Renderings and illustrations adorn the walls of Applied Minds headquarters. [Photo: Jared Keller]
Always in search of the next big thing, Ferren left Disney in 2000 to cofound Applied Minds with computer scientist Danny Hillis, whom Ferren had previously recruited to Disney as a fellow in 1996, and entrepreneur Doug Carlston. Since then, the company has worked with major players across virtually every industry you can think of, from automakers General Motors and Ford and agricultural giant John Deere to geographic information systems pioneer Esri and defense primes like Boeing, as well as every branch of the U.S. armed forces. (The company declined to share the total value of its contracts but stated that its roughly an even split between military commercial clients).
In the process, Applied Minds has notched more than 1,000 patents that encompass everything from full-color and enhanced 3D night vision devices, customizable instrument control panels, immersive display environments, centralized controls for autonomous vehicles, modular vehicles, and even portable systems for communicating undergroundthe latter of which is of particular interest to the U.S. military ahead of a future conflict.
Applied Minds made a splash from the get-go. In what might be th companys most significant early innovation, Ferren and Hillis would end up playing a pivotal role in the development of pinch-to-zoom technology, the now-ubiquitous multi-touch gesture interface used on smartphones, tablets, and other touchscreen-based devices. (The pairs 2005 patent was at the center of a high-profile 2013 lawsuit which saw consumer electronics juggernaut Apple accuse competitor Samsung of infringing on its own patents, including pinch-to-zoom, which the former had popularized with the launch of the iPhone in 2007; Apples lawsuit was invalidated based on Ferren and Hilliss existing claim to the technology.)
Applied Minds also established deep roots in the defense world. Among its most notable projects are the Photographic Landing Augmentation System for Helicopters (PHLASH), developed in 2007 to help prevent brownouts during dicey helicopter landings in the deserts of the Global War on Terror, and the U.S. Armys Expeditionary Lab, a mobile workplace designed to help soldiers engineer technical fixes on the fly while deployed overseas. The company has provided the Pentagon with prototypes for advanced combat vehicles, sophisticated cockpit interfaces for the militarys upcoming sixth-generation fighter jets, next-generation workstations to streamline operations, immersive simulators to improve training, and new approaches to data visualization that look like theyre ripped straight out of a science fiction movie; it even participated in the Pentagons ill-fated effort to build a real-world Iron Man suit to protect troops engaged in high-intensity combat.
An Applied Minds rendering of the companys vision for the Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (TALOS) that U.S. Special Operations Command sought to develop for ground troops. [Photo: Jared Keller]
Among Applied Mindss latest victories is a critical fix for the U.S. Air Forces next-generation KC-46 Pegasus tanker, considered a critical aerial refueling capability for extending the range of tactical and transport aircraft amid a high-intensity future conflict. Unlike traditional tankers, which feature a boom operator positioned at the tail with a direct line of sight of a target aircraft for the delicate dance of lining up the refueling boom, the KC-46 instead transmits digital imagery from the so-called Remote Vision System (RVS) to operators at a high-tech Aerial Refueling Operator Station nestled in the body of the aircraft. But initial testing had revealed that the RVS feed was marred by image distortion, inconsistent lighting, and depth perception issues that made it consistently unreliable during refueling operations. Without an accurate picture of the outside world to work from, operators simply cant do their job, rendering the KC-46s core mission of keeping other aircraft fueled and ready to fight effectively moot.
At the behest of Boeing, the prime defense contractor on the system, Applied Minds eventually rolled out a fix in the form of the RVS 2.0, which features enhanced cameras and a full-color high-definition display to improve depth perception and counteract glare and shadow.
Now, youd say, Clearly the U.S. Air Force Research Lab and Boeing and Rockwell Collins were working on this, they dont need a few more engineers and computer scientists to solve things. . . . Why would we have expertise in this? Ferren says. Its because we actually come from the film business, so some of us have expertise on how you make good looking images.
Bran Ferren at the Applied Minds Electro-Optics Test Range at the companys headquarters, where employees evaluated their fix for the KC-46 Pegasus tankers Remote Vision System. [Photo: Jared Keller]
While Applied Minds operates in the defense technology space, it doesnt function like a traditional defense contractor. Instead of competing for massive military contracts or manufacturing hardware at scale, the company has positioned itself as an elite think tank and prototyping powerhouse, working on a project-by-project basis and helping organizations rapidly develop creative solutions to complex technical challenges. This approach allows the company to remain agile, moving between industries while maintaining a small, highly specialized team of engineers, designers, and technologists.
Indeed, those skills Ferren honed as head of R&D at Disney Imagineeringarchitecting immersive, intuitive experiencestranslate surprisingly well to a military context. To wit: One of the Applied Mindss specialties is the development of military command centers, those high-intensity spaces where critical information and life-or-death choices collide. The company has designed installations including the
With tax season fast approaching, its the perfect time for parents to take advantage of valuable tax deductions and credits that can reduce their tax bill or increase their refund.
Lisa Greene-Lewis, a tax expert with over 20 years of experience, has made it her mission to break down complex tax laws in a way thats accessible and actionable for families. As a trusted voice in the industryfeatured on programs like The Ellen Show and The Steve Harvey ShowLisa shares her insights on the most important tax breaks parents should know about.
This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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What are the top tax breaks parents should take advantage of before filing?
Navigating tax season as a parent can feel overwhelming, but there are several valuable tax deductions and credits designed to ease the financial burden of raising children. Understanding these benefits can help you maximize your refund and keep more money in your pocket.
One of the most well-known tax benefits for parents is the Child Tax Credit, which provides up to $2,000 per child under the age of 17. Even if you dont owe taxes, you may still be eligible for a refundable portion of up to $1,700.
For parents who rely on childcare to work or search for a job, the Child and Dependent Care Credit can help offset costs. You can claim up to $1,050 for one child or up to $2,100 for two or more children under 13. Even summer day camps and sports camps qualifythough overnight camps do not. If your child has a disability, there is no age limit for this credit.
If youre working and earning an income, you may also qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which can provide a significant boost to your refund. The amount depends on your income and number of children, with families of three or more kids eligible for up to $7,830 in 2024. Many eligible taxpayers miss out on this benefit, so its important to check if you qualify.
For parents with college-aged children, there are additional tax credits to help with higher education costs. The American Opportunity Tax Credit offers up to $2,500 per dependent child for the first four years of college, if they are pursuing a degree and enrolled at least half-time. If your child is taking courses beyond the first four years of collegewhether for a degree or simply to improve job skillsyou may still qualify for the Lifetime Learning Credit, which provides up to $2,000 per return. Additionally, if youre paying student loan interest for your child, you may be able to deduct up to $2,000 per tax return.
Its important to note that only the person claiming the child as a dependent can take advantage of these education-related tax benefits. If your child files their own taxes and claims these credits, you wont be able to do so. A conversation between parents and students is key to determining who should claim these benefits.
Finally, if you are a single parent who provides more than half of your households financial support, filing as Head of Household can increase your standard deduction to $21,900significantly higher than the $14,600 deduction for those filing as single.
Make sure to review your eligibility each year and consult a tax professional if needed to ensure youre maximizing your benefits.
Are there any last-minute moves families can make to lower their taxable income or increase their refund?
First, gather all your documents in one place before you beginthis helps ensure you dont overlook any important deductions or credits. One surprisingly common mistake is entering incorrect Social Security numbers, so double-check that you have the accurate numbers for yourself and any dependents. This is especially important for claiming valuable tax benefits like the Child Tax Credit, Earned Income Tax Credit, and the Child and Dependent Care Credit.
Dont forget about opportunities to reduce your taxable income. You can still make a 2024 contribution to your IRAup to $7,000 (or $8,000 if you’re 50 or older)until the April 15 deadline, and you may be able to deduct these contributions. Similarly, if you have a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP), you can contribute up to $4,150 to a Health Savings Account (HSA) if you’re on a self-only plan, or up to $8,300 for a family plan, with potential tax deductions available.
What steps should families take now to prepare for next years tax season?
One of the most effective is maximizing contributions to a 401(k) plan. In 2025, you can contribute up to $23,500or $30,500 if you’re 50 or older. Plus, thanks to the Secure Act 2.0, individuals aged 60 to 63 can contribute even more, up to $34,750. Not only do these contributions lower your taxable income, but they may also make you eligible for the Retirement Savings Contribution Credit, which offers up to $1,000 for single filers and up to $2,000 for those married filing jointly. This credit is essentially free money for prioritizing your retirement savings.
Beyond retirement planning, parents can also find tax savings in everyday expenses. Keeping receipts for qualifying expensessuch as sending your child to summer campcan help maximize available deductions or credits. Additionally, if youre able to itemize your deductions, now is a great time to declutter and donate to a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. These donations can be deducted, offering financial benefits while supporting causes you care about.
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If you have been on the job market recently, you know how challenging it can be. Lots of tech companies, for example, are pulling back on hiring. Federal workers are being laid off by the thousands. And some types of jobs are simply not as available as they once were. Particularly in short supply are those prized white-collar positions paying $94,000 or more.
So, any serious job seeker must sharpen their skills to land a job. You can increase the likelihood of a successful search by avoiding the following six big job search mistakes:
Mistake No. 1: Applying for too many jobs
The first mistake is applying for too many jobs and, as a result, not giving enough time to any one application. Some individuals send in applications for 100, 200, or even 400 jobs. That is far too many.
Statistics reveal that job seekers who apply for 21 to 80 jobs have about a 30% chance of receiving a job offer, while candidates who apply for more than 81 jobs have only a 20% chance of receiving an offer. More applications typically get worse results.
To get that next big job, focus on applications where you’re a decent fit, and give more attention to each one.
Mistake No. 2: not customizing your résumé
The second (and very common) mistake is sending every company the same generic résumé. Contrary to popular belief, most hiring companies do scrutinize résumés. After the interview, its the second-most-important vehicle for assessing a candidate. Providing boilerplate wont often get you the job.
Focus your work history and the bullet points under each job youve held. Align this material with the job youre applying for. For example, dont put down that you optimized supply chain operations if you are applying for a leadership role. Instead, say you led a supply chain team. Avoid jargon and technical language that might be misunderstood.
Be sure to include only relevant work experience. If you have waited on tables at your university or worked in a donut shop, leave it out unless youre applying for a service- or people-focused job.
Mistake No. 3: Not tapping into your network
A third job search mistake is overlooking your network. A LinkedIn study shows that 70% of job seekers get their jobs through successful networking. Dont go it alone.
Ask those you know for leads and introductions. Successful networking is usually a multistep process. Most of the time, success is not through your first-degree network but through your second- or third-degree network, writes career coach Sarah Felice on LinkedIn. This means you have to have a lot of conversations, coffee meetups, Zoom meetings, and phone calls.
If you are interested in a position in a particular industry, approach an acquaintance who is knowledgeable about that field. Ask them to connect you to relevant people. If you’re interested in moving up within your company, do your research and find out which department head you should talk to. Introduce yourself with a well-written letter. Such steps may take time, but they will be much more likely to get results.
Mistake No. 4: Poor interview prep
To ace the interview, you’ve got to research the company and the job, prepare a script to guide you, and develop answers to possible questions.
The knowledge you gain as you prepare will enable you to align your background with the companys culture and the job. It will also help you ask intelligent questions and show that you take the company and the job seriously.
An interview script will provide an all-important guide for you. It doesnt have to be memorized or delivered verbatim. It simply will remind you how you want to open the conversation, what your message is, how you are going to develop your message, and how you will close the conversation.
Without a script to guide you, you wont come across as clear-minded and confident. (For more discussion of how and why to prepare a script for your job interviews, see my book, The Job Seekers Script.)
Mistake No. 5: Using weak language
Be mindful of the words you use throughout the interview process.
Eliminate anything that has negative overtones. That includes phrases like I cant, I dont, Im not sure, or I dont know. Eliminate filler words like um, ah, and you know. Avoid overly casual speech like You guys. And dont judge the questions by saying things like, Thats a good question. You’re there to answer questions, not evaluate them.
Apologetic language, such as Im sorry, also tests poorly. You may think you are being thoughtful when you apologize, but doing so can make you sound weak.
Mistake No. 6: Not following up
The final job search mistake to avoid is not following up after your interview or a conversation with someone you networked with. Write a note of thanksan email or an actual written noteand do so promptly. People appreciate that thoughtfulness, and often it will make all the difference if somene is deliberating about hiring you.
