Trump-Putin Meeting Countdown; Buffett Takes Stake in UnitedHealth

0:00Bloomberg Daybreak U.S. edition is brought to you by OTC Markets Group. OTC Markets' overnight platform for exchange-listed securities, Moon ATS, provides access to global securities in U.S. dollars from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. Eastern, Sunday through Thursday. Learn more at otcmarkets.com slash moon. Moon ATS is operated by OTC Link LLC, a FINRA-registered broker-dealer, and is available only through participating broker-dealers. AI is entering its most consequential phase where scale, safety, and sovereignty will determine who leads and who lags. Join Bloomberg Tech in London on November 2nd and 3rd as global leaders across business, finance and policy examine the defining trade-offs shaping the future of AI.

0:45Thank you to our presenting sponsor, Salesforce, and supporting sponsors, IDA Ireland and Schneider Electric. Learn more at bloomberglive.com slash techlondon.

1:02Fox Radio News. Good morning, I'm Nathan Hager. And I'm Karen Moscow. Here are the stories we're following today. Karen, we begin with the high-stakes summit now just hours away. This afternoon, President Donald Trump is set to arrive in Anchorage, Alaska, for a face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The president's hoping to broker a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, but he's tamping down expectations ahead of the meeting. I think it's going to be a good meeting, but the more important meeting will be the second meeting that we're having. We're going to have a meeting with President Putin, President Zelensky, myself, and maybe we'll bring some of the European leaders along.

1:42Maybe not. I don't know that it's going to be very important. We're going to see what happens. President Trump spoke from the Oval Office in an interview with Fox News. He said there's a 25 percent chance the summit won't be successful. As for Putin, he is praising President Trump for his efforts to stop the fighting and dangling the prospects of economic cooperation and a new nuclear arms treaty with the U.S. More on that from Bloomberg News senior writer Stephanie Baker. Putin is trying to appeal to Trump's instinct to cast himself as this great peace-loving leader, striking deals all around the world, seeking a Nobel Peace Prize, which everyone knows he wants.

2:19I also think it's part of Putin's strategy to try to broaden the stakes of this meeting beyond just Ukraine. That's Bloomberg's Stephanie Baker. The White House says President Trump will meet with Putin at 11 a.m. Alaska time. That's 3 p.m. on Wall Street. Stay with Bloomberg for complete coverage of the Trump-Putin Alaska summit throughout the day. Nathan, the Trump administration is considering taking a stake in Intel. Sources say the plan stems from a meeting this week between President Trump and Intel's CEO Liputon. The government's potential stake could support expansion of Intel's domestic manufacturing, especially its planned factory hub in Ohio.

2:59Tom Giles is Bloomberg's executive editor for tech. This is really early days, but it would be a pretty momentous event and development in terms of new ways that the Trump administration is inserting itself into U.S. industries. We saw it with the steel industry previously and now with chips. And Bloomberg's Tom Giles says Intel declined to comment on the discussions. Intel, which rose more than 7 percent yesterday on the news, is up another 2.6 percent this morning. Well, Karen, the Oracle of Omaha is moving markets this morning. Shares of UnitedHealth Group are up 13 percent. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway bought shares of the health care company in the second quarter.

3:43According to a filing, Berkshire acquired five million shares in UnitedHealth, giving the conglomerate a stake worth one point six billion dollars. We get more from Bloomberg Markets reporter Christina Kino. That stock has gotten so much cheaper over the past year. Of course, we know a lot of the idiosyncratic issues that UnitedHealth has encountered, a lot of turmoil in their management group following the incidence of last year. And so a lot of kind of headwinds for the company. They missed their earnings for the first time in more than a decade. And that has led to a much deeper valuation for the company.

4:16But, you know, we know Berkshire really likes these blue chip companies. They like companies that can deliver stable long-term returns. And UnitedHealth, before the turmoil of last year, was one of those companies. Bloomberg's Christina Kino says Berkshire also sold its stake in T-Mobile and trimmed its holdings in Apple and Bank of America. So Nathan Warren Buffett is not the only one betting on UnitedHealth. Billionaire David Tepper's Appaloosa Management boosted its holdings of the health care company by 2.3 million shares. That values his stake at$764 million. Tepper's firm cut holdings in Chinese companies, including Alibaba and JD.com.

4:53Well, Karen, we're seeing a theme emerge from the latest 13F regulatory filings. Hedge funds added exposure to tech giants, including Microsoft and Netflix, in the second quarter. That's during a stretch that saw an initial surge in volatility due to President Trump's trade policies, but ultimately ended with major benchmarks posting significant gains. Bloomberg analyzed 13Fs in more than 700 hedge funds. Tech accounted for their biggest weightings at 23%, followed by financials at 17%. Let's look at the economy now. Now, Nathan and Wall Street traders are dialing back expectations for a rate cut next month.

5:27This is after the higher-than-expected increase in the producer price index yesterday, which suggested companies are passing along elevated import costs tied to tariffs. The odds of a September cut fell to around 85 percent from more than 100 percent before the PPI report. Well, we'll see if the betting shifts today, Karen, as investors get another key economic report to close out the week. Retail sales for the month of July. Bloomberg's Tom Busby has more on what to expect. Overall retail sales for July expected to rise by 0.6%, the same increase we saw in June, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

6:02Lower gasoline prices likely led to lower sales at gas stations, and that's expected to be offset by higher sales of new and used vehicles. While prices of newly built cars were flat, used car prices up 0.5 % in July. Now excluding motor vehicles, retail sales are expected to rise 0.3%. Tom Busby, Bloomberg Radio. Tom, thank you, and we will have complete analysis of the retail sales report at 8.30 a.m. Wall Street time, and we invite you to join us next week for Bloomberg's live coverage at Jackson Hole. We will be on the ground in Wyoming to cover the Kansas City Fed's annual meeting and remarks from Chair Jay Powell.

6:37It all begins Wednesday and finishes up with a special edition of Bloomberg Surveillance. Tom Keen, Lisa Abramowitz, and Michael McKee will all be part of that special beginning at 9 a.m. Eastern on Friday. Plus, watch for special episodes of the Odd Lots podcast. Joe Reisenthal and Tracy Alloway will be taping several conversations from the event as well. Lots to look forward to next week. But this morning, Karen, the economy is also in focus in Asia. China's economy slowed across the board in July with factory activity, investment and retail sales disappointing. Analysts say the disruption from President Trump's tariffs is beginning to ripple through the wider Chinese economy.

7:14Well, Nathan, we might be seeing an impact on President Trump's tariffs on the chocolate market. Swiss chocolatier Lindt says it may shift production of its world-famous gold-wrapped Easter bunnies to the U.S. to sidestep import tariffs. Sources say the plan would involve spending as much as$10 million to also make bunnies, Santas, and other hollow chocolate figures in the U.S., and they are currently all made in Germany. And a sad note this morning, Karen. The woman who helped make one of the world's richest men into who he is today has died. Bloomberg's Gina Cervetti has more on the life of Jackie Bezos, the mother of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

7:55Jackie Bezos and her husband Mike were the first to invest in their son's startup that became an e-commerce juggernaut. Those first two checks of about$245 ,000 have netted them a fortune worth about$30 billion as of 2018. They poured much of it into educational programs through the Bezos Family Foundation. Its largest gift came last year, nearly$186 million, to fund a center for young people at the Aspen Institute. Jeff Bezos says his mother died at her home in Miami after a long fight with Lewy body dementia. She was 78 years old. Gina Cervetti, Bloomberg Radio.

8:35Time now for a look at some of the other stories making news in New York and around the world. And for that, we're joined by Bloomberg's Michael Barr. Michael, good morning. Good morning, Karen. Police in New York were called to a federal building after envelopes containing an unidentified white powder were discovered. It forced the evacuation of 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan that houses an ICE office and processing center for detained migrants. The suspicious letters were found in a mailroom used by ICE, the FBI's Christopher Rhea. The letters will be sent to the FBI lab in Quantico for additional testing.

9:10We have opened up an investigation and will provide additional details as soon as we can. There are no known injuries. A rally was held Thursday in New York City for a 20-year-old student who's been detained by immigration authorities. Mamadou Diallo was detained following a routine court appearance in Manhattan earlier this month. The West African native was seeking a special immigration juvenile status when he was detained. One of the protesters says she fears what's happening to immigrants is becoming normalized. People should be very, very alarmed about what's going on in this country right now.

9:47Homeland Security defends the detention, saying Diallo was released into the country by the Biden administration and will remain in ice custody. Tropical Storm Aaron will likely become the first official hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic season today. The storm is slowly gaining strength east of Puerto Rico. Bloomberg meteorologist Craig Allen has the latest. Maximum sustained winds will increase to about 80 miles per hour by the end of today and could very well become a major Category 3 with winds over 115 miles per hour as it goes into hotter waters over the weekend. Bloomberg meteorologist Craig Allen says for now, the track of the storm appears to take it north of the Leeward Islands and Puerto Rico.

10:29Global news 24 hours a day and whenever you want it with Bloomberg News Now. I'm Michael Barr and this is Bloomberg, Karen. All right, Michael Barr, thank you.

10:41Time now for the Bloomberg Sports Update. It's brought to you by Flushing Bank and here's John Stashower. John, good morning. Good morning, Karen. and the Mets have historically struggled against division rival Atlanta, and even this season with the Braves having a very down year, Mets got swept in Atlanta and failed to win either of the series at Citi Field. They won the opener easily, but blew leads in the last two games. They were up 3-2 eighth inning. Atlanta tied it, and a Michael Harris double. The next batter was longtime Mets nemesis Ozzie Albies. 1-0 pitch, and he swings, and it's one deep down the right field line towards the corner, and that is off of the wall on the fly.

11:16That's going to give the Braves the lead. It's a double by Ozzie. That's his third big base hit tonight, and it gives the Braves a lead here in the eighth inning as it's 4-3 Atlanta. And that's the final Braves radio hat. You can hear the boos. Albies, 81 career RBIs against the Mets. The losing pitcher, new Met reliever Ryan Helsley, he also couldn't hold an eighth inning lead last Sunday. The Phillies lost 3-2 in Washington. The Mets remain five games behind the Phillies, but the Mets lead over the Reds, the last wild card spot, only half a game. Yankees start a road trip tonight in St. Louis.

11:50Paul Goldschmidt against his old team, but he's got a knee injury. He could miss some time. BMW golf in Maryland and won an opening round for Robert McIntyre. An eight under 62 needed only 17 shots to play the last six holes. Leads by three over Tommy Fleetwood. Scotty Sheffield trails by four. Tennis in Cincinnati, a quarterfinal win for Yannick Sinner. He lost only two games. American Ben Shelton has reached the quarterfinals and so has Coco Gauff. John Stashauer, Bloomberg Sports, Karen and Ethan. Stay with us. More from Bloomberg Daybreak coming up after this. Bloomberg Daybreak U.S. Edition is brought to you by OTC Markets Group.

12:28Thinking about joining the exploding overnight market space but unsure where to start? Designed to meet the needs of a growing international investor base, OTC Markets Overnight Platform for Exchange-Listed Securities, Moon ATS provides access to global securities in U.S. dollars from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. Eastern, Sunday through Thursday. Extend your trading day and trade global securities in U.S. dollars through a FINRA-licensed broker-dealer. In the first half of 2026, over$28.1 billion U.S. traded on Moon ATS. Learn more about Moon ATS. Visit otcmarkets.com slash moon. Moon ATS is operated by OTC Link LLC, a FINRA-registered broker-dealer.

13:13Coast to coast on Bloomberg Radio, nationwide on Sirius XM, and around the world on Bloomberg.com and the Bloomberg Business App. This is Bloomberg Daybreak. Good morning, I'm Nathan Hager. President Donald Trump is setting expectations ahead of his Alaska summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin now just hours away. I think President Putin will make peace. I think President Zelensky will make peace. We'll see if they can get along. The president spoke from the Oval Office the day before he departs the White House for Anchorage. At the same time, he is saying today's meeting won't be as important as the second meeting he hopes to set up between Putin and Zelensky.

13:53For more, we're joined by Terry Haynes, founder of Pangaea Policy. Terry, good morning. We've heard the president say there's a 25 percent chance his meeting with Putin doesn't go well. From what I read, you're putting the chances of success at 60 percent. Why? Good morning. Hi. Good morning, Nathan. Yeah, I wrote yesterday morning that I thought the chances of success on establishing a process for negotiating peace was about 60-40. The president's about 75-25. I take that two ways. One is that if I were the president, I'd be a little more optimistic than I am about going in and trying to get something done.

14:33But at the same time, I think it's an affirmation of my view that there's a not trivial chance that what ends up happening is not agreeing even on the process. It is in the president's credit that he's trying to establish a process. Putin probably needs a process, whether he's sincere, whether he's rope-a-doping. So I'll give it a positive chance of that. But beyond that, that's where things get tricky. Well, where do you see it as far as where Putin is coming into this? Is he stringing the president along with what he's been saying about boosting economic cooperation, bringing in an arms treaty talk, that sort of thing?

15:20No one can know. I think we will after. We'll have some idea, certainly, after this meeting and in about days and weeks to come. But Russia is, you know, this is a short answer to a very long litany, but, you know, Russia's got a great deal of problems running out of economic time and money. the more the president impresses that upon him and impresses upon him that the United States and the broader West are committed to pressing that advantage, the more likely the president is to have some success, number one. Number two, I think the arms control agreements, the rare earth, the things that are mooted around, I think are diversions.

16:07frankly, I would urge markets not to think of them as any more than conditional candy at this point. You know, there's a broader lens here where the United States and the West want to woo Russia back into the community of nations more fully instead of being a satellite country, a client state of China. And I think that's what's going on here. But we're a very long way from making any of that sort of thing a reality. And we know that the president is putting himself at the center of this conflict now going into this meeting with Putin. Does he need to bring Europe more directly into this? They had the call earlier this week, but it seems as though the Europeans are somewhat sidelined.

16:51Well, he absolutely does. And he has said a couple of times this week that he intends to do that. One thing I said to markets yesterday was that initial success on establishing a process is up to Trump, is up to Russia. But if there's going to be peace in Ukraine that sticks, it's much more up to the European Union and it's much more up to China than it is to Trump and Russia. The European Union countries have to be willing to do two things. One, they have to be willing to squeeze Russia much harder than they have if this meeting does not succeed. And if it does succeed, they have to be willing to step up in terms of defending Ukraine and providing a first line of defense.

17:36So they're going to have to get a whole lot more serious than they have been. And that's something that Secretary Besant mentioned specifically on your interview with him on Wednesday, where he said when he put that to the Europeans not long ago, they started looking at their shoes. So that's not positive, but they need to change that around. This is Bloomberg Daybreak, your morning podcast on the stories making news from Wall Street to Washington and beyond. Look for us on your podcast feed by 6 a.m. Eastern each morning on Apple, Spotify or anywhere else you listen. You can also listen live each morning starting at 5 a.m.

18:12Wall Street time on Bloomberg 1130 in New York, Bloomberg 99.1 in Washington, Bloomberg 92.9 in Boston and nationwide on Sirius XM Channel 121. Plus, listen coast to coast on the Bloomberg Business app, now with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto interfaces. And don't forget to subscribe to Bloomberg News Now. It's the latest news whenever you want it, in five minutes or less. Search Bloomberg News Now on your favorite podcast platform to stay informed all day long. I'm Karen Moscow. And I'm Nathan Hager. Join us again tomorrow morning for all the news you need to start your day right here on Bloomberg Daybreak.

18:52Thank you.