Good morning. US stock futures ticked higher in Friday morning trading as markets rallied on the back of the most recent IPO.

"The art of being good at approximations is insufficiently valued"

Ray Dalio

Top News

Biden Admin lobbies court to block order over social media contact

WHAT: President Joe Biden’s team just asked the Supreme Court for a timeout! They want to press the pause button on a ruling that says they can’t nudge social media firms to take down “questionable” posts it considers misleading.

WHY: The Biden Administration has argued that it asked social media companies to take down posts it considers to be harmful misinformation but has never forced them to do so.

ECB hikes interest rate to record high

WHAT: The European Central Bank (ECB) just did the rate hike dance for the 10th time in a row! Rate increases have now driven the Bank’s main deposit facility from -0.5% in June 2022, to a record 4%.

WHY: ECB officials have lately embraced a message of prolonged restriction, playing down the prospect that rates will be lowered anytime soon.

Canada ditches property-related tax to boost housing supply

WHAT: Canada’s got a cunning plan to arrest their housing shortage: they’re about to ditch the 5% federal consumption tax on construction of new rental apartments in a bid to boost housing supplies.

WHY: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government, under pressure over a lack of affordable housing, told cities to do more to buffer supply, saying that those who cooperated would receive federal cash.

In Other News

Google preps release of AI software

WHAT: Google might be sneaking around artificial intelligence (AI) tools more than they’ve let on! According to a report from The Information, the company has given a small group of companies access to an early version of Gemini — its controversial AI software that is intended to compete with OpenAI’s GPT-4 model.

WHY: Last month, the company introduced generative AI to its Search tool for users in India and Japan, that will show text or visual results to prompts, including summaries.

X to settle claims over mass layoffs

WHAT: Elon Musk’s X Corp is pulling out a “Let’s Make A Deal” move! The company has agreed to settle claims by thousands of former employees who say they were cheated out of severance pay according to a report from Bloomberg News.

WHY: The company formerly known as Twitter, has been accused in multiple suits of numerous labor and workplaces violations, including failing to pay severance to thousands of workers fired late last year after Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of the social media platform.

Auto exec: Union demands could bankrupt us

WHAT: Ford CEO Jim Farley is keeping it real when it comes to the latest proposal in ongoing negotiations between the car manufacturer and the United Auto Workers union (UAW)! According to Farley, the union’s proposal to hike wages by 40%, cut workweeks and add new pension benefits would effectively bankrupt the company.

WHY: “You want us to choose bankruptcy over supporting our workers” Farley said in an interview with CNBC. He added that if the proposal had been in effect since 2019, the company would have lost about $15 billion instead of the $30 billion in profits it made over the four year period.

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