Missiles, Layoffs, and a World Cup Upset: Your Tuesday Rundown

MayaMorning, everybody. Welcome back to the morning rundown.

DavidYeah, and we've got a packed one today.

MayaOvernight strikes hit Kyiv hard and there's a NATO meeting coming up fast.

DavidPlus, China just test-fired a submarine missile. That's got Wellington and Tokyo pretty rattled.

MayaSo tension's the mood overseas this morning.

DavidAnd it bleeds into markets, too. Microsoft's cutting nearly 5,000 jobs. Xbox taking the hit.

MayaWait, and Toyota's doing the total opposite, pouring billions into Texas for the Tacoma.

DavidTotally different signals, same news cycle. We'll get into that.

MayaThen sports. Spain knocked out Portugal, so Ronaldo's World Cup run is done.

DavidAnd the USMNT lost to Belgium. People are not happy about it.

MayaThere's also a red card controversy people are reading way too much into.

DavidWe'll get into that debate too.

MayaSoftly, we want a moment for Lauren Bennett, the voice on Party Rock Anthem. She passed at 37.

DavidYeah, we'll talk about her legacy later in the show.

MayaAll right, lots to cover. Let's start where the headlines are loudest.

DavidOverseas, Kyiv, China, and everything in between.

MayaOkay, so overnight, Kyiv got hit hard. The Washington Post is reporting at least 11 people killed in Russian strikes, and this is right before a big NATO meeting.

DavidRight before. That timing's not an accident.

MayaUkraine's president is saying NATO flat out needs help intercepting these missiles, not just send more aid packages.

DavidSo here's what I keep asking: why now, days before allies sit down together? If you're Moscow, you want the room walking in rattled, not united.

MayaRattled and divided, Yeah.

DavidFollow the motive: a show of force before a unity meeting is a message to NATO members who are wobbly on funding.

MayaBut get this, Ukraine's not just sitting there. Business Insider is reporting Ukrainian drones flew almost 1,700 miles to hit Russia's... Its biggest oil refinery in Omsk, that's Siberia.

DavidWait, Siberia? That's Ukraine's longest strike of the whole war.

MayaLongest range, yeah, so while Russia's pounding Kyiv, Ukraine's showing it can reach targets nobody thought were reachable.

DavidWhich tells you something about how this war is actually going, regardless of what the front-line maps say.

MayaOkay, switching continents. Gaza. Hamas just dissolved its own government.

DavidAnd Israel's calling it a stunt, according to Reuters.

MayaBasically saying they're handing power to, quote, technocrats as this US-brokered ceasefire deal stalls out.

DavidI mean, come on, you dissolve the government on paper, that doesn't change who actually runs things on the ground.

MayaRight, it's optics.

DavidIt's a paperwork reshuffle timed to look like reform right when the pressure's on them to show they're serious.

MayaOkay, now here's the one that actually made my jaw drop this morning.

DavidWhat?

MayaHere, Iran's Revolutionary Guard fired missiles near... Near ships by the Strait of Hormuz, same week China ran a rare ballistic missile test, launched from a submarine.

Davida submarine launch? That's not a small flex. AP's reporting it was likely a JL-2 or JL-3. Those are China's long-range, sub-launched nuclear-capable missiles.

MayaAnd New Zealand's furious, saying it violated the South Pacific nuclear free zone. Australia and Japan aren't thrilled either.

DavidSo you've got Iran squeezing a shipping choke point and China parading its submarine. Submarine fleet in the same stretch of days?

MayaThat's wild, right? Two totally different regions, same week.

DavidHere's the pattern I keep circling back to, though. Every one of these-Kyiv, Gaza, Hormuz, the Pacific-they're all testing how far they can push before Washington and its allies actually respond.

MayaIt's less- So, speaking of uncertainty, turns out it's hitting close to home, too.

DavidYeah, no kidding.

MayaMicrosoft has cut 4,800 jobs, and Reuters says Xbox is getting hit hardest.

DavidHmm. 20% of the gaming staff, from what DW reported. And Microsoft's own VP said AI isn't filling those roles.

MayaWait, so it's not even the robots took my job story?

DavidNope. DW says it's more that the gaming business model wasn't sustainable. and sustainable the way it was running. Five studios are getting spun off too.

MayaFor the people who were sitting at those desks yesterday, the reason probably doesn't matter much. That's a family budget getting rewritten overnight.

DavidFair. And it's a year after Microsoft's last round of cuts, so this isn't a one-off.

MayaWhich stings more, honestly.

DavidBut flip the coin, Toyota's doing the opposite play this week.

MayaOh yeah?

DavidCNBC reported Toyota's putting 3.6 billion... It's billion dollars into moving Tacoma production out of Mexico and into San Antonio.

MayaWait, they're pulling manufacturing back to the U.S.?

DavidYeah, and let's trace the incentive here. Tariffs on Mexican-built trucks change the math fast. Once importing costs more, building at home starts penciling out.

MayaSo it's not charity. The numbers just worked out that way.

DavidRight, but the effect is the same. More manufacturing jobs in Texas, the same week Microsoft... That's cutting jobs in Redmond.

MayaIt's wild seeing both headlines together. One company shrinking, one expanding, and both

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Mayamake sense on paper.

DavidThat reshoring trend people kept predicting for years? It's actually showing up in a purchase order now.

MayaOkay, so how's the market handling all of it?

DavidPretty calm, actually. The Wall Street Journal's live markets coverage had the Nasdaq opening higher today right at the start of a loaded earnings week. It's weak.

MayaSo Wall Street is shrugging off layoffs and factory moves and just watching for tech earnings.

DavidTraders have a one-track mind this week. Follow the money, and right now it's all pointed at earnings calls.

MayaGuess we'll see if the numbers match the optimism.

DavidWe will.

MayaSpeaking of things not going as planned, soccer gave us a way bigger upset than anything on a balance sheet this week.

DavidNow I've been waiting for you to bring that up.

MayaShifting gears from earnings to actual games, Spain just knocked Cristiano Ronaldo out of the World Cup.

DavidMerino, first minute of second half stoppage, Spain wins it 1-0. AP News had it, Ronaldo just standing there at the whistle.

MayaEnd of an era, honestly. Hard to picture the sport without him in it.

DavidTotally, but can we talk about our team for a second?

MayaOh boy. Yeah.

DavidThe U.S.M.N.T. exit against Belgium was rough. The Hollywood Reporter ran a piece, U.S. soccer is not ready for prime time. And honestly, fair headline. Ouch, but not wrong.

MayaRight?

DavidI mean, come on, we've had years to build this up before hosting next summer. Which brings up the Balogun thing, and I gotta push back on this one. Oh, the red card mess?

MayaOh, the red card mess?

DavidAl Jazeera ran a piece basically saying there's a political angle to FIFA reversing that card.

MayaOh, wait, seriously? It's a red card.

DavidI know, officials botch calls constantly, in every sport, everywhere.

MayaSo, a referee makes a bad decision and suddenly it's a political conspiracy?

DavidThat's the read, apparently.

MayaI mean, look, I'm not saying FIFA's officiating is spotless, but reaching for politics on a card call is a stretch. Sometimes a blown whistle is just a blown whistle.

DavidAgreed. Not everything needs a headline that big.

MayaOkay, switching gears for something sadder.

DavidYeah.

MayaNBC News reported that Lauren Bennett passed away. She was He was thirty seven.

DavidThe 'Party Rock Anthem' voice, right?--that LMFAO hit everybody knows?

MayaThat's her!" She sang the hook, and she was also part of the group GRL.

DavidHer old band mates said their hearts are broken. That's basically the statement NBC ran.

MayaThirty-seven is just way too young.

DavidIt really is . . . one of those songs everybody's danced to without knowing who's actually behind the mike.

MayaSending real condolences to her family and everyone in GRL this morning.

DavidYeah, rest easy.

MayaAlright, that's a lot of ground today: global flashpoints, layoffs, upsets, and one really tough goodbye.

DavidA packed one for sure.

MayaAnd that's the Rundown.

DavidWe'll see you next time.

MayaAlright, that's the Rundown for today.

DavidYeah, from those drones hitting Siberia to Toyota betting big on Texas. Busy morning.

MayaHonestly, my takeaway? When things get shaky overseas, it shows up fast in paychecks and factory decisions back home.

DavidExactly. Worth watching those two things together going forward.

MayaBrightening. If you like the show, hit subscribe and leave us a review. It actually helps people find us.

DavidSeriously, takes 10 seconds and means a lot.

MayaThanks for spending your morning with us.

DavidWe'll catch you next time.

MayaBye, everybody.