C (3:08)

So what we've seen from the consumer is a continued focus on value, a shift to trading down. Maybe it's smaller package sizes, a focus on own brands.

A (3:20)

While overall inflation this year has been far below the pandemic era price increases, the August inflation report showed grocery price inflation picking up. The price of coffee rose nearly 21% over the 12 months ending in August, while ground beef rose 13% during the same period. Dairy, fruit and vegetables and cereals all got more expensive. So how are people feeling about the rising cost of groceries? Outside my local grocery store in Brooklyn, it wasn't hard to get people to talk about it. This is Robert Klein.

D (3:51)

The prices are ridiculous, right? Come here because it's near my house. But all prices, they're ridiculous. I have grandkids. They you can't buy. A toy you can't buy. It's through the ceiling. You know, things have to go up. People have to earn a living.

A (4:07)

But within reason, rising commodity prices are driving some of the increases, including American beef. The Trump administration's tariffs have made some imports like Spanish olive oil, more expensive. The but food companies have absorbed some of those costs. Albertsons, the supermarket company is trying to cut down its own costs to counter inflation. Its CEO said shoppers are trying to save, too.

C (4:30)

We see an increased usage in coupons. We see them sticking closer to their shopping list, maybe not buying that extra item, that extra bottle of whatever they're. They're kind of shortening their list and sticking to it.

A (4:48)

Blockbuster earnings by America's biggest banks tempered fears that the economy is headed for a slowdown, pushing U.S. stocks mostly higher. Today, the Nasdaq rose about 0.7%. The S&P 500 was up 0.4%. And the Dow ended nearly flat. Meanwhile, gold prices hit yet another record high. Coming up, what do changing government subsidies mean for the future of electric vehicles? That's after the break.

C (5:20)

Hey, I've got a guy pointing a gun at me driving. We're armed as well. He keeps throwing the gun in our faces.

E (5:26)

A man is calling 911 about a driver with a gun. Minutes later, someone is killed on Camp Swamp Road. This seemed like an open and shut case of self defense, except for the shooter's decision to record his phone calls and an investigation by the dead man's sister. Listen to Camp Swamp Road, a new series from the Journal, available now in the Journal feed. Wherever you get your podcasts.

A (5:54)

Automakers have spent billions of dollars on new electric models to try to get ready as governments around the world pushed for more electric vehicles. Now countries are softening their EV targets and rolling back their emissions goals. And automakers are taking their foot off the gas. Stephen Wilmot covers Global carmakers for the Journal and joins me now. Stephen, the US of course, retreated from subsidizing EVs, but it's not the only country to do so. What is this trend looking like around the world?

B (6:22)

Yeah, it absolutely isn't the only one. The European Union has had pretty tight emissions regulations and has been very reluctant to water them down. But it has actually caved into pressure this year from automakers. We've seen the same in the uk, which of course is no longer part of the European Union, so it sets its own emissions regulations. And we've seen it play out in Canada too, under Mark Carney, who was a former champion of green policy. What those three examples all have in common is that the changes have been led by politicians who have strong pro green agendas that have nonetheless had to cave to a more pragmatic way of thinking about EVs faced with rather reluctant consumer adoption.

A (7:07)

So because of this change coming from governments around the world, what does this mean for automakers? Are they changing their, their operations accordingly?

B (7:15)

Yes, they have. It's been a two way street where EV sales have been weak that's forced automakers to react. And they've also been lobbying governments very hard to change the rules so they don't have to pay massive fines for not selling enough EVs. Porsche, which was previously very focused on EVs, it went public in 2022 with very aggressive EV targets, and last month it dialled those back quite radically and took a big write down. Only this week we saw GM do the same in the US citing the change in government position and notably the cancellation of the $7,500 EV tax credit. GM had this $1.6 billion write down linked to its EV programs last week. Ferrari, which had previously said that 40% of its models in 2030 would be EVs, now is saying 20% of its models in 2030 will be EVs. So it's been a very broad response.

A (8:13)

From the automakers and the long term prospects for EVs. How might that shift because of this?

B (8:20)

Many people still see EVs as the future in the industry, but it's a future which will arrive a bit later than previously anticipated. I think the most plausible scenario is that EVs do continue to be bought by consumers in greater numbers, but just not as rapidly. And it's more about the timetable. But of course, timing is everything when you're having to plan products five years out. And if you get that wrong, it's very expensive. So it's not like this is trivial for the industry at all.

A (8:53)

That was WSJ reporter Stephen Wilmot. Thanks, Stephen.

B (8:56)

Thank you.

A (9:01)

In other news, a federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from going through with mass firings of federal work workers while the government remains shut down. The Trump administration last week sent reductions in force notices, otherwise known as RIFs, to about 4,000 employees at more than half a dozen federal agencies. President Trump has referred to the layoffs as Democrat oriented and has tried to put pressure on Democrats to end the standoff on government funding. And a startup backed by Nvidia called Poolside and cloud Infrastructure provider CoreWeave said today that they are planning to build a giant data center in West Texas. The data center will be built on more than 500 acres of land, 2/3 the size of Central park and will be capable of generating its own power from the natural gas resources in the area. Many planned data centers across the US have been built without power generation capabilities, and the companies are betting that having their own power source improves the long term viability of their project. Poolside and coreweave declined to say what the overall expected cost would be. They expect to complete construction in the first quarter of 2027, and that's what's news for this Wednesday afternoon. Today's show is produced by Pierre Bienname and Zoe Kolkin with supervising producer Tali Arbel. I'm Alex Osola for the Wall Street Journal. We'll be back with a new show tomorrow morning. Thanks for listening.