Axios

General Motors CEO Mary Barra said Wednesday the automaker is aligned with President-elect Trump's goal of boosting American manufacturing, despite tensions with him when he was first in the White House.

Why it matters: Trump is expected to pursue a wide range of policies that would directly affect the auto industry.

Macy's today lowered its full-year earnings outlook, attributing the trim to cautious consumer spending and a misstatement of expenses.

• Shares fell over 11% earlier in the day, but rebounded amid a broader market rally to close down just 1%.

The intrigue: The company concluded an investigation into an employee who intentionally hid $151 million in expenses from Macy's financial reports over three years.

• The now-former employee was reportedly trying to hide their own accounting error.

GM just walked away from its robotaxi dream, bailing on its Cruise business as the price tag became too much to stomach.

Between the lines: GM can't afford — the cost or the distraction — to work on a moonshot when its core business needs fixing.

Teslas make a statement, now literally — a growing number of owners are using bumper stickers to disassociate themselves from billionaire CEO Elon Musk as he deepens his alliance with President-elect Trump.

Why it matters: Matthew Hiller, an Etsy vendor selling anti-Musk bumper stickers, said he's experienced a surge in business since Musk started campaigning with Trump, The New York Times reports.

David Bonderman, the co-founder of private equity firm TPG and owner of the NHL's Seattle Kraken, died on Wednesday at the age of 82.

The big picture: Bonderman was one of the most powerful and influential private equity investors ever, helping push the cottage industry into the mainstream.

The good news in the latest inflation data is that it was pretty much as expected, which is enough for the Fed to cut interest rates next week. The bad news is that underlying inflation has flatlined, throwing into question what's to come in the new year.

Why it matters: If the data doesn't show a more decisive downward move in inflation soon, it will scramble the Fed's plans to continue cutting rates in 2025.

The Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins each have agreed to sell minority ownership stakes to private equity, the first such deals in National Football League history.

Why it matters: The NFL had been the last major U.S. sports league to allow institutional investors to hold stakes in teams, approving new rules back in August.

Confidence among America's top chief executives is soaring after President-elect Trump's re-election, with high hopes the former president will usher in an era of low taxes and regulations.

Why it matters: Mainstream economists warn the economy will take a hit from some of Trump's proposals, but business leaders see a brighter outlook for their industries in the months ahead.

The Consumer Price Index rose 2.7% in the 12 months through November — a bigger increase than the prior month — while the core measure that excludes energy and food prices rose 3.3%, the Labor Department said on Wednesday.

Why it matters: Inflation has plunged since the height of the crisis, but progress on cooling it further stalled out again last month.