Featuring some of our favorite conversations of the week from our daily radio show "Bloomberg Businessweek Daily."
Hosted by Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec

Hear the show live at 2PM ET on WBBR 1130 AM New York, Bloomberg 92.9 FM Boston, WDCH 99.1 FM in Washington D.C. Metro, Sirius/XM channel 121, on the Bloomberg Business App, Radio.com, the iHeartRadio app and at Bloomberg.com/audio.

You can also watch Bloomberg Businessweek on YouTube - just search for Bloomberg Global News.
Like us at Bloomberg Radio on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @carolmassar @timsteno and @BW

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ACI Worldwide, an innovator in global payments technology, delivers software solutions that power intelligent payments orchestration in real time so banks, billers, and merchants can drive growth, while continuously modernizing their payment infrastructures, simply and securely. In addition to reporting strong third-quarter and year-to-date results, and raising its full-year 2025 outlook as it reported earnings, the company also recently entered into a strategic partnership with BitPay, the world’s leading cryptocurrency payments processor.

Robert "Bobby" Leibrock joined ACI as its CFO effective July 1. He breaks down the firm's expansive customer base and details its renewed commitment to digital assets with Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec and Bloomberg News Senior Editor on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily.

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As President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine enters a fourth winter, Russians are having to come to grips with its growing impact on nearly every aspect of their daily lives.

Dozens of regions in central and southern Russia are now feeling the war’s proximity as drones and sometimes missiles hit energy sites and residential buildings. Air raid sirens wail almost every night, offering a constant — and very public — reminder of how the conflict is encroaching.
Beyond the front lines, the rest of Russia, Moscow included, has started to feel the economic toll. From households cutting back on food spending to struggling steel, mining and energy companies, the country’s economic engine is showing multiple fractures, and the earlier resilience spurred by massive fiscal stimulus and record energy revenues is being tested.

The degree of suffering is incomparable to that of Ukraine, and is in any case unlikely to prompt Putin to end the war, yet it underlines the ever-higher cost being extracted for his decision to launch the all-out invasion in February 2022.

The fallout is hitting just as the US applies pressure to curb oil and gas revenue flowing to Moscow as part of the Trump administration’s flurry of activity aimed at reaching a ceasefire. Momentum for a deal is growing, with talks shifting to Moscow and US-Russian negotiations known to have been working behind the scenes on a package that would give Kremlin the sanctions relief it wants.

Today's show features:

• Elise Giuliano, Senior Lecturer in Political Science at Columbia University, on whether the US can ultimately get Russia and Ukraine to agree to peace terms as US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff prepares to visit Moscow
• Bloomberg Economics US and Canada Economist Stuart Paul and Claudia Sahm, Chief Economist for New Century Advisors on Wednesday’s jobless data, the US consumer and the Federal Reserve Beige Book
• Bloomberg Boston Bureau Chief Brooke Sutherland on the latest earnings from Deere, and why its downbeat 2026 forecast is an indicator of broader economic uncertainty
• Max Wasserman, Founder and Senior Portfolio Manager of Miramar Capital, on potential concentration risk and over-reliance on AI and technology stocks for returns

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A new HSBC report launched in collaboration with Know Your Value called "The Giving Shift: Global Living, Local Giving," shows a powerful transformation in how women across the US are building wealth and giving back. Moving away from performative, prestige-driven philanthropy, this new generation of women is ushering in a personal, grounded approach to giving—one rooted in
community, family, and tangible impact.

Racquel Oden, HSBC's US Head of International Wealth and Private Banking, discusses the report's findings as well as the recent shift in sentiment among some private market investors. Racquel speaks with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily.

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White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett is seen by advisers and allies of President Donald Trump as the frontrunner to be the next Federal Reserve chair, according to people familiar with the matter, as the search for a new central bank leader enters its final weeks.
With Hassett, Trump would have a close ally whom the president knows well and trusts installed at the independent central bank, the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Hassett is seen as someone who would bring the president’s approach to interest-rate cutting to the Fed, which Trump has long wanted to control, some of the people said.
Still, Trump is known to make surprise personnel and policy decisions, meaning a nomination is not final until it’s made public, they said.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt in a statement said, “nobody actually knows what President Trump will do until he does it. Stay tuned!”

Fed chair and governor picks are historically the most direct way a president can influence the central bank. Trump nominated current Chair Jerome Powell during his first term. He came to regret the decision when Powell didn’t push for lower interest rates at the pace Trump wanted.

Today's show features:

• Stuart Kaiser, Head of US Equity Trading Strategy at Citi, on the tug-of-war between market momentum and seasonal trends
• Bloomberg News Big Tech Team Leader Sarah Frier on Google’s major leap forward in the global AI race
• Bloomberg Economics Chief Geoeconomics Analyst Jennifer Welch on the latest White House optimism around efforts to negotiate a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, and whether there is hope for a lasting US-China trade truce
• Jennifer Ewbank, Founder of Andaman Strategic Advisors, on the recent cyber-attack on the Congressional Budget Office, and the risks of broader cyber-warfare with China
• Ryan Kelley, Chief Investment Officer and Portfolio Manager at Hennessy Funds, on investment opportunities in small- and mid-cap stocks

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Upwork (Nasdaq: UPWK) last week outlined its long-term growth strategy and financial outlook at its 2025 Investor Day. Upwork President and CEO Hayden Brown, CFO Erica Gessert, and other executives detailed how the company has fundamentally rewired its business over the last three years and is leading the reinvention of flexible work in the AI era. The company also unveiled its full year 2026 guidance and 2028 growth targets, seeing itself as well-positioned to capture a greater share of the $1.3 trillion global digital knowledge work market.

Erica details Upwork's playbook for durable and profitable growth with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily.

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US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday held their first talks since agreeing to a tariff truce last month, discussing trade, Taiwan and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 
Trump said the telephone call was “very good” and that the leaders spoke about purchases of soybeans and other farm products as well as curbing shipments of illegal fentanyl. The US president said he agreed to visit Beijing in April, and that he had invited Xi for a state visit next year.

“Our relationship with China is extremely strong!” Trump posted on social media. “There has been significant progress on both sides in keeping our agreements current and accurate. Now we can set our sights on the big picture.”

But the US president’s readout of the call sidestepped one issue — the self-governing island of Taiwan — that was a central focus for Xi. The Chinese leader told Trump that the return of Taiwan to China is a key part of the post-World War II international order, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement. Xi also said the two countries should keep the positive momentum generated during their meeting last month in South Korea and expand cooperation, the statement said.

The leaders also spoke about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Xi expressed hope for the two sides to reach a binding peace agreement, the ministry said. The call lasted an hour, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.

Today's show features:

• Bloomberg News Senior Editor for Technology & Strategic Industries Michael Shepard on the latest White House headlines as peace plans for Ukraine continue to stall, President Trump speaks with China’s Xi Jinping and the US continues to spar with the EU over tariffs.
• Jennifer Lee, Senior Economist and Managing Director of Economics at BMO Capital Markets, on expectations for this week’s late-arriving PPI and retail sales reports from September
• Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Technology Credit Analyst Robert Schiffman on Oracle investor scrutiny amid a debt spree to finance artificial intelligence investments
• Leo Kelly, CEO of Verdence Capital Advisors, on markets and the Federal Reserve’s path forward

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Frank Sorrentino III is Chairman and CEO of ConnectOne Bank (CNOB), which has banking offices across New Jersey, New York and South Florida. Mr. Sorrentino and other Bergen County civic and business leaders founded the bank to serve local residents and businesses by providing personalized community banking services. Mr. Sorrentino is responsible for the firm's business development plan, while also serving as its community liaison, and sitting on the loan committee.

Sorrentino offers his take on the strength of the community banking sector, as well as the direction of US monetary policy in the near-term. Frank speaks with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily.

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Featuring some of our favorite conversations of the week from our daily radio show "Bloomberg Businessweek Daily."
Hosted by Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec

Hear the show live at 2PM ET on WBBR 1130 AM New York, Bloomberg 92.9 FM Boston, WDCH 99.1 FM in Washington D.C. Metro, Sirius/XM channel 121, on the Bloomberg Business App, Radio.com, the iHeartRadio app and at Bloomberg.com/audio.

You can also watch Bloomberg Businessweek on YouTube - just search for Bloomberg Global News.
Like us at Bloomberg Radio on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @carolmassar @timsteno and @BW

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Watch Carol and Tim LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF.

President Donald Trump said he wants to see Zohran Mamdani succeed, saying after a highly anticipated sit-down that he’d “feel very comfortable” living in a New York run by the mayor-elect and that he doesn’t anticipate cutting off funding for the country’s most populous city.
“I expect to be helping him, not hurting him,” Trump said of Mamdani in a press conference that repeatedly stressed the two politicians’ political alignment over cost-of-living issues. “I want New York City to be great.”

The meeting was the first between the two leaders who have clashed publicly over their political agendas but are seeking to determine if they can work together. Their talks held high stakes for the governance of the capital of global finance and for their respective political parties ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

During the mayoral election, Trump repeatedly assailed Mamdani — a democratic socialist who won on a progressive platform — as a “communist,” urging voters to reject his candidacy and threating to pull government funding from New York, the president’s hometown. Republicans have also eagerly sought to turn Mamdani into a foil for Democratic policies with voters well beyond the city.

On Friday, the two men appeared cordial and friendly, with Trump shrugging off questions about Mamdani’s prior references to the president as a “despot” as “not that insulting.” They told reporters that they spent the majority of their meeting discussing the cost of rent, groceries and utilities. The president also said he shared some of Mamdani’s ideas on how to address affordability.

Today's show features:

• Bloomberg News White House and National Security Editor Michelle Jamrisko on President Donald Trump’s White House meeting with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani
• Sarah Levy, CEO of Betterment, and Bloomberg News Senior Editor, Equities Americas Eric Weiner recap the volatile week in markets and react to President Trump’s meeting with NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani
• Christina Cassotis, Chief Executive Officer of the Pittsburgh International Airport, on the opening of the airport’s new terminal and preparations for holiday travel amid lingering effects from the government shutdown

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