Category: News and Views

Stocks week ahead: How resilient is the US consumer? | CNN

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Worries about an economic slowdown are running wild on Wall Street. Despite concerns about inflation, higher interest rates from the Federal Reserve, supply chain issues and geopolitical turmoil due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Covid outbreaks in China, American consumers continue to do what they do best: shop until they drop.

Retail sales rose at a healthy 0.5% clip in March when compared to February and were up 6.9% from March 2021. Economists are expecting that the strong trend for retail lasted into April as well. The government will report retail sales figures for April on Tuesday. Forecasts are calling for a 0.7% jump from March levels.

In other words, experts don’t think negative headlines and recent market turmoil slowed down consumer spending.

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Next Motorola Razr could get rid of the offbeat chin design | Digital Trends

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Motorola Razr devices have been known for their offbeat design language. The original Razr sold so well that Motorola retained the name for its first foldable smartphone lineup. Now, the company seems to be planning to get rid of the design that set the Razr apart from the plethora of smartphones on the market.

According to a new report by 91Mobiles, Motorola is all set to unveil the next-gen foldable Razr. It is said to be a big upgrade both in terms of design and internal hardware. Up until now, Motorola has stayed away from packing a flagship system on a chip in its foldable smartphone, but things are all set to change now. As per the report, the upcoming Motorola Razr will be offered in two variants: one powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and the other by the yet-to-be-launched Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 Plus chipset.

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Kentucky Derby: 80-1 outsider Rich Strike pulls off historic upset | BBC News

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An 80-1 outsider has won the Kentucky Derby, in one of the biggest upsets in the history of America’s most celebrated horse race.

Rich Strike – ridden by Sonny Leon – stormed to victory at Churchill Downs in Louisville despite having the longest odds among all 20 horses.

The horse was only brought in on Friday after another had to drop out.

It is the second-longest shot to win the Run for the Roses after Donerail won at 91-1 odds in 1913.

Rich Strike pulled ahead down the stretch to beat favorite Epicenter, who was second, and Zandon, who was third.

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Crypto gaming is growing, but can it reach people outside of the web3 world? | TechCrunch

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Last year was big for the play-to-earn gaming scene, which goes hand-in-hand with the crypto world, but as the games become more advanced and provide more opportunities for users, what’s next for the industry?

Perhaps it’s building out the gaming experience or creating new openings for non-crypto-native players to enter the space, but there’s a range of opportunities and challenges for builders and gamers.

“The goal is to bring the Web 2.0 traditional gaming masses to web3,” Alex Paley, co-founder of Solana-based blockchain gaming studio Faraway, said to TechCrunch. “The only way you do that is by removing as many artificial barriers as possible.”

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Inside Shein’s Sudden Rise: Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control | WIRED

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LAST FALL, IN the stagnation of pandemic life, I became fascinated with videos of influencers standing in their bedrooms and trying on clothes from a company called Shein.

In the TikToks, hashtagged #sheinhaul, a young woman would hold up a big plastic bag and rip into it, releasing a cascade of smaller plastic bags, each containing a neatly folded item of clothing. The shot would then cut to the woman wearing one piece at a time, rapid-fire, interspersed with screenshots from Shein’s app showing the prices: an $8 dress, a $12 swimsuit.

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‘They Don’t Know What Work Actually Means’: Manager Fired After Posting Rant Against Gen Z on Front Door | Entrepreneur

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It’s long been joked about that boomers blame millennials and Gen Z for everything, including critiques on the younger generations’ work ethic and alleged inability to save and spend money responsibly.

But one Dollar Tree manager took the generational assumptions a little too far after posting a hiring notice that banned Gen Z hopefuls from applying, subsequently getting herself fired in the process.

The Dollar Tree in Bremen, Indiana has become the source of internet infamy after a photo made its rounds of a sign that was plastered to the front of the store.

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These retirement bills let older workers put even more into their 401(k)s | CNN

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If a popular piece of retirement legislation makes it to President Biden’s desk this year, it would give older 401(k) participants the opportunity to contribute more to their nest egg and possibly bolster their tax-free savings.

Currently, anyone 50 or older may contribute an additional $6,500 on top of the annual $20,500 federal 401(k) contribution limit, for a total of $27,000 a year.

But under the Secure Act 2.0, which the House passed in March, the cap on catch-up contributions would increase to $10,000 for people ages 62, 63 and 64. So they’d be allowed to save a total of $30,500 in their 401(k)s.

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Amazon’s Kindle will finally support epub files | Mashable

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You know how every other ebook reader under the sun supports EPUB files, but Amazon’s Kindle stubbornly refuses to do so? Well, that’s changing.

Amazon quietly updated its help documentation (via Goodreader) to state that Kindle devices will start supporting EPUB files.

There’s a catch, though. “Beginning in late 2022, Send to Kindle applications will support EPUB (.EPUB) format,” says the document. This means you’ll be able to send EPUB files to your Kindle via Amazon’s handy Send to Kindle system, which essentially lets you upload documents to your Kindle by emailing them to your Kindle email address. It’s unclear, however, whether Kindles will natively support EPUB files, allowing you to purchase ebooks from Amazon’s library in the EPUB format directly.

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Buckle up: The Fed is about to get tough on inflation | CNN

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Last month, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time since December 2018. Now there are growing expectations that the central bank is about to dramatically step up the size and pace of its rate hikes in order to put a brake on surging consumer prices.

St. Louis Federal Reserve president James Bullard, one of the more hawkish members among the Fed’s regional bank chiefs, reiterated at an event Monday that the Fed needs to “expeditiously” raise rates in order to tamp down inflation. (Inflation hawks typically push for higher rates while so-called doves favor lower rates to stimulate growth.) Bullard suggested the Fed could raise rates by as much as 75 basis points.

Fed chair Jerome Powell has started to sound a lot more hawkish in recent weeks, but he may not want to move as aggressively as Bullard would like. But it’s clear that rates are likely to start climbing a lot higher soon.

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