Here is a rundown of Cheddar News' top market stories of the day.
BED BATH & BEYOND SEEKS BUYER
Bed Bath & Beyond is reportedly in talks with a number of potential buyers and lenders to help pull the retailer back from the brink of bankruptcy. The goal is to find a buyer that will keep the Bed Bath & Beyond name, as well as its buybuy Baby chain. Funding-wise, the company is seeking $100 million to stave off bankruptcy, which could still occur in the coming weeks.
APPLE INTRODUCES NEW HOMEPOD
Apple has announced the second generation of the HomePod. The original was discontinued almost two years ago, and Apple is touting a number of improvements in the new version, from sound quality to the ability to send notifications when a smoke or carbon monoxide alarm goes off. The company is calling the product "groundbreaking," but one critic from The Verge noted that the new model was strikingly similar to the last one.
AMAZON FINED FOR WORKER VIOLATIONS
U.S. regulators have fined Amazon more $60,000 for violations of workplace safety law. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration charged the company with overworking its employees at warehouses in Deltona, Florida, Waukegan, Illinois, and New Windsor, New York. "Each of these inspections found work processes that were designed for speed but not safety, and they resulted in serious worker injuries," said Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker in a news release.
NEW TWITTER PLAN
Twitter Inc has announced a new $11 price for a Twitter Blue subscription per month and a cheaper annual plan as well. The price is the same for Android and iOS subscribers, despite the latter coming with higher app fees.
An independent watchdog within the IRS reports that while taxpayer services have vastly improved, the agency is still too slow to resolve identity theft cases. And National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins says those delays are “unconscionable.” Erin M. Collins said in the report released Wednesday that overall the 2024 filing season went smoothly, though IRS delays in resolving identity theft victim assistance cases are worsening. It took nearly 19 months to resolve self-reported identity theft cases as of January, and Wednesday's report states that now it takes 22 months to resolve these cases.
Amazon.com Inc. surpassed $2 trillion in market value for the first time in afternoon trading on Wednesday. The push higher for Amazon’s stock market valuation comes a little more than a week after Nvidia hit $3 trillion and briefly became the most valuable company on Wall Street. Nvidia’s chips are used to power many AI application and its valuation has soared as a result. Amazon has also been making big investments in AI as global interest has grown in the technology. Most of the company’s focus has been on business-focused products.
Climate change doesn’t just mean more extreme weather – it also leads to billions of dollars in lost productivity, tourism, and stresses infrastructure.
It’s an annual tradition: the Fed’s banking ‘stress test.’ A year after the regional banking crisis, there are good reasons to make sure they’re prepped.
Summer is upon us, which means weddings, trips overseas, and trips to see Taylor Swift. Avoid a “Cruel Summer” with these budget-friendly tips and tricks.
While Nvidia's meteoric rise led it to briefly dethrone Microsoft as the world's biggest public company, there's a lot more going on in this market than A.I.
