Plus: A big bite out of Big Tech. Good morning, Quartz readers! Rally cry. On the back of solid jobs numbers and other strong economic data, the stock market has clawed back to where it was before President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement. Peking conditions. China suggested it would be willing to talk trade with the Trump administration — if the U.S. nixes unilateral tariffs and doesn’t attempt to “coerce and blackmail.” Duty calls. Americans are getting their first taste of tariffs, and it’s bitter. The de minimis exemption loophole has closed, affecting more than $66 billion in packages.
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Photo: Getty Images (Spencer Platt)
Good morning, Quartz readers!

Rally cry. On the back of solid jobs numbers and other strong economic data, the stock market has clawed back to where it was before President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement.
Peking conditions. China suggested it would be willing to talk trade with the Trump administration — if the U.S. nixes unilateral tariffs and doesn’t attempt to “coerce and blackmail.”
Duty calls. Americans are getting their first taste of tariffs, and it’s bitter. The de minimis exemption loophole has closed, affecting more than $66 billion in packages.
Rotten business. Apple CEO Tim Cook said the tech giant could take a $900 million hit from tariffs this quarter.
Bezos ships out. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is preparing to sell a huge chunk of his Amazon share: 25 million shares that are worth billions.
Salary surge. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang got his first raise in over a decade — to almost $50 million in 2025, according to an SEC filing.
Laborhood watch. Jobs data is out, and it’s not as bad as feared: It showed solid but somewhat slowed growth. Still, economists worry tariffs could hit next month’s report hard.

Reddit is earning some serious upvotes. ​​The platform delivered a 61% jump in first-quarter revenue to $392.4 million, fueled almost entirely by advertising.
The surprising surge wasn’t powered by scale, celebrity, or algorithmic magic. It came from good old-fashioned human content. As the internet sags under the weight of AI sludge, Reddit’s value prop — real people offering real answers — is suddenly gold. CEO Steve Huffman said it plainly: “The world needs community and shared knowledge. And that’s what we do best.”
And the site’s traffic is converting into premium ad dollars.
Of course, there’s a risk: Much of Reddit’s reach depends on Google, which often surfaces the company’s threads high in search results. Now that Google is rolling out AI-generated “Overviews” that summarize forum posts instead of linking to them, Reddit’s traffic is starting to dip in test markets. But Reddit’s emphasis on authenticity over algorithm is working for now. Quartz’s Catherine Baab has more on how Reddit might be winning the internet.

Apple beat Wall Street’s expectations for the fifth straight quarter — but you likely wouldn’t know it from the post-earnings vibe.
The tech giant reported $95.4 billion in Q2 revenue and $1.65 EPS, both ahead of analysts’ forecasts. But shares still slid immediately after the earnings report as investors fretted over what’s coming: a looming $900 million tariff hit, a continued China sales slump, and softer Services growth.
CEO Tim Cook has tried to calm nerves, touting a supply chain shift to India and Vietnam to sidestep Trump’s 145% tariffs on China — but that might not be enough. Meanwhile, services revenue came in slightly below expectations, and Apple’s margins (especially on iPhones) hit five-year lows for a March quarter.
On top of it all, Apple is still juggling antitrust suits, regulatory heat, and declining Chinese demand despite government subsidies. So even though the company showed its durability this quarter, storm clouds are gathering ahead of the coming iPhone 17 launch. Quartz’s Shannon Carroll has more on how Apple’s golden goose is laying smaller eggs.