đ Streaming's new bundle arises
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Hereâs what you need to know
Walmart and Paramount+ struck a streaming deal. The entertainment companyâs content will be a perk for Walmartâs subscribers in whatâs largely seen as a challenge to Amazon. (More on Walmartâs upcoming earnings below).
Saudi Arabiaâs Public Investment Fund went on a US stock buying spree⊠Shares of Alphabet, Zoom, and Microsoft were among the top picks.
âŠwhile Michael Burryâs firm sold almost all its holdings. The investor retained shares in just one company, Geo Group, which invests in prisons and mental health facilities.
WeWorkâs ousted CEO Adam Neumann won new backers. Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz invested $350 million in his new real estate startup, the New York Times reported.
Starbucks sought a union-voting freeze. The coffee shop chain called for a pause in mail-in votes nationwide to investigate whether the National Labor Relations Board is secretly supporting organizing efforts in Kansas.
Apple cut HR roles. Having anticipated a hiring freeze, the Cupertino giant laid off 100 recruiter contractors. It also changed its remote work policy.
What to watch for
Walmart and Target report earnings today and tomorrow, respectively. The US retail giants are considered to be bellwethers not just of the state of their industry, but overall American spending habits.
Both Walmart and Target have issued profit warnings as excess inventory forced a reduction in the prices of goods like apparel, which the retailers had stocked up on to avoid supply disruptions. Walmart, the largest private employer in the US, also cut about 200 corporate roles this month.
Analysts expect Walmart to report a higher revenue but lower earnings on a year-over-year basis. A similar scenario is expected for Target. A closer look at the retailersâ areas of growth can show how customersâ habits are adapting to inflation. While US inflation didnât grow in July, food prices were still risingâwhich should boost Walmart and Targetâs revenue in the grocery aisle, but might do little to lower those other inventory piles.
China canât afford to worry about inflation
The about-face Chinaâs central bank did on rate cuts caught markets and analysts off guard. Itâs a strategy shift that indicates just how challenging an economic situation Beijing faces as it battles covid flare-ups, imposes pandemic lockdowns, and contends with a real estate meltdown.
As inflation rocks economies globally, for Chinaâs central bank, recovery is still its top priority. Any worries banking authorities have about inflation will have to take a backseat to the more urgent task of trying to rev up the countryâs economic engine.
Redboxâs wild ride ends quite predictably
Redbox, one of the strangest meme stocks of the retail-trading era, came to its utterly unsurprising, yet somehow still inexplicable, conclusion last week when it sold to Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment for $370 million.
While Redboxâthe money-losing DVD vending machine companyâmay have been one of the dumbest meme stocks, thereâs no denying it had many of the typical ingredients that have made companies like GameStop and Blackberry meme stalwarts. Redboxâs stock was cheap; it had some customer-facing nostalgia; and there was a lot of short-selling going on.
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Surprising discoveries
San Francisco thought $20,000 trash cans would help keep sidewalks clean. Yes, the bins have already been vandalized.
A drought allowed a Swiss artistâs annual river sculpture to sprawl into a castle complex... But the artist has mixed feelings: He wants the river to run, but is sad at the thought of his clay world disappearing.
âŠwhile extreme heat has unveiled shipwrecks, ghost villages, and ancient cities. For instance, a town covered by water in the early 1990s has re-emerged in Galicia, Spain.
Mattel filed a trademark lawsuit over Nicki Minaj-fronted âBarbie-Queâ chips. The doll maker will be furious to learn Australiansâ word for BBQ.
Instant noodles may become less cheap. Makers of the packaged noodles want to raise prices, which have stayed the same for 14 years in Thailand.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Send any news, comments, $20,000 trash cans, and shrimp on the barbie to [email protected]. Reader support makes Quartz available to allâbecome a member. Todayâs Daily Brief was brought to you by Sofia Lotto Persio, Mary Hui, Michelle Cheng, and Morgan Haefner.