August 13, 2025: Bessent Given Extension to Divest, Trump Warning to Putin, More

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
News when you wanted with Bloomberg News Now, I'm Doug Krisner.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant is calling on the FED
to cut its policy rate by fifty basis points after
this week's report on consumer prices. Speaking earlier to Bloomberg Surveillance,
Bessin said that could be the beginning of a new
rate cutting cycle.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
There's an adjustment and that the rates are too constrictive.
If you look at any model, that the we should
probably be one hundred and fifty one hundred and seventy
five basis points lower. So I think the committee needs
to step back.

Speaker 1 (00:38):
That is US Treasury Secretary Scott Besson speaking earlier to Bloomberg.
By the way, you can hear the entire conversation on
the Bloomberg Talks podcast. Separately, we are told that Bessant
has been granted an extension after failing to fully divest
his assets in compliance with an ethics agreement. The Office
of Government Ethics has given Bessant until December fifteenth. O

(01:00):
P and leaders met virtually today with President Trump ahead
of his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska
on Friday. After today's meeting. Trump warned of severe consequences
if Putin did not agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine.
More from Bloomberg Samy Morrison Washington.

Speaker 3 (01:18):
During the virtual meeting, European leaders urged Trump to press
Putin to agree to a ceasefire and a meeting with
Vladimir Zelensky Now. After the call, reporters pressed Trump on
what would happen if Putin doesn't agree.

Speaker 4 (01:30):
There will be conctions. There will be I don't have
to say there will be very severe consequences.

Speaker 3 (01:35):
Trump says he's already looking ahead to a possible second meeting.
Friday's meeting is at Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson in Anchorage.
That base played a key strategic role in monitoring and
deterring the Soviet Union during much of the Cold War.
In Washington, Amy Moore as Bloomberg.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
Radio, President Trump signed an executive order today to ease
regulations for the commercial space industry as a way of
speeding up the licensing process for rocket launch. The executive
order directs the Secretary of Transportation to review regulatory requirements
to eliminate outdated, redundant, or overly restrictive rules for launch

(02:12):
and re entry vehicles companies such as SpaceX and other
commercial launch companies such as Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin could benefit.
Bitcoin hit a record high today, moving in lockstep with
the rally in US stocks. This move reflects a wider
move of greater risk taking in global markets. Wednesday evening

(02:32):
in New York, Bitcoin rose above one hundred twenty three thousand,
five hundred, and that milestone came soon after the S
and P five hundred closed at a record high for
the second consecutive session after the bell. Cisco Systems gave
a lukewarm forecast for the current fiscal year. Investors had
been hoping for a boost from the massive spending on

(02:52):
AI data centers. Cisco said that sales will be between
fifty nine billion and sixty billion dollars in the fiscal
year three through July twenty twenty six. David Bonson is
the chief investment officer of the Bonson Group.

Speaker 4 (03:05):
Cisco does have a call option on AI. They have
a future growth play that they're very well positioned for,
but it isn't something that should be creating a twenty
percent move on the result of one quarterly announcement.

Speaker 1 (03:19):
David Bonson from the Bonson Group shares in Cisco were
very little changed in late New York trading. Amazon is
planning to offer same day grocery delivery in twenty three
hundred cities by the end of the year, more than
doubling the current number. In a statement, Amazon also said
customers will be able to order perishable items. Bloomberg's anarog rana.

Speaker 5 (03:41):
It looks like what they're trying to do is use
that existing logistics network and adding more capacity to it,
and then on top of that offering customers a lower
price point. So looks like mod off a marketshap gameploy
at this point.

Speaker 1 (03:54):
That is Bloomberg's anarog rana from Bloomberg Intelligence. Was the
first day of trading for Digital Assetics change operator Bullish,
and it shares rallied eighty four percent. Here is Anthony Hughes,
Bloomberg's Equity Capital Markets reporter.

Speaker 6 (04:09):
This is a company that has a crypto exchange which
has had explosive growth over a relatively short period of time.
But it also is a business that owns a lot
of digital assets. So it has two point seven billion
of cryptocurrency, which offers a bit of a cushion. Here
for investors.

Speaker 1 (04:23):
That is Bloomberg's Anthony Hughes now Bullish offers crypto's spot
trading along with margin trading and derivatives trading, with a
focus on institutional investors. And that is news when you
want it with Bloomberg News. Now, I'm Doug Prisoner and
this is Bloomberg