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Speaker 1: News when you want it with Bloomberg News Now, I'm

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Speaker 1: Doug Prisner. The FED left interest rates unchanged today in

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Speaker 1: a move that was widely expected. Policymakers pointed to improvement

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Speaker 1: in the American economy and the job market. Here is

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Speaker 1: Chair J. Powell.

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Speaker 2: The US economy expanded at a solid pace last year

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Speaker 2: and is coming into twenty twenty six on a firm footing.

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Speaker 2: While job gains have remained low, the unemployment rate has

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Speaker 2: shown some signs of stabilization, and inflation remains somewhat elevated.

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Speaker 1: And as a result of those points, the FED signaled

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Speaker 1: a more cautious approach to potential future adjustments and interest rates. Now.

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Speaker 1: Today's decision comes as the FED faces pressure from the

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Speaker 1: Trump administration. There is a criminal investigation regarding improvements to

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Speaker 1: the Fed's headquarters and the Supreme Court case over President

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Speaker 1: Trump's attempt to remove FED Governor Lisa Cook. While Powell

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Speaker 1: stressed the importance of FED independence.

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Speaker 2: Every advanced economy democracy in the world has come around

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Speaker 2: to this common practice. It's just an institutional arrangement that

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Speaker 2: has served the people well, and that is to have

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Speaker 2: a separation between to not have direct elected official control

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Speaker 2: over the setting of monetary policy. And the reason is

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Speaker 2: that monetary policy can be used through an election cycle

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Speaker 2: to affect the economy in a way that will be

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Speaker 2: politically worthwhile.

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Speaker 1: That is fedchair J. Powell. We moved to earnings news next.

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Speaker 1: Tesla's profit for the latest quarter beat analyst expectations. Now

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Speaker 1: this would suggest the company is making progress toward overcoming

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Speaker 1: rising cost and dealing with an end to those US

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Speaker 1: tax incentives for electric vehicles. Later, in a call with analyst,

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Speaker 1: Tesla's CEO Elon Musk said the company will discontinue the

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Speaker 1: Model S and X vehicles.

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Speaker 2: It's time to basically bring the Model S and X

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Speaker 2: programs to an end with an honorable dishoge because we're

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Speaker 2: really moving into a future that is based on autonomy.

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Speaker 1: That was Tesla's CEO Elon Musk. At the same time,

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Speaker 1: Tesla announced plans for artificial intelligence. The company is planning

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Speaker 1: to invest two billion dollars into Elon Musk's AI company XAI.

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Speaker 1: We also heard after the bell from Meta Platforms. The

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Speaker 1: company reported earnings for Q four above analyst estimates, and

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Speaker 1: Meta raised guidance for the current quarter. Meta said it's

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Speaker 1: robust advertising business is making it possible for the company

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Speaker 1: to invest in AI at record levels. We got reaction

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Speaker 1: from John Belton, Managing director for Growth Portfolios at GABELI Funds.

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Speaker 3: Meta's headline numbers are a really interesting reflection of the

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Speaker 3: market's attitude towards this right now because they're CAPEX and

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Speaker 3: opex guides for twenty twenty six or both way ahead

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Speaker 3: of even some of the higher estimates I'd seen out there.

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Speaker 1: John Belton there from gabel All Funds shares and Meta

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Speaker 1: were up nine percent in late US trading. We also

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Speaker 1: heard from Microsoft. Earnings and revenue for the latest quarter.

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Speaker 1: Both came in above estimates. However, Microsoft's growth in cloud

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Speaker 1: sales seemed to slow. Here is Microsoft VP and CFO

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Speaker 1: Amy Hood.

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Speaker 4: In Azure, we expect Q three revenue growth to be

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Speaker 4: between thirty seven and thirty eight percent in constant currency

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Speaker 4: against a prayer you're comparable that included significantly accelerating growth

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Speaker 4: rates in both Q three and Q four. As mentioned earlier,

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Speaker 4: demand continues to exceed supply and we will need to

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Speaker 4: continue to balance the incoming supply. We can allocate here

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Speaker 4: against other priorities.

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Speaker 1: That is, Amy Hood, Microsoft Vice president and CFO tomorrow

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Speaker 1: after the closing bell will get quarterly results from Apple.

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Speaker 1: We have a preview from Bloomberg's Tom Busby.

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Speaker 5: Apple is boys to deliver its biggest sales quarter ever,

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Speaker 5: thanks in large part to expected blowout sales of its

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Speaker 5: iPhone seventeen lineup, especially for the higher end models, but

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Speaker 5: investors are still concerned about rising costs for components, especially

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Speaker 5: memory chips, and what sales look like in China, which

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Speaker 5: declined just three months ago. Bloomberg consensus calls for revenue

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Speaker 5: to jump eleven percent higher to one hundred and thirty

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Speaker 5: eight point four billion dollars, the biggest quarterly growth in

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Speaker 5: four years, on earnings per share of two dollars sixty

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Speaker 5: eight cents. Tom Busby Bloomberg Radio.

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Speaker 1: The FBI searched the election office of Fulton County, Georgia,

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Speaker 1: seeking records related to the twenty twenty two election. Now

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Speaker 1: that would include ballots, tabulator tapes, and voter rolls. This

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Speaker 1: is the most public step yet by law enforcement to

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Speaker 1: pursue Donald Trump's claim of a stolen election, which have

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Speaker 1: been rejected by courts and state and federal officials alike.

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Speaker 1: And that is news when you want it with Bloomberg News. Now,

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Speaker 1: I'm Doug Prisner, and this is Bloomberg