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Nifty to hit 50,000 before 2035? Raamdeo Agrawal maps 3 valuation-based timelines
Speaking at the 22nd Motilal Oswal Annual Global Investor Conference in Mumbai, Agrawal said there is a high probability of Nifty hitting 50,000 anytime before 2035.
Raamdeo Agrawal’s Nifty math: 3 scenarios
Agrawal’s timeline hinges on a single assumption: Nifty earnings compounding at roughly 12% a year, in line with an expected 11% nominal GDP growth rate. From there, the path to 50,000 splits three ways depending on the multiple the market is willing to pay. If the P/E multiple holds steady at 20–21x, the Nifty target of 50,000 will take roughly 8 years. If the multiple expands to around 24x, it will take roughly 6 years and if the multiple compresses to around 18x, which is below the ten-to-twenty-year historical average, then the journey to 50k will take roughly 9 years.
For the near term, Agrawal pointed to an earnings recovery already underway. “Nifty earnings growth of around 12% is a reasonable expectation,” he said, adding that current-quarter growth looks stronger still, in the 16–20% range.
Underpinning the bull case is what Agrawal called an “unprecedented” surge in retail market participation. Demat accounts in India have grown from roughly 40 million to 234 million as of last month, with 2.9 million added in that single month alone, a pace he said is “likely unmatched anywhere in the world.”
Mutual fund folios rose about 19%, from 55 million to 74 million, over the past year. Monthly SIP flows have crossed ₹31,000 crore, and equity mutual fund AUM has compounded at roughly 30% a year over the past decade, climbing from about ₹4 lakh crore to about ₹86 lakh crore.
Agrawal likened the moment to a structural shift in the US four decades ago: “This feels like India’s ‘401(k) moment’ — comparable to when U.S. retail investors began participating heavily in markets in the early 1980s.” The U.S. now sees roughly $750 billion a year in 401(k) contributions flowing into stocks and bonds; India’s expanding demat base, he said, is becoming the domestic equivalent.Also Read |Equity investments should give about 15% annual returns over next 5 years: Raamdeo Agrawal
FII selling overdone
The retail boom is unfolding even as foreign institutional investors pull back sharply. FIIs sold about $18 billion of Indian equities last year and roughly $25 billion more in the first half of this year, Agrawal said while calling it a marked reversal for a group that, aside from 2022, had historically stayed committed to Indian markets.
Domestic flows have more than offset the exodus: from just $5–10 billion a year around 2020 to roughly $90 billion annually more recently, including $54 billion in the first half of this year alone.
“FIIs have oversold India,” Agrawal said, noting that India’s weight in global allocation benchmarks like MSCI sits at only around 7–8%, underweight relative to its economic size. He argued that even if foreign selling continues, or simply stops, “domestic demand alone is strong enough to sustain a healthy market”, a dynamic he said keeps valuations structurally elevated.
A Bigger Bet: India’s Path From $4 Trillion to $16 Trillion
Agrawal framed the Nifty call within a much larger economic thesis. India crossed $1 trillion in GDP around 2007–08; the journey since has been uneven as the $2 to $4 trillion stretch took ten to eleven years, delayed by demonetization and COVID. But Agrawal projects the economy now moving from $4 trillion to $8 trillion in about seven years, and to $16 trillion within another seven to eight years after that.
“India is a multi-trillion-dollar opportunity,” he said, arguing that the jump from $4 trillion to $16 trillion represents a fundamentally different scale of opportunity than the earlier climb from $1 trillion to $4 trillion.
He tied this to savings: over the last seventeen years, India saved a cumulative $15 trillion; over the next seventeen, minimum cumulative savings are projected at $47 trillion, with $1.3 trillion saved last year alone.
Agrawal situated his India and Nifty forecasts inside a broader global wealth thesis drawn from a 2002 book, The Wealthy World, written by a finance professor who Agrawal said correctly anticipated the scale of global financial wealth creation decades in advance — from $13 trillion in 1980 to a projected $6,000 trillion by 2050.
“There is no absolute upper limit to financial wealth creation,” Agrawal said, “not for a country, and, increasingly, not even for a single corporation.”
He pointed to Nvidia and Apple, each having touched roughly $5 trillion in market value, as evidence that corporations are now rivaling, and in some cases surpassing, the size of nations. Global market capitalization has risen from about $200 billion in 1950 to roughly $164 trillion today, against a global GDP of about $120 trillion — a market-cap-to-GDP ratio that has climbed from 0.2–0.3 to about 1.3 over 75 years.
India’s own market-cap-to-GDP ratio now sits at 1.2–1.3x, up from well below 1x historically, with market cap around ₹500 lakh crore against GDP of ₹360–370 lakh crore. India’s share of global market capitalization has risen from about 2% a decade ago to about 3% today, among the very few major markets, alongside the U.S., Taiwan and South Korea, to have gained global share over that period.
Earnings, Profitability and the AI Wildcard
Corporate profit as a share of India’s GDP has recovered to about 5.7%, up from a low of 1.7% around 2019–20, though still well below its 2000 peak of 6.2% and further behind the near-double-digit levels seen in the US. Agrawal suggested artificial intelligence could push that ratio higher still, as “the return on capital may increasingly outpace the return on labor.”
“I think we shouldn’t focus too much on the Nifty number itself,” Agrawal said, adding that the real takeaway is that the world is getting wealthier and India is getting wealthier faster than almost anywhere else.
His conclusion: it’s “highly probable that Nifty reaches 50,000 sometime before 2035” — with the exact timing, he acknowledged, ultimately hinging on policy execution and how India navigates whatever “potholes” lie ahead.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
Business
Brewers Rout Mariners 22-0 in Most Lopsided Shutout Win Since 1887 as Chaos Erupts Late
MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Brewers set a franchise record for largest margin of victory and matched the club mark for runs scored in a stunning 22-0 rout of the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night at American Family Field, a win that tied for the most lopsided shutout victory in Major League Baseball since 1887.
The game bore little resemblance to its early innings. Jake Bauers scored Milwaukee’s first run in what became a controversial and hard-fought play at home plate, sliding in against Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh in a 1-0 game heading into the bottom of the fifth. From there, the Brewers exploded, scoring 21 of their 22 total runs across their final four turns at bat in a display that left both dugouts, and the record books, scrambling to keep up.
“It was kind of crazy, and it happened fast,” said Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich, who played a central role in breaking the game open. Mariners manager Dan Wilson offered a more subdued assessment of the historic defeat. “It’s a tough one to even think about,” Wilson said. Brewers manager Pat Murphy, by contrast, embraced the outcome. “I’d like to order that every night,” Murphy said.
The 22-0 final score tied for the most lopsided shutout win in MLB history since June 28, 1887, when the Philadelphia Quakers, the franchise now known as the Phillies, defeated the Indianapolis Hoosiers by the same 24-0 margin comparison point. It also marked the largest shutout win at a home ballpark in 141 years, dating back to when the New York Giants defeated the Buffalo Bisons 24-0 on May 27, 1885. Only two teams have posted 22-0 victories in the years since — Pittsburgh in 1975 and Cleveland in 2004 — but both of those wins came on the road, making Milwaukee’s Tuesday night performance the first of its magnitude achieved at home in more than a century.
The win also set a new franchise mark for Milwaukee, surpassing the club’s previous record margin of victory by two runs. That prior record had been set with a 20-0 win in Pittsburgh on April 22, 2010. The Brewers’ 22 runs also matched the franchise’s all-time single-game scoring record, tying a 22-2 victory over Toronto on Aug. 28, 1992, a game that featured Hall of Famers Robin Yount and Paul Molitor as teammates during Milwaukee’s tenure in the American League. That 1992 game remains the franchise record for hits in a single contest, with 31 against the Blue Jays.
Tuesday’s Brewers offense, while producing fewer hits at 22, made them count in dramatic fashion, including four home runs, all coming from the fifth inning onward. The power surge stood out for a Milwaukee team that, even after Tuesday’s outburst, ranks last in the major leagues with 117 home runs on the season. Yelich capped a five-run fifth inning with a three-run home run. David Hamilton and Bauers each added multi-run home runs during a five-run sixth inning. Then, in a nine-run eighth inning that Yelich described as the moment the game shifted from lopsided to absurd, rookie outfielder Luis Lara hit his first career major league home run, a two-run shot that came off Mariners infielder Leo Rivas, a position player pressed into pitching duty. “Maybe we’ll have a [celebration] for his second career homer when he gets one off an actual pitcher,” Yelich said. “But they all count. You’ll take every single one of them.”
The eighth inning brought additional chaos beyond Lara’s milestone home run. With the bases loaded, Yelich, batting for the second time in the inning, lifted a fly ball to center field. Mariners center fielder Julio Rodríguez fielded the ball and threw it into the stands, apparently unaware that it was only the second out of the inning. Yelich’s flyout was ruled a sacrifice fly, extending Milwaukee’s lead to 20-0, while the baserunners were awarded two additional bases due to Rodríguez’s throwing error, pushing the score to 21-0. Lara then delivered an RBI single to make it 22-0. “It was kind of chaos there in the last inning with the lineup turning over and all the action going,” Yelich said. “It just happens sometimes. You lose track of the outs.”
Amid the lopsided later innings, the game’s opening stretch featured a far tighter and more contentious sequence. Bauers scored Milwaukee’s first run of the night on a two-out single by William Contreras, sliding into home plate where Raleigh was waiting with the ball already in his mitt. Bauers said he attempted a slide similar to one he had executed successfully days earlier in Los Angeles, but Raleigh’s positioning in the baseline appeared to result in Bauers knocking the ball loose from the catcher’s glove with his hands. Both players scrambled after the loose ball, with Raleigh diving back toward the plate and Bauers alerted by an on-deck Yelich to the ball’s location, ultimately being ruled safe. Reflecting on the play afterward, Bauers said the contact was unintentional. “I saw the replay. I definitely wasn’t trying to hit his glove,” he said. “I was more trying to protect him and me, because I didn’t want to barrel through him. I didn’t want to break my neck on his chest protector. It sucks that that’s the way it looks on video, but I definitely wasn’t trying to knock the ball out of his glove.”
What began as a tightly contested, potentially controversial 1-0 baseball game ultimately transformed into one of the most lopsided victories in the sport’s long history, a result that left both organizations and longtime observers of the game reaching for the record books to properly contextualize just how unusual Tuesday night’s outcome in Milwaukee truly was.
Business
HDV: The Monthly Payout Change Doesn’t Solve Its Problems (NYSEARCA:HDV)
Previously known as FloridaDoug-HQ. Member since 2017.”The portfolio doesn’t have to survive you. You are the end point. It needs to survive for you.” – The Philosophy of the Wealth and Legacy Optimization retirement plan.We are entering retirement focused on high-quality assets supporting a portfolio delivering exceptional Income, Growth and Resiliency. My focus is navigating the retirement pathways, sharing solutions, and providing clarity over complexity, for the average investor. Common sense, flexibility, simplicity and results reside here, along with a healthy sense of humor.I am not a registered financial advisor and my work is for educational purposes only. Readers need to do their due diligence.
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Business
Enbridge: A $41 Billion Growth Backlog Meets A Mainline Volume Threat
Enbridge: A $41 Billion Growth Backlog Meets A Mainline Volume Threat
Business
US stocks: US market rises as yields ease, Moderna lifts healthcare stocks
Investors barely reacted to minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s July meeting, which showed deepening concern about inflation with “several” policymakers ready to raise interest rates. “Many” said a rate hike would be needed if inflation does not decline to the U.S. central bank’s 2% target.
But a day after the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond hit its highest level since 2007, the yield fell on Wednesday along with the 10-year Treasury yield. The moves came after the U.S. Treasury announced it would double the size of liquidity support buyback operations for longer-dated bonds.
“The risk-on trade is trying to hang on to the lifeline that Treasury Secretary Bessent sent,” said Carol Schleif, chief market strategist at BMO Private Wealth, noting that riskier assets including high-profile technology stocks had sold off in recent days as bond yields rose.
Concerns over ballooning government debt and rising inflation had pushed global bond yields to multi-decade highs on Tuesday. Schleif said investors were relieved by the government support as higher rates “could potentially impact the AI trade” as technology companies have been issuing debt and equity and using their own cash to fund construction of data centers supporting AI.
However, equity indexes pared gains as the session wore on. Jim Baird, chief investment officer at Plante Moran Financial Advisors, said that investors likely took some profits after the initial rally and he added that the morning’s announcement “doesn’t mean that the longer-term issue of higher rates is off the table.”
According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained 18.15 points, or 0.24%, to end at 7,709.91 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 40.08 points, or 0.15%, to 26,331.09. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 123.94 points, or 0.23%, to 53,467.34.Moderna’s shares surged more than after the company said its personalized mRNA cancer therapy developed with Merck cut the risk of melanoma recurrence and spread in a late-stage trial. Merck shares also jumped and it was the biggest gainer in the blue-chip Dow.
Moderna’s rallyboosted healthcare peers such as Novavax and U.S.-listed shares of BioNTech.
The S&P 500 healthcare sector rallied sharply, hitting a record high and providing the biggest boost to the benchmark index from any of its 11 major industry sectors. The Nasdaq biotechnology index also jumped.
S&P 500 information technology stocks dipped during the session with chip stocks leading losses.
However, Marvell Technologies shares climbed after it said it will help develop Google’s in-demand custom chips and has offered the search giant the right to buy a potential $12.2 billion stake.
Marvell was one of the few gainers in the volatile Philadelphia semiconductor index, which ended lower. Google parent Alphabet’s shares were little changed during the session.
Target shares rose after the retailer raised its annual sales forecast. Lowe’s shares gained even after it trimmed its annual sales growth forecast and Estee Lauder shares jumped after the cosmetics maker forecast annual profit above Wall Street estimates.
Brent crude futures settled higher with Middle East progress still unclear. U.S. President Donald Trump said no talks were taking place with Iran and insisted the Strait of Hormuz was open, contradicting Iran’s assertion that the strait remained shut to shipping.
Business
US national debt hits $40 trillion for the first time in history
Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, speaks about the need for fiscal reform, including spending caps and reining in government waste, on ‘The Bottom Line.’
The U.S. national debt crossed another historic milestone on Wednesday as it topped $40 trillion for the first time in history amid persistent federal budget deficits that are causing the debt to soar higher.
Data from the Treasury Department released on Wednesday showed that the gross national debt reached $40,047,425,768,420.22 as of August 18.
The $40 trillion milestone comes after the federal government’s debt burden crossed the $39 trillion threshold about five months ago in March, which closely followed the $38 trillion mark being crossed in October 2025.
America’s national debt is growing rapidly due to surging interest costs, which are rising because of a larger debt burden and higher interest rates, as well as growth in federal spending on Social Security and Medicare amid the aging of the U.S. population.
FEDERAL BUDGET DEFICIT ON TRACK TO SURPASS $2T THIS FISCAL YEAR AS SPENDING OUTPACES REVENUE

The U.S. gross national debt surpassed $40 trillion for the first time amid surging federal spending. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images)
A March estimate by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the gross national debt will rise to $63 trillion in 2036, with annual budget deficits widening from about $2.1 trillion, the agency’s estimate for the current fiscal year, to $3.1 trillion a year a decade from now.
The gross national debt topping $40 trillion follows another recent debt milestone that puts the burden in context relative to the size of the U.S. economy.
The debt held by the public, a measure economists prefer to use in comparing a nation’s debt to the size of its economy, reached $31.27 trillion in late March the $31.22 trillion in gross domestic product (GDP) – marking the first time in about 80 years the public debt was larger than the economy.
Debt held by the public is projected to break the record of 106% of GDP that was set in 1946, when the U.S. was in the process of demobilization after the war ended, in the next few years, before rising to an estimated 120% of GDP in 2036, per the CBO’s estimate.
US NATIONAL DEBT SURPASSES SIZE OF THE ECONOMY FOR FIRST TIME SINCE WORLD WAR II
Michael A. Peterson, CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, told FOX Business that “For the millions concerned about affordability, let’s start by asking Washington to take notice that the national debt just hit $40 trillion,” adding that the debt has doubled in under 10 years and that “we must change course.”
“The more debt we take on, the more interest costs we have to bear, which now even exceed the cost of national defense. And every trillion we add to our debt contributes to higher interest rates and inflation, increasing the mortgages, car loans and credit card bills of all Americans,” he said.
“At the same time, debt harms economic growth, slowing wage increases while the cost of living continues to rise.”
US DEBT SET TO CRUSH WORLD WAR II RECORD AS ANNUAL DEFICITS EXPLODE TO $3T WITHIN DECADE
The CBO’s budget outlook from this spring noted that the debt held by the public is projected to grow faster than the U.S. GDP in the years ahead, which could slow economic growth and reduce private investment, while causing interest costs to rise further.
CBO warned that would also increase the risk of a fiscal crisis, in which investors lose confidence in the value of the U.S. government’s debt, as that could cause interest rates to rise abruptly and cause other economic and financial disruptions.
For example, those dynamics could increase inflation expectations that may, in turn, degrade the dollar’s status as the dominant international reserve currency.
“The only good thing about our fiscal challenge is that there are many available solutions, and the budget is entirely within our control,” Peterson said, noting that U.S. adversaries like China, Russia and Iran likely enjoy seeing the country devalue its economic future.
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“If we want to improve our living standards, today and for the next generation, now is the time for lawmakers to put our nation on a more affordable and sustainable path,” he added.
Business
Wells Fargo launches new Series HH preferred stock and completes depositary share sale

Wells Fargo launches new Series HH preferred stock and completes depositary share sale
Business
S&P 500: 11 Stocks Soar To Record Highs In The Blink Of An Eye
With so many S&P 500 stocks hitting new highs, investors are getting jaded. But it’s important to note the stocks that have vaulted almost overnight to hit record levels. Eleven S&P 500 stocks, including Valero Energy (VLO), Marathon Petroleum (MPC) and Phillips 66 (PSX), are all at or within 1% of an all-time high. But what’s more, they’ve all jumped…
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Business
(VIDEO) LeBron James Nearly Aces Hole-in-One at Bandon Dunes, Sparking Big Reaction on Instagram
LeBron James is known for making headlines on the basketball court, but the four-time NBA champion turned heads in the golf world this week after coming agonizingly close to recording his first career hole-in-one during a round at Bandon Dunes in Oregon.
James shared footage of the near-miss on his Instagram Story following a round at The Preserve, the resort’s par-3 course. In the clip, James’ tee shot tracks directly toward the pin before settling just short of the cup. “Almost had my first hole in 1 today. I called it before I swung it too! Damn close,” James wrote in the caption accompanying the video.
The moment was later reposted by golf-focused Instagram account Ziregolf, helping the clip spread widely among golf fans and further amplifying attention on James’ evolving relationship with the sport. According to the footage, James’ tee shot landed remarkably close to the hole, prompting the reaction and celebration visible in the original video before the ball ultimately came to rest just off target.
James’ growing enthusiasm for golf has extended beyond casual play in recent months. According to reporting on his golf pursuits, multiple indoor golf facilities have reached out to James, offering him free access to their locations, a sign of how seriously the sport has begun factoring into his off-court life. What started as a more casual hobby for the NBA veteran appears to have evolved into a more consistent and increasingly visible pursuit, drawing growing interest from golf fans who have taken note of his continued improvement.
James was accompanied during the Bandon Dunes round by his son, Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James, adding a family dimension to the outing that further fueled engagement with the video once it began circulating online.
Reaction from golf fans in the comments section of Ziregolf’s Instagram post ranged from playful skepticism to genuine appreciation for James’ improving swing. One commenter joked about the apparent gap in golfing ability between father and son, writing, “Bronnie obviously received lessons from somebody else.” Another fan focused on the outcome of the shot rather than the shot itself, asking, “The real question everyone wants to know is did he make the putt?”
Several commenters took the opportunity to note how far James’ golf game appeared to have progressed since he first began playing. One fan wrote, “This is what golf addiction looks like. Not surprising that his swing is already looking worlds better!” Another offered a more grounded, relatable take on the realities of a near-miss hole-in-one, writing, “That’s when you get up there and realise it’s 20 feet away and all that excitement was for nothing,” a comment that resonated with many recreational golfers familiar with the gap between a shot’s apparent trajectory on video and its actual final resting distance from the pin.
One fan leaned into the competitive spirit often associated with golf, half-jokingly threatening to give up the sport entirely if James achieved a milestone many recreational players spend years chasing. “I swear if he gets a hole in one before me I’ll quit golfing….” the commenter wrote, reflecting the good-natured rivalry the video sparked among golf enthusiasts following James’ athletic pursuits outside of basketball.
James’ interest in golf comes during a notable transitional period in his basketball career. The 41-year-old is set to begin his 23rd NBA season this October with the Philadelphia 76ers, having signed with the franchise as a free agent after departing the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this offseason. As James approaches the twilight stages of his professional basketball career, his increasingly visible engagement with golf has drawn attention from fans curious about how the future Hall of Famer is spending his time away from the court during the offseason.
James is far from the only professional athlete to have developed a public passion for golf during his career, joining a long tradition of athletes from other major sports who have taken up the game, whether as a competitive outlet, a way to stay active, or simply as a social pursuit among friends and fellow athletes. His visible enthusiasm and willingness to share his rounds publicly, including moments of near-success like this week’s close call at Bandon Dunes, have helped fuel a growing crossover audience between his massive basketball fan base and golf enthusiasts eager to track his progress in a sport far removed from his primary athletic discipline.
Bandon Dunes itself has built a reputation as one of the premier golf destinations in the United States, drawing enthusiasts from around the world to its collection of highly regarded courses along the Oregon coastline. The Preserve, the par-3 course where James recorded his near-miss, is known among golf circles for offering a shorter but still challenging test of a player’s precision, making it a fitting stage for James’ close brush with golf’s most celebrated single-shot achievement.
While James ultimately missed out on adding a hole-in-one to his growing list of golf highlights during this particular round, the widespread reaction to the video suggests his pursuit of the sport, and any future attempts at the elusive ace, will likely continue to draw significant attention from both his basketball fan base and the broader golf community. Whether James manages to convert a future near-miss into his first official hole-in-one remains to be seen, but this week’s close call at Bandon Dunes has already cemented itself as one of the more talked-about moments of his ongoing golf journey, according to the widespread fan engagement the clip generated across social media platforms following its initial posting.
Business
Royal Expert Says Kate’s Trust Issues With Meghan Markle Could Take ‘Unexpected Turn’ Amid Reconciliation
LONDON — A royal commentator has suggested that the long-standing tension between Catherine, the Princess of Wales, and Meghan Markle may not necessarily be permanent, even as questions persist over whether genuine trust could ever be restored between the two women following years of public friction within the royal family.
The comments came during a recent episode of the Daily Expresso podcast, hosted by JJ Anisiobi and featuring royal expert and former TalkTV presenter Daisy McAndrew, as the pair discussed the current state of relations within the royal family following a recent private meeting between Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and King Charles III.
Harry, Meghan and their two children, Archie and Lilibet, met privately with King Charles and Queen Camilla at Highgrove House in Gloucestershire on July 10, 2026, marking the first time the king had seen his grandchildren in person in more than four years. The meeting has been widely interpreted as a potential, if tentative, step toward repairing the broader rift within the royal family that followed Harry and Meghan’s 2020 departure from official royal duties.
During the podcast discussion, Anisiobi raised pointed questions about whether Catherine’s relationship with Meghan could ever meaningfully improve, framing the princess’s wariness as rooted in specific grievances. “Catherine doesn’t trust Meghan Markle for good reason. Meghan Markle slated the royal family,” Anisiobi said, pointing specifically to Harry and Meghan’s widely watched 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey as a pivotal moment in the breakdown of relations within the family. During that interview, the couple discussed their experiences within the royal institution, including allegations concerning race and how they were treated by the family and its surrounding institutions. Anisiobi then posed a direct question to McAndrew: “Can you ever see a point when Catherine can actually trust Meghan?”
McAndrew responded by distinguishing between genuine personal trust and a more practical, institutionally motivated arrangement between the two women. “I mean, trust is something so personal, isn’t it? I can see a point where they come to some sort of arrangement for the good of the group, for the good of the firm, and I don’t know Catherine’s personality enough,” McAndrew said, using “the firm,” a common shorthand term for the institutional royal family, to describe the kind of pragmatic accommodation she believes could eventually emerge between the two women, even absent a full personal reconciliation.
McAndrew went on to draw a broader comparison to how different people in her own life have historically responded to similarly difficult personal ruptures, suggesting that predicting Catherine’s eventual approach remains genuinely uncertain. “If it happened to certain friends of mine, I could tell you who would be able to bury the hatchet and who wouldn’t. I have some friends that would never ever be able to move on. And I have some friends that be like, ‘Yeah, life’s too short. I forgive you because, you know, it’s it’s it’s damaging me to keep this grudge going.’ And those are two very different personalities,” McAndrew said. She concluded by acknowledging she could not say with confidence which type of response Catherine might ultimately show. “And I’m not sure which one Catherine is,” she said.
The discussion reflects a broader pattern of speculative commentary that has continued to surround the relationship between Catherine and Meghan since Harry and Meghan’s departure from royal duties in 2020. The two women’s relationship reportedly experienced strain even before that departure, with tension first surfacing publicly around the time of Meghan’s 2018 wedding to Harry, and further reports of friction emerging in the years that followed regarding various aspects of royal protocol, family dynamics and public perception.
The renewed attention on Catherine and Meghan’s relationship follows a period of significant personal challenges for both women, each of whom has publicly discussed undergoing cancer treatment over the past two years. Catherine announced in 2024 that she was undergoing chemotherapy following abdominal surgery, later confirming in January 2025 that she had entered remission. King Charles similarly disclosed his own cancer diagnosis in February 2024 and has continued ongoing treatment, developments that have periodically shaped the broader emotional context surrounding discussions of family reconciliation within royal commentary.
The July meeting at Highgrove has generated substantial speculation among royal watchers regarding whether it represents the beginning of a more sustained effort toward healing the broader family rift, or a more limited, one-off gesture focused primarily on allowing King Charles to reconnect with his grandchildren after an extended period without in-person contact. Neither Buckingham Palace nor representatives for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have issued detailed public statements characterizing the broader significance or intended follow-up to the Highgrove meeting.
Commentary from royal experts such as McAndrew and Anisiobi reflects opinion and analysis rather than confirmed insider knowledge of the specific dynamics between Catherine and Meghan, and outlets covering such discussions typically present them as one perspective among many rather than an authoritative account of the family’s private relationships. Royal commentary programs and publications have continued to feature a wide range of often conflicting interpretations regarding the prospects for reconciliation between different branches of the family, reflecting both the intense ongoing public interest in the topic and the limited amount of confirmed, on-the-record information available regarding the family’s private discussions.
As speculation continues regarding the broader implications of the Highgrove meeting and the future of relations between Harry, Meghan and the wider royal family, questions specifically regarding Catherine and Meghan’s personal relationship are likely to remain a recurring subject of royal commentary, particularly given the significant public interest that has followed the two women’s dynamic since Meghan first joined the royal family in 2018. Neither Catherine nor Meghan has publicly addressed the state of their relationship in recent commentary, and any eventual arrangement between them, whether a genuine personal reconciliation or a more limited practical accommodation, is likely to remain a matter of speculation until either woman or an authorized royal representative addresses the matter directly.
Business
Cinema United reverses stance, urges Paramount antitrust settlement
Legal and political strategist Katie Zacharia discusses the fight over Warner Bros. as Netflix and Paramount compete for control on ‘Fox News @ Night.’
Cinema United President and CEO Michael O’Leary and board Chair Mike Bowers reversed the movie theater trade group’s position Tuesday in California’s federal antitrust fight over Paramount Skydance’s $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
They urged Attorney General Rob Bonta and Paramount CEO David Ellison to negotiate because they said prolonged uncertainty threatened box-office momentum and the entertainment industry.
O’Leary and Bowers said the industry’s recovery depended on the two sides discussing a resolution with protections for theaters and moviegoers.
“For many in our industry, the current environment is marked by disruption and uncertainty. That is why we believe that it is incumbent upon both of you to meet in good faith to discuss a resolution that would provide robust protections and serve the entire industry. In fact, it is the next logical step,” O’Leary and Bowers said.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta speaks to the media after graduation ceremonies for the School of Social Ecology at UC Irvine in Irvine, Calif., June 16, 2025. (Paul Bersebach/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Cinema United explained its reversal in a statement to Fox News Digital Wednesday, saying concerns about consolidation remained, but settlement talks represented the next opportunity to secure protections for theaters.
“Despite our legitimate concerns about industry consolidation, Cinema United, on behalf of our executive board and the entire exhibition community, yesterday called for the AGs and Paramount to meet and discuss (a) settlement,” a Cinema United spokesperson said.
“Since the outset, we have been open to steps that will protect the exhibition industry. This is the next step in that process to ensure a thriving industry for generations to come.”
California Republican Party Chairwoman Corrin Rankin told Fox News Digital Wednesday that Bonta should enter negotiations, accusing Democrats of using lawsuits and regulations that increased costs and drove businesses from the state.
“Democrats keep writing the same bad script, and Californians are stuck paying the price in higher rent, gas and grocery bills. Their endless politically-motivated lawsuits, taxes and red tape drive jobs and opportunity out of California while making life harder for the families and businesses who stay,” Rankin said.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta (Sarah Reingewirtz/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Bonta told reporters Tuesday that his office welcomed theater owners’ views but maintained that the proposed transaction violated the law, according to Reuters.
“The fact remains that this proposed merger breaks the law. It will lead to job loss. It will lead to wage cuts. It will lead to higher prices for consumers to go to the movies or to watch cable television,” Bonta said.
Paramount had taken the opposite position in a July statement to Fox News Digital, blaming the state challenge for prolonging the industry’s difficulties.
“Delaying this transaction will only harm entertainment workers who have already suffered over recent years as technology has disrupted their livelihood and cost California tens of thousands of entertainment jobs,” a Paramount spokesperson said.
Republican attorney general nominee Michael Gates responded to Cinema United’s call for negotiations by criticizing Bonta’s lawsuit and warning that continued litigation could threaten California entertainment jobs.

An aerial view of the sun rising beyond the water tower at Paramount Studios on Oct. 30, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Mario Tama/Getty Images / Getty Images)
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“Bonta should accept Cinema United’s invitation and come to his senses. Frankly, Bonta should drop the lawsuit all together,” Gates said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
Bonta’s office told Fox News Digital the office had previously investigated potential Warner Bros. purchases by either Netflix or Paramount.
“The lawsuit against Paramount resulted from clear-cut antitrust analysis, based on the facts and the law,” Bonta’s press office said.
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Cinema United said it represented 30,000 U.S. movie screens and had previously supported the coalition of 12 states seeking to block the acquisition. The group requested enforceable safeguards requiring Paramount to maintain or expand wide theatrical releases and exclusive theater windows, prevent higher film rental terms, preserve theaters’ ability to book titles without onerous conditions and guarantee continued access to both companies’ film catalogs.
The reversal came as domestic box-office receipts had reached $6.8 billion as of Wednesday, nearly 20% above the same period in 2025. Cinemark also joined AMC Theatres and Regal Cinemas in supporting an expedited resolution, while the Directors Guild of America and IATSE had urged Bonta and Ellison to negotiate or advance the trial.
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The antitrust trial is scheduled to begin March 2, 2027. Paramount asked a federal judge Monday to require the states and the Writers Guild of America to post a $1.88 billion bond, saying it faced a $7 million daily fee after Sept. 30.
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