The Week's Top Stories: Mad Markets, and Shutdown Showdown
*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.*
* **Markets Whipsaw:**
The week between Christmas and New Year’s is usually a languorous time of slow news days, long lunches, and early clock-outs. Someone should have told that to the traders on Wall Street. The markets this week behaved much like a roller coaster ー continuing a slide after Christmas, then reversing course for the Dow’s largest point gain in history, then slipping and rallying again. Finally on Friday, the Dow traded in a more settled range, the first day it gained or lost less than a percentage point since Dec. 18. With one more trading day left in the year, the S&P is on track for its biggest annual percentage decline since the peak of the financial crisis in 2008.
* **Happy Holiday:**
The market volatility did not stop shoppers from going out (and online) in droves to finish off the holiday season on a strong note. All told, U.S. consumers spent a cool $850 billion this holiday with retail sales up more than 5 percent over a year ago ー the biggest increase in six years. E-commerce sales were up nearly 20 percent year-over-year, with department stores showing the only signs of weakness, due mostly to store closings. A shopping trend known as BOPIS (buy online, pick up in store) came into its own this year; those types of sales were up 46 percent, and 86 percent of retailers surveyed called the trend the future of the delivery model. [Read more](https://www.cheddar.com/videos/not-dead-yet-malls-show-signs-of-life-amid-strong-holiday-spending).
* **Shutdown Showdown:**
Meanwhile, Washington ended the year in a stalemate over funding for President Trump’s border wall. The federal government has been partially shut down for a week due to the budget impasse, which is affecting 800,000 federal workers. Trump has said he won’t reopen the government until he secures the $5 billion he has requested to build more of the wall and said he would consider closing the southern border if the funding doesn't materialize. Trump repeatedly told his supporters during his campaign that the wall would be paid for by Mexico, though that narrative has largely been replaced by a taxpayer-funded barrier that two-thirds of Americans don’t deem necessary. [Read more](https://www.cheddar.com/videos/congress-meets-and-adjourns-with-no-solution-to-shutdown).
* **Tesla:**
If you’re in the market for a new Tesla ($TSLA) but haven’t pulled the trigger, you might want to do so before Tuesday. That’s when the federal tax credit will be slashed in half, from $7,500 to $3,750. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said the company will reimburse customers who bought new cars, but encountered delays that caused them to miss out on the subsidy. Meanwhile, as part of Musk’s settlement with the SEC ー remember that “funding secured” tweet? ー two new members were added to the electric carmaker’s board: Larry Ellison, the former CEO of Oracle ($ORCL), and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson of Walgreens ($WBA). In China, the company’s largest overseas market, Tesla has seen demand plummet due to tariffs, prompting it to cut prices for the third time in two months. Tesla is at work on a Shanghai factory that would cushion the blow from trade war tariffs on U.S.-produced vehicles. [Read more](https://www.cheddar.com/videos/tesla-appoints-new-board-members).
* **Tax Changes:**
With the first year of the new tax law almost in the books, it’s a good time for a primer on how the law will affect individual filers when tax season comes, which is always sooner than you think. Your 1040 will look different, for starters: the personal deduction has been eliminated, but standard deductions have roughly doubled for single filers, heads of household, and those with dependents. Filers will also no longer be able to deduct costs associated with job searches and working from home, which will negatively impact freelancers and anyone who spent more than 2 percent of their adjusted gross income on job-related expenses. The new law also makes it harder for people to deduct mortgage interest and property taxes. [Read more](https://www.cheddar.com/videos/the-tax-changes-that-are-about-to-sneak-up-on-you).
*-Carlo Versano*
Amazon is betting that ammonia could be the fuel of the future, participating in a Series A round for the Brooklyn-based company Amogy in December. Amogy aims to de-carbonize transportation with a clean energy system that uses ammonia as a renewable fuel. Amogy is partnering with Amazon on its first commercial product - an ammonia-powered cargo-shipping vessel. Amogy CEO Seonghoon Woo joins Cheddar Climate to discuss.
Joseph Pallant, Founder and Executive Director for the Blockchain for Climate Foundation, joins Cheddar Climate, where he discusses the among of energy crypto mining consumes and explains how his organization is on a mission to make the crypto industry more environmentally sustainable.
One of the world's largest transport companies is kicking off Black History Month with a new initiative aimed at the next generation of business leaders. Today, FedEx announced the launch of its Student Ambassador Program. Participants selected from eight historically black colleges and universities will receive career guidance from FedEx executives. The program is part of FedEx's ongoing commitment to HBCUs and will also help the company expand its pipeline for diverse talent. Cheddar News welcomes senior vice president at FedEx, Jenny Robertson, and Jerryl Briggs, President of Mississippi Valley State University, to discuss.
Driver assistance monitoring systems are meant to keep the driver's eyes on the road, but according to a report from AAA, different ways of monitoring provide significantly different results. The study found that direct camera-based systems that scanned the driver's eye movements were faster and more reliable than those indirect systems that looked at steering-wheel input. Megan McKernan, the manager of automotive services for the Automobile Club of Southern California, joined Cheddar to discuss the findings. "Triple-A is recommending that automakers include both direct and indirect systems just to really prevent consumers from trying to misuse these systems," she said, noting that neither system on its own is not foolproof.
Pinterest recently added augmented reality to its portfolio. The image sharing and social media platform's new e-commerce tech will allow consumers to interact with retailers and visualize online products inside their homes.
Wave Neuroscience is a neurological health tech company that specializes in clinical and at-home personalized brain stimulation technology. Erik Won, president and chief medical officer and Fred Walke, CEO, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss their company's hopes for allowing patients to identify and treat unique brain disorders while empowering them to understand their unique neurological makeups — including for the high-stress positions of professional athletes. "We have a mobile device that provides a very light stimulation that gives them a therapy that gives them confidence so there's a just knowing that they're doing something for it," said Walke. "But it also helps them get back into a rhythm. It helps their brain synchronize around certain frequencies that that we target, and it helps them really understand that they've done everything they can to get to their highest level of success."
Logitech posted better-than-expected earnings in its third quarter, reporting sales of $1.63 billion dollars, down 2% from the year ago quarter, but well ahead of the Wall Street consensus of $1.48 billion dollars. The PC and gaming peripherals company also raised its annual guidance for both sales and profitability. Bracken Darrell, Logitech CEO, joined Cheddar to break down his reaction to the results, how the pandemic played a role in its growth, and where he wants to take the company next.
GM is scheduled to report its Q4 earnings after the bell on Tuesday February 1. Wall Street expects a miss as the automaker navigates the global chip shortage, which has hit car sales hard. Investors are looking for an update on production, as well as outlook for the electric vehicles that GM is investing billions to bring to market. Karl Brauer, executive analyst at iseecars.com, joined Cheddar to give a preview of the automaker's report.
Recent data reveals that streaming giants are struggling to retain subscribers in the months following a major release.
According to data from Antenna, subscriber trends show that users will subscribe to a given streaming service just to watch a particular show, and then cancel those subscriptions shortly after. This comes as the streaming space continues to heat up as new entrants crowd the space. Jon Christian, Founding Partner + Digital Supply Chain Leader at OnPrem joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
