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.
Doug Flynn, Certified Financial Planner and Co-Founder of Flynn Zito Capital Management, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says he believes the news of the infrastructure bill was already priced into the market and that inflation continues to loom large on Wall Street.
The Giving Block's Co-founders, Pat Duffy and Alex Wilson, join Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss how their crypto-centric platform is helping big and small nonprofit firms across the world at a time when the demand for digital assets has never been higher.
Virtual reality startup Sandbox VR recently announced it raised $37 million Series B funding round. It is a location-based VR company, a space that was hit hard during the pandemic. Sandbox was eventually forced to file for bankruptcy; however, the company is emerging from the pandemic with a fresh round of funding and plans to open new retail locations around the world. Sandbox VR CEO Steve Zhao joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
President Joe Biden signed into law today his landmark $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, and it includes approximately $550 billion in new funding for increased broadband access, improving the power grid, and more. But what does this mean for the American economy, and American workers? Eliza Collins, Politics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss what's included in the bill, which former mayor has been tapped to oversee how the bill is implemented, and how these new infrastructure investments will impact the economy.
It's been a job hunters market of late, as a mass resignation amid the pandemic has added to millions of openings across businesses. ZipRecruiter co-founder and CEO Ian Siegel explained what people currently are looking for in the labor market. "Survey after survey after survey, whether it's on ZipRecruiter or it's a third-party source, is telling us the same piece of information: over half of job seekers right now are looking for work that is either fully remote or hybrid," he said. "They got a real taste of it during COVID, and they liked it a lot. It's the number one perk that's being requested and you can already see employers starting to shift in that direction."
Celebrity butcher and the third-generation owner of Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors, Pat LaFrieda, joined Cheddar to dive into the rapid price surges for beef, poultry, fish, and eggs dubbed a "meatflation" by Bloomberg. LaFrieda noted that the increases were being accelerated by high fuel prices and a shortage of labor like truck drivers. However, he did express some hope that the post-holidays/pre-barbecue season lull in the meat sales market will help reset the market.
Booking.com has unveiled a first-of-its-kind sustainable travel designation for properties that might be on the itinerary of a climate-conscious traveler. CEO Glenn Fogel explained to Cheddar the key metrics a location has to achieve to earn a sustainability badge. Waste handling, energy and greenhouse gases, water usage, local community support, and protection of nature were the five top areas of concern he addressed, with an additional subset of 32 measures that properties can implement.
