From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
MARKET RIPS
The rally continues. U.S. stocks put on another show this week, with the Dow breaking 34,000 for the first time on the back of blowout economic data and a strong start to earnings season. Retail sales for March jumped nearly 10 percent — key since consumer spending is the biggest driver of GDP — in a sign that stimulus checks are starting to, well, stimulate. At the same time, weekly unemployment claims dropped to a new pandemic low of 576,000. The Dow and S&P both hit record highs on the back of that news.
BANK EARNINGS
It wasn't just the terrific economic data that sent stocks soaring this week. Corporate earnings for the first quarter are coming in hot, with the big financials all reporting profit jumps. Morgan Stanley capped the week with its report showing 150 percent surge in quarterly profits, even as the bank disclosed a nearly $1 billion hit from the collapse of the private fund Archegos. Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Citigroup, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo also beat on their top and bottom lines.
CRYPTO LANDMARK
Bank earnings were eclipsed by the Coinbase listing that sucked up a lot of the oxygen on the Street this week. The crypto exchange went public in a direct listing on the Nasdaq that amounted to a landmark moment for the maturing cryptocurrency space. Shares soared as high as $429 before closing at $328 in the volatile debut, giving the company a valuation of $86 billion. Unlike many startups that go public, Coinbase is profitable — but its business model is directly tied to the price of Bitcoin and other volatile digital currencies. Bitcoin has been on fire lately, hitting a new all-time high above $64,000 this week before pulling back a bit. (Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase who is now one of the richest people on the planet, started the company when Bitcoin was at $6.) At the same time, the BTC alternative Dogecoin, which started as an internet joke, hit an all-time high above 33 cents for a market value of $42 billion according to CoinGecko. The digital coin was up 447 percent on the week — more evidence to some that the crypto market is in bubble territory.
VAX SETBACK
Shares of Johnson & Johnson fell more than 1 percent when the CDC and FDA put out a joint statement recommending that its one-and-done COVID vaccine should be "paused" due to concerns over a possible relationship with a handful of rare but severe blood clotting disorders. The six cases — out of roughly seven million Americans who have gotten the shot — happened in women aged 18 to 48. By the end of the week, J&J had recovered most of its losses on the "pause," though the shot remains in limbo as public health officials seek more data on the clotting issue.
'BROKEN MARKET'
Legendary investor David Einhorn wrote a letter to his hedge fund clients this week in which, making a point about the risk of this market to retail investors, he noted the curious case of Hometown International. The company owns a single deli in New Jersey, and not a particularly profitable one at that. The deli did $35,000 in sales over the last two years and was closed for a big chunk of the last one. Despite that, Hometown reached a market cap of $113 million last quarter ("The pastrami must be amazing," Einhorn cracked). Hometown trades OTC under the ticker HWIN; its largest shareholder is the CEO, who happens to be the wrestling coach at the high school next door to the deli. Einhorn was using Hometown as an example of what he sees as a new kind of irrational exuberance in a market that, in his words, is operating without a "cop on the beat."
The New York Times and President Donald Trump are fighting again. The news outlet said Wednesday it won't be deterred by Trump's “false and inflammatory language” from writing about the 79-year-old president's health. The Times has done a handful of stories on that topic recently, including an opinion column that said Trump is “starting to give President Joe Biden vibes.” In a Truth Social post, Trump said it might be treasonous for outlets like the Times to do “FAKE” reports about his health and "we should do something about it.” The Republican president already has a pending lawsuit against the newspaper for its past reports on his finances.
OpenAI has appointed Slack CEO Denise Dresser as its first chief of revenue. Dresser will oversee global revenue strategy and help businesses integrate AI into daily operations. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently emphasized improving ChatGPT, which now has over 800 million weekly users. Despite its success, OpenAI faces competition from companies like Google and concerns about profitability. The company earns money from premium ChatGPT subscriptions but hasn't ventured into advertising. Altman had recently announced delays in developing new products like AI agents and a personal assistant.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
U.S. sports betting is booming as NFL and college football fuel massive activity. BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt breaks down trends, growth, and what’s next.
President Donald Trump says a deal struck by Netflix last week to buy Warner Bros. Discovery “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined market share. The Republican president says he will be involved in the decision about whether federal regulators should approve the deal. Trump commented Sunday when he was asked about the deal as he walked the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors. The $72 billion deal would bring together two of the biggest players in television and film and potentially reshape the entertainment industry.
Disney's changes to a program for disabled visitors are facing challenges in federal court and through a shareholder proposal. The Disability Access Service program, which allows disabled visitors to skip long lines, was overhauled last year. Disney now mostly limits the program to those with developmental disabilities like autism who have difficulty waiting in lines. The changes have sparked criticism from some disability advocates. A shareholder proposal submitted by disability advocates calls for an independent review of Disney's disability policies. Disney plans to block this proposal, claiming it's misleading. It's the latest struggle by Disney to accommodate disabled visitors while stopping past abuses by some theme park guests.
With a merger this big, creators, studios, and theaters all face uncertain futures. Here’s what experts are worried about and what good could come from it.
With disengagement rising and hybrid work shifting, 'Everybody Matters' author Bob Chapman explains why treating people well could define the future of work.
We sat down with Ali Furman, U.S. Consumer Markets Industry Leader at consulting firm PwC to ask what trends she garnered from the initial data this year.
