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 TURMOIL
News of yet another COVID variant — the ominously titled omicron — spurred a sell-off in U.S. stocks last Friday and sent markets on a rollercoaster ride this week. Major drops were seen Tuesday and Wednesday, Thursday things were looking up, and Friday saw a drop after a major jobs miss in the November report. As the major indexes slump, uncertainty around the pandemic could fuel further turmoil, as the U.S. confirmed its first omicron cases this week and investors continued to weigh the possibility of new lockdown measures, though President Biden has denied this is the plan.
POWELL'S PIVOT
Markets were also responding to comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who hinted this week that the central bank could start tapering its quantitative easing program sooner rather than later due to high inflation. He also said it was time to abandon the word "transitory" to describe price hikes, suggesting the Fed might be preparing for more persistent inflation. This is a major break with the Fed's messaging in recent months and a loss for #teamtransitory — a group of economists who have stuck to their guns that inflation is only temporary.
MODERNA'S OMICRON GAMBIT
All these dismal market moves left some investors looking for a glimmer of hope. One company that did see gains on the omicron news was Moderna. Its stock jumped 21 percent on Black Friday during the market sell-off and 12 percent on Monday after the company announced that it could produce a vaccine to fight the new variant by 2022 if necessary. It should be noted that CEO Stéphane Bancel also said current vaccines likely won't be particularly effective in fighting the new variant, which led to a broader market sell-off on Tuesday's. Still, Moderna's pop marked its best two-day rally in a year. Some analysts noted that the U.S.-based biotechnology company, known for helping pioneer mRNA vaccines, is uniquely suited to tackling new variants, but the pharma company was down for the week along with the rest of the markets.
FALLING APPLE
Apple was among the major tech stocks that took a beating this week. Shares fell as much as 4.2 percent on Thursday, following a report that Apple told its component-makers sales of its iPhone 13 were falling and it didn't expect demand to pick up during the holidays or beyond them. The drop erased the high-flying tech stock's most recent gains, but shares are still up more than 20 percent this year. The iPhone maker is blaming a lack of parts for the fall in demand. Another tech stock that sank this week was Salesforce, which saw a 12 percent price drop on Wednesday following disappointing earnings guidance projecting slower growth.
TWITTER SHAKEUPS
Investors were watching Twitter's stock closely this week as co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey stepped down to lead Block, the payments company formerly called Square which he also co-founded. The new head honcho at the social media giant is Parag Agrawal, who worked his way up from a software engineer to CTO and is a bit of an unknown entity. Dorsey's absence does have some investors wondering if Twitter can meet its ambitious revenue goals. The outspoken tech founder rejoined the company back in 2015 — after getting booted by the board — and has since helped stabilize its business model. What will Twitter be without @Jack? You'll have to watch your feeds.
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.
