Marketplace Morning Report

Tomorrow is the Preakness Stakes, the second event in the Triple Crown. Betting on horse racing in the U.S. has declined by more than 50% over the last few decades. And while you might think platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket would see opportunity in horse racing bets, they haven't made inroads. Why don’t prediction markets have a horse on that race? We explain. And later, we'll do the numbers on defense lobbying.

"LNG is the next growth story of the next decade," says Kent Britton, CEO of the Port of Corpus Christi. Liquefied natural gas exports are expected to grow 30% in the U.S. in the next year and a half. That growth is driven mostly by new and expanding LNG export projects along the Gulf Coast. What does it mean for the global energy market and coastal economies? But first: inflation, imports, and U.S.-China trade deals.

Retail sales in April were up 0.5% compared to the month before and are up 4.9% from a year ago, according to the Census Bureau. So are retail sales higher because consumers are resilient and buying more stuff, or are we spending more just because prices are higher and the stuff we want is more expensive? We discuss. Then, in search of cleaner energy, two new power transmission lines are connecting Quebec to New York and Massachusetts.

Kevin Warsh is officially the next chair of the Federal Reserve. The Senate voted to confirm him to a four-year term on Wednesday. He’ll replace Chair Jerome Powell, who led the central bank for the last eight years. He’ll face a challenging economic environment, worsening inflation, and pressure from President Donald Trump to cut rates. Plus, a look at how median actually rents fell in April and why one Arizona coffee roaster is unable to claim tariff refunds.

To address pain at the pump, President Donald Trump and some Congressional Republicans are floating the idea of temporarily pausing the federal gas tax. The thing is, that gas tax helps pay for the construction and maintenance of roads, bridges, and more. Today, we delve into how the tax shows up in our everyday lives. Then, we head to Boston to hear how a small college there is serving low-income, first-generation students.