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By DARLENE SUPERVILLE and MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday inserted himself directly into trade talks with Japanese officials, a sign of the high stakes for the United States after its tariffs rattled the economy and caused the administration to assure the public that it would quickly reach deals.

The Republican president said in a post on his social media platform that he’ll attend the meeting alongside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, top economic advisers with a central role in his trade and tariff policies.

“Hopefully something can be worked out which is good (GREAT!) for Japan and the USA!” Trump wrote in the social media post.

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By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO, Associated Press Retail Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. shoppers stepped up their shopping last month, fueled by a spending spree on big ticket items, particularly cars, before President Donald Trump’s expansive new tariffs started kicking in.

But analysts were quick to point out that the data wasn’t a sign of strength but underscored the extreme economic uncertainty that shoppers face and how they want to get ahead of higher prices.

Retail sales rose 1.4% in March, after rising 0.2% in February, according to the Commerce Department. Retail sales fell 1.2% in January, hurt in part by cold weather that kept more Americans indoors, denting sales at car dealers and most other stores.

Excluding sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers, sales rose 0.5% in March, compared with the previous month.

Sales at motor vehicles and parts dealers rose 5.3%, and the report also underscored strength elsewhere. Sales rose at electronics stores, sporting goods retailers and clothing and accessories stores. Grocery stores and online retailers both saw a 0.1% increase. Restaurants had a 1.8% increase. However, furniture and home furnishings stores posted a decline. read more

With sponsors saying they are trying to ease financial strains on condominium owners, Florida House and Senate committees on Tuesday approved plans to revamp laws dealing with condo associations.

The House Commerce Committee and the Senate Agriculture, Environment and General Government Appropriations Committee unanimously backed the measures (HB 913 and SB 1742), which include differences that will need to be negotiated before a final version could pass.

The bills would revise laws that stem from the 2021 collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium building in Surfside that killed 98 people.

The laws, initially passed in 2022 and tweaked in 2023, included requiring “milestone inspections” of older buildings and “structural integrity reserve” studies to determine how much money should be set aside for future major repairs.

But as condo associations have tried to meet the requirements, residents have said they face steep financial assessments to cover the costs.

The bills, for example, would allow condo-association boards to obtain lines of credit. read more

By STAN CHOE, Associated Press Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Nvidia is pulling Wall Street lower on Wednesday after it said new restrictions on exports to China will chisel billions of dollars off its results.

The S&P 500 was down 0.9% in early trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 180 points, or 0.4%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, while the slide for Nvidia and other stocks in the chip industry dragged the Nasdaq composite down a market-leading 1.7%.

Nvidia was the single heaviest weight on the market and dropped 5.7% after it said the U.S. government is restricting exports of its H20 chips to China, citing worries that they could be used to build a supercomputer. The limits could shave roughly $5.5 billion off Nvidia’s results for the first quarter, covering charges related to inventory and purchase commitments.

China and the United States, the world’s two largest economies, have been locked in a trade war and raising tariffs and other impediments to trade between each other. But these restrictions on exports for chips used in artificial-intelligence technology are getting more support from both U.S. political parties, not just President Donald Trump’s. read more

By Kimberly Palmer, NerdWallet

Intuitive budgeting involves approximating your expenses instead of counting every penny. For some people, this kind of relaxed approach is more appealing than traditional budgeting.

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“It’s more of a dance with your numbers,” says Bari Tessler, author of “The Art of Money” and a financial therapist in Boulder, Colorado.

In fact, Tessler shies away from even using the word “budget,” which can feel “so rigid and diet-like, as if there’s a right and wrong way.”

Tessler prefers “money map.” That phrase, she says, evokes the idea that “this is something we get to craft on our own, based on what phase of life we’re in, who we’re caring for and what our numbers look like.” read more