*By Michael Teich*
Amazon inked a new partnership with American Express, but don't expect the financial industry to be the next area the tech giant jumps into.
"The thing that people misunderstand is that tech companies don't want to manufacture financial products," said Lex Sokolin, Global Director of Fintech Strategy at Autonomous Research. "It's about making the ecosystem and the platform more powerful, and finance is just a feature inside of that."
American Express announced Tuesday it will launch a co-branded Amazon credit card for small businesses. The move accelerates Amazon's foray into financial products and strengthens its position as a lender. The goal, Sokolin said, is to enable small businesses to finance their activities, getting more products on Amazon's platform, and ultimately driving more commerce.
Plus, the opportunity costs of devoting itself to the financial industry are too high.
"Amazon has tremendous high-growth, super interesting, blue oceans to explore,” he said. "They could be investing in building a mortgage business, or they can build artificial intelligence business."
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/amazon-bolsters-financial-prowess-with-new-credit-card)
Andrew Collins, the CEO of private aviation firm Sentient Jet, joined Cheddar News anchor Hena Doba on a Walk & Talk discussing the future of business and leisure travel.
Stocks closed higher on Wall Street as investors grow more convinced the Federal Reserve will keep downshifting the size of its rate hikes and as several major companies prepare to report their latest results.
The number of businesses that see a 50 percent chance or higher of a recession in 2022 has fallen from around two-thirds of respondents in October to just over half this month, according to survey.
With inflationary woes and fears of recession sweeping the U.S., January has racked up the second most job cuts since the start of the pandemic. While losing a job can be daunting, there are steps employees can take to prepare for an uncertain future in their current positions.
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.
