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.
WEAK JOBS REPORT
The market ended the week slightly higher, despite Friday’s disappointing jobs report for September that fell far short of analyst expectations. U.S. employers added 194,000 payrolls in the month, even fewer than August’s revised print of 366,000 and a far cry from the expectation of 500,000 new jobs. There were reasons for optimism buried in the Department of Labor’s report: average earnings were up, significant upward adjustments were made to August and July reports, and pandemic-caused staffing fluctuations in the education sector “distorted the normal seasonal hiring and layoff patterns,” according to the BLS. But the weak top-line number suggests that the persistent labor shortage combined with the delta wave is continuing to hamper employers’ ability to hire.
GLOBAL ENERGY CRUNCH
U.S. crude oil prices crossed the $80-per-barrel threshold this week, the highest level since 2014 amid a growing global energy crunch that portends higher prices across the board for consumers this winter. The price at the pump is a buck higher than it was this time last year. U.S. coal prices are at a two-year high. And natural gas prices in this country have hit the highest level since 2008. In the UK, natural gas prices are up some 400 percent year-to-date, leading Vladimir Putin this week to step in and say he’d boost Russia’s plentiful gas supply to Europe ahead of the colder months. Energy stocks benefited from a broad rally on rising commodity prices, while airline stocks took a beating on higher fuel costs. JetBlue, American, Delta, and United all ended the week down more than 5 percent.
FACEBOOK UNDER FIRE
Facebook’s no good, very bad autumn continued with a global, hours-long outage on Monday that took its entire suite of apps offline for billions of users around the world, illustrating how dependant much of the internet’s infrastructure has become on the company that’s now at the center of a cascade of controversies over its effects on society. Just as Facebook was able to get its services back online, a whistleblower, who revealed her identity on 60 Minutes last weekend, appeared before Congress to highlight the internal research that is turning into perhaps the company’s worst scandal to date. Frances Haugen, a former Facebook data scientist, testified that the company harms younger users, creates divisions among its user base, and undermines democracy — its most recent high on Sept. 1. But JPMorgan said this week that the dip is a buying opportunity and that the bank sees the stock rising as much as 35 percent.
PEDAL TO THE METAL
General Motors unveiled detailed plans for its transformation from an automaker to a “platform company” that will “redefine how people and goods are moved,” as CEO Mary Barra put it to investors. Barra said GM plans to double annual revenue by 2030 with a focus on electrification, robotaxis, and EV charging infrastructure. The stock barely budged during Barra’s announcements, but then soared higher for a weekly gain of 7 percent. Meanwhile, Elon Musk announced at Tesla’s investor conference that he is moving the company’s headquarters from California to Texas, making good on a threat from last year when Musk called California’s COVID lockdowns “fascist” and said he’d fold up shop. Tesla will continue to expand its production facility in California as it simultaneously builds out a new factory in the Lone Star State.
SQUID GAME MANIA
Netflix shares ended the week on a positive note, buoyed by its global smash hit, Squid Game, which is now on track to be the streamer’s most popular show ever. The sheer scale of Squid Game’s impact on the all-important metric of international subscriber growth — the South Korean series is currently No. 1 in 90 countries — should become more apparent when Netflix releases third-quarter earnings on Oct. 19. In the meantime, the stock hit a new all-time high this week and is up 22 percent so far this year.
As the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams prep to face each other in the Big Game at SoFi Stadium in LA, 55 percent of a record number of bettors are projected to drop money on the Rams. Casey Clark, the senior vice president of strategic communications for the American Gaming Association, joined Cheddar News to share some data and predictions based on the greater interest in gambling on Super Bowl LVI. "You know that means that people are migrating away from the predatory illegal market and corner bookie and moving their action into the legal marketplace," he said. "So really encouraging for consumer protections and for those of us who might want to have a little action on the game."
Facebook parent Meta and Grammy Award-winning singer Ciara have joined forces to help black female-owned small businesses. Selected businesses will receive marketing mentorship from Meta along with $100,000 to put into their brand. One such business, The Self Care Suite, is a platform that supports mental health, and founder Tara Pringle Jefferson, along with Irene Walker, Meta Elevate founder and program manager, joined Cheddar News to discuss the program. "Having this opportunity with Meta, with Ciara, really will allow us to focus on our virtual programming, to focus on our e-commerce shop, and, as we kind of adjust, to the new normal in 2022," said Pringle Jefferson.
Tesla has been under mounting regulatory scrutiny by the NHTSA, and has issued numerous recalls, including four within the past two weeks. While the company has issued recalls over the years, the number seems to be increasing in recent months as the company issues fixes for seat belt chimes, pedestrian alerts, its self-driving software, and more. What's behind this uptick in recalls — and how might this impact brand loyalty? Al Root, Senior Writer at Barron's, joins Closing Bell to discuss.
Under Armour released a successful Q4 earnings report amid supply chain issues. The apparel company said it invested in analytics to decipher what drives consumers to its brand. However, the company warned of potential supply problems going forward due to COVID.
Hyperice is a technology company that specializes in physical recovery for athletes, and it's now partnering with the NFL. Christian McCaffrey, Carolina Panthers running back and Hyperice athlete-investor, and Jim Huether, Hyperice CEO, joined Cheddar News to discuss the partnership. "It's definitely for both for performance and for recovery, as somebody who plays a brutal sport and have to go through some of the unfortunate realities of injury," McCaffery said of the products. "You're always fighting for that 0.1 percent difference between winning and losing and and the little things and every second matters."
Aurora Cannabis showed a beat on sales for its quarterly earnings report, a positive sign despite a loss of $59 million. CEO Miguel Martin, joined Cheddar Movers to discuss its latest earnings and prospects for future growth. "If you look at our core businesses, they've all had a great quarter, so steady as we go. Our transformation plan is absolutely on track and we feel really good about where the company's going," he said. "Our balance sheet has never been stronger." Martin also discussed entering the U.S. market and the prospects for the medical marijuana market.
Elon Musk announced that he expects Starship to reach orbit in 2022. The SpaceX CEO delivered updates about the largest space vehicle to be constructed from its Texas facility. Jim Cantrell, CEO and co-founder at Phantom Space, joined Cheddar News to talk about the future of Starship. "I've always done wrong by betting against Elon," he said. "The one thing that I find very curious is it launches 100 metric tons into space, and last year, in the entire year, we launched 750. So, you know, with about seven launches, he could launch every satellite on Earth."
Shares of Astra fell after the aerospace company announced a failure to deliver its NASA satellite payload mid-launch, resulting in its stock price plummeting to the point where trading had to be halted twice.
