The U.S.-China trade talks in Beijing this week concluded without any sort of agreement and they will reconvene next week in Washington, D.C. There was hope for a memorandum of understanding to result from this week's talks, but clearly there was not enough progress.
Background: The U.S. team, led by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, met with Chinese President Xi Jinping after two days of talks with Vice Premier Liu He and his team.
Farmers were hit with a trio of ominous news this week as the trade war with China pushes on with no signs of a deal on the horizon, Bloomberg reports.
Andrew Tyndall's Tyndall Report each year compiles a list of the "Most Heavily-Used Reporters" (anchors excluded) on the weekday nightly newscasts. Andrew gave Axios a preview of his list for 2018:
Denver teachers ended a 3-day walkout after their union and the city’s public school system reached a tentative agreement on Thursday to add $23 million in new money to fund a 7%-11% increase in base salaries next year and a 20-step salary hike schedule.
Why it matters: This is yet another significant victory for teachers amid a growing national movement by educators across the country over the past year, which has highlighted inadequate teacher pay, school underfunding and lack of resources. Just last month, Los Angeles teachers representing the country's second largest school district halted a 6-day strike after reaching a tentative deal that included a 6% raise, promises of smaller class sizes and additional nurses and counselors.
Levi Strauss & Co., the San Francisco-based jeans-maker, filed for a $100 million IPO. Expect that number to be a placeholder, with the WSJ reporting that Levi's plans to raise over $600 million at a valuation north of $3 billion.
Why it matters: After 145 years, it remains by far the most popular seller of denim pants, with a market share that's three times as large as its closest rival.
U.S. retail sales dropped 1.2% in December from the previous month, the biggest monthly drop since 2009 and a surprise for economists who were expecting sales to rise by 0.1%, the Commerce Department said on Thursday.
The big picture: The report, delayed several weeks because of the government shutdown, shows a pullback in spending from consumers. It raises concerns about what this could mean for the data on 4th quarter GDP growth, which was also delayed by the shutdown.
BENTONVILLE, Ark. — In the 1980s, Walmart was the archvillain of capitalism: the ruthless killer of main streets and mom-and-pops, outrageously profitable and, by all appearances, unstoppable. Now, the 57-year-old retailer has a new role in American society: the anti-Amazon.
What's happening: Amid a decade-long era of heady corporate profits, vast numbers of workers feel untethered, distrustful and without a sense of belonging and dignity. Amazon, like the rest of Big Tech, is being swept up in this crisis of faith, villainized for its very bigness.
