Liam Denning

For years after General Motors Co. took a bailout from Washington, it was scorned in some quarters of the population as “Government Motors.” While Ford Motor Co. lacks the requisite initials, the same epithet could be applied to its latest pivot on electric vehicles.

The world’s biggest listed utility’s claim to owning the future is baked into its name. Investors have long taken NextEra Energy Inc. at its word, too. But the future is being rewritten rapidly by bigger forces, namely political whiplash and the artificial intelligence boom. NextEra’s latest investor day, accompanied by a slew of deals, represents an attempt to catch up and, in doing so, offered confirmation of how much tomorrow has changed.

All it took to melt President Donald Trump’s heart was the sight of a tiny car he wouldn’t set foot in. While he is ferried around in an armored Cadillac believed to weigh 10 tons and nicknamed “the beast,” Trump expressed delight on Wednesday with Japan’s pint-sized kei cars, deeming them “really cute” and “really beautiful,” in language that was surprisingly effusive and not a little unnerving.

Tesla Inc.’s shareholders have taken an important step toward resolving one of the great mysteries of our time: What is Tesla? It is touted as, variously, an electric vehicle maker, a battery powerhouse, an autonomous driving pioneer, an artificial intelligence giant or an emerging leader in robotics. But the shareholder vote that just happened revealed that Tesla has become more like something else entirely: A blank-check company.

The stock ticker for CarMax Inc. begins with the letter “K,” which is apt given the signal it may be sending on the US economy.

America’s nuclear power advocates often grumble that the birthplace of reactors can’t build them the way China does. But the US government’s $80 billion “partnership” with Westinghouse Electric Co. means their lamentations appear to have been heard. We are doing nuclear policy with Chinese characteristics — and Japanese money, it seems.

America’s nuclear power advocates often grumble that the birthplace of reactors can’t build them the way China does. But the US government’s $80 billion “partnership” with Westinghouse Electric Co. means their lamentations appear to have been heard. We are doing nuclear policy with Chinese characteristics — and Japanese money, it seems.

Tesla Inc.’s get-out-the-vote bandwagon just hit a bump. November’s all-important shareholder meeting will feature proposals to award Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk a new trillion-dollar pay package and also to funnel some of the company’s capital into his artificial intelligence business. Positive news has flowed freely ahead of that, with Musk buying stock, Chair Robyn Denholm giving a relatively rare interview to make the case, and Tesla reporting a jump in electric vehicle sales. Now Tesl

Who doesn’t love a tax rebate? General Motors Co.’s shareholders sure do. The US automaker just enjoyed its biggest one-day stock price jump in more than five years, a Tesla-esque 16%, hitting its highest level since emerging from bankruptcy in 2010. And it can largely thank President Donald Trump — albeit only in the way one might thank the IRS for giving you back your own wages.

Who doesn’t love a tax rebate? General Motors Co.’s shareholders sure do. The US automaker just enjoyed its biggest one-day stock price jump in more than five years, a Tesla-esque 16%, hitting its highest level since emerging from bankruptcy in 2010. And it can largely thank President Donald Trump — albeit only in the way one might thank the IRS for giving you back your own wages.