Steve Bannon's Date with Robert Mueller, Facebook's News Feed Makeover
The Hive co-host Kristen Scholer discusses the five biggest news stories in politics and tech. From Steve Bannon cooperating with Robert Mueller, to Facebook's new algorithm, we have it all covered on The Hive.
Steve Bannon has been summoned by Special Counsel Robert Mueller to answer questions relating to the Russia investigation...and he's planning to fully cooperate. What does this mean for President Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner? Gabe Sherman talks about Bannon's relationship with Donald Trump Jr. compared to his broken relationship with Kushner. T.A. Frank says Bannon will try to protect Donald Trump Jr. because he'll always be loyal to the cause of Trump, even if he's not loyal to the man himself.
And Mark Zuckerberg is making some big changes at Facebook. Bess Levin talks about the impact of switching the algorithm to show more content from friends and family, rather than publishers. She notes that Zuckerberg becoming a father for the second time may have softened him and caused his change of heart.
Plus, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink sent a stern warning to clients: do good deeds! The billionaire investor is strongly encouraging his clients to invest in charity. Bess Levin questions his tactics, saying she's not sure how much it will help.
Looking ahead to 2020, who could President Trump potentially run against? Vice President Mike Pence is said to be running a "shadow campaign" in the White House. Gabe Sherman says the Trump base is skeptical of Mike Pence, because they see him as a vehicle for the big business style of conservatism. However, Bess Levin says Jamie Dimon has come out with his description of a dream candidate...and that candidate sounds an awful lot like himself.
Microsoft announced on Tuesday it's acquiring video game publisher Activision Blizzard for nearly $70 billion in cash, a company that's is known for big titles like "Call of Duty" and "World of Warcraft." Lyron Bentovim, Glimpse Group president and CEO, and Dan Ives, managing director and senior equity research analyst at Wedbush, sat down to talk about what Ives called "a shot across the bow" towards the competition. "This is pretty exciting for the industry as a whole because another one of the big players is coming to the metaverse," said Bentovim. "Microsoft using metaverse in the quote from their CEO in their press release shows the importance of this deal."
Netflix may not be staying at the top of the streaming wars, according to some wary investors, as competition heats up and it raises prices yet again. Tuna Amobi, director and senior equity analyst at CFRA Research, spoke with Cheddar about what investors should be considering should they stick with the streaming pioneer or drop the investment. "I think it's always mostly about the subscriber growth for the Q4, which is going to be an indicator of how the company has been navigating the speed bumps that we saw early in the year," said Amobi.
L’Oréal is doubling down on its investment in tech. The French beauty giant unveiled two new high-tech products ahead of CES 2022, aimed at simplifying the hair coloring process. Guive Balooch, global vice president of L’Oréal Technology Incubator, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss the company's innovations for hair coloring, including the Colorsonic application device and the Coloright AI diagnostic tool.
Walmart is one of the latest companies looking to adapt to the emerging digital economy by possibly establishing its own cryptocurrency. The retail giant filed at least seven applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, including one for blockchain assets.
Bitcoin plunged below the $40,000 mark on Monday, hitting its lowest price since September. The world's most valuable cryptocurrency has had months of hot and cold streaks, and the latest drop now has investors wondering just what 2022 will have in store for bitcoin and the crypto space as a whole. Ben McMillan, CIO at IDX Digital Assets, joined Cheddar Movers to discuss.
You could be seeing more electric delivery vans on the road soon. Walmart and FedEx have inked deals with GM's all-electric brand BrightDrop to add thousands of vehicles to their fleets. Walmart has reserved 5,000 vans for the first time, while FedEx is expanding an initial order of 500 vehicles. Michael Zimmerman, partner and head of logistics at Kearney, joined Cheddar to discuss what this means for the electric vehicle market moving forward.
After nearly a century, General Motors is no longer the top-selling automaker in America. Toyota has dethroned the long-reigning champ to become the leader in U.S. auto sales for the first time, and the first non-domestic automaker to take that title. The Japanese automaker outsold GM by about 114,000 vehicles, or 5% more, in 2021. Al Root, senior writer for Barron's, joined Cheddar to discuss the meaning behind these numbers.
This year's worldwide semiconductor shortage limited the supply of everything from new cars to smart phones.
Looking ahead, several experts in the chip industry expect the shortage to continue deep into 2022, and maybe even 2023. Syed Alam, Accenture's Global Semiconductor Lead, joined Cheddar Movers to discuss.
