1. FB’s Stock Decline Sets New Record
Earlier this week, Facebook announced that they won Chinese approval to set up a $30M ‘innovation hub’ in Hangzhou. Turns out, Facebook got approval from local officials, only to get shot down by the national internet regulator. Ouch. It could be due to Facebook’s stagnant American userbase and plummeting European users. To top it all off, yesterday, “Facebook Inc. had the biggest stock-market wipeout in American history… The drop translates to a $119.4B decline in market capitalization, the largest-ever loss of value in one day for a U.S. traded company,” as Bloomberg put it.
(Source: AdAge)
2. GM Launches Car-Sharing Service
Just when we thought Airbnb’s, Uber’s and Bird’s were enough, now we can rent out our personal vehicles when we’re not using them. Instead of driving people around to their destinations like Uber, the ridesharers actually drive your vehicle themselves for a few hours or a few days. Peer Cars, General Motors’ new rental program, will allow car owners to rent out their vehicles through the automaker’s car-sharing platform. As the average sale price for cars has risen to $35K, not only does this venture help pay off car payments, but it offsets the investment as a car is one of the most expensive things to own. You can imagine that rental car giants are not happy.
(Source: The Washington Post)
3. U.S. Economy Growth Doubles
The U.S. economy surged to a 4.1% pace this quarter, which is double from the first quarter of the year. President Trump has been in high spirits that his policies will catapult the U.S. economy into a much higher rate of growth — 4% to be exact. A number that’s expected to double compared to recent years could mean a big boost in America’s standard of living. Think: higher wages and better public services. However, some say this surge isn’t likely to last. Economist Ian Shepherdson said it’s like “a short-term sugar rush to growth and then probably some sort of hangover eventually down the line.” Only time will tell.
(Source: NPR)
