The Week's Top Stories is a guided tour through the biggest market stories of the week, from winning stocks to brutal dips to the facts and forecasts generating buzz on Wall Street.
INTRODUCING: THREADS
It's the new Twitter! No, wait, it's a new competitor! Meta stock got lots of likes this week as it introduced a new platform called Threads, which is meant to take on the short-text social media OG. Like Twitter, Threads allows users to converse in real-time text conversations and makes it very easy for current Instagram users to sign up. Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg said 10 million users signed up in the first few hours and the platform has already been dubbed the "Twitter killer." Meta ended the week up about 2 percent.
MACRO WORRIES
There was good news for the job market, but bad news for investors Thursday when ADP announced private hiring was much stronger than expected in June. While workers are happy to be pulling in paychecks, strong hiring could lead to more rate hikes from the Federal Reserve as it struggles to get inflation under control. A milder-than-expected monthly report from the feds tempered the fallout Friday, helping the Dow Jones end the week down nearly 2 percent. At the last FOMC meeting, they opted not to raise them for the first time in over a year, but Fed Chair Jerome Powell noted that just because they passed on a rate hike this time, more increases are still very much on the table.
JETBLUE DITCHES AMERICAN DEAL
JetBlue rattled the markets Wednesday when it announced it will ditch an alliance with American Airlines in order to save its proposed takeover of Spirit. The Justice Department has been trying to block the Spirit acquisition and the American deal over fears about consolidation in the airline industry that would further stifle competition and drive up ticket prices. Both JetBlue and American stock dipped on the news Thursday but climbed back on Friday. It was good news for Spirit stockholders; shares rose on the news, ending the week up 8 percent.
UPS LABOR PROBLEM
Your packages may not get where they need to go later this year and investors are watching. Labor negotiations broke down this week with both sides blaming the other for walking away from the table. The union says it wants a final offer, but the company says it delivered a "historic offer" that the union abandoned. If conditions continue to deteriorate, a strike could come at any time. The stock took a dive on Wednesday when this all came to a head, but will still end the week up about 2 percent.
Roomba maker iRobot has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but says that it doesn’t expect any disruptions to devices as the more than 30-year-old company is taken private under a restructuring process. iRobot said that it is being acquired by Picea through a court-supervised process. Picea is the company's primary contract manufacturer. The Bedford, Massachusetts-based anticipates completing the prepackaged chapter 11 process by February.
Serbia’s prosecutor for organized crime has charged a government minister and three others with abuse of position and falsifying of documents related to a luxury real estate project linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The charges came on Monday. The investigation centers on a controversy over a a bombed-out military complex in central Belgrade that was a protected cultural heritage zone but that is facing redevelopment as a luxury compound by a company linked to Kushner. The $500 million proposal to build a high-rise hotel, offices and shops at the site has met fierce opposition from experts at home and abroad. Selakovic and others allegedly illegally lifted the protection status for the site by falsifying documentation.
Wealthfront’s CFO Alan Iberman talks the $2.05B IPO and the major moment for robo banking as the company bets on AI, automation, and “self-driving money."
A rare magnum of Dom Pérignon Vintage 1961 champagne that was specially produced for the 1981 wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana has failed to sell during an auction. Danish auction house Bruun Rasmussen handled the bidding Thursday. The auction's house website lists the bottle as not sold. It was expected to fetch up to around $93,000. It is one of 12 bottles made to celebrate the royal wedding. Little was revealed about the seller. The auction house says the bids did not receive the desired minimum price.
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.
