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.
Square is changing its name to Block. It comes as the company expands beyond its original credit card reader business and into blockchain and crypto technology.
The name change will go into effect on December 10th, and the company says the name change, "creates room for further growth." Jim Anderson, CEO, SocialFlow joined Cheddar Movers to discuss.
Stock markets around the world continue to be impacted by fears of the new Omicron COVID-19 variant. President Biden today reiterated his stance that the new strain is cause for concern, but not cause for panic. Wells Fargo Investment Institute Global Equity Strategist Scott Wren joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Not only has the Shiba Inu cryptocurrency become the 13th most valuable cryptocurrency by market cap with a worth of over $23 billion, but it has made one duo, known as the Shiba Brothers, millionaires. The brothers, Tommy and James, and Oskar Kowalski, Founder of The Global Incubator, join Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where they discuss their collaboration on Legends of Bezogia.
Fintech startup UNest is providing financial planning tools for parents saving on behalf of their children and has raised $26 million to accelerate its mission. Ksenia Yudina, Founder and CEO at UNest, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where she discusses how her company is closing the wealth gap and leveling the playing field for the next generation.
Stocks closed sharply higher Thursday after several days of investor skittishness over the COVID-19 Omicron variant. This rebound comes despite several cases of the variant being reported in the United States. Gene Goldman, Chief Investment Officer at Cetera, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss today's close, the Fed's recent announcement about speeding up their taper timeline, and more.
Austin Winsberg, creator of the NBC series "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist" joined Cheddar's "Closing Bell" to dish out some details about the holiday movie special "Zoey's Extraordinary Christmas" now on Roku. Despite initial plans for producing a new Season 3 despite being canceled by the network, Winsberg said that it is not necessary to have seen the first two seasons in order to enjoy the movie. He noted that following cancellation fans rallied behind the show, campaigning for it to come back, which led to a movie being greenlit by Lionsgate to be completed within just a four-month window, according to Winsberg.
As the Leonardo DiCaprio-backed, pure-play electric vehicle company Polestar plans to close a SPAC IPO with Gores Guggenheim, CEO Thomas Ingenlath talked to Cheddar about how the company positioned itself to be able to go public. With competition tightening in the electric vehicle sector, Ingenlath noted what differentiates his cars from the competitors. "Scandinavian cool design and of course the road to zero emissions is something that we take very, very seriously," he said.
