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Australia CFTC AUD NC Net Positions dipped from previous $-78.1K to $-83.6K

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China’s Inflation Resilient but Producer Prices Hint at Deflation

A US-China trade deal, with lower tariffs on Chinese goods, could further boost exports, easing deflationary pressures. On the other hand, an escalation in US-China tensions may weigh on external demand, potentially intensifying deflationary pressures. Market Outlook: Trade Talks and Looming Economic Data Key China’s inflation numbers will set the early tone for the week. However, trade developments and key economic data on August 15 may ultimately drive sentiment. Progress toward a US-China trade deal would likely overshadow the inflation numbers, lifting sentiment. Market sensitivity to the upcoming data hinges on trade headlines. A trade deal and upbeat industrial production, labor market, and retail sales figures could drive Hong Kong and Mainland China-listed stocks to new 2025 highs. However, stalled trade talks may weigh on sentiment, potentially triggering a flight-to-safety. The Hang Seng Index gained 1.43% in the week ending August 8, closing at 24,859. Meanwhile, Mainland China’s CSI 300 and the Shanghai Composite Index advanced 1.23% and 2.11%, buoyed by trade developments and the jump in exports. Read More

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Power and Portability Meet In This Near-Mint 13″ MacBook Pro

Disclosure: Our goal is to feature products and services that we think you’ll find interesting and useful. If you purchase them, Entrepreneur may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners. The right laptop isn’t just about specs — it’s about keeping your operations running smoothly wherever you are. This near-mint refurbished 13‑inch MacBook Pro from 2017 delivers reliable performance, pro‑level features, and the kind of portability that makes it easy to work from the office, client meetings, or the airport lounge. Under the hood, the 3.1GHz dual‑core Intel Core i5 processor (with Turbo Boost up to 3.5GHz) and 8GB of RAM handle everything from financial modeling to presentation design without lag. The 512GB SSD offers fast load times and secure storage for critical business files, so you can access what you need instantly. The 13.3‑inch Retina display keeps spreadsheets sharp and client presentations vivid, with 2560×1600 resolution and 500 nits of brightness. The Touch Bar streamlines your workflow with quick access to app‑specific tools, while Touch ID offers secure logins and quick Apple Pay transactions when booking travel or making purchases. With four Thunderbolt 3 ports, you can connect to external displays for presentations, high‑speed storage drives for project backups, and even charge multiple devices at once. The backlit keyboard and Force Touch trackpad make typing and navigation comfortable and precise, whether you’re working late at night or on the move. Weighing just over 3 pounds and encased in a durable aluminum chassis, this MacBook Pro is built for mobility without sacrificing performance. Wi‑Fi and Bluetooth connectivity keep you linked to your team and tools, no matter your location. As a grade-A refurbished unit, it arrives in near‑mint condition with minimal to no cosmetic wear, giving you premium Apple hardware at a fraction of the cost — a smart investment for any professional looking to maximize value. Equip yourself with a business‑ready MacBook Pro refurb with a Touch Bar for $324.97 (MSRP $1,499) and keep your work moving wherever opportunity takes you. StackSocial prices subject to change. The right laptop isn’t just about specs — it’s about keeping your operations running smoothly wherever you are. This near-mint refurbished 13‑inch MacBook Pro from 2017 delivers reliable performance, pro‑level features, and the kind of portability that makes it easy to work from the office, client meetings, or the airport lounge. Under the hood, the 3.1GHz dual‑core Intel Core i5 processor (with Turbo Boost up to 3.5GHz) and 8GB of RAM handle everything from financial modeling to presentation design without lag. The 512GB SSD offers fast load times and secure storage for critical business files, so you can access what you need instantly. The 13.3‑inch Retina display keeps spreadsheets sharp and client presentations vivid, with 2560×1600 resolution and 500 nits of brightness. The Touch Bar streamlines your workflow with quick access to app‑specific tools, while Touch ID offers secure logins and quick Apple Pay transactions when booking travel or making purchases. The rest of this article is locked. Join Entrepreneur+ today for access. Read More

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I’ve Owned Over 30 Businesses — Here’s How to Master the Art of Running More Than One Company at Once

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Managing one business is challenging enough, but handling several at once? Now that’s next-level. I should know — I’ve owned over 30 businesses in my lifetime, and as CEO, adding new ventures to our portfolio is practically a sport. Over the years, I’ve picked up plenty of strategies (and some wildly entertaining stories) that make balancing multiple businesses not just doable but honestly rewarding. Here’s my blueprint of what has really worked for me. 1. Time management is your superpower Time is every entrepreneur’s most valuable asset. As someone managing multiple companies, I can’t stress enough how crucial it is to master your schedule. I assign dedicated blocks for each business or priority task — to illustrate, back when I was running my first duo of companies, I devoted mornings to one and afternoons and evenings to the other. This approach minimized distractions and helped me stay focused on what truly mattered each day. I’m also a big believer in the 80/20 rule: focus on the 20% of activities that yield 80% of the results, and don’t be afraid to eliminate or delegate the rest. Technology can be a true lifesaver here — my digital calendar (and my handwritten one) keep me and my businesses moving at full speed. Make the most of every free moment. I like to review emails, proposals or agreements while I’m cooking or eating. It’s a simple way to stay productive and avoid wasting time on tasks I can easily knock out during downtime. Every minute counts! Related: How to Successfully Run Multiple Businesses 2. Delegate like a pro No one’s a superhero — and you shouldn’t be expected to handle every task alone. I’ve learned the hard way that knowing what to hand off (and to whom) is critical. I concentrate on my strengths, like brainstorming and big-picture planning and leave specialized work to the pros. Building teams of talented, trustworthy people is non-negotiable. If hiring full-time staff isn’t on the cards, there are skilled freelancers and virtual assistants just a few clicks away. One of my real estate marketing businesses requires a lot of content creation and marketing of luxury real estate homes in California. Outsourcing work like graphic design or video editing frees up my time to focus on growth initiatives. 3. Prioritize ruthlessly Trying to juggle everything will only make you dizzy. That’s why prioritization remains one of my top skills. Every business I run gets its own set of goals, usually mapped out each quarter, and these guide my daily and weekly priorities. Not everything is urgent; knowing how to identify genuine emergencies versus issues that can wait is burnout prevention 101. And if a similar task pops up across several businesses — like a round of contract reviews or a big content-planning session — I tackle them together to maximize efficiency. 4. Get (and stay) organized Organization is the thread holding this circus act together! For each venture, keeping communication, files and workflows in order — saving hours that would’ve otherwise been wasted hunting for that one lost document — is crucial. Documenting processes is also clutch; clear operations manuals empower my teams and simplify onboarding when it’s time to grow. Additionally, every Friday, I dedicate 30 minutes to decluttering my desk, cleaning out my inbox and closing open loops in my schedule. This process has saved my sanity more than once. Related: Think You Can Handle Running Multiple Businesses? Here Are the Pros and Cons You Need to Consider. 5. Protect your work-life balance Let’s be real: with multiple businesses, the temptation to work nonstop is strong, but burnout isn’t an option. I set firm boundaries. Although I love to work 24/7, I still take time to relax — usually, when my body says I have to. And I still make sure to pencil in downtime regularly, from daily exercise to mealtime and fun events. I also try to work in business industries that I genuinely love. When I invest in hobby-based ventures, it never really feels like work. Let’s say you are a baseball card collector and you turned it into a business venture — you could attend card-collecting events and visit hobby shops as part of your workday. Blending passion with business keeps things exciting and fulfilling. These recharge moments fuel the energy and creativity I need for the week ahead. And, when those wins — big or small — come rolling in, I always take a breath to celebrate the progress. It’s a great morale boost that reminds me why I love the hustle. 6. Stay flexible and keep learning If I’ve learned anything across my 30+ businesses, it’s that adaptability is a must. Every venture throws new curveballs and every mistake is another lesson in disguise. Sometimes, I would take on too much or get hung up on tasks I should have let go, but every stumble made me a better business owner. Keeping up with market trends, being open to pivots and investing in self-development — whether by attending conferences, coaching platforms, diving into leadership books or connecting with other entrepreneurs — makes me more effective and keeps my companies ahead of the curve. Related: How Leaders Can Embrace Flexibility and Still Find the Productivity and Creativity They Need 7. Enjoy the ride Juggling multiple businesses can feel like a high-wire act (and sometimes, it is), but with planning, the right team and an openness to learning, it’s absolutely possible — and incredibly rewarding. No entrepreneur starts as a master juggler. Skills build over time, and the satisfaction that comes from watching your business thrive is second to none. So, trust the process, enjoy your wins and go show the world just how much you can accomplish! Whether you’re just starting or already deep into the entrepreneurial juggle, I hope these tips can help you make the most of your amazing adventure. Read More

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5 Trading Secrets That Could Mean Retiring 30 Years Early

Disclosure: Our goal is to feature products and services that we think you’ll find interesting and useful. If you purchase them, Entrepreneur may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners. Imagine opening your laptop for 30 minutes in the morning, spotting a perfect trading setup, and making a quick $10,000 before heading out to the beach. That’s the life of some day traders, and it could be yours, too, if you learn a few basic strategies and give yourself some time to practice. The trick isn’t guessing or luck; it’s knowing how to watch the news, where to spot high-probability setups, and minimizing risk to reduce your losses. There are many places to learn how to day trade, but more than 1,700 students have trusted our online bundle with five solid strategies. Right now, you can get lifelong access for $29.99 (MSRP $200). Here’s what you’ll learn: 1. Candlestick Trading & Analysis Masterclass: Candlestick charts are the market’s language. Learn to spot doji, reversal, and continuation patterns that hint at big moves (or reversal trends) before they happen. 2. Chart Patterns for Day Trading & Investing: Bull flags, head & shoulders, and ABCD setups are more than shapes; they’re signals you can trade in any market, from stocks to crypto and futures. 3. Day Trading with Tape Reading: Discover how Level 2 data and time & sales can show you where big players are buying and selling so you can ride the wave, not fight it. 4. Fibonacci 101: Uncover the “hidden levels” where price often reverses or accelerates, helping you plan precise entries and exits. 5. Volume Trading 101: Volume reveals the strength of a move. Learn to spot breakouts, exhaustion points, and when momentum is fading. You can practice all of these skills risk-free using a paper-trading simulator before putting real money on the line. Build confidence, refine your strategy, and step into live markets prepared. What learners have to say Check out this review from a verified buyer who loved the courses: “I purchased this product not knowing what I [was] looking for, but that’s exactly what I need. I want to learn how to trade but everything out there is expensive. YouTube is too much and overrated. This course is very good value for the price. The lessons are very short but very powerful. The quizzes are very helpfull and the instructor explained very well.” Get lifetime access to these stock trading courses for $29.99 (MSRP $200). The Ultimate Candlestick Trading & Analysis Masterclass Bundle See Deal StackSocial prices subject to change. Imagine opening your laptop for 30 minutes in the morning, spotting a perfect trading setup, and making a quick $10,000 before heading out to the beach. That’s the life of some day traders, and it could be yours, too, if you learn a few basic strategies and give yourself some time to practice. The trick isn’t guessing or luck; it’s knowing how to watch the news, where to spot high-probability setups, and minimizing risk to reduce your losses. There are many places to learn how to day trade, but more than 1,700 students have trusted our online bundle with five solid strategies. Right now, you can get lifelong access for $29.99 (MSRP $200). Here’s what you’ll learn: The rest of this article is locked. Join Entrepreneur+ today for access. Read More

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How to Train AI to Actually Understand Your Business

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. A few months ago, I was in a strategy session with a mid-sized company that had just implemented an AI assistant to support their sales team. The promise was bold. The tool would draft personalized emails, prioritize leads and surface insights from their CRM. Within a week, they were disappointed. The emails sounded flat. The lead scoring made no sense. The insights felt irrelevant. But the problem wasn’t the AI. The problem was the missing context. The AI was functioning exactly as designed. It just had no idea who their customers really were, how their sales team operated or what made the brand sound like itself. They gave the system data. But they didn’t give it meaning. And in today’s AI-powered world, meaning is everything. Related: What Is Artificial Intelligence (AI)? Here Are Its Benefits, Uses and More Why context is the competitive edge Most AI conversations revolve around capability: What can this tool do? Can it automate tasks? Draft emails? Forecast revenue? But capability without clarity leads nowhere. AI isn’t here to think for you — it’s here to accelerate decisions you already know how to make. It does that best when it understands your world. That understanding is built through context. With the right context, AI becomes an amplifier. Without it, it’s a liability. The difference between content and context Most businesses are producing more content than ever — blogs, emails, product pages. But content alone doesn’t move the needle anymore. Context is what tells AI how to interpret that content. It creates structure, order and trust. It’s the invisible framework that helps AI reflect your business accurately and meaningfully. This isn’t about writing more — it’s about designing a system that reflects the truth of your business in a way machines can understand. The five layers of context every business needs In my work with clients across sectors, I’ve seen one pattern hold true. The businesses that win with AI are not the ones that use the most tools. They’re the ones who master their own message and operational clarity. These are the five core layers I help clients define and deploy: 1. Foundational clarity: What you do, who you serve, what you offer and what sets you apart — communicated consistently across every channel. 2. Customer understanding: Document the problems your customers face, the results they want and the language they use. This informs everything from prompts to positioning. 3. Brand tone and voice: AI defaults to neutral. Your job is to teach it how you sound — whether bold, technical, nurturing or direct — and embed that in your AI strategy. 4. Platform consistency: Your website, LinkedIn, press coverage and directories should tell the same story. AI builds a digital “knowledge graph” of you, and inconsistencies erode trust. 5. Process transparencyInternal workflows matter. AI works better when it understands how leads move through your system, what onboarding looks like and where handoffs happen. Without that, automation gets messy. Related: AI for the Underdog — Here’s How Small Businesses Can Thrive With Artificial Intelligence What this looks like in practice I once worked with a founder who was frustrated that AI couldn’t write sales emails that sounded human. But when I looked at the prompt they were using, it simply said “Write a follow-up email to a new lead.” That’s not a prompt. That’s a guess, so we rewrote it using their actual business context. We included who the lead was, what problem they were facing, what the founder wanted to emphasize and the kind of tone that reflects their values. The result was something they were proud to send. That’s the power of context engineering. We are moving toward a world where AI agents will become the default discovery layer for customers. People will no longer browse. They’ll ask a question. The agent will answer. So, if your business lacks clarity, structure and contextual trust, you won’t even be in the running. But if your business is architected with context, the machine will recommend to you confidently. It will summarize you accurately. It will help you scale with integrity and speed. The future of business belongs to the owners who take time to articulate their nuance. AI does not reward noise. It rewards clarity. The brands that win in this next chapter will not just be visible. They will be deeply understood, and the only way to be understood by a machine is to first understand yourself. Ready to break through your revenue ceiling? Join us at Level Up, a conference for ambitious business leaders to unlock new growth opportunities. Read More

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Your Teams Are Working Hard, But You’re Not Seeing Growth. Here’s the Real Problem — and How to Solve It.

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Throughout my career, I’ve seen a recurring pattern inside countless organizations, from agile mid-market players to global enterprises. I’ll see talented, hard-working teams in marketing, sales, customer success and R&D pushing relentlessly to hit their numbers. On paper, everyone is doing their job. Yet, the organization as a whole feels stuck, fighting against an invisible current of internal friction. This is a frustration I hear constantly from CEOs and other executives. They see the immense effort but not the exponential results that should follow. There’s a palpable disconnect they can’t quite pinpoint, because the problem isn’t a lack of talent or effort. The problem is that their go-to-market (GTM) engine isn’t a cohesive unit; it’s a collection of high-performing but disconnected silos. And in today’s volatile market, this internal fragmentation isn’t just inefficient — it’s a direct threat to survival. Related: How to Break Down Silos in Your Company by Building Lanes The real problem: Your biggest threat is internal fragmentation A fragmented go-to-market is one of the most significant, yet hidden, costs in business. When teams operate in isolation, the symptoms are immediate and corrosive. Budgets are wasted on redundant tools and overlapping efforts, and because cross-functional finger-pointing becomes the norm, employee morale inevitably drops. It gets worse when misaligned KPIs incentivize teams to optimize for their own success, often at the expense of the company’s larger goals and, most critically, the customer’s experience. This internal chaos, in turn, spills outward. From the customer’s perspective, the experience is disjointed and frustrating. They are forced to navigate a maze of different departments that don’t seem to talk to each other. But this isn’t just a minor inconvenience; it’s a strategic vulnerability because while you’re busy managing internal friction, your more agile, integrated competitors are delivering the seamless, personalized and relevant experiences that customers now demand. So they aren’t just stealing market share; they are making you obsolete. The 3 pillars of an integrated go-to-market engine Breaking down these silos requires more than a simple reorganization. It demands a fundamental shift in mindset. Based on my experience and reinforced by what I see every day in the SAMA community, this transformation is built on three core pillars that connect and build on one another. Shared metrics, shared mission: A fascinating thing happens when you get leaders from marketing, sales and product in the same room. And when you peel back the layers, they discover they have much more in common than they thought. In fact, they’re all accountable to the same macro-outcomes: customer acquisition cost (CAC), lifetime value (LTV) and net promoter score (NPS). Therefore, the first step to integration is to elevate these shared metrics above any siloed functional goals. This aligns everyone around a single, unified mission: creating and retaining high-value customers. Radical empathy: Once you have a shared mission, you need a new way of working together to achieve it. After all, structure follows strategy, but culture determines success. You cannot simply mandate collaboration; you have to cultivate it, and that begins with empathy. This means creating forums where teams can openly discuss their priorities, challenges and processes. When the sales team understands the data behind marketing’s lead-scoring model, and the product team hears firsthand from customer success about user frustrations, the dynamic shifts. As a result, what were once transactional handoffs become genuine collaborations built on trust. A unified view of the customer: The ultimate outcome of this mission-aligned, empathetic collaboration is the ability to see the business through a single, powerful lens: the customer’s. This unified perspective is powered by a cohesive GTM engine that gathers data and insights at every touchpoint, creating a true 360-degree view of the customer journey. And in the age of AI, this becomes the very foundation for resilience. Instead of just analyzing historical data, your organization can finally build predictive models to anticipate needs, identify risks and uncover opportunities for innovation. With that, the entire business moves from being reactive to proactive, creating a competitive moat that is nearly impossible for fragmented competitors to cross. When these three pillars are in place, the result is a formidable competitive advantage. The organization becomes more agile, more innovative and more attuned to the customer. Related: The Best Leaders Follow These 13 Rules of Cross-Functional Collaboration Your playbook for breaking down the silos And the good news is that this transformation doesn’t require some massive, multi-year initiative. For any leader who recognizes their organization is caught in this silo trap, the path forward begins with three surprisingly direct and intentional steps: Step 1: Get the leaders in a room and define the “why.” The first move is to convene the heads of marketing, sales, customer success and R&D, but the purpose here is critical: The first conversation must center on the why. This means framing a shared mission around the business impact you expect and, most importantly, the value it will deliver to the customer. This initial step transforms what could be just another meeting into the formation of a new, unified leadership coalition. Step 2: Map your common ground. From there, it’s about getting everything on the table. Have each leader present their team’s top priorities and the primary KPIs they are measured against. As you put these on a whiteboard, the shared metrics — LTV, CAC, churn — will become obvious. This simple exercise visually dismantles the illusion of separate missions and builds a foundation of shared accountability. Step 3: Build a unified plan. Once that common ground is established, the conversation naturally shifts toward identifying one or two critical gaps — like improving lead conversion, reducing customer churn, or launching a new product — that no single team can solve alone. The key then becomes to collaboratively build a single, unified plan to tackle it, complete with shared responsibilities and metrics for success. This first joint effort, however small, is what begins to build the crucial muscle memory for cross-functional collaboration.

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The top 10 most popular books of 2025, just in time for National Book Lovers Day

The top 10 most popular books of 2025, just in time for National Book Lovers Day Each year, Goodreads compiles and ranks the most frequently added and rated books of the year on the platform. In a year marked by constant change and digital saturation, reading has remained a powerful constant way to find escape, insight, and connection. Younger readers in particular are driving a resurgence in annotated editions, book clubs, BookTok, and more social media-driven reading challenges. While the ways readers access books continue to evolve, roughly two-thirds of Americans still prefer reading physical books, a figure that has remained steady for over a decade. While readers seem to prefer owning physical books over e-books and audiobooks, they have turned more toward online purchasing, with 55% of book sales being made through Amazon. With over 150 million members, Goodreads has become one of the most reliable ways to measure what stories are striking chords with readers. The company maintains an ongoing list of the most popular books released throughout the year, based on how many members add the books to their shelves. Whether they’re gripping thrillers, sweeping romances, or thought-provoking memoirs, these are the books that have dominated book clubs everywhere. 2 / 11 1. Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros Red Tower Books | Goodreads Release date: January 21, 2025 Featured on: 2 million shelves The third novel in the best-selling Empyrean series following Fourth Wing and Iron Flame, Onyx Storm became a #1 New York Times bestseller and the fastest-selling adult novel of the last 20 years. The third entry sees protagonist Violet Sorrengail navigating political unrest and magical threats as she searches for a way to save Xaden, who is in danger of turning venin. The series as a whole is also expected to get a TV series adaptation through Prime Video. 3 / 11 2. Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins Scholastic Press | Goodreads Release date: March 18, 2025 Featured on: 1 million shelves Another #1 New York Times Bestseller, Sunrise on the Reaping is a prequel to the massively popular Hunger Games series that follows a young Haymitch Abernathy during the 50th Games. The novel goes into the roots of Haymitch’s rebellion and, like many entries in the series before it, already has a film adaptation slated for 2026. 4 / 11 3. Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry Release date: April 22, 2025 Featured on: 769 thousand shelves Two journalists compete to write the biography of a reclusive heiress on a remote island in Great Big Beautiful Life, which made the New York Times Bestseller list and was the Reese’s Book Club pick for May 2025. As secrets unfold and a slow-burn romance develops, the novel explores ambition, legacy, and the stories we tell ourselves. 5 / 11 4. The Crash by Freida McFadden Poisoned Pen Press | Goodreads Release date: January 28, 2025 Featured on: 531 thousand shelves Eight months pregnant expecting mother Tegan Werner crashes in a blizzard and is rescued by a couple in a remote cabin, though their hospitality hides dark secrets. Freida McFadden’s #1 New York Times bestselling thriller is tense and explores the complexities of trauma and the power of maternal instinct. 6 / 11 5. Deep End by Ali Hazelwood Release date: February 4, 2025 Featured on: 512 thousand shelves Scarlett, a diver recovering from an injury, and Lukas, a world-class swimmer, enter a no-strings relationship while training for the Olympics. Hazelwood’s sports romance dives deep into vulnerability, healing, and the strength of love, making the New York Times Bestseller list. 7 / 11 6. Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid Ballantine Books | Goodreads Release date: June 3, 2025 Featured on: 470 thousand shelves Despite only being out for a little over a month, Atmosphere has already landed on nearly half a million shelves on Goodreads. Set in NASA’s 1980s Space Shuttle program, the novel follows Joan Goodwin, an astronomer-turned-astronaut, and her secret romance with fellow astronaut Vanessa Ford. In addition to being a New York Times Bestseller, it was voted a top summer read by Goodreads users and was the Good Morning America Book Club pick for June. 8 / 11 7. Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney Flatiron Books | Goodreads Release date: January 14, 2025 Featured on: 464 thousand shelves Feeney’s New York Times bestselling psychological thriller sees author Grady retreat to a remote Scottish island after his wife Abby vanishes, only to encounter eerie events and a woman who looks just like her. As his grip on reality slips, Grady uncovers secrets buried beneath the island’s surface. 9 / 11 8. Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez Release date: April 1, 2025 Featured on: 461 thousand shelves Veterinarian Xavier Rush and Samantha Diaz share a perfect first date, only to be torn apart by family obligations. As they navigate long-distance love and caregiving challenges, their bond deepens. Jimenez’s heartfelt romance about memory and sacrifice was another #1 New York Times bestseller as well as one of the Amazon Editors’ Best Books of 2025 So far. 10 / 11 9. Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall Simon & Schuster | Goodreads Release date: March 4, 2025 Featured on: 386 thousand shelves Another entry on the New York Times Bestseller list and the Reese’s Book Club pick for March, Broken Country sees protagonist Beth’s quiet life disrupted when her first love returns to her village, stirring up secrets and grief over her lost son. As past and present collide, Beth must choose between the life she built and the one she left behind. 11 / 11 10. Fearless by Lauren Roberts Simon & Schuster | Goodreads Release date: April 8, 2025 Featured on: 196 thousand shelves In the explosive finale of the Powerless trilogy, Paedyn must survive brutal trials and protect her forbidden love for Kai. As political tensions rise and betrayals mount, the fate of the kingdom hangs in the balance in the high-stakes last entry of Roberts’ bestselling romantasy

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Combat by commerce: Trump’s forever war in trade

The liberalized, global trade order is getting knocked down and reassembled through President Donald Trump’s wall of tariffs. Dozens of countries, including China, India, and Switzerland, are still scrambling to secure lower rates for their U.S.-bound exports. When the ink dries in these trade accords, though, the peace might be short-lived. Suggested Reading Eight months into his second term, Trump has shown a willingness to tear up and renegotiate trade accords, even those carrying his stamp of approval. That was the case with Mexico and Canada, two of the largest U.S. trading partners; they forged an agreement with Trump in 2018 to replace a prior one he’d consistently derided as “the worst trade deal ever made.” Related Content The latest tariffs open the possibility of a Trump-imposed forever war in trade that doesn’t have a ceasefire or fixed-end date — one that ultimately carries on by executive whim, at least during the rest of his term. Brad Setser, a trade expert at the Council of Foreign Relations, called it a “concern, a big one.” “I think most trading partners recognize that any deal is temporary and can be renegotiated by Trump,” Setser told Quartz. “They’re trying to strike the best possible deal to limit the damage to their own interests for a period of time.” “Almost everyone took note of the tariffs on Mexico and Canada, which effectively undid the Trump term-1 trade deal,” Setser said. Trump’s trade hostilities are already having an effect on U.S. business dealings. “I happen to know from our Fortune 500 companies in Omaha, they’re losing business in Canada right now,” Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska told Quartz in a recent interview. “The Canadians are bitter, and I know it. I know the diplomatic folks in Washington and I hear from Omaha businessmen that are seated on their pocketbooks.” Indeed, observers initially believed the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement would fortify their bargaining position and spare the U.S. neighbors from the brunt of Trump’s trade war. But they were lumped into the conflict with everyone else with a spate of double-digit tariffs on steel and aluminum, which remain in effect. Trump forged limited trade agreements with Japan and South Korea during his first term. In 2018, he painted the accord with Seoul as a “fair and reciprocal one,” invoking the same language that he’s used to describe the goals of his ongoing trade wars. That didn’t keep him from sending letters to both countries threatening them with 25% tariffs. It’s proven difficult for trade negotiators to compress complex discussions that usually take several years into a shorter span of months or even weeks. The rapid speed of the negotiations has already caused confusion in Washington and Tokyo over what both countries had agreed to in their not-so-formal handshake deal. “The other party is not a normal person,” Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told lawmakers in Tokyo this week in reference to Trump, per the Washington Post. “In negotiations like this, implementation is far more difficult than reaching an agreement.” There’s similar disagreement brewing between the Trump administration and the European Union, particularly around the terms of a $600 billion investment fund. Trump has said he is free to invest the money as he wishes. “The details are $600 billion to invest in anything I want,” Trump said this week on CNBC. “Anything. I can do anything I want with it.” However, the E.U. doesn’t have the authority to compel private sector investment into the U.S. Trump said in the same interview that if the funding didn’t materialize, he’d slap a 35% tariff on the 27-member E.U. bloc. Most foreign governments have been careful not to strike back against the Trump administration with retaliatory tariffs. China has imposed a 10% tariff on U.S. products. Both Brazil and India have kept the door open to levying import duties of their own. Notably, all three form part of the so-called BRICS bloc of emerging economies. Foreign capitals are keeping a close eye on a legal challenge to Trump’s unilateral authority on tariffs, one that leaves the trade landscape unsettled for the foreseeable future. “Many are also aware that Trump’s current round of tariffs is subject to a very serious U.S. legal challenge, and the tariffs could be removed, Setser said. “Trump would have to use more conventional trade authorities to replicate the current set of tariffs. So there’s an enormous amount of uncertainty.” 📬 Sign up for the Daily Brief Read More

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Ether breaks $4,000 for the first time in 8 months

Ethereum (ETH) just notched its highest price since December, fueled by heavy institutional demand and corporate stockpiles. Suggested Reading On Friday ETH soared past $4,045 — up nearly 3.5% — as of around 2:45 p.m. ET. That marks a stunning 190% climb from its April low, driven by record ETF inflows and corporate treasury accumulation. Over $6.7 billion has flowed into U.S.–listed Ethereum spot ETFs this year, while strategic “digital‑asset treasury” firms have amassed upwards of $12 billion in ETH holdings. Related Content The U.S. also recently passed the GENIUS Act, a bipartisan bill that establishes the first federal stablecoin framework and requires full backing with reliable assets. That clears some regulatory fog over programmable money systems — exactly where Ethereum plays — boosting investor confidence. Ethereum is well positioned to capitalize on the shift; it already processes more than half of all stablecoin volume, leads DeFi value, and dominates tokenization platforms, cementing its infrastructure status.  Ethereum just turned 10, and its birthday rally is more than nostalgia. A decade after its 2015 launch, the network has evolved from a “scrappy experiment” into “Wall Street’s invisible backbone,” as CNBC recently put it.  But make no mistake: Ethereum’s resurgence comes with caveats. During the frenzy surrounding crypto-friendly President Donald Trump’s reelection and inauguration, crypto markets surged — Bitcoin hit all-time highs, and Ethereum enjoyed some time in the sun. Yet Ethereum lagged in the rebound that followed. The Ethereum‑to‑Bitcoin ratio fell to its lowest since March 2021, underscoring Ethereum’s relative underperformance versus Bitcoin’s strong recovery. Ethereum’s rally isn’t isolated. Standard Chartered notes that treasury firms, unlike ETFs, can generate around 3% in staking yields and dabble in DeFi returns, giving them a performance edge. And growth hasn’t slowed. Small public companies have ramped up ETH holdings from under 116,000 tokens at the end of 2024 to nearly 966,304 now — about $3.5 billion worth — largely as an inflation hedge and yield strategy. The shift is clear: ETFs and treasury firms are increasingly treating Ethereum not just as crypto but as infrastructure, gearing up for its central role in tokenization and financial plumbing. Still, until Ethereum starts to regain ground on BTC, the narrative remains: Ethereum’s comeback is impressive — but not yet complete. 📬 Sign up for the Daily Brief Read More

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