From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
PELOTON'S BUMPY RIDE
For a stationary bike, Peloton sure was taken for a ride this week. After an unfortunate cameo in the first episode of the Sex and the City reboot (spoiler alert) the stock plummeted 11 percent. The company quickly clapped back with an ad featuring Mr. Big himself, which was then pulled after sexual assault allegations against the actor who plays him, Chris Noth, surfaced. For what it's worth, shares recovered somewhat this week, but analysts are watching closely to see if Peloton has a plan to get out of its post-COVID doldrums.
RATE HIKES AHEAD
Amid soaring inflation and falling unemployment, the U.S. Federal Reserve signaled this week that up to three rate hikes could come in 2022. This is up considerably from recent projections, and came as the Fed accelerated its tapering of monthly asset purchases, another signal that the central bank is trying to wind down monetary stimulus in an increasingly hot economy. Markets took the news in stride initially, as the move was widely expected, but were down Friday as other central banks around the world chimed in with their own plans for rate hikes.
REDDIT GOES TO WALL STREET
Reddit was at the epicenter of the memestock craze. Now it's heading to Wall Street for a shot at the public market itself. The social media platform announced this week that it had confidentially filed paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering. Reddit, founded in 2005, has been hinting at going public for years, but rumors ramped up as investors speculated about whether the platform would try to cash in on the notoriety it gained during the retail investing boom earlier this year. So will Reddit achieve memestock glory? Or will the financial luminaries over at /wallstreetbets give it a hard pass?
TOYOTA'S EV PUSH
Shares of Toyota rose after the automaker announced that it plans to invest $35 billion into building a lineup of 30 battery-powered electric vehicles by 2030. The company also committed to increasing its global sales of EVs by 3.5 million units per year by the end of the decade. The news marked a major leap forward for one of the world's largest automakers, which was a pioneer in hybrid vehicles but has lagged behind in the transition to fully electric vehicles.
BUY NOW, PAY HATER
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is taking a closer look at "buy now, pay later" firms such as Klarna, PayPal, Affirm, and Afterpay. The agency is seeking information from the companies that allow customers to pay for items in monthly installments at no interest, about the risks and benefits of their offerings. While it may sound like a boon to consumers, the CFPB is concerned about customers racking up too much debt. UK regulators have started digging into the industry as well. The major buy now, pay later firms saw their shares drop on the news.
