Editor's Note: Some linked articles may be behind subscription paywalls.
1. Court blocks Trump's tariffs, markets soar in response
The United States Court of International Trade in New York blocked the Trump administration's tariff policy on Wednesday, the Associated Press reports. The court found that the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which the administration had been using to implement sweeping tariffs on dozens of countries around the world, does not authorize the use of tariffs.
In response, financial markets rose Thursday morning with futures for the S&P 500 jumping 1% before the opening bell. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 0.4%. Futures for the Nasdaq rose 1.5%.
“Just when traders thought they’d seen every twist in the tariff saga, the gavel dropped like a lightning bolt over the Pacific,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
The White House has already appealed the decision.
2. New report finds consumers feel OK about finances
When it comes to financial well being financial well being, the majority of U.S. households reported they were "doing OK or living comfortably," in 2024, according to results of an annual survey from the Federal Reserve. Reuters reported that the study, which collected 12,295 responses in October, found 73% of respondents at least doing OK economically versus 72% in the year before.
"That overall finding, though, masked significant divisions among varying demographic groups," the article reads. "Among those with a college degree, 87% said they were doing OK, unchanged from the year before, but just 47% of those with less than a high school diploma said the same."
Meanwhile, the report found that only 29% considered the economy as a whole to be "good" or "excellent," which is higher than the 22% reading in 2023 but below the 50% that was recorded in 2019.
3. How Accor plans to expand in India
After years of partnering, Accor and Indian conglomerate InterGlobe are ramping up growth in India, CoStar News' Terence Baker reports. The two partners created a platform that has plans to open 300 hotels in India under Accor brands by 2030. It currently has 71 open hotels in India.
Gaurav Bhushan, CEO of Accor’s lifestyle and leisure brands, and co-CEO at Accor joint venture Ennismore, said India’s hospitality industry is a “highly promising growth opportunity.”
“Accor is already uniquely positioned to harness this opportunity, leveraging its position as the third-largest international hospitality group in the country to become a market trailblazer," he said.
4. Choice to grow presence with 9 new hotels
Choice Hotels International's midscale extended stay brand Everhome Suites is growing nationwide, the company announced Wednesday. The brand opened six new properties in Texas since February. Three more hotels in Texas, Oregon and Ohio have either already broken ground or will break ground this summer. Everhome Suites currently has 14 properties open with 19 under construction and more than 60 in the pipeline.
The hotels were developed with longtime collaborators of Choice Hotels, Highside Companies.
5. Climate experts predict extreme heat in 5-year forecast
World Meteorological Organization and the U.K. Meteorological Office reported Wednesday that the world can expect extreme temperatures for the next several years, per an article from the AP.
The report, which looks at the next five years, found that there’s an 80% chance the world will break another annual temperature record and that "it’s even more probable that the world will again exceed the international temperature threshold set 10 years ago," reads the article. Cornell University climate scientist Natalie Mahowald, who didn't work on the report, said the heat has significant effects on weather events.
“Higher global mean temperatures may sound abstract, but it translates in real life to a higher chance of extreme weather: stronger hurricanes, stronger precipitation, droughts,” said Mahowald. “So higher global mean temperatures translates to more lives lost.”