In short
Squawk Pod Episode Notes: 5 Things to Know Before the Opening Bell (9/22/2025)
Podcast Overview Podcast Title: Squawk Pod Description: A daily curation of moments and takeaways from CNBC’s “Squawk Box”, featuring news, interviews, and analysis. Hosted by Joe Kernen, Becky Quick, and Andrew Ross Sorkin.
Episode Summary Key Highlights
- Government Shutdown Concerns
- Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer urges President Trump to meet with Congressional Democrats.
- The Senate blocked both Republican and Democratic funding proposals to avert a government shutdown.
- Government funding is set to expire at the end of the month.
- Saks Fifth Avenue Stake Sale
- The parent company of Saks is reportedly in discussions to sell a 49% stake in Bergdorf Goodman for approximately $1 billion.
- Potential bidders include Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds and strategic investors.
- U.S.-China Relations
- A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers is visiting China, emphasizing the need for increased engagement between the two nations.
- This marks the first visit by House representatives to China since 2019.
- Porsche's Profitability Outlook
- Porsche has lowered its profitability outlook for 2025 and delayed the launch of new electric car models due to weak demand.
- Shares of Porsche fell in European trading as a result.
- Amazon Prime Cancellation Trial
- A civil trial is set to begin concerning allegations that Amazon's Prime service is difficult to cancel.
- The FTC claims Amazon has misled 40 million customers with confusing subscription practices, which Amazon denies.
Discussion Highlights
- Subscription Service Challenges
- The hosts engage in a light-hearted discussion about the difficulty of canceling subscription services.
- Comparisons are made to other difficult-to-cancel services like cable television.
- The conversation highlights the prevalence of confusing subscription practices and the frustration consumers face.
- Consumer Awareness
- Suggestions are made for managing subscriptions, including using services that help identify recurring payments.
- Humor is injected into the conversation, with references to past subscription models, like Columbia Record Service.
Key Takeaways
- The looming government shutdown is a pressing issue, with political leaders urging collaboration.
- Major corporate developments, such as Saks' potential sale and Porsche's profitability issues, indicate shifts in market dynamics.
- The U.S.-China visit signifies an effort to improve diplomatic relations amidst ongoing tensions.
- Legal battles involving major companies like Amazon reflect wider consumer rights concerns regarding subscription services.
Conclusion This episode of Squawk Pod provides insightful updates on significant economic and political developments while offering a relatable glimpse into the challenges consumers face with subscriptions. The hosts blend serious discussions with humor, making the complexities of the market more accessible to listeners.
Listen to Squawk Pod for more daily insights and analysis from the team at Squawk Box.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:01I'm Andrew Ross Sorkin, co-host of Squawk Box along with Joe Kernan and Becky Quick and this is five Five things to know before today's opening bell. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer now urging President Trump to meet with Democrats as a government shutdown draws closer. On Friday, the Senate voted to block dueling Republican and Democratic proposals to keep the government funded on a short-term basis. Now funding expires at the end of the month. And the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue now reportedly in talks to sell 49 percent of Bergdorf Goodman for about one billion dollars. The Wall Street Journal reporting there are at least four potential bidders, including Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds and strategic investors as well.
0:40And a group of U.S. lawmakers making a rare visit to China and telling the country's premier that the U.S. and China need to step up engagement with each other. That bipartisan trip was the first by members of the House of Representatives since 2019. And shares of Porsche, they are lower in European trading. The company slashing its 2025 profitability outlook and also delaying the launch of electric car models because of weak demand. And a civil trial begins this week to decide whether Amazon's Prime service is too difficult to cancel. The FTC alleges that Amazon has duped 40 million customers by using confusing or deceitful subscription practices.
1:20Amazon denies the allegations. Have you ever tried? I've never tried. In 26 years, I've never tried to cancel. I haven't wanted to. No, I was going to say, have you ever tried to cancel cable television service? I hate to say that we're in that business, but you shouldn't. I actually tried to move from one network to another, not cable networks, but the underlying, we don't have, Comcast is not available to me. There's a million things I've tried to cancel. They make it very complicated. But Amazon and cable don't even come to the top of my list for any of those things. There's all these subscription services.
1:54You can go back to Columbia Record Service. Do you remember that? When they used to like suck you into that for forever? Well, that's because you would ask for, you know, 10 albums for the price of one. Right. And then the next month, they would, that was the whole business model. Right. But now it's like things I buy online that I accidentally subscribe to and I can't get out of. I saw that, you may need to help me. I saw that program where you download it and it looks at everything you're paying every month or whatever. I'm scared. I'm scared to do it. Because the guy on the... Well, they'll go after and shut down stuff for you, right?
2:23They'll shut it down. But the guy on TV, it's a commercial, I believe everything though. But it's like$350 a month. I mean, people don't have$350 a month to spend on things that they don't even know they're spending. And I'm sure mine's much bigger. The thing that works best is if you ever shut your credit card off. It shuts everybody out and you can just start fresh. That's a good idea. Well, I got mine stolen one time. But then it's a pain. The people you do want, you have to. Yeah, but it's worth it every once in a while. It's how you trim all of the unnecessary things. Just cancel your credit card.
2:55Okay. Some news you can use. We're going to be back later today with an all new Squawk Pod, our daily podcast featuring the best of Squawk Box. Check it out wherever you get your podcasts and listen anytime.
From the publisher
The 5 things you need to know before the stock market opens today: Senate minority leader Sen. Chuck Schumer is urging President Trump to meet with Congressional Democrats to avoid a government shutdown, the parent company of Saks is looking to sell a stake in Bergdorf Goodman, a group of U.S. lawmakers are making a visit to China, Porsche has slashed its 2025 profitability outlook, and a civil trial begins this week to whether Amazon’s Prime service is too tough to cancel.
Squawk Box is hosted by Joe Kernen, Becky Quick and Andrew Ross Sorkin. Follow Squawk Pod for the best moments, interviews and analysis from our TV show in an audio-first format.
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