U.S. Richest Country in World, Economy Outperforms Europe’s | Business Matters (November 14)

Welcome back to NTD's Newsroom. It's now that time for Business Matters with Don Ma. Don, good to see you. Yeah, good to see you. It's that time again. And I have an update on inflation, actually, to start off here. Wholesale inflation picked up more than expected in October. Thursday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released data showing some price pressures still exist at the producer level. The Producer Price Index measures the average price change seen by producers and manufacturers. It shows prices heated up from September. They rose 0.2 percent on a monthly basis and 2.4 percent for the 12 months ending in October. Economists were expecting prices to increase. That's partly due to unfavorable comparisons to this time last year when inflation slowed sharply. Diamond Sports' bankruptcy game plan is on to the next phase. The owner of Regional Sports Network is closer to exiting bankruptcy. The company has been under bankruptcy protection since early last year. Following that, it made dramatic changes to its deals with pro teams and leagues. It also scored deals with Amazon's Prime Video and naming rights with Flutter's FanDuel. A judge has signaled he would sign off on the company's reorganization plan. At Coach Corps, combo is over. Coach parent Tapestry has terminated its nearly $9 billion deal to buy Michael Kors, owner of Capri. This would have brought six luxury brands under one roof. Coach, Kate Spade, Stuart Wiseman, Versace, Jimmy Choo, and Michael Kors. Regulators had sued to block the deal over anti-competition concerns. The FTC argued combining the handbag makers would eliminate head-to-head competition. As a result, both companies announced today. They mutually agreed to end the merger. Disney dominating, its stock soared to its highest price in six months. This was in response to the entertainment giant beating fourth quarter earnings estimates and sharing a robust outlook for the coming years. Success at the box office this summer helped offset declines at the company's experience and sports divisions. Lower attendance at international locations dragged on theme park results. Higher programming and production costs hurt ESPN. But operating income at the entertainment unit, which includes films, TV, and streaming, more than doubled in the quarter, reflecting returns from summer hits including Deadpool and Wolverine and Inside Out 2. And Ford is the focus of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration right now. The automaker has agreed to pay a civil penalty of up to $165 million. An NHTSA investigation found Ford failed to recall vehicles with defective rear-view cameras in a timely manner. $45 million of the penalty is to be used for spending to comply with the law. The carmaker agreed to invest it on advanced safety data analytics and on a new testing facility and document system. Ford will also have to hold quarterly meetings with the agency. Ford said it was pleased to resolve the investigation and remains committed to improving safety and compliance. Trenchcoats could be seen all around Manhattan last winter. And British luxury fashion house Burberry is putting a focus on the classic look as part of re-establishing their brand. NTT Charles Marshall has the details. Burberry plans to leverage its British heritage to win back customers by focusing on iconic items like trenchcoats and scarves. The company will also adopt a more restrained pricing strategy for bags and shoes. New CEO Joshua Shulman outlined his turnaround plan on Thursday after Burberry reported a loss for the first half of its fiscal year and announced a $50.67 million cost savings program. Shares jumped 20%, set for their largest one-day gain as investors welcomed the shift. Burberry shares are down 38% so far in 2024, including Thursday's rally. Shulman stated Burberry would be incredibly disciplined with its brand, focusing on timeless British luxury. Recent campaigns have highlighted outerwear, scarves, and British celebrities. It is only in the recent 18-24 months that we really were trying to stretch our pricing on absolutely every product. Shulman said, adding that he sees opportunities in handbags priced under $2,109, with a sweet spot at $1,688. He also added Burberry will remain positioned in the luxury market, with no plans to move into the accessible luxury category. Sean Marshall, NTD News. News satire site The Onion won bidding to buy Alex Jones' media company, Infowars. The sale was backed by families of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims. The families earlier sued Jones for defamation after he said the shooting was a hoax on his media platform. Jones owes the family over $1 billion in the lawsuit. The bidders in the auction were both those who supported the media company and those who are against him. The Onion now owns the Infowars website, social media accounts, studio, trademarks, and video archive. Jones said he already prepared another studio and media platforms in case the sale went through to a party unfavorable to him. The Onion said its exclusive advertiser on the acquired Infowars platform will be gun violence prevention organization Everytown for gun safety. Federal law enforcement agents raided the downtown New York home of Pauly Market CEO Shane Copeland yesterday. They seized his phone and electronics. Pauly Market is a website platform where you can buy and sell shares on the outcomes of future events. For example, will TikTok be banned in the U.S. this year? The gambling website had President-elect Trump's odds drastically higher than those of Vice President Kamala Harris for weeks, differing from opinion polls. The Department of Justice is investigating Pauly Market for allegedly allowing U.S.-based users to bet on the site. The company does not allow trading in the U.S. A Pauly Market spokesperson said the FBI raid was obviously a political retribution for providing a market that correctly called the 2024 presidential election. The European Commission today fined Meta over 840 million dollars. The agency said this is over Meta's abusive practices benefiting Facebook marketplace. Take a look. The EU hit Facebook owner Meta with a huge fine on Thursday for breaching antitrust rules. The tech giant must pay just over 840 million dollars for abusive practices that benefited its online classified ad service Facebook Marketplace. The European Commission accused Meta of tying Marketplace to its personal social network Facebook. It further said Meta imposed unfair trading conditions on other online classified ad service providers. Meta said in a statement it will appeal the decision. The U.S. firm said in the meantime it will work quickly to find solutions for the points raised. The EU decision argues Meta imposes Marketplace on people who use Facebook in an illegal tie. But Meta said that ignores how Facebook users can choose whether to engage with Marketplace and many do not. Meta said the Commission claims Marketplace could hurt the growth of large online marketplaces in the EU but didn't find any evidence of harm to competitors. Companies risk fines of as much as 10 percent of their global turnover for EU antitrust violations. An antitrust case aimed at breaking up social media giant Meta is heading to trial. That's after a federal judge partly denied a request for a summary judgment yesterday from the parent company of Facebook. The Federal Trade Commission alleges Meta overpaid for Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 to stifle competition. In an April statement about its request for a summary judgment, Meta argues it does face competition from apps like TikTok, X and YouTube. In a new statement to multiple news agencies, Meta says evidence at trial will prove buying Instagram and WhatsApp has benefited customers. The U.S. economy was the same size as the entire EU economy back in 2008. Now America is 50 percent larger. Analysts point to one key reason. Here's the story. The U.S. gross domestic product was the same size as the European Union's GDP back in 2008. Now America's is 50 percent larger. We are over-regulating and under-investing. French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking at the Berlin Global Dialogue in early October, said the EU could die. If we follow our classical agenda, we will be out of the market. I have no doubt. In past years, the U.S. has created most of the world's most valuable companies. Europe? None. It's going to get a lot worse. Economist Daniel Lekaye says Europe's over-regulation problem is immense and not easy to solve. It's a very political entity. There are hundreds and hundreds of political bodies that try to present themselves as useful by creating new legislation all the time. Lekaye says it's almost like EU politicians are racing to see who can create the most laws. Some acknowledge the problem but aren't doing anything to solve it. We need to find ways to be more efficient in terms of how we address it so that instead of this being an onerous paperwork exercise, it actually doesn't take away the resources and the budget from driving the business. Alina Timofeeva advises tech firms in the EU. Her clients say they wish regulators were more transparent with what they wanted. The firms also say premature regulation really slows them down. Together, the U.S. and EU make up over a third of global GDP. And China's GDP is rising sharply, now at nearly $18 trillion. Cracks forming in Saudi Arabia's robust futuristic city plans. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced his Vision 2030 project nearly a decade ago to reshape the country's economy and move it away from oil. Part of that goal includes the $500 billion Nome Mega project, who recently replaced its CEO. This is on top of the costs racking up, forcing projects to be scaled down or scrapped altogether. All the plans would cost trillions of dollars, which is more than the $1 trillion the country has in its wealth fund. The sagging price of oil has made it harder for the country to generate cash and foreign direct investment is lower than projected. New York City has banned mandatory broker fees for renters. The city council passed a law yesterday after strong industry opposition. The ban stops landlords from forcing tenants to pay broker fees. Previously, tenants paid brokers hired by the landlords. Fees could reach 15 percent of annual rent. The ban is widely popular as two-thirds of households in the city are renters, but it has triggered opposition from brokers. Some warn rents may increase to cover broker fees that are lost. New Yorkers say it eases costs and allows easier apartment moves. The law will take effect in six months if Mayor Adams approves it. The newest attraction at Disneyland in Southern California is ready to make a splash, but in a different way. Tiana Bayou's Adventure is set to open to the public on Friday. The log ride is inspired by The Princess and the Frog. It replaced Splash Mountain, which closed in May 2023. For now, visitors can only ride the attraction by joining a free virtual queue on the day they visit the park or by purchasing lightning lane access. And yes, visitors should also be prepared to get wet. Before we go here, Wall Street's main indexes closed lower today. This comes after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell dampened investor hopes for another interest rate cut this year. The U.S. central bank need not rush to ease monetary policy. Powell said at a Dallas Fed event that the economy is still growing. The job market is solid and inflation above the 2 percent target. So the Fed can deliberate carefully on rate cuts. And as well, last week's post-U.S. election rally has been waning this week. Some are worried that policies under President-elect Donald Trump's administration could bring potential inflationary pressures. All right, that's all happening today in Business Matters. Back to you guys. It's interesting to see the markets reward Burberry's new CEO with 20 percent gains for Yeah, quite interesting. I mean, personally, I haven't shopped at Burberry in a very long time. I can't even remember the last time I've been in their stores. But what do you guys think? Well, I will say I'm glad that they are going back to more traditional designs, back to what they're known for, what they're iconic for, and that the market is now encouraging them to do so. Hopefully some other brands will do that as well. I think some of the older designs in these fashion houses were just so classy. And I wish we could go back to it. Well, we're going to have to stay tuned for that. So thanks, Dawn. We'll see you back here tomorrow. All right.