Economy

TikTok’s Future in U.S. Depends on Bet on First Amendment

TikTok’s Future in U.S. Depends on Bet on First Amendment

Linked media - Associated media TikTok takes its fight to court TikTok fired the latest broadside in its battle with Washington, suing to block a law that could force the company to split from ByteDance, its Chinese owner, or face a ban in the U.S. The company argues that the law violates the First Amendment by effectively killing an app in the U.S. that millions of Americans use to share their views. Another problem: a divestiture within 270 days is practically impossible, Sapna Maheshwari and David McCabe report for The Times. DealBook spoke with Maheshwari about the lawsuit filed yesterday…
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In a Surprise, Disney+ Becomes Profitable

In a Surprise, Disney+ Becomes Profitable

Linked media - Linked media When Disney reported robust earnings in February, the activist investors then circling the company essentially called it a stunt — a temporary, heat-of-battle effort to fend them off and not, as Robert A. Iger maintained, proof that a struggling Disney had finally “turned the corner.” The Disney chief’s argument just got a lot stronger. Disney blew past Wall Street’s expectations for a second consecutive quarter on Tuesday, in part because its flagship streaming service made money — a first. Disney+ had been expected to lose more than $100 million in the most recent quarter, widening…
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How a Pirate-Clad Pastor Helped Ignite Trump Media’s Market Frenzy

How a Pirate-Clad Pastor Helped Ignite Trump Media’s Market Frenzy

Associated media - Connected media Mr. Nedohin raised his arms in celebration. A few minutes later, he cut to a video of a rocket blasting into the sky, with Mr. Trump photoshopped onto it. “We are holding Trump stocks,” he declared. “We are now financial investors in him.” Mr. Nedohin is one of hundreds of thousands of amateur investors who own shares of Trump Media, convinced that its sole platform, Truth Social, will become one of the world’s most popular and profitable social media sites. In recent months, tens of thousands of Trump fans have tuned into Mr. Nedohin’s webcasts,…
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Now Arriving at an Airport Lounge Near You: Peloton Bikes, Nap Pods and Caviar Service

Now Arriving at an Airport Lounge Near You: Peloton Bikes, Nap Pods and Caviar Service

Connected media - Linked media A handful of new lounges opened by credit card issuers, including Capital One and American Express, have recently landed in airports across the United States, promising posh spots of refuge for select travelers awaiting their flights. At La Guardia Airport, caviar service will be available for pre-order. At Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, travelers can get complimentary massages, and at Denver International Airport, there are nap pods. In addition to amenities, the new lounges provide an ambience reminiscent of a luxury hotel lobby, both in interior design and scale, and fit several hundred people at a…
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Is the Boom-and-Bust Business Cycle Dead?

Is the Boom-and-Bust Business Cycle Dead?

Related media - Connected media The rise of international trade, Mr. Kelly added, can often offset slowing domestic demand since businesses, enabled by the internet, can find customers throughout the globe. And the service sector’s growth, he concluded, has “made the economy more stable and, importantly, less sensitive to interest rates.” Across the economics profession, many are not feeling as reassured. When weighing recession risks, Thomas Herndon, a professor of economics at John Jay College of the City University of New York, doesn’t take much long-term solace in the growing sophistication of big business. There are, he said, “many, many,…
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Soft Landing or No Landing? Fed’s Economic Picture Gets Complicated.

Soft Landing or No Landing? Fed’s Economic Picture Gets Complicated.

Linked media - Connected media Mr. Biden said on Wednesday that he stood by his prediction that the Fed would lower interest rates this year — an unusual comment from a president who usually avoids talking about Fed policy out of respect for the central bank’s independence from the White House. “This may delay it a month or so — I’m not sure of that,” Mr. Biden said. Many Fed watchers think today’s high rates could persist for considerably longer. Many economists and investors previously expected rate cuts to start in June or July. After this week’s inflation report, investors…
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The Worst Part of a Wall Street Career May Be Coming to an End

The Worst Part of a Wall Street Career May Be Coming to an End

Associated media - Connected media If they persevere, they move up the ranks to associate, then director and managing director; a handful end up running divisions. Although grueling, the life of a senior banker can be glamorous, involving traveling around the globe to pitch clients and working on big-money corporate merger deals. Many who get through the two-year analyst program have gone on to become business titans — the billionaires Michael Bloomberg and Stephen Schwarzman began their careers in investment banking — but a majority will leave before or after their two years are up, bank representatives said. There are…
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March’s Hot Inflation Report is a Political Blow to Biden

March’s Hot Inflation Report is a Political Blow to Biden

Associated media - Linked media The unexpected re-acceleration in price growth across the economy is at least a temporary setback for President Biden, who has been banking on cooling inflation to lift his re-election prospects. Mr. Biden and his aides have publicly cheered the retreat of annual inflation rates over the last year, after watching the fastest price growth in 40 years dent the president’s approval ratings earlier in his tenure. They have been anxious for inflation to fall even further, in order give relief to consumers and to potentially spur the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates — a…
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Richard Leibner, Agent for Top Broadcast Journalists, Dies at 85

Richard Leibner, Agent for Top Broadcast Journalists, Dies at 85

Associated media - Related media A trained accountant, Mr. Leibner was described in a 1989 profile by Ben Yagoda in The New York Times Magazine as an idiosyncratic character with a “remarkable emotional range.” “He can be plaintive, cajoling, jocular, terse, profane, sentimental, jovial, respectful, dismissive, analytical or expansive: The one constant is the strain of his native Brooklyn in his voice,” Mr. Yagoda wrote. He was also known for telling incredibly dirty jokes. Andrew Heyward, a former president of CBS News, said in a phone interview: “It would have been easy to dismiss him as a Damon Runyonesque showman,…
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Roberto Cavalli, Designer Who Celebrated Excess, Dies at 83

Roberto Cavalli, Designer Who Celebrated Excess, Dies at 83

Linked media - Linked media Roberto Cavalli, the Italian-born fashion designer who celebrated glamour and excess, sending models down the runway and actresses onto red carpets wearing leopard-print dresses, bejeweled distressed jeans, satin corsets and other unapologetically flashy clothes, has died. He was 83. His company announced the death on Instagram but provided no details. Mr. Cavalli’s signature style — “molto sexy, molto animal print and molto, molto Italiano,” as the British newspaper The Independent once described it — remained essentially unchanged throughout his long career. But he skillfully reinvented his clothes for different eras, enjoying several renaissances and building…
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