Donald Trump’s Truth Social is now worth more than Elon Musk’s X, thanks to a recent run-up in the shares of the parent company of the former president’s social media platform.

Trump Media & Technology Group is now valued at over $10 billion after its shares more than quadrupled since late September. Meanwhile, X Holdings is valued at around $9.4 billion, based on the most recent value the investment group Fidelity assigned to its stake in the company formerly known as Twitter.

The stock of Trump Media, or TMTG, tends to move more with Trump’s re-election odds than on its own profit prospects and investors have seen his chances of retaking the presidency improving of late. On Tuesday, the stock rose almost 9% to close at $51.51, on top of a 21.6% gain Monday. The stock was moving so sharply that trading was briefly halted several times during the morning. The stock had dropped to roughly $12 late last month.

Trump created TMTG after he was banned from Twitter and Facebook following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. He owns about 57% of the company but has no role in running it.

Based in Sarasota, Fla., TMTG has been losing money and struggling to raise revenue. It lost more than $16 million in the quarter ending in June while generating only $837,000 in revenue, according to regulatory filings.

When Musk took over Twitter in October of 2022, the company was valued at around $44 billion.

Musk has become one of Trump’s most prominent supporters in his bid to get re-elected. The world’s richest man, Musk has committed more than $70 million to boost Trump and has recently held a number of town halls in support of the former president.

— Associated Press

Ecolab sees 3Q profit of $737M, sales of $4B

Ecolab on Tuesday reported third-quarter earnings of $736.5 million.

On a per-share basis, the St. Paul-based company said it had profit of $2.58. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring gains, came to $1.83 per share.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 11 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.82 per share.

The cleaning, food-safety and pest-control services company posted revenue of $4 billion in the period, which missed Street forecasts. Nine analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $4.02 billion.

For the current quarter ending in December, Ecolab expects its per-share earnings to range from $1.75 to $1.85. The company expects full-year earnings in the range of $6.60 to $6.70 per share.

EU imposes tariffs on Chinese-made EVs

The European Union is imposing duties on imports of electric vehicles from China starting Wednesday after talks between Brussels and Beijing failed to find an amicable solution to their trade dispute.

Electric vehicles have become a major flashpoint in a broader trade dispute over the influence of Chinese government subsidies on European markets and Beijing’s burgeoning exports of green technology to the bloc.

The duties on Chinese manufacturers will be 17% on cars made by BYD, 18.8% on those from Geely and 35.3% for vehicles exported by China’s state-owned SAIC. Geely has brands including Polestar and Sweden’s Volvo, while SAIC owns Britain’s MG, one of Europe’s bestselling EV brands. Other EV manufacturers in China, including Western companies such as Volkswagen and BMW, would be subject to duties of 20.7%.

Monthly U.S. job openings at 3-year low

U.S. job openings tumbled last month to their lowest level since January 2021, a sign that the labor market is losing some momentum. Still, posted vacancies remain well above pre-pandemic levels.

The Labor Department reported Tuesday that the number of job openings dropped to 7.4 million in September from 7.9 million in August. Economists had expected the level of openings to be virtually unchanged. Job openings fell in particular at healthcare companies and at government agencies at the federal, state and local levels.

The number of layoffs also rose. And the number of Americans who quit their jobs fell below 3.1 million, the fewest since August 2020.

Though job openings have fallen sharply since peaking at 12.2 million in 2022, they remain higher than they were before the coronavirus pandemic paralyzed the American economy in early 2020. When the economy roared back with unexpected strength from the COVID-19 recession, companies scrambled to find enough workers.

Consumer confidence index rises in October

American consumers are feeling quite a bit more confident this month as Election Day approaches, a business research group says.

The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index jumped to 108.7 in October from 99.2 in September. It was the biggest monthly gain since March of 2021. Analysts forecast a more modest reading of 99.3.

The consumer confidence index measures both Americans’ assessment of current economic conditions and their outlook for the next six months.

— From news services