What I Saw Happen -- Q1 2022

Digital Media PublishingBloomberg Media CEO Justin Smith stepped down to found a new media company and tapped New York Times media columnist Ben Smith to lead its future newsroomThe New York Times Co has agreed to acquire subscription sports site The Athletic in a deal valued at around 550MPenske Media acquired The American Pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival a relied upon communications hospitality and media center for global attendeesReddit is aiming to go public and could be valued at as much as 15B The company is said to be working with Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs on the initial public offeringSports Illustrated rolled out a clothing collaboration with JC PenneyA group of DCbased journalists launched a new media company called quotGridquot that focuses on hard news analysis and investigative reportingThe Chicago Public Media Board of Directors CPM which runs public radio station WBEZ voted on Tuesday to acquire the Chicago SunTimes The deal was a no cash acquisitionOpenWeb the premium audience relationship platform announced it has acquired Hive Media Group a digital publisher and engagement platform that builds proprietary and world class publisher technologiesThe New York Times Co is buying Wordle a free word game that recently exploded in popularity across Twitter and other web platforms The publisher announced the acquisition saying it paid amp8220an undisclosed price in the low seven figuresamp8221 for the gameCondamp233 Nast is launching a recipe subscription product that draws from the archives and editorial expertise of its venerable foodie brands Bon Appamp233tit and Epicurious Readers will be asked to pay up to 5988 per year based on the nondiscounted monthly rate of 499 for access to more than 50000 recipes across BonAppetitcom and EpicuriouscomDotdash Meredith is eliminating the print editions of six of the former Meredith Corpamp8217s most iconic magazines including InStyle Entertainment Weekly Eating Well and People en EspanolCrypto exchange Binance takes 200M stake in Forbes ahead of SPAC IPOFuture plc is opening a hub for video production in Atlanta to help boost female viewershipIDG Communications the nearly 60yearold publisher that39s home to brands like PCWorld Macworld and TechHive is rebranding as FoundryThe US consumer magazine industry shrunk by more than 20 in the past five years due largely to print advertising declines per PwC data But the rate of decline is expected to slow slightly in the next five years thanks to new efforts from online media companies to acquire and digitize traditional print brandsVogue and GQ will make content exclusively for TikTok both for their own respective brand channels and in print under a new deal Condamp233 Nast signed with the social media platformApollo Global Management the private equity firm that acquired Yahoo from Verizon for 5 billion last year is having preliminary discussions with sportsbetting companies to merge their assets with Yahoo Sports according to people familiar with the matterVox Media told it plans to lay off 3 of employees following the completion of its merger with Group Nine MediaTech workers at the New York Times voted overwhelmingly in favor of unionizing with the NewsGuild the 600member Times Tech Guild will be the largest union of tech workers with bargaining rights in the country per the NewsGuildReddit has signed a partnership agreement with IPG Mediabrands The deal will give the media and marketing solutions division of Interpublic Group advanced access to cultural trends in realtime datadriven insights and other strategic benefits The partnership will also benefit the social news aggregation websiteamp8217s global advertising businessBDG formerly Bustle is leaning into parenting content as a bigger share of its business and pauses SPACPuck the subscription newsletter company is moving into podcasts it will launch two new shows including one that will be cocreated with Bill Simmons39 quotThe Ringerquot80 current and former BuzzFeed employees claim they were shortchanged during the IPO after not being allowed to sell shares at higher pricesRecurrent Ventures a venture equitybacked digital media company has acquired Business of Home a digital and print publication dedicated to home and interior design enthusiastsBuzzFeed is laying off 17 of its workforce and asking for voluntary buyouts in its news division after its first earnings call as a public companyFuture Plc the global enthusiast and B2B media platform announced the acquisition of two businesses intended to boost the companyamp8217s social media expertise The acquired companies are WhatCulture a socialfirst brand focused on the gaming and entertainment market and the datainsights startup Waive which uses machine learning to identify social trendsNew paperwork filed by Forbes39 SPAC Magnum Opus shows that the company and Forbes39 majority shareholder have agreed to extend their SPAC termination agreement deadline from March 31 to May 31Ad TechIntegral Ad Science announced that it has bought Context a French contextual advertising startup This marks IASamp8217s third acquisition in the past 12 months following the purchase of programmatic payments auditing service Amino Payments in January 2021 and CTV ad server Publica over the summerNBCUniversal built a firstparty identity platform that includes 50M households and 150M individual consumers to bolster its crossplatform targetingDigital ad firm Magnite is acquiring data company Nth PartyCryptocentric browser firm Brave announced it had passed 50M monthly active users doubling growth on a yearoveryear basis for the fifth year in a row Daily active users averaged 155M during DecemberInnovid an advertising tech co that focuses on streaming television is acquiring measurement and attribution platform TVSquared in a cash and stock transaction valued at 160MThe advertisingtechnology platform The Trade Desk this week rolled out a new product called OpenPath that it says connects advertisers directly to publishersamp8217 ad inventory and in doing so avoids Googleamp8217s Open Bidding and other supplyside advertising platforms The move is significant in the adtech world for several reasons First The Trade Desk is the largest independent demandside adtech platform in the world competing with Googleamp8217s DoubleClick and Facebookamp8217s Ads among others The Trade Desk managed 62 billion of the worldamp8217s ad programmatic spend in 2021 and produced nearly 12 billion in revenue according to its latest earnings reportOutbrain the web recommendation platform annc39d its intended 55M purchase of Video Intelligence amp8211 its first acquisition following its July IPOMagnite announced the acquisition of Carbon a platform that enables publishers to measure manage and monetize audiences in realtime As the industry prepares for the deprecation of third party cookies and other third party identifiers the acquisition accelerates Magniteamp8217s sellerfirst privacyfocused identity and audience solutions focused around firstparty segments and bolsters the Product and Engineering teams in this critical areaThe Trade Desk and LiveRamp announced that they plan to collaborate with key European market leaders on the development and deployment of European Unified ID EUID a new privacyconscious identity solution for the European advertising market Based on Unified ID 20 the new identifier will account for specific market requirements in Europe and the UK including GDPR regulations and consent framework limitationsRussia39s invasion of Ukraine threatens to disrupt Criteo39s 380 million acquisition of IponwebA partnership between ingame ad tech company Anzu and NBCUniversal aims to build out the infrastructure for serving ingame ads using programmatic techAdTech Company TripleLift Is Buying 1plusX for 150 MillionBig TechFranceamp8217s data watchdog has announced a total of 240M in fines for Google and Meta over how many clicks are required for users to refuse datatracking cookies when visiting the company platformsThe Microsoft Advertising audience as of March 2021 reached 1B people globally on the search engine Bing as well as Outlookcom AOL Yahoo Microsoft News MSNcom and several other Microsoft properties and premium publisher partners according to Microsoft internal data and ComscoreFrance fines Google a record 170M for making it too difficult to opt out of cookies The French watchdog also fined Facebook39s holding company Meta amp836460M or around 68M for the same offenseUS tech giant is accused of manipulating ad auctions to increase Google39s win rates and allocate ad spend to preferred clients losing publishers up to 40 of revenueGoogle manipulated the price and operations of ad auctions according to newly unredacted details revealed Friday in an antitrust lawsuit filed in 2020 by a coalition of statesMicrosoft acquires Activision Blizzard in allcash deal valued at 687BGoogle is scrapping a contested interestbased advertising system it was developing as part of its efforts to phase out online trackers called thirdparty cookies and taking a new approach under the new proposal which Google is calling amp8220topicsamp8221 a useramp8217s Chrome browser detects some of their top areas of interest each week based on the websites the person visitsGoogle asked a federal judge to dismiss the majority of an antitrust lawsuit filed by Texas and other states that accused the company of abusing its dominance of the online advertising marketTikTok and Instagram are now planning to incentivize their creator base Instagram has started testing subscriptions in the US a feature that lets creators offer paid access to their followers for exclusive content on Instagram Similarly TikTok is testing paid subscriptions that will let creators put their content behind a paywall for exclusive accessAmazon for the first time reported revenue from its advertising business with growth of 32 yearoveryear and 97 billion during 4Q21 Revenue at cloud computing business Amazon Web Services rose almost 40 to 1778 billion handily topping estimates The company also said it is raising the price of its annual Prime membership to 139 from 119Google Meta formerly Facebook and Amazon have never been so powerful Together they accounted for more than 7 in 10 74 of global digital ad spending last year which is 47 of all money spent on advertising over that period That put them on track to reach a dominant share of the entire advertising market this yearHoping to obtain regulatory approval for a 687 billion acquisition Microsoft announced a new set of Open App Store Principles amp8220We have developed these principles in part to address Microsoftamp8217s growing role and responsibility as we start the process of seeking regulatory approval in capitals around the world for our acquisition of Activision Blizzardamp8221 said President and Vice Chair Brad Smith amp8220We want regulators and the public to know that as a company Microsoft is committed to adapting to these new laws and with these principles weamp8217re moving to do soMeta claims to now undercount web conversions on iOS by around 8 having said last year that Appleamp8217s tracking changes would mean its measurements were off by 15In its most recent earnings report Meta announced that privacy changes imposed by Apple would hit its business to the tune of around 10bn for the full year 2022 It based that estimate in part on the newfound difficulty of measuring the effectiveness of its advertising units on iOS devicesGoogle said it will phase out crossapp ad trackers on Android smartphones a move aimed at increasing data privacy for consumers using its operating system It plans to keep supporting current smartphone identifiers for at least the next two years and to give the industry substantial notice before any changes It said it plans to work with the industry to develop the replacementsSnapchat is currently beta testing midroll ads that will appear in the Stories of a small group of US creators with a wider rollout happening in the coming monthsMeta escalates its fight with TikTok Facebookamp8217s parent expanded the availability of Reels a shortvideo format that competes with TikTok The move comes weeks after Meta admitted that the Chineseowned video platform was eroding its business particularly among younger usersLinkedIn is launching its own podcast networkTikTok expands maximum video length to 10 minutesTwitter changed its feed back to chronological order after users complained about the companyamp8217s algorithmic amp8220Homeamp8221 feedThe UK Government announced Wednesday that executives could now face prosecution or jail time within two months of the new Online Safety Bill becoming law instead of two years as it was previously drafted The government said a range of new offenses had been added to the bill that makes the senior managers at tech firms criminally liable for destroying evidence failing to attend or providing false information in interviewsMeta the owner of Facebook and Instagram updated its ads platform introducing more automation into campaigns as the company continues to adjust to privacy and data restrictions in online marketingSpotify paid out 7 billion to the music industry in 2021 quotthe highest annual payment from any single retailer in historyquot the audio giant said It also said that for the first time over 1000 artists generated over 1 million on SpotifyEuropean lawmakers reached agreement on the main points of a new digitalcompetition law focused on the worldamp8217s biggest tech companies setting the stage for one of the most sweeping pieces of technologyregulation legislation to go into effect next year The new law known as the Digital Markets Act is part of the biggest proposed expansion of globaltech regulation in decades It seeks to impose new obligations and prohibitions on a small cadre of digital giants the European Union defines as gatekeepersamp8212backed by fines for noncompliance that based on early drafts of the legislation could rise into the tens of billions of dollarsApple doubled down on podcasts adding audience analytics tools and promotional tools that will go live in April The new features will allow the company to better compete with SpotifyGoogle said it39s adding a new label to search results for news stories interviews announcements and press releases that are frequently cited by other media outlets in an effort to elevate original reportingStreamingWarnerMediaamp8217s streaming service HBO Max and HBO ended 2021 with about 738M subscribers exceeding managementamp8217s forecast ATampampT said WednesdayViewership for the NFL39s 2021 regular season was up 10 from 2020 its highestrated season average since 2015 per Nielsen The NFL accounted for 41 of the 50 mostwatched broadcasts of 2021 per Sportico and 75 of the top 100 Games averaged 171 million viewers TVdigital per the league and 370 billion total minutes were consumed up 18 from 2020 and the secondhighest total since 2015According to a Financial Times report the top eight US media groups expect to spend at least 115B on new movies and TV shows in 2022 to attract new customers for the video streaming bizAn investment firm backed by Blackstone and run by one time Disney colleagues Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs has taken a minority stake in Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smithamp8217s Westbrook IncKevin Mayer and Tom Staggsamp8217 Blackstonebacked media venture has set its next acquisition of Faraway Road Productions the company behind Fauda and Hit ampamp RunApple has held talks with Major League Baseball about streaming weekday national games previously carried by ESPNScott Rosenberg a prominent Roku executive who helped launch the Roku Channel is stepping down after nearly a decadeNetflix has increased the price of its monthly subscription plans in the US and Canada effective immediately for new subscribers beginning on Friday In the US subscribers to Netflixamp8217s basic plan which allows for one stream on one screen at a time and does not have HD streaming will now be charged 999 a month up from 899 Standard plans amp8212 which allow for users to stream on two screens at the same time amp8212 now cost 1549 per month an increase from 1399 while premium plans have inched up to 1999 a monthNetflix has ordered a docuseries following menamp8217s and womenamp8217s tennis players during four Grand Slam tennis tournaments The series comes from Box to Box Films amp8220Formula 1 Drive to Surviveamp8221 which is also producing a project featuring the PGA golf tour for NetflixYouTube is winding down its original programming business electing to focus on creatordriven content and live shoppable programsSome Roku smart TV owners are seeing banner ads appear over live contentSnapchat has announced that itamp8217s renewed its ongoing content deals with Disney Viacom and NBCUniversal which will see exclusive shows and programming broadcast to Snapchat Discover over the coming yearDiscovery Inc commissioned 556 firstrun TV shows in 2021 more than any other media company according to Ampere Analysis ViacomCBS came in second with 406 Netflix placed third with 403 and Disney was fourth with 387Roughly half of US viewers who signed up for Disney HBO Max and Apple TV within three days of the release of Hamilton Wonder Woman 1984 and Greyhound unsubscribed within six monthsReacher has been renewed for a second season on Amazon The action thriller series debuted on the streamer on Feb 4 and is based on the Jack Reacher novel series by Lee Child Per Amazon the show is already one of their top five mostwatched shows of all time though Amazon also does not provide viewership numbersNetfllix has posted a note on its platform informing subscribers that six Marvel Defenders universe shows will not be available on the service after March 1The shows amp8212 The Defenders Daredevil Jessica Jones Luke Cage Iron Fist and The Punisher were made for Netflix by Disneyamp8217s nowdefunct Marvel Television between 2015 and 2019Roku is exploring a plan to manufacture its own TVsStreaming in the US reached a new alltime high in Jan in total minutes during a week according to Nielsenamp8217s latest The Gauge report The ratings co said the first week of January totaled 1976B minutes of streaming vs the previous record of 183B minutes which just set during 202139s Christmas weekDisney is expanding its Self Service business in a bid to democratize access to streaming inventory across its portfolio of brands Disney Advertising is opening SelfServe Platform known as Hulu Ad Manager to agencies and launching an ondemand curriculum to empower underrepresentedowned small businesses Additionally advertisers will have turnkey access and seamless setup through the selfserve solution with a faster time from signuptolaunch campaignsCNN to cost 299 a month at launch Early subscribers will be able to lock in the 299 rate for life as long as their accounts are active Otherwise the service will cost 599 a monthNBCUniversal is terminating its nextday streaming deal with Hulu a move that will go into effect with the new TV season in September amp8211 and strengthen NBCU streamer Peacock Shows including Saturday Night Live and The Voice along with the rest of NBCUamp8217s broadcast and cable lineup for next season wonamp8217t be available to stream on Hulu although Hulu will still have rights to catalog content Comcast has 33 ownership of Hulu but Disney has operational control itamp8217s expected that Comcast will sell that ownership stakeApple has signed a deal with Major League Baseball to livestream two games on Friday nights on its Apple TV serviceHBO Max the general entertainment streaming service from WarnerMedia and Discovery the streaming service from Discovery that includes mostly nonscripted shows will combine after WarnerMedia and Discovery merge next monthStreaming companies are cracking down on password sharing as the number of quarterly subscription cancellations in the US growsA new report claims the NFL is developing its own streaming service that would include games radio podcasts and content for each teamCommerceBest Buy became the latest retailer to spin up an inhouse adsales unit aiming to reach brands beyond its endemic tech marketersDepartment stores are running out of ways to reinvent themselves going into 2022Walmart is significantly scaling up its delivery service that allows it to enter a customeramp8217s home or garage to deliver groceries and other purchases or pick up returnsShopify filed a patent application for a system of sensors that can measure traffic in retail storeGap Inc is globally launching an assortment of collectible nonfungible tokens NFTs with a gamified digital experienceWalmart offering quotsmartquot outdoor boxes for at home grocery deliveriesAmazon going to the mall with its firstever clothing storeAmazon has scrapped plans to stop accepting Visa credit cards in the UKPanera now lets diners sit down and order from the table using its app instead of lining up at the cash registerEveryday items are being priced more like airline tickets and gasoline where the sticker prices can move frequently within hours or daysTarget Corp is doubling down on beauty The discount retailer is adding nearly 40 new beauty brands to its assortment Half of the new brands will be exclusive to Target and most items will sell for 10 or lessAlaska Airlines began selling payasyougo flight passes in a move that hops on the popularity of the subscription model Travelers who agree to pay a monthly fee will receive credits to fly a fixed number of roundtrips among 16 selected US West Coast airportsShopify plans to spend 1 billion over two years to build a network of warehouses that can deliver packages in two days or less to more than 90 of the US populationAmazon will accept Visa credit cards across all of its sites after the two companies reached a global agreementMacyamp8217s has opted against separating its ecommerce business from its bricksandmortar stores after calls from an activist investorEbay forecast bleak Q1 results as the ecommerce platform tackles waning online demand stiff competition and global supply chain disruptions sending the company39s shares down nearly 9 in extended tradingTarget39s annual revenue crosses 100 billionAmazon shutters bookstores to double down on grocery Amazon plans to close nearly 70 physical retail locations in the US and United Kingdom including bookstores Amazon 4star stores and popup shopsWalmart said it is introducing an ecommerce tool that aims to let customers see how garments fit on a model of their height shape and skin toneTwitter began a beta test for Twitter Shops which lets marketers sell up to 50 products directly on the platformTwitter Shops Twitter is testing a shopping feature that lets users browse products within the app Sellers can directly list up to 50 productsGoogle will allow people who download Spotify to pay using the streaming music serviceamp8217s own billing system as an alternative to its Google Play billing systemInstacart announced it will start offering enterprise software to grocery stores to help manage ecommerce fulfillment and adsWeb3Fanatics is buying Toppsamp8217 tradingcard business for 500MGameStop is launching a division to develop a marketplace for nonfungible tokens and establish cryptocurrency partnerships pushing the company into muchhyped areas as it tries to turn around its core videogame businessOpenSea reaches 13B valuation in latest raise OpenSea the NFT auction marketplace announced that it closed a 300M Series C funding round at a 133B valuationNew York state will permit mobile sports betting starting January 8TakeTwo39s acquisition of Zynga could create a formidable mobile internet ad platformThe NFL has regained its swagger in the justcompleted regular season through 18 weeks boosting its Nielsenmeasured average game viewership up 7 to 163 million versus last seasonGoogle has hired a former PayPal executive to help improve Google Pay as it prepares to enter the crypto marketWynn Resorts is looking to sell its online sports betting business at what appears to be a deep discount according to a NY Post reportCBS Sports wrapped up its mostwatched NFL season in six years by delivering its largest audience of the season for the AFC Championship Game as Cincinnatiamp8217s overtime victory at Kansas City on Sunday averaged 47851 million viewers and is the mostwatched Conference Championship Game in the early window in six yearsThe investment firm of Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian raised 500 million across two new funds with a plan to invest primarily in crypto startupsNBC has sold out all advertising inventory in the Super Bowl LVI across NBC Telemundo and all digital platforms including Peacock with some 30second commercial spots on NBC going for a record 71 millionGamblers will bet an estimated 76 billion on the Super Bowl up 78 from last year according to the American Gaming AssociationNonfungible token marketplace OpenSea is investigating an apparent phishing attack on Saturday that led to stolen NFTs from some userOnline betting opens in New York with a bang Gamblers have placed 24 billion in wagers in the state since betting was legalized there last month That made New York the biggest gambling hub in the US and led to nearly 80 million in tax revenue amp8212 and new worries about gambling addictions in the stateDerek Jeter stepped down as CEO of the Miami Marlins and sold his stake in the pro baseball teamThe sportsmerchandising company Fanatics has raised 15 billion in new capital at a 27 billion valuationTurner Sports has landed a longterm deal with the US Soccer Federation for an eightyear multimedia rights agreement that will make TNTTBS and HBO Max the exclusive Englishlanguage home to more than 20 Womenamp8217s and Menamp8217s National Team matches each yearTotal NFT sales for all markets hit 176B in 2021 Up 200x from 82M in 2020Total NFT profits when reselling or buying reached 54B in 2021 A huge jump 44900 from 12M in 2020Ethereum remains by far the main blockchain when it comes to NFT transactions with 78 of the entire marketFoxamp8217s plans in the digital collectibles space are beginning to get a little clearer The broadcast network will launch its first set of nonfungible tokens NFTs tied to its celebrity singing competition The Masked Singer The company will also launch a marketplace and community in which users can buy sell or trade Masked Singer NFTs which it is calling The MaskVerseNFT giant Yuga Labs the parent company behind Bored Ape Yacht Club acquired the rights to Cryptopunks and Meebits both owned by Larva Labs Across the 3 collections Yuga owns the rights to 55B in NFTsESPN hired Joe Buck and Troy Aikman from Fox to host amp8220Monday Night Footballamp8221Great Web30 pod here httpspodcastsapplecomuspodcastsowhatthehellisweb3withthecherninid1080467174i1000547747331 Mark Zuckerberg confirmed that NFTs are coming to Instagram soon and hinted that users will be able to mint NFTs in Instagram as wellThe latest Bored Ape Yacht Club collaboration includes CBD skin care hair care and candles with images of two NFTs from the collectionYuga Labs the parent company behind Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs released ApeCoin amp8212 a new token that will be used in a playtoearn game based on BAYC charactersYuga Labs has secured a virtually unprecedented 450 million in seed funding bringing the startup to a postmoney valuation of 4 billion Best known as the creator of popular NFT collection Bored Ape Yacht Club Yuga Labs will use the capital for staff expansion and future partnershipsThe metaverse might mean many businesses one day have roles such as metaverse experience designer and chief metaverse officers but chief experience officers are likely to take the lead in the meantimeOther StuffAirbnb doesnamp8217t plan to revert to prepandemic levels of marketing on search platforms like Google because it found that most people came to its platform organically when it pulled the plug on those initiativesSay goodbye to dollar stores 2buck Chuck and the dollar pizza slice They got wiped out by the pandemicamp160Cinnabon and Auntie Anneamp8217s are looking to move outside the mall The two snack concepts are as much a part of US mall culture as The Gap and teenagers recently signed a 10unit deal with Fresh Dining an existing Auntie Anneamp8217s franchisee to develop 10 cobranded Auntie Anneamp8217sCinnabon locations in New York CityAdam Neumann who built office coworking giant WeWork before resigning as chief executive when his fortunes soured has a new business venture under way apartment landlordAutomakers recently announced their 2021 sales tallies and the big winner was Tesla The electric vehicle maker sold nearly 950000 cars last year up 87 percent from the year before Detroitamp8217s Big Three amp8212 Ford GM and Stellantis the parent of Chrysler amp8212 all saw sales fall last year though they still sell far more cars than TeslaNetflix landed amp8220unparalleledamp8221 access from the PGA Tour for an untitled docuseries following the worldamp8217s top golfers during the seasoniHeartMedia is extending its presence into web3 and the metaverse beginning w plans for the creation of iHeart events and experiences for listeners and music fans on RobloxLuxury car brands such as RollsRoyce Bentley Porsche and BMW are reporting record sales thanks to customers who have craved them and manufacturers that have directed scarce chips toward their most profitable modelsIntel plans to build a 20 billion manufacturing complex in Ohio The site near Columbus would initially have two factories and employ 3000 people It is part of Intelamp8217s effort to ramp up its production capabilities in the US and reduce its reliance on foreign makers an effort that might cost as much as 100 billionGoogle and the AARP announced a program to train 25000 people ages 50 and older on helping them use digital skills to advance in their careersamp160Burger King Dennyamp8217s and Dominoamp8217s are among the chains pulling back on their value menus or shrinking portions to try to improve marginsDue to pandemicrelated borrowing the US gross national debt crossed 30 trillion for the first timeMove over Pandora amp8211 Amazon Music is now the 2 music streaming service after Spotify according to eMarketerMovie theaters are introducing variable pricing charging customers more to see blockbuster filmsA group of private equity firms including Elliott Management are in talks to purchase Nielsen Holdings the TVratings pioneer for 15BRising rates The Federal Reserve approved an interest rate hike for the 1st time in 3 years This hike increased rates by 025 percentage points but the Fed says there will be six more hikes in 2022Chocolate and candy sales hit a record 369bn last year in the US up 11 on last yearEven as people start working from the office again and going out more fashion brands continue to bet on athleticwear to drive sales growth Apparel brands Abercrombie Expressamp8217 UpWest and Revolve all released their first inhouse athletic collections Also last week footwear brand Birdies unveiled its first athletic sneakers These traditionally fashionoriented brands are continuing to bet on highperformance fabrics and silhouettes after athleisure sales continued to grow in 2021The SEC proposed a new set of climate rules that would provide more transparency into how public companies are tackling the climate crisis The rules would require reporting on emissions directly from the company as well as emissions resulting from suppliers and partnersTesla officially began making cars in Europe after opening a 7 billion plan outside BerlinUber will add NYC cabs to its app this spring onboarding 14k taxis to the platform Fares will be the same as UberXBuffett on Berkshireamp8217s EvolutionAs is tradition Warren Buffett used Berkshire Hathawayamp8217s annual earnings report to share his thoughts on the state of his 713 billion conglomerate and to describe what he sees as its future Here are some highlights from that shareholder letterBerkshireamp8217s deal machine is taking a rest While Buffett has long been known for his huge corporate takeovers Berkshire has shied away from bigticket MampampA in recent years Donamp8217t expect that to change with Berkshire instead focusing more on stock buybacks amp8220Today internal opportunities deliver far better returns than acquisitionsamp8221 Buffett wroteBerkshire is a tech investor of sorts While Buffett famously shied away from investing in tech stocks for years he now regards the companyamp8217s 55 percent stake in Apple as one of its amp8220giantsamp8221Itamp8217s also an infrastructure behemoth Buffett said that Berkshire owned and operated more USbased infrastructure assets than any other American company setting the company up to benefit from a surge in federal spending on transportation assetsBerkshire considers itself a good citizen With corporations criticized for paying little in taxes and not acting enough on climate change Buffett argued that his company was doing its part on both fronts He noted that Berkshire paid 33 billion in federal taxes last year and that its BNSF railroad and vast power operations played roles in reducing carbon emissionsClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

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What I Saw Happen -- Q1 2022

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Matthew S. Goldstein

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What I Saw Happen -- Q1 2022

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