Toys R Us retrenches again, shutters its last 2 US stores

Toys R Us is retrenching once again. The only two Toys R Us stores that opened in November 2019 as part of a small U.S. comeback attempt by the iconic toy chain have now closed. The Toys R Us store at the Galleria mall in Houston shuttered on Jan. 15, while one at the Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey, closed on Tuesday, according Tru Kids, a new entity formed when it acquired Toys R Us’ intellectual property during its liquidation in 2018.
Read more: https://thegrio.com/2021/01/30/toys-r-us-closes/?source=Snapzu

Donald Trump Business Empire Faces Continued Fallout

"Trump as a luxury hospitality brand in the United States is absolutely 100% over," says a PR specialist, amid Trump Organization declines in revenue and value of its real-estate holdings.
Read more: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/donald-trump-business-empire-faces-continued-fallout-post-capitol-riot?source=Snapzu

What if a clearinghouse fails?

The new clearing requirements were one of the more widely applauded features of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. With good reason. Prior to the Great Recession, most derivatives transactions were unregulated and undisclosed. Under the Dodd-Frank Act, clearinghouses now guaranty many swaps by serving as a buyer to every seller and a seller to every buyer. If one of these buyers or sellers fails, the clearinghouse can step into the gap, thus limiting the risk that the failure will interfere with the financial markets.
Read more: https://www.brookings.edu/research/what-if-a-clearinghouse-fails/?source=Snapzu

Understanding /r/wallstreetbets

Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
Read more: https://pluralistic.net/2021/01/28/payment-for-order-flow/#wallstreetbets?source=Snapzu

The internet offers hedge fund managers some hilarious advice, familiar to millennials

It takes a certain amount of financial acumen to understand exactly what happened earlier this eventful week on Wall Street. The simplest explanation, however, is that a bunch of Redditors reenacted the climax of Trading Places, using stock for the still-chugging-along Donkey Kong retailer, GameStop. The cleverly coordinated market manipulation has moved even some unlikely voices to rejoice around the so-called little people sticking it to Master of the Universe-types by exploiting their own exploitative loopholes and practices.
Read more: https://www.fastcompany.com/90598978/the-internet-offers-hedge-fund-managers-some-hilarious-advice-familiar-to-millennials?source=Snapzu

Reddit day traders are taking on hedge fund giants and winning, and it's a sign of a new era for markets

'They are proving to be quite capable of mounting some successful 'value capture' against Wall Street institutional investors,' Fundstrat's Tom Lee said.
Read more: https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/reddit-day-traders-investors-conflict-with-wall-street-hedge-funds-2021-1-1030016712?source=Snapzu

Robinhood CEO says limited trade to protect firm and customers

Online broker Robinhood restricted trade in about 13 highly volatile stocks such as GameStop and AMC Entertainment to protect the company and its customers, Chief Executive Vladimir Tenev said on Thursday.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-retail-trading-robinhood-ceo-idUSKBN29Y017?source=Snapzu

Robinhood Facing Class Action Lawsuit Over Suspended GameStop Trading

Robinhood is an online brokerage that was founded for the purpose of democratizing investing and making it more accessible for individuals to buy stocks. Its stated goal was likely one reason why traders were so surprised when the broker shut down their ability to buy GameStop shares.
Read more: https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/buying-stocks/articles/robinhood-facing-class-action-lawsuit-over-suspended-gamestop-trading/?source=Snapzu

The GameStop Bubble Is a Lesson in the Absurdity and Uselessness of the Stock Market

The online pranksters behind the great GameStop bubble of 2021 are probably going to lose a lot of money. But they’ve done the world a service by reminding us of the utter uselessness of the stock market, an institution that serves no purpose besides making a small number of undeserving people rich.
Read more: https://jacobinmag.com/2021/01/gamestop-stock-market-reddit?source=Snapzu

Robinhood is reportedly borrowing at least 'several hundred million dollars' from banks amid GameStop trading frenzy

Robinhood is drawing down lines of credit to the tune of "at least several hundred million dollars," Bloomberg reported Thursday. The quick decision to seek additional funds from its lenders, which include JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, suggest that this week's trading frenzy has put a strain on the company, according to Bloomberg's Matthew Monks and Michelle Davis.
Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/robinhood-draws-on-credit-lines-amid-gamestop-frenzy-report-2021-1?source=Snapzu

‘Dumb Money’ Is on GameStop, and It’s Beating Wall Street at Its Own Game

GameStop shares have soared 1,700 percent as millions of small investors, egged on by social media, employ a classic Wall Street tactic to put the squeeze — on Wall Street.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/27/business/gamestop-wall-street-bets.html?source=Snapzu

Reddit co-founder calls GameStop frenzy a 'bottom-up revolution,' shifting power to small investors

Reddit’s Alexis Ohanian said Thursday that the GameStop stock-trading frenzy, originating in large part on the online platform he helped create, is a turning point in the U.S. investing landscape.“I do think this is a seminal moment. I don’t think we go back to a world before this because these communities, they’re a byproduct of the connected internet,” Ohanian said in a “Squawk Box” interview. “Whether it’s one platform or another, this is the new normal.”
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/28/reddit-co-founder-alexis-ohanian-calls-gamestop-frenzy-a-bottom-up-revolution.html?source=Snapzu

'Seen all this before': Tourism NZ says ditch influencer shots for something new

No more lavender fields or mountain tops please, urges agency in effort to stop people ‘travelling under the social influence’
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/27/seen-all-this-before-tourism-nz-says-ditch-influencer-shots-for-something-new?source=Snapzu

Facebook is bombarding rightwing users with ads for combat gear. See for yourself.

Facebook announced that it will be temporarily banning some ads for gun accessories and body armor. It’s not enough
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jan/26/facebook-ads-combat-gear-rightwing-users?source=Snapzu

AT&T is sued for $1.35 billion over technology to synchronize smart devices

AT&T Inc was sued on Tuesday for at least $1.35 billion by a Seattle company that accused the telecommunications giant of stealing its patented "twinning" technology, which lets smart devices such as watches and tablets respond to calls placed to a single phone number.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-at-t-lawsuit-idUSKBN29W01L?source=Snapzu

The world's 10 richest people made $540bn in a year – we need a greed tax

Jeff Bezos made $13bn in one day last year; and he’s not the only one getting rich during the Covid crisis. When are they going to be made to give some of it back?
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jan/26/the-worlds-10-richest-people-made-540bn-in-a-year-we-need-a-greed-tax?source=Snapzu

Vimeo raises $300 million equity, valuation hits $6 billion

IAC/InterActiveCorp said on Monday its online video platform, Vimeo, has raised $300 million in equity funding, just a month after the parent company approved a plan to spin off the unit.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iac-vimeo/vimeo-raises-300-million-equity-valuation-hits-6-billion-idUSKBN29U2G2?source=Snapzu

Trump's Hollywood Income Collapsed as He Prepared to Leave the Oval Office

Income from 'The Apprentice' and residuals from films like 'Home Alone 2' and 'The Little Rascals' fell significantly during his final year in office. Former President Donald Trump, who was a well-established media and entertainment personality for decades before winning the 2016 presidential election, saw his Hollywood income fall dramatically during his final year in office.
Read more: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/trump-hollywood-income-2020?source=Snapzu

A Fight Over GameStop’s Soaring Stock Turns Ugly

The denizens of the WallStreetBets subreddit helped push the flailing stock to dizzying heights—while a short seller alleged an accompanying harassment campaign.
Read more: https://www.wired.com/story/gamestop-stock-wall-street-bets-short-squeeze/?source=Snapzu

Whatever happened to the company that decided to pay all of its employees a $70K minimum wage? | Boing Boing

Back in 2015, Dan Price of the credit card processing company Gravity Payments decided to pay everyone at his company a minimum salary of $70,000 a year, including himself.
Read more: https://boingboing.net/2021/01/24/whatever-happened-to-the-company-that-decided-to-pay-all-of-its-employees-a-70k-minimum-wage.html?source=Snapzu

Stocks Could Plunge Even if the Economy Booms

We keep being reminded that the stock market isn’t the economy. But then, is it possible for the market to go into a long bear run even if the economy booms? Yes, although there is little record of it ever happening.
Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/stocks-could-plunge-even-if-the-economy-booms-11611145800?source=Snapzu

Microsoft Files Patent to Create Chatbots That Imitate Dead People - IGN

Microsoft has filed a patent that would allow the company to digitally revive deceased loved ones as chatbots, using the individual's personal information.
Read more: https://www.ign.com/articles/microsoft-chatbot-patent-imitate-dead-people-ai?source=Snapzu

Vertical farms grow veggies on site at restaurants and grocery stores

Last month we reported that a huge vertical farming operation near Copenhagen in Denmark recently completed its first harvest. That setup uses hydroponics, but the veggies grown in Vertical Field urban farming pods take root in real soil.
Read more: https://newatlas.com/good-thinking/vertical-field-urban-farm-geoponics/?source=Snapzu

Stores drop MyPillow after CEO pushes election conspiracies

The founder and CEO of MyPillow, who amplified President Donald Trump's claims of election fraud, said a backlash against his company has begun after a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol this month. Mike Lindell, who appears in TV commercials hugging the company’s foam-filled pillows, said major retailers like Bed Bath & Beyond and Kohl’s have dropped his products recently.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/stores-drop-mypillow-ceo-pushes-election-conspiracies-75345789?source=Snapzu

Gaming the system: How GameStop stock surged 1,500% in nine months

New board members and a massive short squeeze cause stratospheric short-term growth.
Read more: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/01/gaming-the-system-how-gamestop-stock-surged-1500-in-nine-months/?source=Snapzu

Vegan restaurant becomes first in France to earn a Michelin star

The Michelin Guide has awarded one of its coveted stars to a French vegan restaurant for the first time.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/france-vegan-restaurant-michelin-star-intl-scli/index.html?source=Snapzu

How housing became the world’s biggest asset class

It is only a recent phenomenon
Read more: https://www.economist.com/special-report/2020/01/16/how-housing-became-the-worlds-biggest-asset-class?source=Snapzu

Coca-Cola Joins Pepsi in Benching Ads During Super Bowl LV

Concerned they might strike the wrong tone, both brands have opted to sit out.
Read more: https://hypebeast.com/2021/1/coca-cola-pepsi-super-bowl-lv-2021-benching-ads-announcement?source=Snapzu

The Artists’ Rebellion

I have this fantasy where the artists go on strike. I dream that one by one, in their own quiet ways, the artists, the writers, the musicians, the comedians, the graphic designers, the marketing gu…
Read more: https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2021/01/17/the-artists-rebellion/?source=Snapzu

Twitter shuts down account of Sci-Hub, the pirated-papers website

Move comes as publishers sue in India to block public access
Read more: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/01/twitter-shuts-down-account-sci-hub-pirated-papers-website?source=Snapzu

Yelp data shows 60% of business closures due to the coronavirus pandemic are now permanent

Yelp on Wednesday released its latest Economic Impact Report, revealing business closures across the U.S. are increasing as a result of the coronavirus.
Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2020/09/16/yelp-data-shows-60percent-of-business-closures-due-to-the-coronavirus-pandemic-are-now-permanent.html?source=Snapzu

Food Delivery Is Keeping Uber Alive. Will It Kill Restaurants?

Uber built a business on the backs of drivers and, now, restaurants. But the company’s chief Dara Khosrowshahi says it’s not part of the ‘menace economy.’
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/14/opinion/sway-kara-swisher-dara-khosrowshahi.html?source=Snapzu

How ethics can increase revenue in tech businesses

As a society we revel in stories of successful individuals that risked it all and won big. It’s so often the rags to riches, starving artist or the struggling entrepreneur that catches the headlines. Outside the world of start-up mythology however it’s more commonly risk aversion that keeps the world of business ticking over.
Read more: https://www.hattusia.com/post/how-ethics-can-increase-revenue-in-tech-businesses?source=Snapzu

Facebook Has Been Showing Military Gear Ads Next To Insurrection Posts

Earlier this week, Facebook employees warned that military product ads were being advertised against news about DC riots. The company did not act.
Read more: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/facebook-profits-military-gear-ads-capitol-riot?source=Snapzu

BlackBerry sells off 90 smartphone patents to Huawei

According to the US Patent and Trademark Office, ownership of the patents was transferred to Huawei on December 23rd.
Read more: https://crackberry.com/blackberry-sells-90-smartphone-patents-huawei?source=Snapzu

At This Banana Farm, the Bunches Grow in 430 Shapes and Sizes

India's "plantain man" has traveled widely to build a collection of unusual varieties.
Read more: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-many-kinds-bananas-are-there?source=Snapzu

The Linux Foundation offers a suite of open-source management classes

Managing open-source projects is an art just as difficult as developing open-source programs, and now, there is a set of classes to help you master it.
Read more: https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-linux-foundation-offers-a-suite-of-open-source-management-classes/?source=Snapzu

Twitter loses $5 billion in market value after Trump is permanently barred from the platform

Twitter stock fell as much as 12% on Monday after the social-media company permanently suspended President Donald Trump's account on Friday evening. The share-price decline wiped $5 billion from Twitter's market capitalization. Twitter's bosses suspended Trump's account - which had about 88 million followers - after the world leader's fanning of conspiracy theories about voter fraud and election theft spurred thousands of his supporters to lay siege to the Capitol last week.
Read more: https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/twitter-stock-price-president-donald-trump-permanently-banned-tweeting-2021-1-1029946778?source=Snapzu

Party Like It's 1925 On Public Domain Day (Gatsby And Dalloway Are In)

Every year on January 1, the copyright on thousands of books, songs, films and other creative works expires. Law professor Jennifer Jenkins says 2021 is "a bumper crop."
Read more: https://www.npr.org/2021/01/01/951171599/party-like-its-1925-on-public-domain-day-gatsby-and-dalloway-are-in?source=Snapzu

What businesses will--and won't--give their work from home employees in 2021

The work world has changed. Regardless of how quickly we conquer Covid-19, many of us will not be returning to the office. Here's what that new work from home world will look like.
Read more: https://www.idginsiderpro.com/article/3602559/what-businesses-will-and-wont-give-their-work-from-home-employees-in-2021.html?source=Snapzu

After embracing remote work in 2020, companies face conflicts making it permanent

Although the pandemic forced employees around the world to adopt makeshift remote work setups, a growing proportion of the workforce already spent at least part of their week working from home, while some businesses had embraced a “work-from-anywhere” philosophy from their inception. But much as virtual events rapidly gained traction in 2020, the pandemic accelerated a location-agnostic mindset across the corporate world, with tech behemoths like Facebook and Twitter announcing permanent remote working plans.
Read more: https://venturebeat.com/2021/01/01/after-embracing-remote-work-in-2020-companies-face-conflicts-making-it-permanent/?source=Snapzu

Quibi’s $1.75B experiment ends with Roku acquisition for “less than $100M”

Quibi, the curious "TV on your phone" service that lasted for roughly six months last year, will soon live on—as a free-with-ads channel on Roku. After rumors began circulating earlier this week, Quibi and Roku confirmed on Friday that the two companies had reached terms for an acquisition, putting most of Quibi's hours of original programming into Roku's hands.
Read more: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/01/quibis-1-75b-experiment-ends-with-roku-acquisition-for-less-than-100m/?source=Snapzu

House: Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Google have “monopoly power,” should be split

Last June, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law began an in-depth investigation into four major firms—Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google. The subcommittee wanted to answer one key question: did Big Tech get big playing by the rules, or does it cheat to stay at the top? After 16 months of hearings, research, and analysis, the panel's findings are out... and the results look really bad for every company involved.
Read more: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/10/house-amazon-facebook-apple-google-have-monopoly-power-should-be-split/?source=Snapzu

Lawmakers Blast Comcast’s Pointless, Greedy Broadband Caps

Comcast recently expanded the company’s hugely unpopular broadband caps into all company markets, falsely claiming such restrictions are about “fairness.” But lawmakers in Massachusetts say the restrictions are arbitrary, technically unnecessary, and unfairly harm vulnerable populations during an historic economic and health crisis.
Read more: https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7v49d/lawmakers-blast-comcasts-pointless-greedy-broadband-caps?source=Snapzu

Covid billionaires should help starving people, says charity boss

Billionaires whose wealth has soared during the coronavirus pandemic should stump up to provide emergency aid to the record numbers of people facing starvation, the head of a US charity supporting the World Food Programme has said.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/jan/08/covid-billionaires-should-help-starving-people-says-charity-boss?source=Snapzu

Customers in Europe hit by post-Brexit charges when buying from UK

Shoppers tell of shock at unexpected bills for VAT or customs declarations as some retailers stop shipping to continent
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/jan/07/customers-europe-hit-by-post-brexit-charges-buying-from-uk?source=Snapzu

Judge: Sci-Hub Blocking Case "Important" For Science, Community Representations Will Be Heard

A High Court judge says that nineteen scientists and three scientific and medical organizations will have their intervention applications heard before any decision is handed down in the ongoing Sci-Hub blocking case. Filed by several publishers, the lawsuit seeks ISP blocking of the platform in India. Justice JR Midha notes that the case addresses an "issue of public importance."
Read more: https://torrentfreak.com/judge-sci-hub-blocking-case-important-for-science-community-representations-will-be-heard-210107/?source=Snapzu

U.S. 10-Year Treasury Yield Hits 1% for First Time Since March

The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose above 1% for the first time since March on Wednesday, reflecting increased bets on additional fiscal stimulus after Georgia’s runoff Senate elections. The yield on the 10-year note settled at 1.041%, according to Tradeweb, up from 0.955% on Tuesday.
Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-10-year-treasury-yield-hits-1-11609912588?source=Snapzu

Apple's annual proxy statement confirms antitrust risks for the first time

Apple today announced its annual meeting with shareholders and also published its proxy statement, which is a document provided to shareholders that contains background information about the company. This year, Apple’s statement nearly confirms that the company is concerned with antitrust risks.
Read more: https://9to5mac.com/2021/01/05/apples-annual-proxy-statement-confirms-antitrust-risks-for-the-first-time/?source=Snapzu

Facebook ordered to pay $4.7M to Italian developer over copycat feature

Facebook has been ordered to pay €3.83 million (around $4.72 million) in damages to an Italian developer over the social network’s “Nearby” feature. Reuters reports that the Milan-based appeals court upheld a 2019 ruling saying Facebook had copied the feature from developer Business Competence’s Faround app.
Read more: https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/6/22216692/facebook-nearby-feature-copied-italian-court-app-faround?source=Snapzu