BN Daybreak: Trump’s SOTU; Budget preview; streaming wars; Meta’s AMD spend; Dimon’s warning; Eskom
In today’s BN Daybreak, we open with Bloomberg News Now on President Trump’s first State of the Union of his second term — delivered just days after the Supreme Court overturned his emergency tariffs — as the White House sharpens its economic message ahead of the year’s political battles. We then shift to the streaming wars, where Warner Bros. Discovery weighs a revised Paramount/Skydance offer — a $31-a-share cash bid — against its existing Netflix deal, with fresh negotiations now back on the table.
From there it’s all about Big Tech and the AI buildout: Meta is set to commit billions to AMD chips and AI systems over the next five years, underscoring the scale of the infrastructure race. In banking, JPMorgan boss Jamie Dimon warns he’s seeing echoes of the pre-2008 rush for risky lending, calling out rivals for doing “dumb things”.
Back in South Africa, energy expert Thomas Garner unpacks Eskom’s warning that load-shedding could return in 2029 — and the political tug-of-war over an independent National Transmission Company. We close with economist Dawie Roodt’s Budget preview: a possible revenue overrun, the temptation to spend windfalls, and what government should prioritise instead.
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