The Fed’s Open Market Committee meeting broke yesterday leaving rates at near-zero and pledging to “continue buying government-backed bonds at a steady pace as it tries to support the economy’s recovery from the coronavirus...more
The Fed closed out its April Open Markets Committee by holding rates steady at nearly zero but also pledging to “use its ‘full range of tools’ to insulate the economy as coronavirus lockdowns sap economic growth and throw...more
Facebook has agreed to pay $550 million to resolve a class-action lawsuit claiming that Zuck & Co.’s use of facial recognition technology violated Illinois’ biometric privacy law. Though the settlement is little more than “a...more
As universally expected, the Fed’s Open Market Committee delivered its third interest rate cut of 2019 yesterday, though it did so while signaling that it’s likely to pause before taking action again and “is now shifting into...more
The ECB was even more aggressive than expected in its moves to “head off a downturn before it gained momentum,” cutting a key interest rate and reviving “a money-printing program.” At the same time, the central bank “issued...more
EU regulators announced today that they’ve been conducting an investigation into Amazon and “how it collects and uses data from third-party sellers who appear on the retailing giant’s website” with an eye to potential...more
The big takeaway from Day 1 of Fed Chair Powell’s Congressional testimony is that a July rate cut is still definitely on the table, despite last week’s strong US jobs numbers. As the Times puts it, “That the Fed is...more
In case you haven’t had your eye on matters of global intrigue of late, figured we’d get you a bit caught up so that you know why your gas prices are heading north in the next couple of weeks....more
Much more on the suddenly hot topic of Big Tech antitrust oversight, including a negotiated agreement among regulators that will see the DOJ handling Apple and Google while the Federal Trade Commission will take on Facebook...more
All of that SuperBowling seems to have put activist investor Starboard in the mood for some pizza—specifically, former NFL-partner Papa John’s, which has struggled in the wake of the removal of its founder and namesake John...more
Once again, it’s Jobs Report Friday. Here’s some things to keep in mind as you review the numbers...more
The Fed will wrap up its Open Markets Committee meeting today, and the recent dive on Wall Street has rather suddenly brought a bit of drama to what was a long-promised rate hike. Here’s a bit of background on what it’s been...more
The Dow’s serious dive on Friday helped put all three major indices into correction territory (aka, all are now at least 10% below their peak from earlier this year....more
Some reaction to the HQ2 x2 news, including what a pair of new tech hubs actually means for the cities that have thrown out the red carpet to Amazon and other technology giants....more
The Federal Reserve bank released the minutes from its September meeting yesterday. Among other things, we learned that the Fed Governors moved largely in lockstep on September’s rate hike, even as the crew was less unanimous...more
Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger have resigned over the direction of their app, which Facebook acquired in 2012. The pair has reportedly been frustrated of late by the increasing intervention of Facebook’s...more
The Journal is breaking news this morning that American Express has been raising forex prices on customers for years “without notifying customers in a bid to boost revenue and employee commissions”....more
Some analysis of Friday’s less-than-booming jobs report – NYTimes and Bloomberg And a look at Fed Chair Powell’s first major remarks on the state of the economy and the potential effects a trade war would have on the Fed’s...more
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg finally issued a statement yesterday addressing the unauthorized data use scandal involving Cambridge Analytica that’s cost his company share price almost 10% since the story broke....more
The European Commission has drafted a new set of digital taxes as an answer to last year’s US tax overhaul that imposed a new minimum tax on the overseas efforts of companies with US operations. The EU’s plan would require...more
The Journal’s weekend report on Facebook’s role in the unauthorized use of data from 50 million users wreaked havoc on the ‘Book’s stock yesterday, with losses spreading across the tech sector (and fellow its FANGers in...more
Facebook may have had a difficult day on the Hill. But a 79% rise in Q3 profit—driven, ironically enough, by online ads—should help soften the blow....more