*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)
Jeffrey Kleintop, Chief Global Investment Strategist for Charles Schwab, says clarity on sanctions is driving the markets higher despite the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Primit Parikh, Founder and COO of Transphorm, discusses how his company's utilization of gallium nitride semiconductors will prove to be a difference-maker in various sectors ranging from EVs to 5G.
Gino LoPinto, Operating Partner at E11EVEN Partners, discusses what E11EVEN Residences Beyond will have in store for potential buyers, and says his company has seen great success accepting crypto at both the E11EVEN Hotel & Residences and the E11EVEN nightclub so far.
Veho bills itself as a next-day parcel delivery platform.
The startup recently announced a $170 million Series B round led by Tiger Global. Veho has a focus on last-mile delivery, which deals with getting packages from fulfillment centers to a customer's door. The company says it partners with e-commerce brands to provide them with a tech-forward and customer-centric delivery option. Itamar Zur, co-founder and CEO of Veho, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent the stock markets into a frenzy for the end of the week. Managing Director of Equity Research at Wedbush Securities, Dan Ives joined Cheddar News to discuss the shifts he expects for the stock market going forward. "It's going to be volatile. Put on the seat belts. I think we'll look back six, nine months. This was an opportunity, not the time to sell, especially some of the high quality names within tech — Microsoft, Apple leading the charge," he said.
Even amid the Great Resignation, the cannabis industry saw major job growth. As of January 2022, the legal industry supported more than 428,000 jobs — a 33 percent increase year-over-year, according to the sixth annual jobs report from Leafly, a website focused on cannabis use and education. Yoko Miyashita, CEO of Leafly, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss. “You know we've got big moments coming ahead in New Jersey and New York with adult-use sales starting in New Jersey, hopefully by this fall, with New York quickly to follow," she said. "So we're hugely optimistic about the kind of job growth that those markets can drive with the right type of market setup.
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.
Theaters needed new releases to fill seats, and unfortunately for them, the supply of movies is entirely out of their control. Cheddar's Alex Vuocolo takes a deeper look.
