*By Mike Teich*
Amazon shares jumped nearly 4 percent Friday after the e-commerce juggernaut delivered blockbuster earnings results on Thursday.
The tech giant impressed investors by delivering operating profit of $1.9 billion. Amazon's blockbuster numbers reflected its success in retail sales and growth in its cloud services business, said Michael Pachter, an analyst from Wedbush Securities.
Amazon also announced that it would be raising its Prime membership fee by $20, up to $119 a year. Pachter said the "odds are less than 1 percent that there is a decline in membership" as a result of the price hike.
Pachter compared Amazon Prime's cost to Netflix, noting that Prime was priced below Amazon's video-streaming rival and offers content that is "75 percent as good."
President Joe Biden highlighted progress in chipping away at so-called junk fees as a “win for consumers” Thursday, as he met at the White House with executives from Live Nation, Airbnb and other companies that have taken steps to embrace more transparent pricing.
Ed Siddell, CEO and chief investment officer with EGSI Financial, joined Cheddar News to discuss Thursday's positive trading session in what Siddell called "a year of momentum" as investors continue to digest a heavy amount of news that includes monetary policy, inflation concerns, banking fears and some positive economic data.
Rivian is expanding into New York City and launching its first showroom there. Cheddar News took a look at the showroom in NYC that the company is calling "spaces," which is intended to be experiential retail locations to woo new customers.
Rebecca Walser, certified financial planner and wealth strategist, offers tips on how to avoid money mistakes, develop healthy spending habits, and pay off debts.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Wednesday it hopes to weed out false or misleading animal-welfare claims on meat and poultry packaging with new guidance and testing.
