*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.* * **Best January in 30 Years:** It was the best January for stocks in 30 years. After ending 2018 on a drastically down note, markets rebounded in the first month of 2019, with the Dow Industrials and S&P both rising more than 7 percent. The last time Wall Street saw gains like that in January was in 1989. Investors can largely thank the Fed. Just after the new year, Fed Chair Jerome Powell changed his tone on interest rate hikes to a more "wait and see" approach. He followed that up by keeping rates unchanged at Wednesday's meeting, in which the central bank also reiterated its new "patient" mantra. [Read more] (https://www.cheddar.com/videos/markets-surge-after-fed-leaves-interest-rates-unchanged). * **Jobs Blockbuster:** What government shutdown? Employers added 304,000 new jobs in January, handily beatings estimates of 172,000, despite the month being hampered by the partial government shutdown. Many economists believed the funding impasse would have caused a material impact on hiring, though it appeared to only affect the unemployment rate, which ticked up slightly to 4 percent as some of those furloughed government workers applied for unemployment benefits. January marked the 100th straight month of job growth. [Read more](https://www.cheddar.com/videos/blockbuster-jobs-report-shows-tax-cuts-are-working-stephen-moore). * **Facebook Beats:** Despite its long list of privacy scandals, Facebook ($FB) keeps growing. The social network reported an increase in daily and monthly active users that topped estimates, but it's the company's ability to continually beat revenue projections and grow nearly all user metrics in the face of negative press that most impressed investors. Facebook shares soared after it reported EPS of $2.38, blowing past the $2.18 estimate. Average revenue per user grew 19 percent from a year ago, and some-2.7 billion people worldwide now use at least one of the company's three platforms: Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. [Read more](https://www.cheddar.com/videos/facebook-shrugs-off-scandals-to-post-record-profit). * **Apple Worst Over?** That sound you heard this week was a collective sigh of relief from Apple ($AAPL) investors. The tech giant's earnings report was highly anticipated since CEO Tim Cook lowered revenue guidance just after the holidays, citing a slowdown in iPhone sales and blaming China for the slump. Cook did enough to lower expectations so that when the company slightly beat on earnings and revenue, investors responded favorably. EPS came in one cent above estimates, at $4.18, and revenue beat the revised target by a hair. Still, there were some areas for concern: Apple said iPhone revenue declined 15 percent over a year earlier, as more people hold onto their phones for longer, and sales in China plunged more than 25 percent. [Read more](https://www.cheddar.com/videos/apple-jumps-after-beating-revised-first-quarter-earnings-forecast). * **Amazon Fails to Impress:** The tech earnings didn't stop there. It was a gangbusters quarter for Amazon ($AMZN), which blew past expectations on EPS and revenue for the holiday quarter. But that wasn't enough to keep investors from focusing on the negative: it was the slowest quarterly growth for Amazon in three years. The e-commerce behemoth also lowered guidance for the current quarter and sounded an alarm over new regulations that just took effect in India, which are putting Amazon's operations in that country in flux. Amazon shares dipped back into bear market territory on Friday. [Read more](https://www.cheddar.com/videos/amazon-beats-earnings-and-revenue-estimates). *ーCarlo Versano*

Share:
More In Business
Michigan Judge Sentences Walmart Shoplifters to Wash Parking Lot Cars
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
State Department Halts Plan to buy $400M of Armored Tesla Vehicles
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
Goodyear Blimp at 100: ‘Floating Piece of Americana’ Still Thriving
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
Is U.S. Restaurants’ Breakfast Boom Contributing to High Egg Prices?
It’s a chicken-and-egg problem: Restaurants are struggling with record-high U.S. egg prices, but their omelets, scrambles and huevos rancheros may be part of the problem. Breakfast is booming at U.S. eateries. First Watch, a restaurant chain that serves breakfast, brunch and lunch, nearly quadrupled its locations over the past decade to 570. Fast-food chains like Starbucks and Wendy's added more egg-filled breakfast items. In normal times, egg producers could meet the demand. But a bird flu outbreak that has forced them to slaughter their flocks is making supplies scarcer and pushing up prices. Some restaurants like Waffle House have added a surcharge to offset their costs.
Load More