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.
S&P 500 Spites Inflation
Inflation worries have been gnawing at the markets in recent weeks, along with how Fed policy might proceed based on its rise. The sticker shock on consumer prices in May ranged from household furnishings to food costs. However, news that inflation jumped to 5 percent in May, coupled with a slight miss on the downward trending jobless claims, seemed to bounce off of the major indexes to some degree. While the Dow Jones Industrial dipped, the Nasdaq hit positive territory for the week, and the S&P 500 closed with its third straight weekly gain at/above records.
Game Stopped
The meme stock roller coaster for the now household name GameStop climbed high once again — and then plunged sharply from its Wednesday high. Counterintuitively, the video game retailer posted earnings beats before the decline. Naming former Amazon execs Matt Furlong and Mike Recupero as its new CEO and CFO respectively also didn't stave off the fall. Largely, this was attributed to the announcements that the company filed to sell five million more of its shares and had received a request on May 26 for documents and information from the Securities and Exchange Commission related to a probe into GameStop trading activity. The other Reddit darling, AMC, dropped this week, and a surprising array of meme stocks from Clover Health to Wendy's were a mixed bag.
El Salvador's All-In on Bitcoin
After making headlines at the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele made good on his promise to send a bill to Congress that would make bitcoin legal tender alongside the U.S. Dollar in the Central American country. The bill went further than many expected, however. In addition to allowing citizens to pay debts in bitcoin, they can express prices in bitcoin, pay taxes in bitcoin, and use bitcoin as a form of payment at any merchant in El Salvador. Now countries across Latin America are going forward with their own proposals in what's shaping up to be a region-wide race to embrace the leading cryptocurrency.
IPO Blockbusters
Chinese ride-hailing giant Chuxing Technology Co. released its IPO papers this week in preparation for an offering in July that could fetch as much as $70 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. This would make it the largest IPO of all time, in a market where investors are already ravenous for new offerings. The news came after a busy week for IPOs of all stripes. 1stDibs.com, an online marketplace for furniture, started trading Thursday and ended the day with a market value of $7.8 billion. Katapult, a fintech company in the "buy now, pay later" space, hit markets via a special purpose acquisition company; and Monday.com, a work-management software maker, popped 15 percent from its offer price.
Biogen's Alzheimer's Drug Approved
However it's pronounced, aducanumab (branded as Aduhelm), an Alzheimer's drug developed by Biogen in partnership with Japan’s Eisai Co., broke through the FDA's drug approval program — to the surprise of the independent advisory body who had warned against doing so. The panel noted that data showing efficacy for treating the degenerative brain disease was debatable, and three of its members resigned following the approval notification. Trading of Biogen shares had halted last Friday prior to the news, and the stock climbed abruptly on Monday staying near $400 a share for the rest of the week. The treatment, the first new Alzheimer's drug in nearly two decades, also comes with an eye-popping annual list price of $56,000.
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.
