Children are accounting for a larger number of COVID-19 cases as the highly transmissible Delta variant spreads rapidly. And as millions of students return to school nationwide, health officials are warning that infection numbers could get worse, potentially forcing schools to return to remote learning. “We’re going to start seeing a lot of our school systems, especially those that did not mandate masks, starting to close down,” University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Dr. Michael Saag… Source link

CNN —   “Hey Google, play music on Spotify.” I utter those same six words at least once a day to my Nest Mini, usually as I’m stepping into the bathroom to prepare for an epic shower singalong. Within a second or two, I’m treated to solid audio for my favorite sad indie songs and loud pop-punk jams, as well as the ability to easily ask for the time once I inevitably start taking too long. These features… Source link

Under Armour (UA) CEO Patrik Frisk told Yahoo Finance in a recent interview that he expects upward pressure on prices to persist into next year, describing the recent surge in demand alongside supply chain disruption as an “opportunity for us to raise prices.”  The remarks from the head of one of the top sports apparel companies came days after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell downplayed the threat of long term inflation in a speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium on… Source link

On Monday, the eve of ex-Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes’ criminal fraud trial, Yahoo Finance released a feature-length documentary delving into Silicon Valley’s influence on the entrepreneur and her failed blood-testing startup. The documentary, “Valley of Hype: The culture that built Elizabeth Holmes,” explores the unique role that Silicon Valley’s startup culture played in the rise and undoing of Holmes, who faces 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud, if she’s convicted. That… Source link

Google is appealing the more than half a billion dollar fine it got slapped with by France’s competition authority in July. The penalty relates to the adtech giant’s approach toward paying news publishers for content reuse. In a statement today, Sebastien Missoffe, a Google France VP and country manager, characterized the fine as “disproportionate” — claiming that the $592M penalty is not justified in light of Google’s “efforts” to cut a deal with news publishers and… Source link

Four Democratic members of Congress are calling for an investigation into whether an alleged secret 2018 agreement between Google and Facebook concerning digital advertising violated federal antitrust law. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Mondaire Jones (D-NY) wrote a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Acting US Attorney General Nicholas Ganjei of Texas asking them to determine whether federal charges might be… Source link

  Uber (UBER) is selling its equity stake in the two joint ventures it created with Yandex to Yandex for possibly around $2.8 billion in cash, which is above the $1 billion carrying value that Uber reported at the end of the second quarter. While this transaction will improve the firm’s liquidity position, it will not impact our $69 fair value estimate of this narrow-moat and 4-star stock. Uber will receive $1 billion by the end of this year for all its holding in an autonomous joint… Source link

U.S. private employers added back far fewer jobs than expected in August as the Delta variant’s spread began to take its toll on the pace of the labor market’s recovery. Private payrolls rose by 374,000 in August, ADP said in its closely watched monthly report on Wednesday. Consensus economists were looking for private payrolls to grow by 625,000, according to Bloomberg data. In July, private sector jobs increased by 326,000, according to the firm’s revised monthly print.  By sector,… Source link

August marked the seventh straight month of gains for the S&P 500 (^GSPC) as investors ignored softening U.S. economic data at the hands of the COVID Delta variant.  But investors may be wise to stop ignoring the data, and position for a September rife with market volatility, says the team at Goldman Sachs.  “General mobility statistics have weakened, full-service restaurant indicators have softened, travel intentions appear to have faded and retail traffic declines (off of 2019 levels) have… Source link

Wealthy people are bracing for potentially higher taxes that could hit their bank accounts as soon as this year, while lower- and middle-income Americans could end up enjoying tax breaks from Uncle Sam that were originally only temporary. Last week, the House passed a $3.5 trillion budget plan that may ultimately include numerous Democratic proposals for taxing high-income earners and corporations and expanding tax credits for middle- and low-income earners. Democrats are still writing the… Source link