This is the year of volatility: EnQuest CEO
EnQuest CEO Amjad Bseisu joins CNBC's JP Ong at the Energy Asia conference to discuss recent crude price volatility and market supply.
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CNBC
4 hours ago
- CNBC
The lookahead: What next after U.S. strikes on Iran and Europe's 5% defense problem
After a week of global market jitters, the reaction to U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities will be front and center over the coming days. Meanwhile, a trio of heavyweight events could also shape the economic and geopolitical mood. From NATO tensions in The Hague to trade talks in Tianjin and industrial optimism in Berlin — investors will be watching closely. Addressing the nation on Saturday evening, U.S. President Donald Trump said strikes on three of Iran's nuclear sites were a "spectacular military success" that "completely obliterated" the country's major enrichment facilities. The strikes, which mark the first time the U.S. has conducted a direct military attack on Iran, mark a dramatic escalation in geopolitical tensions. Trump's claim about the result of the operation could not be independently confirmed. Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi slammed the U.S. strikes, describing them as "outrageous" and saying the country "reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interest, and people." Global investors will be scrambling to assess the fallout. NATO meetings with Trump in attendance have a history of being dramatic. Back in 2017, the White House leader consistently questioned America's commitment to the alliance, and accused other members of owing "massive amounts of money" to the overall share of defense spending. Fast forward to 2025 and the next NATO Leaders Summit with Trump is set to take place in The Hague, the Netherlands on Wednesday. Some problems are familiar – while defense spending has increased dramatically across Europe, countries like Spain risk derailing talks by calling the 5% of GDP target "unreasonable." In addition, the war in Ukraine rages on. Meanwhile other problems are new – hostilities are rising between Israel and Iran, alongside other neighbors in the Middle East, are testing international relations to the limit. U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whittaker, told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" that the region should not expect a free ride from the U.S. on defense spending, as "the 5% target is not a negotiating tactic." On the other side of the world, the Chinese city of Tianjin plays host to the World Economic Forum's Meeting of New Champions running from Tuesday to Thursday, also known as the Summer Davos. Technology dominates the agenda at a tricky time for relations between China and the West, as trade negotiations with the U.S. are still on-going. Trump may have bought more time for TikTok, extending the deadline for China's ByteDance to divest the social media platform's U.S. business to September, but the latest round of trade talks in London led to a vague stand-off between the two superpowers, with no official readout. Speaking to CNBC right after those negotiations, U.S .Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was asked if current tariffs on China would not shift again, to which he replied, "you can definitely say that." But this may do little to ease the conversations between Chinese officials and corporates in Tianjin, and the international delegates in attendance, who will be looking for more certainty from both the White House and Beijing. Closer to home, it's the Day of Industry conference in Germany on Monday and Tuesday. This annual meeting in Berlin highlights German economic policy and global trade strategies. It could be a good time for the new government to be touting Europe's so-called Engine of Growth, with four economic institutes raising their 2025 and 2026 GDP growth forecasts for Europe's largest economy. During a recent trip to Washington DC, Chancellor Friedrich Merz dodged the ire that other world leaders have faced in the Oval Office, with Trump's focus mostly dominated by his public spat with Elon Musk. But it's not all clear roads ahead for Germany, as the country's auto industry body reports that domestic auto-makers have shouldered around 500 million euros ($576.1 million) in costs associated with Trump's import tariffs.
Miami Herald
18 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Tesla releases new details about its next big deal
Rumors have been swirling for weeks as Tesla nears the launch of its next big idea - robotaxi - in Austin, Texas. The robotaxi hype hasn't reached the fever pitch of the Cybertruck, Tesla's last big idea, but if it gets this right, robotaxi has the chance to transform not just Tesla, but driving itself. Related: Tesla robotaxi launch hits major speed bump Tesla is admittedly slow-walking the rollout with CEO Elon Musk telling CNBC, "It's prudent for us to start with a small number, confirm that things are going well, and then scale it up." Tesla says it will have just 10 robotaxis on the street at launch. The company has already been testing its system, however. Earlier this year, Tesla said that its FSD system has driven a cumulative total of 3.6 billion miles, nearly triple the 1.3 billion cumulative miles it reported a year ago. But the public may not trust the autonomous vehicles yet. "Consumers are skeptical of the full self-driving (FSD) technology that undergirds the robotaxi proposition, with 60% considering Tesla's full self-driving 'unsafe,' 77% unwilling to utilize full self-driving technology, and a substantial share (48%) believing full self-driving should be illegal," the May 2025 edition of the Electric Vehicle Intelligence Report (EVIR) said. Self-driving Teslas have already been spotted on city streets with a human riding shotgun ahead of the program's official launch. And now Tesla is confirming that humans will be a fixture as it goes forward. Image source: vanTesla won't be leaving passengers in their Austin robotaxis alone, as the company plans to have a "safety monitor" sitting in the front seat during drives. Musk has claimed in the past that once the robotaxi program is up and running, Tesla owners would be able to earn passive income by allowing their Teslas to operate autonomously as taxis, without human intervention. However, the "safety monitor" isn't an abnormal safety feature for an autonomous vehicle. Waymo tested its vehicles for six months with a driver and for six months without one in Austin before it launched its commercial service earlier this year, according to Electrek. Related: Tesla takes drastic measures to keep robotaxi plans secret A safety monitor is just one of the robotaxis' safety requirements. Riders must agree to a TOS agreement, must have a debit or credit card on file, and can only request rides via the app between 6 a.m. and 12 a.m. within the geofenced area where it's allowed to operate. That geofenced area limits where cars can travel and changes based on the time of day. Only invited users are allowed to download and use the Robotaxi app. While the Cybertruck has had a lot of hype, it has been a massive flop for Tesla. A backlog of reservations helped push Cybertruck out with a lot of momentum, but it can only be described as an epic failure regarding sales. Tesla sold just 7,100 Cybertrucks in the first three months of the year, according to the Wall Street Journal, nearly half of the 13,000 it sold in the fourth quarter of 2024. Tesla sold fewer than 40,000 Cybertrucks in 2024, making Elon Musk's far-fetched prediction of over half a million annual sales look farcical. Electrek reports that Tesla is sitting on $800 million of 10,000 Cybertrucks it can't sell. More on Tesla: Tesla claims rival startup is built on stolen trade secrets10,000 people join crazy Tesla class action lawsuitTesla execs question Elon Musk over controversial X post Mix that with the dismal quarter Tesla just reported, and Musk has a lot of work to do. It reported its worst quarter in years, with auto sales revenue dropping 20% amid falling demand in the U.S., Europe, and China. In the first quarter, deliveries fell 13% year over year to 36,681 vehicles from 386,810. Musk has been promising the robotaxi since at least 2016. Now that it is finally ready to debut, the company needs Musk's latest big swing to be a home run. Related: Tesla's robotaxi rollout is alarming the public, new report shows The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
CNBC
19 hours ago
- CNBC
36-year-old travels the world in a Toyota Tacoma: After 3 years on the road, this is her No. 1 takeaway
In 2015, Ashley Kaye's father died and she inherited her childhood home in Waterford, Wisconsin. At the time, she was 27 years old, working in corporate healthcare and transitioning to a consulting job, where she worked 80 to 100 hours a week. "I worked from home, so I just walked from my bedroom to my office to the kitchen and repeat," Kaye, now 36, tells CNBC Make It. "I was a zombie in those times," While traveling, Kaye met someone on a scuba diving trip in Honduras who helped her realize what she wanted was to leave her career behind and travel full-time. "We just hit it off and chatted the whole time I was there. We spoke about the worst of the worst, the best of the best, and financials, too," Kaye says. "He told me he wished he had done it sooner because it's so much easier and cheaper than you think. That changed everything for me. I went home and worked more and more until I quit the next year." Kaye spent the next three years traveling during the covid-19 pandemic. While on a trip to South Africa, she received unexpected news that her aunt was ill and she'd need to fly back home to Wisconsin. "That flight was probably the moment where not a single ounce of my being was like 'Yay, I'm going home.' It was like, 'I don't want to be here. This isn't it for me.'," she says. "I love being on the islands. I love having the ocean near me. That took away the hesitation I had in previous years about selling the house." While Kaye was back home caring for her aunt, she prepared her childhood home for sale and considered her next move. She thought a lot about trying van life and living and traveling with her dog. "Traveling by plane with a dog just sounded like a terrible idea," she says. "I do a lot of photography, so I knew I wanted something where I could reach tougher destinations." While waiting for the sale of her home to close, a couple reached out to Kaye on Instagram to ask about her time in South Africa. They shared their experience overlanding in a Toyota truck with a camper in the truck bed. Overlanding is a form of self-reliant travel that involves adventuring to remote destinations, typically in a vehicle of some type. After doing a bit of her own research, Kaye was all-in and purchased a Toyota Tacoma truck for $42,934, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. Kaye picked up the truck in South Dakota and drove it back to Wisconsin to finish packing up her home when it officially sold in March 2023. Now that her new home was the truck, Kaye set off on her first adventure: A drive down to Baja California, Mexico. She stayed there for three months and planned out the renovations she would need to make the truck more livable. "My life is kind of like 'the plan is there is no plan.' Most people plan this type of adventure for years. I didn't even have a truck when I accepted the offer on my house," she says. "It was very spur of the moment, so I needed to take a pause and figure things out." While living in Mexico, Kaye found an American company that made the truck bed replacements that would provide external storage and make it easier for her to live and travel in the Toyota Tacoma. But, the installation couldn't happen until September. In the meantime, Kaye learned as much as she could about the truck and the kind of camper she would need. She estimates that she has spent over $50,000 on the renovations. Costs included purchasing a camper, adding solar power, replacing the truck bed, upgrading the suspension, new tires, customizing a bumper, and installing an electric cooler. When the truck was ready, Kaye decided to journey the Pan-American Highway, starting in Denver. The highway stretches from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Ushuaia, Argentina. "It's really an incredible way to travel because you get to set your own pace and if you find somewhere that's beautiful and peaceful you can stay as long as you want," Kaye says. "But there's pros and cons to every mode of travel and a lot of red tape and logistics crossing borders. It can be exhausting, especially when you're alone. You have to find a balance that works for you, but overall, it's definitely one of the coolest adventures of my lifetime." Since living and traveling in the truck full-time, Kaye has visited Mexico, every country in Central America, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile and parts of Argentina. In total, she's been to over 20 countries so far. "I don't want to be a cliché and say it's a dream life because it's a lot of work and there are a lot of things that you need to take care of and maintain," she says. "But it's really incredible to be able to wake up and just look at the map and say, 'Should I go sleep inside this volcano or go to the jungle or go to the beach?' You have a lot of really beautiful options, so I can't really complain." After all this time on the road, Kaye says the biggest lesson she's learned is that life is too short. "Ever since I started traveling, [I learned] life is just too short. You don't have to go and quit your career to travel the world but whatever your dreams and goals are in life just start now and everything else is just figuring out a goal," she says. Kaye says when she was younger, it was her dad who taught her that she was capable of anything. "I grew up with my dad raising me and telling me every day 'You can be anything you want when you grow up and you can do anything,'" she says. "He was 57 when he passed away, so he never even got to retire. His passing taught me how to live life because you never know how much time you have in life."
