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Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. President Donald Trump has gone all in on his tariff crusade, announcing last week a 10% tariff on almost every country with even higher tariffs on specific countries. From beauty and food to car automation , every industry is currently reeling with the stock market dovetailing, and the potential negative aftereffects will be felt for decades to come. However, the now billion-dollar AI industry is at risk of being decimated thanks to Trump’s tariffs. Pro-crypto and pro-AI fanatics have curried a lot of favor with the president, so much so that many of them have been appointed as high government officials to advance America’s standing in the global AI race. Even though Trump has reversed his initial thoughts towards technology, his insistence on tariffs may hurt the AI industry after all. According to Time, AI companies, along with several other industries, lost billions of dollars when the tariffs...
President Donald Trump’s 10% tariff on all countries took effect over the weekend, and on Monday, April 7, U.S. stocks fell by at least 20%, entering what is known as a “bear market,” CNN reported . According to Dictionary.com, a bear market — the opposite of a bull market — is a prolonged period of declining stock prices , generally defined as a drop of 20% or more from a recent high, though not a formal measurement. On Thursday, April 3, stock markets had already experienced their worst day since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, AFROTECH™ reported. Then came Friday with another record drop. The S&P 500 index, which tracks 500 leading U.S. companies, fell by over 4%, marking a decline of more than 16% from its peak. The Russell 2000 index, which follows smaller U.S. companies, plunged by 5.3%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index — already in a bear market — had experienced a decline of over 5% on Thursday, marking its worst trading session in more than five years. It...
Friday, April 4, 2025, marked the second consecutive day major U.S. stock indexes fell sharply, a downtrend that follows President Donald Trump’s recent tariffs announcement and China’s Friday morning declaration to impose a 34% duty on U.S. goods in retaliation. According to NBC News, significant market losses included Tesla , Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company, which fell by approximately 10%; agricultural equipment leader Caterpillar, down about 6%; and top AI chip manufacturer Nvidia, which declined by approximately 7%. The S&P 500 index, which tracks 500 leading U.S. companies, dropped more than 4%, down more than 16% from its peak. The Russell 2000 index, which follows stocks of smaller U.S. companies, plummeted by 5.3%. Global markets also experienced significant sell-offs, with European stocks declining 10% from recent highs and Asian markets facing sharp drops. After the market had closed on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, Trump announced from the White House’s Rose Garden that...
Apple faces its largest decline since 2020, leading the race of significant drops in technology stocks as President Donald Trump announced a 10% tariff on all imported goods and higher duties targeting specific countries, according to CNBC. Trump shared the news about tariffs from the White House’s Rose Garden after the market closed on Wednesday, April 2, 2025, raising concerns about a potential global trade war . According to a White House fact sheet, the tariffs will take effect at 12:01 a.m. EST on Saturday, April 5, 2025. “Today, President Donald J. Trump declared that foreign trade and economic practices have created a national emergency, and his order imposes responsive tariffs to strengthen the international economic position of the United States and protect American workers,” the fact sheet read. On Thursday, April 3, Apple stock declined by over 8%, Meta Platforms and Amazon each dropped about 7%, and Nvidia and Tesla experienced declines of over 4%, per CNBC. The...
The crypto market is surging following a major regulatory shift. According to CNBC, XRP jumped 10% to $2.49 after Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has dropped its case against the company. This decision marks the end of a four-year legal battle that has shaped the industry’s regulatory landscape and fueled speculation about a broader shift in the SEC’s approach. Ripple’s Long-Awaited Victory Speaking at the Digital Assets Summit in New York, Garlinghouse reflected on the drawn-out legal fight, calling it a painful yet necessary battle for the industry. “It’s been almost four years and about three months since the SEC originally sued us, certainly a painful journey in lots of ways,” Garlinghouse said. “I really deeply believed that we were going to be on the right side of the law and on the right side of history.” The SEC sued Ripple in 2020, alleging that the company sold XRP as an unregistered security. Ripple scored a...
If you’ve been keeping up with the news regarding emerging technology such as generative artificial intelligence , you’re likely already aware of popular services such as ChatGPT and Meta AI. While these models have been disrupting the tech space for the last few years, one relative newcomer, DeepSeek, has recently made major waves and completely shifted the cultural perspective on the financial and computational requirements of artificial intelligence. Per reports, DeepSeek showcases a nearly identical generative capability when compared to GPT-4o, despite costing a fraction of the price to develop. Within days of hitting the American market, DeepSeek has decimated multiple major stock prices for companies including Nvidia, Microsoft and Meta. The headline-grabbing service has left investors and general consumers alike scrambling to catch up, asking questions about how this is all possible. Since DeepSeek is receiving such massive attention, now seems like as good a time as any to...
As American social media users brace for the Jan. 19 TikTok ban , thousands have begun searching for alternative apps to satiate their doom scrolling fix. While many American-based tech CEO’s such as Mark Zuckerberg had hoped that the TikTok ban would encourage users to flock to other short-form video players such as Instagram or YouTube Shorts, it seems that the masses have stumbled onto an unknown gem called Xiaohongshu instead. The app, which translates to RedNote in English, is owned by a Shanghai-based company known as Xingyin Information Technology, and touts itself as a lifestyle, social networking and e-commerce service . Given that RedNote primarily serves a Chinese audience, it defaults to Mandarin upon download, and exposes new users to an audience of hundreds of millions of overseas subscribers. The sudden influx of so-called “TikTok refugees” has caused RedNote to skyrocket in popularity, taking it to the number one position among the free apps chart on both the Apple...
It could be the end of an era for budget-friendly travel — at least for now. On Monday, Nov. 18th, low-fair flight company Spirit Airlines confirmed that they’ve filed for bankruptcy protection after making efforts to cut costs all around. Some of their recent steps have included selling 23 Airbus jets and delaying future aircraft deliveries. Sadly, Spirit has also had to furlough hundreds of pilots with plans to cut additional staff in January. In their filing, they confirmed 13,000 full-time and part-time employees, plus 8,000 independent contractors and temporary workers. Things might look dire now, but as CNN notes, American Airlines , United and Delta have all gone bankrupt within the last 25 years, only to bounce back stronger on the other end of negotiations and hard work. What We Know About Spirit Airlines’ Bankruptcy So Far Photo Credit: Forsaken Films / Unsplash CNN cites, “ mounting losses, unaffordable debt, increased competition for bargain-seeking airline passengers...
Whether you’re satisfied with the results of the 2024 presidential election or not, the only option now that the votes are in is to accept that situation and move forward with grace and confidence. Throughout their campaign for the White House, both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump had celebrities endorsing them to help persuade the public. The former relied on Megan Thee Stallion’s bodacious body and a co-sign from Barack Obama, while Trump’s support from figures like Elon Musk and Joe Rogan could be what gave him the winning edge. The South African pledged his allegiance to the Republican candidate following the assassination attempt made on his life in July; per Barrons , Musk was one of the president-elect’s biggest donors for his third campaign, spending more than $130 million supporting Trump and others in his political party. Considering he’s the richest man in the world, dishing out this money to help his friend was nothing for the Twitter CEO, who’s only stood to benefit...
Wall Street day traders found themselves shocked and confused last week when Reddit’s stock price climbed to heights of 58 percent, surpassing the expectations of even the most liberal investors on r/WallStreetBets. The social media site , which is primarily used for sharing opinions, discussing niche topics and delivering daily news to millions of user-generated in-groups, reported $348.4 million in Q3 revenue according to data on Yahoo Finance . While these sky-high figures would be a bit surprising to most financial analysts, they were especially shocking to Wall Street insiders , who were reportedly planning to short the RDDT stock based on their expectation that the site would lose money during the most recent earnings report . In order to understand why and how the Reddit stock was able to surpass expectations, we’ll have to take a brief look at what’s changed in the site’s business model in recent months, watch similar stocks such as META and NVDA, and study the industry...
Super Micro Computer’s ( SMCI ) stock dropped nearly 30% on Wednesday, Oct. 30, after the AI server maker’s auditor resigned. Ernst & Young (EY) resigned while auditing Super Micro’s fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, according to Yahoo Finance. The move comes after Hindenburg Research released a brief report in August alleging “accounting manipulation” at Super Micro. “We are resigning due to information that has recently come to our attention, which has led us to no longer be able to rely on management’s and the Audit Committee’s representations and to be unwilling to be associated with the financial statements prepared by management,” EY stated in its resignation letter. The accounting firm added that it can no longer provide audit services in compliance with “applicable laws or professional obligations.” In August, Hindenburg stated that its three-month investigation uncovered “glaring accounting red flags, evidence of undisclosed related party transactions, sanctions and export...
Not everyone is an investor. But thanks to platforms like Public and Robinhood , you do not have to have a degree in economics or work at Goldman Sachs to get in on the stock market action. Once reserved for only the most savvy of analysts and the wealthiest of investors, the playing field is far more level — at least in terms of accessibility. However, having access to opportunities and knowing what to do with them are two very different stories. In particular, there is something known as the Fear and Greed Index (developed by CNN) and it directly impacts how successful one can trade traditional stocks or even crypto currencies like Bitcoin. So, if traders are ready to dabble those toes into the stock market, crypto, or both, keep on reading to learn about this critical tool. What Is The Fear And Greed Index? Whether a person is trading crypto or traditional common stocks , the Fear and Greed Index is a trading tool that helps decide when to jump into a commodity, when to hold it...
As an innovator of the culture as we know it today, Pharrell has racked up quite the collection over the years. Now, the 49-year-old entertainer says everything must go in an exclusive auction of some of his most personal valuables. “My business manager was like, ‘Hey, at this point, you have 11 different storage units,'” said Pharrell in an interview with Financial Times. He has keepsakes that include everything from a leather jacket featuring “Women’s Rights” across the front to a gold-plated Blackberry.