>>Ahead Of The Bell
(New York, NY) -- The opening bell rings this morning on Wall Street after stocks closed sharply lower yesterday. This comes after disappointing reports from two huge tech companies. Google parent company Alphabet saw YouTube advertising fall below expectations, while Tesla saw shares tank after weaker than expected earnings results. At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 504 points to 39-853. The S&P 500 fell by 128 points to 54-27. The Nasdaq dropped by 654 points to 17-342.
>>Economy Grew In Q2
(Washington, DC) -- The U.S. economy grew in the second quarter of 2024, according to numbers out today from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The gross domestic product was up two-point-eight percent. That's more than analysts expected. The increase was thanks in part to higher levels of consumer spending.
>>Weekly Jobless Claims Down
(Washington, DC) -- Fewer Americans are filing first-time jobless claims. The Labor Department said today that it received 235-thousand requests for unemployment benefits in the week ending July 20th. That's down ten-thousand from the previous week's revised total.
>>CrowdStrike Promises More Testing After Global IT Outage
(Austin, TX) -- Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike is promising to do better after a faulty software update caused a global computer outage last Friday. The outage affected Windows systems across multiple industries, including airlines, banks and hospitals. The company now says it plans to improve software tests moving forward, adding additional layers of scrutiny to prevent this kind of thing from happening again. CEO George Kurtz has been called to soon testify before Congress about the outage.
>>FAA Increases Oversight For Southwest After String Of Close Calls
(Washington, DC) -- The FAA is increasing oversight for Southwest Airlines after a series of close calls. In a statement, it said it's looking into the airline "to ensure it is complying with federal safety regulations." This comes as there's ongoing worries about the state of U.S. aviation that first began in January, when a door panel on a Boeing aircraft blew out midair. The FAA didn't specify which incidents sparked its latest audit announcement on Southwest.
>>Elon Musk Loses $16B In One Day After Tesla Shares Crash
(Austin, TX) -- Elon Musk just lost 16-billion dollars in one day. Shares in Tesla collapsed on Wednesday, causing the CEO's net worth to plummet from 249-billion dollars to 232-billion dollars, according to Forbes. Stock in the electric car company dropped over eleven percent after Tesla's second-quarter earnings fell short of expectations. Musk is still the world's richest person, and is worth about 30-billion dollars more than the second richest person, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
>>Car Dealerships Held 125 Days Supply Of EVs In June, Industry Norm Is 60 Days
(New York, NY) -- Weaker demand for battery-powered cars has left dealers with too much stock, triggering deep discounts. According CarGurus, four of the five vehicle models with the biggest reduction in list price over the first half of this year were electric. In some cases, electric models are cheaper than their combustion-engine equivalents. Ford' F-150 Lightning is selling for about five-thousand-dollars less than its gas-engine alternatives. Over the past year, weaker demand for EV's has left dealers with too much stock, triggering deeper discounts and better-lease offers. Consumers have sited range anxiety and a lack of publicly available chargers as major sticking points for their reluctance to buy an EV.
>>"Inside Out 2" Becomes Top Grossing Animated Film Of All Time
(Burbank, CA) -- Pixar is feeling all the emotions with the continued success of "Inside Out 2." It's now the top-grossing animated film of all time at the global box office. On Tuesday, it finished with over one-point-46-billion dollars to surpass fellow Disney film "Frozen 2" for the top spot. The film also passed "Barbie" on Monday to climb to number 13 on the list of all-time grossing films. The success of "Inside Out 2" comes after a string of disappointing results at the box for Pixar.
>>NBA Rejects Warner Bros. Bid
(New York, NY) -- Warner Bros. Discovery's buzzer beater attempt to keep the NBA on TNT has airballed. The league said Wednesday that it has rejected the companies bid to match Amazon Prime Video for the broadcast rights. The league will enter new long-term contracts with Amazon, Disney and NBC Universal starting with the 2025-26 season. The deals are reportedly valued between one-point-eight and two-point-six-billion dollars per year. In a statement, Warner Bros. Discovery said the NBA can't reject their matching offer and they will take appropriate action.
