Good morning.
Thursday in Whitewater will see afternoon thunderstorms with a high of 89. Sunrise is 5:31 and sunset is 8:11, for 14 hours, 39 minutes of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 92.4 percent of its visible disk illuminated.
Whitewater’s Community Development Authority meets at 5:30 PM.
On this day in 1911, in Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States, the United States Supreme Court declares Standard Oil to be an “unreasonable” monopoly under the Sherman Antitrust Act and orders the company to be broken up.
Uncertainty is bad for business:
After rushing to buy new cars and other imported goods in March before tariffs took effect and raised prices, Americans reduced their spending at retail stores in April in a sign of caution about how the trade wars would play out.
Retail sales rose a scant 0.1% in April, the government said Thursday, matching the Wall Street forecast.
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After rushing to buy new cars and other imported goods in March before tariffs took effect and raised prices, Americans reduced their spending at retail stores in April in a sign of caution about how the trade wars would play out.
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U.S. tariffs are still higher than they’ve been in decades and more costly import prices could turn off buyers.
See Jeff Bartash, Retail sales peter out in April as tariffs kicked in (‘Trade wars force consumers to weigh how much to buy — and when’), MarketWatch, May 15, 2025.
See also Melissa Repko, Walmart CFO says price hikes from tariffs could start later this month, CNBC, May 15, 2025:
In an interview with CNBC, Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey said tariffs are “still too high” – even with the recently announced agreement to lower duties on imports from China to 30% for 90 days.
“We’re wired for everyday low prices, but the magnitude of these increases is more than any retailer can absorb,” he said. “It’s more than any supplier can absorb. And so I’m concerned that [the] consumer is going to start seeing higher prices. You’ll begin to see that, likely towards the tail end of this month, and then certainly much more in June.”