Here is a rundown of Cheddar News' top market stories of the day.
TECH LAYOFFS
Multiple outlets are reporting that Microsoft will begin a series of planned layoffs on Wednesday that could cut around 5 percent of its workforce, or 10,000 employees. CEO Satya Nadella warned the cuts were coming, and said the next couple of years were likely to be challenging, as the tech sector contracts after a decade plus of rapid growth. Amazon is also set to move ahead with plans to cut 6 percent of its 350,000 corporate employees.
ADOBE'S DATA DEBACLE
Adobe is facing backlash from customers who are concerned the software company is using personal images and video to train artificial intelligence models such as OpenAI’s Dall-E. Chief Product Officer Scott Belsky denied the accusations in an interview with Bloomberg, saying: "We have never, ever used anything in our storage to train a generative AI model."
UNITED AIRLINES EARNINGS
United Airlines' fourth quarter earnings beat Wall Street estimates on the heels of a rebound in travel demand. The company reported a 31 percent increase from the same period before the pandemic. The gains were made despite the airline flying 9 percent fewer trips and a litany of other challenges, from winter storms to labor shortages to supply chain disruptions.
UNIVERSITY BANS TIKTOK
The University of Texas at Austin is blocking access to TikTok on its Wi-Fi and wired networks. The move is a response to Gov. Greg Abbott's requirement that all state agencies delete the app from government-issued devices. The administration said it is also seeking to eliminate risks to information on the university's networks. University of Texas at Dallas and Texas A&M University System have since implemented similar restrictions.
Eric Mitchell, sports analyst and co-founder & head of media relations at Lifeflip Media joins Cheddar News to discuss how covid-19 is impacting pro sports.
David Slotnick, Senior Aviation Business Reporter at The Points Guy joins Cheddar News to discuss how airlines are handling holiday travel amid the recent coronavirus surge.
A new study from a Russian university finds that LEGO sets can be a lucrative investment, rising in value by 11 percent every year, a faster and better rate of return than gold, stocks, bonds, and wine. Victoria Dobrynskaya, associate professor of finance at Higher School of Economics University and author of the research, joined Cheddar to discuss the findings. "In general, most sets tend to appreciate after they're retired, after you cannot find them in LEGO stores," she said. "They tend to appreciate on the secondary market after a couple of years."
Stocks closed lower to end the day Thursday, the second to last trading day of 2021. The Dow snapped a six-day winning streak, and the S&P 500 was weighed down by chip and energy stocks. This all comes as weekly jobless claims fell to a 52-year low to 198,000. Kevin Riley, Managing Partner at Exponential Investment Partners, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss today's close, his 2022 market predictions, the state of business in China, and more.
Daniel Newman, Founding Partner and Principal Analyst at Futurum Research, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says the markets are going to feel very uncomfortable receiving news of more potential setbacks for chip manufacturers after already enduring a lengthy chip shortage.
