Man accused of killing DC 3-year-old makes first court appearance

Earnings season kicks off on Tuesday with America s banking behemoths as attention switches from the White House back to Wall Street Elsewhere the G meetings in South Africa next week come at an enthralling time for the country U S Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is not expected to attend It comes after a meeting between the South African President and his U S counterpart went spectacularly wrong back in May Earnings season consistently seems to roll around with alarming frequency The newsroom approaches each quarter with a nervous capacity but this summer it feels especially heightened New arena records in both the U S and Europe alongside an unpredictable economic context paint a complicated picture for the second half It all kicks off on Tuesday with America s banking behemoths as attention switches from the White House back to Wall Street But U S President Donald Trump s policies still loom large with Goldman Sachs predicting that this quarter U S earnings will start to show the impact of the tariffs The assets bank s economists see conflicting messages on the margin outlook as companies have only publicized modest price increases despite the cost hikes associated with higher tariffs Earnings-per-share advancement is also set to come under pressure with Goldman suggesting the consensus estimate among analysts sees S P companies earnings-per-share upsurge decelerating to this quarter relative to the same quarter last year down from in the first quarter With the banks set to dominate next week JPMorgan Citi Goldman Sachs Morgan Stanley and Bank of America are all reporting within just two days maybe Europe can provide particular optimism As released by CNBC s Jenni Reid European banks just recorded their best first half since Gains were driven by strong resources banking returns something their U S counterparts are also likely to capitalize on as well as stock rallies based on both deal speculation and actual M A G heads south As someone who grew up in Cape Town seeing this year s G meetings take place in South Africa makes me pine for the sunshine of the Southern hemisphere Next week s meeting in Durban between finance ministers and central bank governors comes at an absorbing time for the country An Oval Office meeting between South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Trump went spectacularly wrong back in May when the latter flanked by his South African now former right-hand man Elon Musk made false indicates of a white genocide It seems tensions have not abated U S Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will skip the meeting altogether opting to head to Japan instead according to Reuters South Africa is also subject to a new tariff rate the only country in sub-Saharan Africa to be singled out in the latest round of announcements It does not bode well for the G Leaders meeting due to be held in Gauteng on Nov - It remains to be seen if Trump will attend In May South Africa s golfing greats who traveled to the White House with Ramaphosa failed to win over Trump But maybe the lure of particular of the best courses in the world along with a South African summer could see a seasonal change in his mood toward the country later this year