👜Tariffs are here; Luka is gone; FirstCash, GM making big $; GameStop going private? Gov Abbott sets agenda.

Luka magic? Poof, he's gone, traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis and Max Christie in what may be historically the NBA's biggest trade. All quotes point to Mavs wanted him gone. The news. The analysis. Luka says goodbye. (Image: Lakers.com)

It's war! A trade war. President Trump imposed tariffs on China (10%), and Canada and Mexico (25%). The reactions from our neighbors north and south were to impose similar tariffs. President Trump says Americans could feel “some pain” by his actions.

In his sixth State of the State address, Gov. Abbott laid out seven items that he said would help Texas remain a national leader: cutting property taxes, a “generational investment” in the state’s water infrastructure, increasing teacher pay, beefing up vocational career training programs for students after high school, allowing the use of public dollars for private education purposes, stiffening the state’s bail laws and creating a cybersecurity hub in San Antonio.

Ryan Cohen, CEO of Grapevine-based GameStop, transferred 36.8 million shares (8.2%) of the company from his Ventures group to his own name, sparking speculation about him taking the company private.

Here is the latest on what Federal investigators have pieced together about the events that led to Wednesday's deadly crash between an American Airlines jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter that killed 67 people. 

President Trump's head of the Federal Communications Commission has ordered an investigation of NPR and PBS, with an eye toward unraveling federal funding for public broadcasting.

Fort Worth-based FirstCash Holdings, a significant player in the pawn store industry with a growing presence in retail finance solutions, crushed revenue and earnings results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2024. FirstCash achieved record net income of $259 million on a GAAP basis for 2024, marking an 18% increase over 2023. Adjusted net income was $303 million from total revenue of $3.4 billion, an 8% increase over 2023.

General Motors Co. reports a robust 9% increase in full-year revenue while navigating restructuring and policy uncertainties.

Two 817 cities made the list of ViewHomes’ top 50 U.S. suburbs based on 12 factors, including housing market conditions, crime rates, median income, etc. No. 2 was Southlake, trailing only Vienna, Va., and at No. 36 was Colleyville. See the list here.

Marty Wieder, head of Arlington's Economic Development Corporation, posted "Heard a few weeks ago that HUTCHINS BBQ LLC is coming to fill the former Texas Land Cattle Steakhouse on Copeland Road." 

The U.S. Navy awarded Lockheed Martin a $383-million, cost-plus-incentive-fee and cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to the existing Lockheed Martin contract for the next generation of the Trident II Strategic Weapons System D5 missile to continue the nation's sea-based strategic deterrence.

Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp, struck a deal to get its Lone Star State data centers powered. The agreement is with Spanish-based renewable energy company Zelestra and calls for the construction of four solar projects, mainly in east Texas.

Meta Platforms is discussing moving its incorporation from Delaware to Texas or other states, the Wall Street Journal reported. WSJ reported that the social media giant has talked to Texas officials about the potential changes. The paperwork change would not relocate its corporate headquarters.

A proposal by Health and Human Services to ban drug advertising could seriously impact the media business. From January to August 2024, iSpot.tv tracked $3.4 billion of spending on TV ads from pharmaceutical companies, up 8 percent year over year. The biggest spender is Skyrizi, which is dropping $32 million a month for its injectable arthritis treatment.

Good help is hard to find. Family offices, the private investment firms of the ultra-wealthy, are increasingly willing to pay extra for it. Executive assistants earn as much as $190,000 a year as demand for talent spikes.

Advertisers are paying record prices to get your attention during this year’s Super Bowl, as much as $8 million for a 30-second spot. As usual, a few advertisers have released their commercials ahead of the big game, including:

• Budweiser, featuring a Clydesdale foal that helps make a beer delivery.

• Michelob Ultra released its ad, which shows Willem Dafoe and Catherine O’Hara as pickleball hustlers.

• Hellmann brings Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal together to reprise a popular scene in “When Harry Met Sally.”

The $6,000-per-stay Galactic Starcruiser hotel at Walt Disney World in Orlando closed after over a year of operation. It will be converted into office space for Walt Disney Imagineering, a hub for several expansion projects.

Google donated $1 million to the Texas Energy Poverty Research Institute to help build energy resilience hubs in Dallas-Fort Worth. The project provides backup renewable power for two affordable multi-tenant facilities.

The Department of Education is scrapping former President Biden’s 2024 Title IX changes, getting rid of discrimination protection based on gender identity and sexual orientation and changing how sexual assault cases are handled on campus.

Gov. Abbott has written to state agencies to follow federal law. There are "only two sexes -- male and female."

View from the Wing's Gary Neff has an exclusive on American Airlines CEO Robert Isom's state of the state after the airline’s quarterly earnings report. The pivot is to premium.  

The possibility of splitting the Keller ISD school district did not sit well with Superintendent Tracy Johnson and she is out. Cory Wilson is the interim Superintendent. 

Snippets:

• PRIM Construction has begun construction for a relocated dealership for Four Stars Ford in Jacksboro.

• Bill Gates' memoir Source Code: My Beginnings is available tomorrow.

• How much does raising a family of four in each state cost?

Announcements:

• Martin Sprocket & Gear: Names Cole Taylor Director, Corporate Sales.

• Reliable Rogue: Hires Chris Briggs as Fractional Chief of Staff & Operations Advisor.

• Tarrant Regional Water District: James Hill and Mary Kelleher won't run for re-election.

• Marquis Who's Who: Honors Thiaga R. Ramesh, staff engineer at Bell Helicopter. 

• DD Agency: Names Samantha Stewart Marketing Operations Manager.

• Lockheed Martin: Executive Director Susan Wright retires as Executive Director of the Aeronautics Employee Giving Program.

• Michelle Martin: Launches business as Licensed Professional Counselor.

• UT-Arlington: Names Kevin Cummings Director of Student Publications.

• Quorum Architects: Promotes Matthew Farmington to Project Architect with the housing design team.

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