Pandemic Era Gains Over the past two years, shares of fertilizer makers steadily climbed higher thanks to multiple factors. The first bump came when economies reopened in 2020. Fertilizer prices and their stocks got another lift thanks to bad growing weather which limited grain inventories around the world. Then, when [...]
Economic Data 3-year inflation expectations for June are due today. In May, the figure came in at 3.9%. Over the next 12 months, however, the outlook for price increases jumped to 6.6%, tying March for the highest rate on record. The NFIB small-business index for June will be published tomorrow. [...]
Flexe Raises Fresh Funds Despite the volatility in the venture capital space, deals are still getting done. In fact, another Seattle-based company became a unicorn this week. Flexe, a 9-year-old company, just crossed the $1 billion mark after raising $119 million in a Series D round. The company operates a [...]
The Clock Is Ticking As part of a $71 billion deal in 2019, Disney (DIS) acquired a 33% stake in streaming service Hulu from Fox (FOX). That gave Disney 67% ownership of Hulu, leaving Comcast (CMCSA) with the remaining 33%. At the time, Comcast agreed to hold on to its [...]
Announcement and Public Comments Ahead of the 2020 election, President Joe Biden made student loan forgiveness a focus of his campaign. On Wednesday, his administration moved forward with plans aimed at overhauling what U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona called “a broken system.” For context, the $1.7 trillion owed on [...]
Challenging Environment The first quarter of 2022 brought forth a series of economic woes that spilled over into the online ad market. These included both rising interest rates and the war in Ukraine, all while inflation reached its highest rate in 40 years. Meta Platform’s (META) Facebook is considered by [...]
Three Big Clouds The three companies that dominate cloud computing are in growth mode. As the pandemic led to more off-site work, cloud computing became essential for most businesses. This trend helped Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet’s Google (GOOGL), and Microsoft (MSFT) expand their cloud divisions even further. Synergy Research Group notes [...]
Pumped Up Paycheck The US labor market remains especially tight at present. Many employers are having difficulty filling open jobs, all while inflation is pushing up costs and reducing Americans’ spending power. In a bid to retain talent, many companies are handing out raises or special one-time bonuses. This includes [...]
First Half: Glad it’s Over Admittedly, I was foreseeing something along the lines of a disruptive thunderstorm, but what we had in the first half was more like a series of destructive tornadoes. We knew we were facing an inflation problem, but we didn’t yet know it was this big [...]
Economic Data Today, May’s factory orders are due. The Commerce Department reported factory orders rose 0.3% in April, after increasing 1.8% in March. Also the revised number for May’s capital equipment orders will be released. The preliminary number showed a 0.7% advance, despite rising interest rates. June’s total vehicle sales [...]
