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.
PELOTON'S BUMPY RIDE
For a stationary bike, Peloton sure was taken for a ride this week. After an unfortunate cameo in the first episode of the Sex and the City reboot (spoiler alert) the stock plummeted 11 percent. The company quickly clapped back with an ad featuring Mr. Big himself, which was then pulled after sexual assault allegations against the actor who plays him, Chris Noth, surfaced. For what it's worth, shares recovered somewhat this week, but analysts are watching closely to see if Peloton has a plan to get out of its post-COVID doldrums.
RATE HIKES AHEAD
Amid soaring inflation and falling unemployment, the U.S. Federal Reserve signaled this week that up to three rate hikes could come in 2022. This is up considerably from recent projections, and came as the Fed accelerated its tapering of monthly asset purchases, another signal that the central bank is trying to wind down monetary stimulus in an increasingly hot economy. Markets took the news in stride initially, as the move was widely expected, but were down Friday as other central banks around the world chimed in with their own plans for rate hikes.
REDDIT GOES TO WALL STREET
Reddit was at the epicenter of the memestock craze. Now it's heading to Wall Street for a shot at the public market itself. The social media platform announced this week that it had confidentially filed paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering. Reddit, founded in 2005, has been hinting at going public for years, but rumors ramped up as investors speculated about whether the platform would try to cash in on the notoriety it gained during the retail investing boom earlier this year. So will Reddit achieve memestock glory? Or will the financial luminaries over at /wallstreetbets give it a hard pass?
TOYOTA'S EV PUSH
Shares of Toyota rose after the automaker announced that it plans to invest $35 billion into building a lineup of 30 battery-powered electric vehicles by 2030. The company also committed to increasing its global sales of EVs by 3.5 million units per year by the end of the decade. The news marked a major leap forward for one of the world's largest automakers, which was a pioneer in hybrid vehicles but has lagged behind in the transition to fully electric vehicles.
BUY NOW, PAY HATER
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is taking a closer look at "buy now, pay later" firms such as Klarna, PayPal, Affirm, and Afterpay. The agency is seeking information from the companies that allow customers to pay for items in monthly installments at no interest, about the risks and benefits of their offerings. While it may sound like a boon to consumers, the CFPB is concerned about customers racking up too much debt. UK regulators have started digging into the industry as well. The major buy now, pay later firms saw their shares drop on the news.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
Ford is recalling more than 355,000 of its pickup trucks across the U.S. because of an instrument panel display failure that’s resulted in critical information, like warning lights and vehicle speed, not showing up on the dashboard.
Nvidia reported a 56% increase in second-quarter revenue and a 59% rise in net income compared to a year ago.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos claims audiences don't want to watch Netflix movies in theaters, but that seems not to be the case recently.
Chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly report that could provide a better sense of whether the stock market has been riding an overhyped artificial intelligence bubble or is being propelled by a technological boom that’s still gathering momentum.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the U.S. this week as part of President Donald Trump's agenda for making the nation less dependent on foreign goods. A widely used customs exemption for international shipments worth $800 or less is set to end starting on Friday. Trump already ended the “de minimis” rule for inexpensive items sent from China and Hong Kong, but having to pay import taxes on small parcels from everywhere else likely will be a big change for some small businesses and online shoppers. Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will be subject to the origin country’s tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%.
Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
