Finance

South Africa's Finance Minister Hints at Further Tweaks to National Budget

South Africa's budget may undergo further adjustments as ongoing talks between political parties aim to resolve differences over a controversial proposal to raise value-added tax (VAT), according to the country’s finance minister. Despite scaling back the VAT hike from 2 percentage points to 1 over two years, most major parliamentary parties rejected Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s revised budget on Wednesday.

Godongwana’s African National Congress (ANC) requires support from at least one other major party for the budget to pass. However, its primary coalition partner, the Democratic Alliance, is firmly opposed to any tax increases, as are other large parties outside the coalition. This budget marks a significant challenge for the ANC-led coalition, which was formed last year after the ANC lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since the end of apartheid.

“There will be engagement which may lead to some amendments in the budget. It is the nature of the thing,” Godongwana said in an interview at his parliamentary office late Wednesday.

TECH

Why Tech Stocks Are Still Falling This Year

When President Trump returned to the White House, tech executives from companies like Apple, OpenAI, Oracle, and others promised to create thousands of jobs, drive innovation, and invest billions of dollars in the U.S.

However, technology stocks have faced a rocky road this year, with trade disputes and the uncertain future of artificial intelligence contributing to economic instability.

Trump has wavered on imposing tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China—countries that tech giants depend on to manufacture laptops, phones, and other devices.

He has also threatened to place tariffs on semiconductors, which are essential for consumer electronics, while criticizing a federal initiative introduced by his predecessor, Joe Biden, aimed at funding domestic semiconductor production.

Investor anxiety resurfaced this week when some of the world’s most valuable companies, like Apple, Nvidia, and Tesla, saw their market value drop by billions of dollars after their stock prices plummeted on Monday.

These losses followed Trump’s warning in a Fox News interview over the weekend that "there’s a period of transition" ahead and that a recession could be possible. In response, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told NBC News, “There’s going to be no recession in America.”

CRYPTO

Trump Administration's Crypto Advocacy Under Scrutiny Due to Top Official’s Ties

At a White House summit last week, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick spoke enthusiastically about the Trump administration's plans to embrace cryptocurrencies, a largely unregulated industry that has historically operated outside mainstream finance.

“Technology is at the core of the Trump presidency,” Lutnick told a group of two dozen crypto CEOs. “We’re using blockchain. We’re using bitcoin. We will use digital assets to drive forward, and Donald Trump is leading the way.”

The summit was noteworthy in part because of the shift in tone from the White House, which under previous administrations, including Trump’s first term, largely sidelined crypto companies and their volatile digital assets. Now, with President Trump’s re-election, the government is not only open to the industry but is actively supporting it.

However, Lutnick’s long-standing ties to the industry have raised concerns as he advocates for the Trump administration’s pro-crypto stance, which often appears to benefit only current crypto holders.

Among those holders is Cantor Fitzgerald, the family-owned Wall Street firm Lutnick led for decades before passing the reins this year to his 27-year-old son, Brandon. Cantor Fitzgerald is the primary banking partner for Tether, a controversial stablecoin issuer whose token is one of the most heavily traded digital assets.

The firm is also expanding its crypto investments. On Tuesday, Cantor Fitzgerald announced the launch of a new bitcoin financing business aimed at providing leverage to institutional investors holding bitcoin.

In addition, the firm recently acquired a stake in MicroStrategy, the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, now valued at more than $1.58 billion, according to a report from progressive government watchdog group Accountable.US, shared exclusively with CNN. Cantor’s crypto holdings also include over $87 million in iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF.

It remains unclear whether Lutnick personally owns any crypto assets. His 92-page financial disclosure listed holdings in more than 800 entities, all of which he pledged to sell within 90 days of his confirmation, in compliance with conflict-of-interest laws. The current status of that process is unknown.