*By Alisha Haridasani*
Investors responded enthusiastically Monday to the news that the United States and China were "putting the trade war on hold," with the Dow Jones Industrial Average crossing 25,000 for the first time in two months.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were also up after the United States announced over the weekend it would hold off on imposing tariffs on China to address the countries' trade imbalance.
In return for the reprieve from tariffs, China announced it “will significantly increase purchases” of U.S. exports, specifically agricultural and energy goods, according to a [joint statement](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/joint-statement-united-states-china-regarding-trade-consultations/) from the two governments released by the White House. The two sides also agreed to “strengthen cooperation” on intellectual property protections, but crucial details about how much of what good China will purchase, and at what cost, remain undecided.
The market rallied even without details of just how much China has committed to buying. "It's really the removal of negative news that drives markets higher, more so than the announcement of more positive news," said Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide.
Trump [touted](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/998525737593376768) the deal in a series of tweets on Monday as "one of the best things to happen to our farmers in many years." The president also [assured](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/998524172858019840) his followers: "Fair Trade, plus, with China will happen!"
The apparent truce was the result of three days of trade negotiations in Washington, where American officials appear to have backed away from Trump's tough talk on tariffs, for the time being.
Trump said last month that he would consider imposing import taxes on $150 billion worth of Chinese goods, and Beijing vowed to retaliate by levying its own tariffs on a range of American products, from denim to orange juice.
The U.S. had also barred companies from doing business with the Chinese electronics company ZTE, punishing it for allegedly violating trade sanctions on North Korea and Iran. But last week, Trump agreed to help save the company, perhaps using ZTE's weakened position as a bargaining chip in the trade negotiations.
It’s still unclear what the administration has decided to do with its penalties on ZTE.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/china-trade-war-fears-ease-and-the-dow-soars).
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
You'll just have to wait for interest rates (and prices) to go down. Plus, this deal's a steel, the big carmaker wedding is off, and bribery is back, baby!
It’s a chicken-and-egg problem: Restaurants are struggling with record-high U.S. egg prices, but their omelets, scrambles and huevos rancheros may be part of the problem. Breakfast is booming at U.S. eateries. First Watch, a restaurant chain that serves breakfast, brunch and lunch, nearly quadrupled its locations over the past decade to 570. Fast-food chains like Starbucks and Wendy's added more egg-filled breakfast items. In normal times, egg producers could meet the demand. But a bird flu outbreak that has forced them to slaughter their flocks is making supplies scarcer and pushing up prices. Some restaurants like Waffle House have added a surcharge to offset their costs.
William Falcon, CEO and Founder of Lightning AI, discusses the ongoing feud between Elon Musk and Sam Altman, and how everyday people can use AI in their lives.