“Market Volatility Global IT Outages and Streaming Surges: Weekly Business Roundup”
Market Rotation:
Investors starting their trading day should note five key points: Thursday saw shares drop again as investors continued to abandon mega-cap tech plays. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 533.06 points or 1.29%, while the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped by 0.78% and 0.70% respectively. This time, the decline didn’t just affect major tech names; 9 out of 10 Dow categories and 10 out of 11 S&P 500 sectors saw declines. Even the small-cap-focused Russell 2000, which benefited from expectations of upcoming interest rate cuts, saw a drop of nearly 1.9%. Amidst this trend, Nvidia shares rose by approximately 3% on Thursday.
·Major Global Outages:
Businesses worldwide struggled with major IT outages early Friday morning as cybersecurity giant CrowdStrike encountered issues in its latest technical update. As a result, flights were grounded and banking and financial services were disrupted. Meanwhile, Microsoft users worldwide experienced the “Blue Screen of Death,” stuck in a restart loop due to two separate and unrelated issues—one related to CrowdStrike and another tied to its Azure cloud computing platform. The company informed NBC that CrowdStrike is in the process of rolling back that update which caused the issue. Pre-market trading saw CrowdStrike shares drop by up to 15%.
· Ta-Daam:
Netflix exceeded analysts’ expectations when it released its second-quarter earnings after the bell on Thursday. The massive streaming service acquired even more new users worldwide, reporting a 34% increase in ad-supported memberships over the quarter over the same period previous year. “Surpassing 277 million subscribers worldwide, Netflix solidifies its reign as the largest subscription-based streaming platform globally.”However, this metric may not sustain in the long term. The company is focused on revenue and operating margin, gradually shifting away from subscriber numbers or average revenue per user data starting in 2025.Revenue increased by 17% over the previous year, according to the study.
· Prime Time Amazon Prime Day:
set a new record for online shopping. According to Adobe Analytics, U.S. consumers spent .2 billion in online purchases on Tuesday and Wednesday, marking an 11% increase compared to the previous year. This surpasses the estimated billion. Adobe’s numbers track not only Amazon but a significant portion of retail sites in the U.S. Amazon did not disclose its total sales from the two-day event, except that its revenue was “record-breaking.” Adobe noted that top categories included consumer electronics and back-to-school products, marking a shift from pandemic fatigue-driven pantry staples and office supplies stocked by weary consumers last year.
· Politics:
Democratic megadonors are exerting pressure on President Joe Biden to withdraw from the 2024 race alongside party leaders. “Biden confronts mounting pressure amidst fears that his contentious debates could not only jeopardize his presidency but also threaten Democratic dominance in the Senate, potentially dashing hopes for a Congressional majority.” Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump made his first public comments following an assassination attempt at a campaign rally last weekend in Milwaukee during his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention nomination, recalling events and taking a few swipes at Biden, briefly breaking from his recent rallies.
CNBC News: https://www.cnbc.com/