2025-12-02 21:16

WASHINGTON/BRASILIA, Dec 2 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva discussed trade, the economy and fighting organized crime in a phone call on Tuesday, both sides said. Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said the two men also discussed sanctions - an apparent reference to his administration's targeting of Brazil's judiciary over the criminal case of right-wing former President Jair Bolsonaro. Sign up here. Trump said he and Lula "had a great talk. We talked about trade. We talked about sanctions, because, as you know, I sanctioned them having to do with certain things that took place." In a later social media post, Trump said he looked forward to seeing and speaking with Lula soon, adding that "much good will come out of this newly formed partnership!" Brazil's presidential palace said in a statement that Lula thanked Trump for his decision to remove additional tariffs on U.S. imports of Brazilian goods including coffee and beef, and added that Brazil seeks to progress on talks about products still affected by the levies. Trump last month removed the 40% tariffs on several Brazilian food products, which also included cocoa and fruits, that he had announced in July to punish Brazil over the prosecution of Bolsonaro, a Trump ally. During the 40-minute call on Tuesday, which the Brazilian presidential palace called "very productive," Lula also stressed the urgency of strengthening cooperation with the United States to fight international organized crime, according to its statement. The two leaders spoke amid recent U.S. actions in the region, including a massive military buildup in the Caribbean and three months of U.S. strikes on suspected drug boats off Venezuela's coast. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/lula-trump-discussed-tariffs-fighting-organized-crime-phone-call-brazil-says-2025-12-02/

2025-12-02 21:02

Dec 2 (Reuters) - With bitcoin trading well below its recent highs, hedge fund manager and activist investor Eric Jackson is betting that investors will still want exposure to crypto — just with less pain on the way down. Jackson's firm EMJ Capital is preparing to launch EMJX, a crypto-focused treasury company that will invest in bitcoin, ethereum and a selection of smaller cryptocurrencies. Sign up here. While EMJX will buy and hold these assets, it plans to distinguish itself from other crypto treasury companies such as Michael Saylor's Strategy Inc (MSTR.O) , opens new tab by being multi-asset and through active hedging, aiming to limit large drawdowns while still participating when prices rise. Crypto treasury companies allocate their cash reserves to holding bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies as a strategic asset. "We think the next frontier is risk-managed digital treasuries," Jackson said in an interview. "It still allows us to hopefully capture the upside when bitcoin is doing well but helps insulate us from these massive drawdowns during these winter crypto markets." Backtests of EMJX's strategy show that the treasury company's investments would be up 31% this year, even as bitcoin and ethereum have fallen 3% and 10%, respectively, while Strategy's shares are down 41%. EMJ's strategy relies on proprietary artificial intelligence models to guide hedging. Jackson says the models have become more robust by incorporating signals from both bitcoin and ethereum, rather than focusing on just one of the two. He also argues that crypto markets offer a richer data set than traditional assets, because blockchains record money flows in and out of specific tokens in real time. That transparency allows firms like EMJ to study the behavior of large market participants, or "whales," and track how they perform. When it comes to smaller cryptocurrencies, EMJ will draw on the stock-picking experience Jackson's hedge fund has built. He cites used-car retailer Carvana (CVNA.N) , opens new tab as an example: after the stock fell as low as $3.50, his models tagged it as a "buy" at $11. It was at $378 on Tuesday. “We only have to be right on a handful and it could have a very significant impact on the value of the overall treasury as it plays out,” he said. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/sustainable-finance-reporting/emjs-jackson-aims-take-volatility-out-crypto-2025-12-02/

2025-12-02 20:40

Dec 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Energy said on Tuesday it will provide up to $800 million to support development of small modular reactors by the Tennessee Valley Authority and private company Holtec. The Trump administration and nuclear companies believe SMRs will help supply electricity to the U.S. where power demand is rising for the first time in two decades on artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency mining and electric vehicles. Sign up here. Backers say SMRs could save costs because they are expected to be built in factories. But no such reactors are under construction in the United States and questions exist about whether they can provide power as cheaply as today's larger reactors. Nuclear power also creates long-lasting radioactive waste for which there is no permanent repository. TVA, a U.S.-owned power utility, will receive up to $400 million in federal cost-shared funding for development of a GE Vernova Hitachi BWRX-300 at the Clinch River site in Tennessee and other projects, the Energy Department said. Holtec, which will also receive up to $400 million, plans to build two SMRs at its Palisades, Michigan, site. Holtec is hoping to reopen the 800-megawatt Palisades conventional reactor this year, which shut in 2022 after operating for more than 50 years. The plant secured a $1.52 billion loan guarantee during former President Joe Biden's administration, and so far the Energy Department's loan office has disbursed more than $490 million of the financing. The Energy Department expects the SMRs to be developed by the early 2030s. "These awards ensure we can deploy these reactors as soon as possible," Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a press release. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-energy-dept-provide-up-800-million-support-two-small-modular-reactor-projects-2025-12-02/

2025-12-02 20:39

Democratic states resist USDA demand for SNAP recipient data, citing privacy concerns USDA aims to use data to combat SNAP fraud Federal judge ruled USDA can't deny funds over data non-compliance WASHINGTON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump will halt federal payments that help administer the food stamp program to Democratic-led states next week if they do not turn over aid recipient data, according to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. Democratic state and federal officials have resisted an effort by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to collect data like immigration status and social security numbers of recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, also known as food stamps, calling it an unlawful privacy violation. The USDA has said it will use the data to root out fraud. Sign up here. "As of next week, we have begun and will begin to stop moving federal funds into those states until they comply," Rollins said at a Tuesday Cabinet meeting at the White House. "If a state won’t share data on criminal use of SNAP benefits, it won’t get a dollar of federal SNAP administrative funding," Rollins later posted on X. While SNAP benefits are funded by the federal government, states administer the program and each maintain their own recipient records. The USDA and states split SNAP administrative costs. Trump's fiscal legislation known as the "One Big Beautiful Bill" will eventually shift more of the administrative cost and some of the cost of benefits to states. The Democratic governors of 22 states and the District of Columbia sued the USDA in July over the data demand. A federal judge ruled in October that the USDA could not deny SNAP funding to the states because of their failure to submit data. A USDA spokesperson said the agency has established a "SNAP integrity team" to analyze state data. "We have sent Democrat States yet another request for data, and if they fail to comply, they will be provided with formal warning that USDA will pull their administrative funds," the spokesperson said. Twenty-eight states have so far submitted the data to the USDA, according to a November letter sent from the agency to states and included in court filings. Nearly 42 million Americans receive SNAP benefits. https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/trump-halt-some-food-aid-support-democratic-led-states-over-data-fight-2025-12-02/

2025-12-02 20:28

CAIRO, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa met delegations from U.S. oil major Chevron and the Syrian Petroleum Company to discuss cooperation in oil and gas exploration fields on Syrian shores, the Syrian state news agency said on Tuesday. The state news agency did not provide further details on the discussions. Chevron did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Sign up here. The meeting was also attended by representatives from Qatar's UCC Holding, the state news agency said. The company recently led a consortium of international companies that signed a memorandum of understanding to develop major power generation projects with a foreign investment valued at about $7 billion. Due to the destruction of energy infrastructure during its 14-year civil war, Syria today produces just a fraction of the electricity it needs, though the supply of power has improved notably in recent months thanks to gas from Azerbaijan and Qatar. Damascus has recently pledged to ramp up power supply. Syria's domestic natural gas production is estimated to have declined to 3 billion cubic metres in 2023 from 8.7 bcm in 2011 due to the war. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/syrian-president-chevron-discuss-cooperation-oil-gas-exploration-state-news-2025-12-02/

2025-12-02 20:12

LONDON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Balyasny Asset Management posted a 2.5% return in November and is up 15.3% this year so far, a source told Reuters on Tuesday. The $31 billion multi-strategy hedge fund had led many of its peers in its over-all performance to October. Sign up here. Citadel's flagship fund Wellington posted a 1.4% return in November, boosting the fund's performance for the year to 8.3%, according to two people familiar told Reuters on Monday. Man Group's (EMG.L) , opens new tab 1783 multi-strategy has returned around 12.5%, the firm's website showed. November returns numbers for other big multi-strategy funds was not yet available to Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/markets/wealth/balyasny-asset-management-up-over-15-so-far-2025-says-source-2025-12-02/