Trump v Powell, The Death of The Pope And The Success of Sinners

Welcome to Read It And Eat, and we hope you had a fantastic Easter/Bank holiday weekend. It feels like we took a break from the news for 2 seconds, and all hell broke loose. In an unprecedented move that sent markets plummeting, President Trump has made his intention known to remove the current chair of the Federal Reserve. Pope Francis has unfortunately passed away from a stroke and heart failure. The  35 billion dollar merger between Capital One and Discover was approved. Ryan Coogler’s Sinners is a box office hit and has given him the clout to demand a breathtaking deal. All that plus earnings season for Q1 2025 continues.

Major Headlines

• Trump’s Fed Tirade spooks markets amid rate cut demands

• President Donald Trump reignited tensions with the Federal Reserve on Monday, warning of an imminent economic slowdown unless interest rates are lowered. In a scathing Truth Social post, Trump called Fed Chair Jerome Powell “Mr. Too Late” and urged immediate cuts to rates, despite Powell’s caution against fueling inflation amid the administration’s steep new tariffs. The remarks triggered a broad selloff on Wall Street, sending indexes to one-week lows and driving up bond yields. Investors fear the growing friction could threaten the Fed’s independence and shake confidence in U.S. monetary policy. Analysts say the standoff could deepen as Trump’s tariffs ripple through the economy, putting further pressure on the labor market. The irony of this whole thing is that Trump was the one who initially appointed him in his first term. Reuters

• Pope Francis died of stroke and heart failure, says Vatican

• Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, has died at the age of 88, the Vatican confirmed on Monday. The cause of death was a stroke and irreversible cardiac arrest, according to Vatican physician Andrea Arcangeli. He noted that the pope had also been battling high blood pressure, diabetes, and double pneumonia in recent months. Francis reportedly fell into a coma before his death. The pope’s passing came as a shock, as he had appeared in public on Easter Sunday, waving to crowds from his popemobile in St. Peter’s Square — his first extended appearance since a 38-day hospital stay. Nicknamed “the pope of the poor,” Francis led a papacy marked by efforts to reform Church governance, elevate social justice, and address global inequality. His tenure also stirred internal tensions, particularly with conservative factions.                   Global leaders have begun responding to the news. U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed he will attend the funeral in Rome. Argentina, Francis’ home country, has declared seven days of mourning, along with neighboring Brazil.  Reuters

• Capital One and Discover merger approved by Federal Reserve

• Capital One Financial’s (COF) $35.3 billion all-stock acquisition of Discover Financial Services (DFS) has been greenlit by the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Discover shareholders will receive 1.0192 Capital One shares for each Discover share—about a 26% premium on its $110.49 closing price at the time. The deal combines two of the U.S.’s largest credit card issuers, boosting Capital One’s deposit base and card offerings. As a condition, Capital One will comply with a Fed enforcement action against Discover for $100 million in excess interchange fees charged between 2007 and 2023. CNBC

• Ryan Coogler’s Groundbreaking Film Deal Has Hollywood on Edge

• Ryan Coogler’s new horror film Sinners, set in Jim Crow-era Mississippi, topped the domestic box office this weekend with a $45.6 million debut — but it’s not just the movie that has Hollywood talking. The real shockwave is the unprecedented deal Coogler struck with Warner Bros., one that industry insiders fear could upend the traditional studio model.Coogler, whose past films (Black Panther, Creed) have grossed over $1 billion, reportedly negotiated a ~$90 million budget for Sinners — but with major conditions. He retained final cut authority, will receive a percentage of the box-office gross from day one, and, most notably, will regain ownership of the film after 25 years. That last point has rattled studio executives, who rely on long-term ownership of films for continued revenue through licensing and syndication. “The lifetime, long-term value of our film properties is what makes a studio a studio,” one anonymous exec told Vulture. Another said the move could spell “the end of the studio system.”Coogler clarified he pursued ownership of Sinners for personal reasons and does not plan to request similar rights in future deals — but many in the industry fear the precedent has been set. We at RIAE really think you should to go see it.  New York Times

Minor Headlines

• The ECB cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 2.25%, signaling a potential policy shift — CNBC

• DraftKings withdrew its application to offer prediction market derivatives in the U.S. —  Bloomberg

• Instagram uses AI to detect underage teens and limit accounts — Techcrunch

• Feds accuse Uber of charging users for subscriptions without consent — Forbes

• TSMC maintained its revenue forecast after a strong earnings beat, downplaying U.S.-China trade tensions — CNBC

• Netflix beat earnings expectations with a 13% revenue jump in Q1 — CNBC

• American Express reported strong Q1 earnings as high-income consumers continued to spend  — American Express

• UnitedHealth shares plunged 23%—its worst day this century—after missing Q1 earnings — Reuters

GEN-Z Word of the Day

Chat – Used to refer to a group of people, like friends or people in their class. codified by Youtubers and live streamers when asking no one in particular but everyone on watching the live stream.

Example: Chat, do you think he's telling the truth?