>>Goldman Sachs Lowers Economic Growth Forecast
(New York, NY) -- Goldman Sachs is lowering its 2023 economic growth forecast over concerns about the strength of the banking sector. The firm lowered its growth forecast to one-point-two-percent. That's a drop of zero-point-three percentage points. Goldman Sachs anticipates smaller banks will try to preserve liquidity to meet depositor withdrawals following the failure of two banks this month. Analysts believe a pullback in lending will result in a tightening in bank lending standards.
>>Producer Price Index Drops
(Undated) -- A key price index unexpectedly dropped last month, the Labor Department reports, in what could be encouraging news for inflation. The Producer Price Index, which measures wholesale prices, dropped a tenth of a percent month-over-month in February. Market experts had been expecting an increase of three-tenths of a percent. Food prices dropped a little over two percent, with eggs seeing a fall in price of more than 36 percent. The year-over-year numbers showed an increase of four-point-six percent.
>>New SVB Head: Bank Is Open For Business
(Santa Clara, CA) -- The new head of Silicon Valley Bank says it's open for business as usual. This comes after the FDIC took control of the bank last week following its collapse. NBC News reports the bank's new CEO held a meeting with employees today to assure them SVB wasn't closing its doors. He said the company is making new loans, processing payments and carrying out usual business activities. Federal authorities stepped in to back all of the bank's deposits.
>>World's Largest Semiconductor Plant To Be Built In South Korea
(South Korea) -- What's being called the world's largest semiconductor plant will be built in South Korea. It's worth nearly 230-billion dollars and will be located just outside of Seoul. A Samsung spokesperson told CNBC the company's investment goes all the way until 2042. The announcement comes after American lawmakers passed the Chips and Science Act last year.
>>Kelloggs Announces New Company Names
(Battle Creek, MI) -- Kellogg's has announced the names of the two companies it will soon become. Officials at the Michigan-based company say the WK Kellogg Co will focus on cereals, while Kellanova will cover snack brands like Pop-Tarts and Cheez-Its. The split is expected to happen by the end of the year.
>>Ryan Reynolds Mint Mobile To Be Sold To T-Mobile
(Bonn, Germany) -- Ryan Reynolds' Mint Mobile is set to be acquired by T-Mobile for over one-billion dollars. Reynolds currently holds a minority ownership stake in the company. T-Mobile said it'll be able to "leverage Mint's industry-leading digital marketing expertise as part of its broader portfolio to reach new customer segments." Mint Mobile's founders will stay at T-Mobile to manage the brands when the deal closes. Reynolds will also continue in his creative role for Mint.
