Bloomberg Businessweek

Watch Carol and Tim LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF. A small fleet of ships booked by Chevron Corp. is sailing to Venezuela as the company emerges as the only exporter of the country’s oil following the ouster of President Nicolas Maduro by US forces. Chevron is poised to export more Venezuelan oil this month than last, with at least 11 ships scheduled to arrive in the Venezuelan government-controlled ports of Jose and Bajo Grande, according to preliminary data compiled by Bloomberg. All eyes are on the Houston-based company to see if it will begin shipping out more Venezuelan crude after US President Donald Trump said he wanted “total access” to the country’s vast reserves. Chevron is the only Western firm allowed to produce and export crude oil in Venezuela amid American sanctions and it operates under a license granted by the Treasury Department. It is responsible for nearly 25% of the nation’s production and oversees the crude through delivery to fuel-makers in the US Gulf and East Coast markets. Today's show features: See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Realizing President Donald Trump’s plan for a US-led revival of Venezuela’s beleaguered oil industry could be a years-long and challenging process costing upwards of $100 billion. Years of corruption, underinvestment, fires and thefts have left the nation’s crude infrastructure in tatters. Rebuilding it enough to lift Venezuela’s output back to its peak levels of the 1970s would require companies to invest about $10 billion per year over the next decade, according to Francisco Monaldi, director of Latin American energy policy at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. That’s equivalent to more than a third of what Exxon Mobil Corp. — the largest US oil company — has budgeted this year for capital expenditures around the entire globe. Francisco discusses the many challenges ahead for both Venezuela and the US in the post-Maduro era with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Watch Carol and Tim LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF. Venezuela Regroups With New President, Old Repression Tactics Venezuela’s government is reasserting itself after the capture of Nicolás Maduro, swearing in Delcy Rodríguez as acting president and flashing warning signs that a new wave of repression has begun. As the government continued to churn inside the presidential palace Miraflores, Venezuela’s military counterintelligence officials have been patrolling the streets of Caracas, according to at least two witnesses. At least seven journalists and members of the press were detained on Monday morning and early afternoon, most of them at the National Assembly and its surroundings, according to the national press workers syndicate. Heavily armed security forces and pro-government motorcycle gangs known as colectivos were seen roaming the capital, at times stopping drivers and checking their phones. While they aren’t as influential as they were at the height of Maduro’s power, the State Department has said they have been responsible for killings during protests. Venezuela’s information ministry didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Today's show features: See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oil steadied on the first trading day of 2026 as expectations for a supply surplus offset geopolitical risks to production in several OPEC+ nations. Middle Eastern markets, including derivatives like the regional Dubai benchmark, faltered amid heavy selling pressure on a key trading window in Asian hours, traders familiar with the matter said. Faced with a seasonal lull in consumption, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is leaning toward caution. Tim Moore is a Senior Research Analyst at Clear Street who leads the firm's coverage of the clean energy transition, as well as the oil and gas industry. He discusses the oil market outlook as well as some of the clean energy players that stand to make gains in the year ahead. Tim speaks with Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec and Bloomberg News Big Oil reporter Kevin Crowley on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

President Donald Trump said the US would run Venezuela until a transition could be organized, hours after a US operation captured leader Nicolás Maduro, ousting the strongman from power after months of mounting military and economic pressure on his regime. “We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said Saturday at a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. “So we don’t want to be involved with having somebody else get in, and we have the same situation that we had for the last long period of years.” Trump said the US administration of Venezuela would include deploying US oil companies to the country, though indicated that his embargo “on all Venezuelan oil remains in full effect” and that US forces would stay on alert. Bloomberg's Joe Mathieu and Christina Ruffini speak with: See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Watch Carol and Tim LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani rescinded all executive orders issued by his predecessor over the last 15 months as part of a flurry of actions as the city’s new leader took office Jan. 1. The directive revoked all executive orders former mayor Eric Adams had issued since Sept. 26, 2024, the day he was indicted on federal corruption charges. Those charges were later dropped by the Justice Department under President Donald Trump. Mamdani’s action is designed to ensure “a fresh start for the incoming administration,” the mayor’s office said in a statement. Among the orders revoked were two controversial items, including one that barred certain city officials from engaging in procurement practices “that discriminate against the State of Israel, Israeli citizens, or those associated with Israel.” It also outlined similar guidance for city pension officials to prohibit divesting from Israel-related holdings. An earlier action, adopted in June, codified a broad definition of antisemitism, which some opponents said conflated criticism of Israel’s government with prejudice against Jews. Adams maintained both orders were intended to support the city’s Jewish community, though others argued the more recent action was intended to undermine Mamdani’s term. Mamdani has been a vocal critic of Israel’s government and has supported the “Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions” movement. Today's show features: See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Featuring some of our favorite conversations of the week from our daily radio show "Bloomberg Businessweek Daily." Hosted by Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec Hear the show live at 2PM ET on WBBR 1130 AM New York, Bloomberg 92.9 FM Boston, WDCH 99.1 FM in Washington D.C. Metro, Sirius/XM channel 121, on the Bloomberg Business App, Radio.com, the iHeartRadio app and at Bloomberg.com/audio. You can also watch Bloomberg Businessweek on YouTube - just search for Bloomberg Global News. Like us at Bloomberg Radio on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @carolmassar @timsteno and @BW See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

AST SpaceMobile Inc. this month launched its largest-ever satellite from India, the first in a series of deployments to help the company compete against Elon Musk’s SpaceX in delivering space-based connectivity to mobile phones. The BlueBird 6 satellite took flight from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in southern India aboard the Indian Space Research Organization, or ISRO’s LVM3 rocket. It reached the low-Earth orbit in about 16 minutes, the live cast on YouTube showed. The successful launch is a big boost for the Texas-based company as well as India’s space program which wants to build its orbital space station among other ambitious projects. Investors are taking notice of the growing number of publicly-traded firms within the fast-growing market for services related to space exploration, satellite technology and enhanced telecommunications. Greg Pendy serves as an equity research analyst at Clear Street, focusing on the disruptive technology sector. He discusses the key trends and firms to watch in 2026 with Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec and Bloomberg Tech Co-Host Ed Ludlow on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Watch Carol and Tim LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF. Stocks and bonds slipped along with gold and silver on the last day of 2025, bringing a subdued close to an otherwise buoyant year across asset classes that saw US equities post their third straight double-digit gain. The S&P 500 extended a stretch of post-Christmas losses, paring the benchmark’s advance for 2025 to roughly 17%. Even so, the index is on track for its longest yearly winning streak of gains since 2021. The Nasdaq 100 was down 0.2%. Laggards include big-tech names like Microsoft Corp., Meta Platforms Inc. and Micron Technology Inc. Silver plunged as a run of heightened volatility featuring price moves of 5% or more entered a fourth day. CME Group raised margin requirements on precious-metal futures for the second time in the space of a week following the volatility. Investors have enjoyed blockbuster returns this year in a market that has been powered by optimism about the vast economic potential of artificial intelligence and primed by Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts. It hasn’t been a smooth ride, though, with traders weathering swings triggered by a range of forces including US trade policies, geopolitical tensions, concern over lofty valuations and some uncertainty around the path of central-bank monetary policy. Looking ahead into 2026, market research firm Bespoke Investment Group cautions against expecting solid market performance during the first trading day of the new year. Since 1953, the S&P 500’s median change to kick off a new year was a 0.3% drop, according to a note by Bespoke. The stock market has also traded lower on the first trading day of the each of the past three years, the note said. Today's show features: See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bitcoin briefly topped the $90,000 mark on Monday before erasing gains, leaving traders waiting on a potential breakout after the token missed a Santa rally that sent stocks to record highs. Other cryptocurrencies had also swung, with Ether up as much as 4% to surpass $3,000 before dropping into the red. In the build up to Christmas, Bitcoin was largely unmoved despite the S&P 500 surging to a record close. The wider crypto space has yet to recover from a weeks-long selloff that began in October with the liquidation of some $19 billion worth of leveraged positions, leaving Bitcoin below where it started 2025. Abra is a global platform for digital asset prime services and wealth management that seeks to connect on-chain and off-chain ecosystems for private clients, family offices, hedge funds, venture capital and crypto infrastructure firms. The company's founder and CEO, Bill Barhydt, discusses both the investing and regulatory outlook for Bitcoin and crypto-related assets in 2026. Bill speaks with Carol Massar and Vonnie Quinn on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Watch Bloomberg Businessweek LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF. Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. plans to once again reject a takeover bid from Paramount Skydance Corp. after the rival media company amended the terms of its offer, according to people familiar with the company’s thinking. The Warner Bros. board hasn’t made a final determination, but will meet next week, said the people, who asked to not be identified discussing internal deliberations. Among the board’s concerns, Paramount has yet to increase its offer, which Warner Bros. earlier rejected as inferior to one from Netflix Inc. Paramount, the owner of its namesake studio and MTV, has been waging a public campaign to gather support for its proposal to buy Warner Bros., which owns HBO and CNN. Paramount went public with a $30-a-share cash bid on Dec. 8, three days after Warner Bros. accepted the deal with Netflix, which is only buying Warner Bros.’ studio and streaming businesses. Paramount has since amended its offer twice, most recently by including an assurance from billionaire Larry Ellison that he would personally guarantee $40.4 billion in equity financing and other commitments. Paramount is controlled by Larry Ellison and his son David, a movie producer now assembling a media empire. The Ellisons took control of Paramount in August and have since submitted multiple bids for Warner Bros., which would give their undersized company another of Hollywood’s original studios and more scale in streaming. Today's show features: See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Novi is an AI shopping optimization platform for consumer packaged goods (CPG). It seeks to help retailers and brands ensure their products can be accurately found, trusted, and recommended by AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Claude by verifying and structuring SKU-level product data. Retailers including Macy’s, Sephora, Target, and Ulta, along with thousands of CPG brands, rely on Novi to optimize their product data for AI-driven discovery. Kimberly Shenk, the company's CEO, discusses the impact of artificial intelligence on the retail sector during the holiday season as consumers increasingly use AI agents to perform deep-discount hunting, real-time product comparisons, and personalized gift curation. Kimberly speaks with Carol Massar and Vonnie Quinn on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Watch Bloomberg Businessweek LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF. President Donald Trump’s push to end the war in Ukraine faced new complications on Monday when Vladimir Putin said he would revise his country’s negotiating position after the Russian leader claimed Ukrainian drones targeted his residence. Putin told Trump of his decision in a call Monday, according to the Kremlin, even as Kyiv cast the Russian allegations as a fabrication aimed at derailing the peace process. Trump addressed the dispute while speaking to reporters in Florida, saying that Putin had told him about the purported attack during their discussion. The US president, seeming to side with Putin, said he was “very angry.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has dismissed the Russian claims as a “new lie” and warned that Moscow could be using it as an excuse to prepare an attack on government buildings in Kyiv. Putin said Moscow intends to work closely with the US on peace efforts but will reconsider a number of previously reached agreements, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told Russian newswires. Ushakov added that Putin assured Trump that Moscow will look to continue working with US partners to achieve peace and that the two leaders agreed to maintain their dialogue. Today's show features: See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Featuring some of our favorite conversations of the week from our daily radio show "Bloomberg Businessweek Daily." Hosted by Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec Hear the show live at 2PM ET on WBBR 1130 AM New York, Bloomberg 92.9 FM Boston, WDCH 99.1 FM in Washington D.C. Metro, Sirius/XM channel 121, on the Bloomberg Business App, Radio.com, the iHeartRadio app and at Bloomberg.com/audio. You can also watch Bloomberg Businessweek on YouTube - just search for Bloomberg Global News. Like us at Bloomberg Radio on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @carolmassar @timsteno and @BW See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

US Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy last week unveiled the country's first ever "Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) National Strategy," setting up a roadmap to help accelerate American aviation innovation and transform our skies. AAM is a rapidly-emerging aerospace sector focused on safely and efficiently integrating highly automated aircraft into US airspace. It involves a range of innovations — particularly new aircraft types that typically operate below 5,000 feet — to transport people and packages more efficiently than ever before. Another key component of this initiative is infrastructure, and that's where Lisa Wright comes in. The Founder and CEO of Landings is focused on her firm's plan to develop a network of rural vertiports that expand access to advanced air mobility across the US. She explains how her firm's potential has quickly grown as the conversation moves from one-off vertiport projects to multi-site networks. She believes that stakeholders now see the strategic advantage of building coordinated, regional vertiport systems that can support cargo, emergency services, and eventually passenger movement — not just isolated landing pads. Lisa speaks with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Watch Bloomberg Businessweek Daily LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF. Wall Street traders parsing a batch of economic reports in a session marked by a slowdown in transactions drove stocks to all-time highs. Short-dated bonds underperformed. The dollar fell. In a narrow tech-led advance, the S&P 500 rose for a fourth straight day. Volume was below the average of the past three months ahead of the Christmas holiday. The index rebounded even after data did little to encourage bets the Federal Reserve will cut rates in the near term. Treasury two-year yields - more sensitive to imminent Fed moves - remained above 3.5%. That was after data showed the economy expanded at the fastest pace in two years. A drop in consumer confidence spurred only a mild bounce in bonds from session lows. The S&P 500 topped 6,900. Its equal-weighted version - which gives Dollar Tree Inc. as much clout as Apple Inc. - edged lower. A gauge of big techs climbed about 1% while smaller firms underperformed. Today's show features: See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Palmetto is a consumer home energy marketplace aimed at accelerating the transition to a clean energy future. Through a data-driven platform, Palmetto empowers homeowners to understand their energy use, discover personalized savings opportunities, and seamlessly purchase, finance, and manage home electrification and clean energy products and services. Neil Chatterjee, Palmetto’s Chief Government Affairs Officer, brings more than two decades of experience shaping US energy policy experience. A longtime bipartisan negotiator and former Commissioner and Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Neil plays a key role in guiding Palmetto’s policy strategy at a pivotal moment in the clean energy transition. He discusses the most pressing issues across the energy space, particularly when it comes to affordability for consumers, with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Watch Bloomberg Businessweek Daily every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF. Larry Ellison is throwing his personal fortune behind Paramount Skydance Corp.’s bid for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., aiming to give his son’s company an advantage in a fiercely contested takeover battle with Netflix Inc. Both suitors moved on Monday to strengthen the financial backing for their offers, though they stopped short of increasing their bids. Netflix refinanced a portion of its planned $59 billion of debt as a way to ensure a lasting investment-grade rating — a key advantage it holds over the lower-rated Paramount. But it’s the personal guarantee of Ellison, the world’s fifth-richest person with a $246 billion fortune, that could force a rethink by Warner Bros. The board previously urged shareholders to reject Paramount’s offer in part because the billionaire father of its Chief Executive Officer David Ellison had backed the $40.4 billion of equity financing with a revocable trust that could, as the name implies, be withdrawn or amended at any time. Paramount has been aggressively pursuing Warner Bros. for months and Ellison was taken by surprise when the board agreed to a deal with Netflix for $82.7 billion for the streaming and studio assets. The strength of the financing for each bid has emerged as a decisive issue in the takeover battle, which unleashed two massive debt-fueled offers that rank among the largest in the past decade. Paramount took its offer of $30 a share, or $108.4 billion including debt, for the entire company directly to shareholders. Today's show features: See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brothers Bob and Russ Shay grew up with a relentless passion for skiing, and were frustrated with ill-fitting and mass-produced ski boots designed to fit everyone, without fitting anyone. Their love for the sport led them on a years-long search for any edge in training, technique, and equipment. Using tools in their family's garage, they ground, sawed, cut, padded, and pounded away at ski boots. Their vision was to combine comfort and performance to build a ski boot that would fit like it was made for you instead of a generic foot. The result was Surefoot, the world's largest custom ski boot company Bob Shay, who is now serving as the CEO of Surefoot, details the firm's growth into a worldwide winter sports brand, and discusses whether he's ever considered selling the company. Bob speaks with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Featuring some of our favorite conversations of the week from our daily radio show "Bloomberg Businessweek Daily." Hosted by Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec Hear the show live at 2PM ET on WBBR 1130 AM New York, Bloomberg 92.9 FM Boston, WDCH 99.1 FM in Washington D.C. Metro, Sirius/XM channel 121, on the Bloomberg Business App, Radio.com, the iHeartRadio app and at Bloomberg.com/audio. You can also watch Bloomberg Businessweek on YouTube - just search for Bloomberg Global News. Like us at Bloomberg Radio on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @carolmassar @timsteno and @BW See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.