how are you? (July 3-9)
Verdict on Theranos and Silicon Valley culture
For many tech start-ups, a seemingly endless era of optimism and immunity — from scrutiny, skepticism, and above all, serious legal consequences — Exposé of blood test company Theranos Published in 2015, it raised questions about the effectiveness of the company’s technology. On Thursday, a jury found that Theranos’s second executive, Ramesh Balwani, was found guilty of twelve fraud charges and issued another powerful warning to Silicon Valley. The prosecutor’s evidence against Mr. Balwani showed that he was deeply involved in almost every aspect of the company and was deliberately misleading investors and customers. The verdict was stricter than that of Elizabeth Holmes, the founder and chief executive officer of Theranos, who was convicted of four frauds in January. It also arrives among other nasty signs in the start-up world. Technology stocks have plummeted this year, making investors more risk-averse.
Work growth continues to be strong
US employers added 372,000 jobs in June, pushing the labor market up more than expected. Perhaps too big for the Federal Reserve, where authorities are trying to slow the economy. Wages also continued to rise sharply last month, and Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell argues that high wages are not the main cause of rising prices, but figures still target inflation at 2 percent of the central bank. .. But because these data points could be from the Fed, Friday’s employment report suggests that the U.S. isn’t in recession and the labor market he considers to be the wings of the cap. , I was almost relieved for President Biden. It was still strong.
Newark does not have an Amazon hub
Amazon was once confident about the prospect of building an airport cargo center at Newark Liberty International Airport, but admitted defeat last week. The company faced strong opposition from unions and advocacy groups calling on Amazon to reach a collective bargaining agreement and promise a zero-emission benchmark at the facility. Some of the groups that saw Amazon’s abandoned Newark project as another victory for workers and residents seeking views on whether tech giants would extend into their community. The same concerns spurred resistance to Amazon’s 2019 efforts to build a second headquarters in New York City.
What’s next? (July 10-16)
Kick-off of profit season
In contrast to uneasy investors, Wall Street analysts do not appear to be plagued by a potential recession, at least judging from the forecasts of the company’s future financial reports. At this point, FactSet expects S & P 500 companies to report revenues over the past three months on average 4.3% higher than they were a year ago. PepsiCo, which saw significant revenue growth in the first quarter after raising product prices, released its financial information on Tuesday, followed by Delta Air Lines on Wednesday. Banking groups, including JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup, will share financial statements later in the week, and reports on loan demand, credit card spending, and merger activity may provide a window to direction. Therefore, it will attract more attention than usual. Of the economy.
Euro downturn
The euro continued to fall as low as the dollar, hitting its 20-year low on Tuesday. This is another sign that the threat of a slowdown in the global economy is increasing. The currency began to fall after Russia invaded Ukraine in February, and in May many analysts predicted that the euro would be equal to the dollar by the end of the year and would continue to fall in 2023. Trade channels, sanctions on Russian energy, high commodity and food prices. But the fall is also the result of dollar domination. The dollar remains the strongest and most disturbing investor paradise to date.
Elon Musk withdraws from Twitter trading
In April, Elon Musk signed a $ 44 billion deal to buy Twitter. But on Friday, less than three months later, he announced his intention to break out of the acquisition of an influential social networking service. Musk said the company didn’t provide the information needed to calculate the number of spam accounts and he seems to be making inaccurate statements. Twitter immediately replied that it was decided to force the transaction. The next step is the court, which promises to be a major court battle, including months of high-value proceedings and high-stakes negotiations by both elite lawyers.
what else?
Ben & Jerry’s is urging parent company Unilever to prevent the sale of ice cream brands to Israeli licensees. Sandwiched between two competing bids for the acquisition, Spirit Airlines once again chose to postpone the decision a bit more. New data on consumer prices will be released this week, allowing Fed officials to see if efforts to curb inflation are working.
