Hello, Quartz members, and welcome to Sunday Reads!
Donald Trump is back, and like him or loathe him, you’ll be living in his world for the next four years. So pull up a chair and take a read of some of our best stories of the week, plus a look at what’s coming next week.
5 things we especially liked on Quartz
📉 Buckle up, kids, it’s going to get bumpy. Donald Trump has pledged to slap high tariffs on imports and slash corporate income taxes. He’s also promised to drill for more oil, ease up on Bitcoin, rein in regulations, and bring down grocery prices. But his promised tariffs and tax cuts would likely boost inflation, and it’s not clear that any of the tax cuts would trickle down to working stiffs. William Gavin looks under the hood.
🖥️ Chip Wars II: The American Empire Strikes Back. The 50% to 60% tariffs Trump says he plans to slap on Chinese imports would likely start a new trade war with China, worrying U.S. allies that see China as a market. Britney Nguyen looks at what might happen if they’re forced to choose.
🛫 Boeing’s back. Boeing’s 33,000 striking machinists approved a new contract with the plane maker, taking a 38% pay hike over four years. The stickiest sticking point? Workers wanted their defined benefit pensions back. Boeing said no, but agreed to a partial 401(k) match. Melvin Backman breaks down the deal.
🍎 No Apple at Buffett’s buffet. Warren Buffett’s iconic investment and holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, is shedding its stake in Apple, bite by byte, and building an enormous cash pile — $325 billion at the moment. Rocio Fabbro takes a look at what the world’s most famous investor might do with all that cash.
đź’‰ Son of Ozempic. Danish pharma giant Novo Nordisk has a new and improved weight loss drug in the wings. CagriSema combines semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, with an amylin and calcitonin receptor agonist. Patients lose an average 15.6% of their weight over 32 weeks. The highest dose of Wegovy led to an average 15% weight loss after 68 weeks in clinical trials. Bruce Gill has the details.
1 sneak peek
Trump has unambiguously positioned himself as a pro-business slasher of red tape. As he prepares to return to the White House for a second term, the financial sector is ready for a new era of more lax regulations and oversight — and the windfall that could come with it. Rocio Fabbro has more, so visit qz.com on Monday morning for a look at the future of everything.
What we’re watching this week
- Monday: Veterans Day, markets are open; COP29 Climate Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan (Nov. 11-Nov. 22).
- Tuesday: Home Depot and Tyson Foods report earnings; Producer Price Index (PPI) for October is released.
- Wednesday: Consumer Price Index (CPI) for October is released.
- Thursday: Disney reports earnings.
Thanks for reading! Here’s to the week ahead, and don’t hesitate to reach out with comments, questions, feedback, joy, or your idea for tariff of the week! Sunday Reads was brought to you by Peter S. Green and the staff of Quartz.