Below are the trending stories making the headlines this week across the United States of America.
On Tuesday, the Dow Jones ended the day slightly below breakeven, as investors found it challenging to build any positive momentum ahead of the forthcoming key U.S. inflation data release. The index dipped by 9.13 points or fell by 0.02%, closing at 38,883.67. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 managed a modest rise of 0.14%, finishing at 5,209.91, and the Nasdaq increased by 0.32%, ending the day at 16,306.64.
Total Eclipse: big bucks for businesses. Hotels, motels, and skydiving outfits are cashing in as millions flock to witness the total eclipse. Texas and New York economies soared with a tourism surge. Eyeglass makers and skydiving companies gear up for the influx. Experts projected a $1.6 billion boost for the US economy.
Inmates win eclipse viewing battle. Six inmates won a legal victory in their attempt to watch the solar eclipse after officials said no. Locked down during the celestial show, they sued, citing religious rights violations. The legal win came amid controversy over the prison’s lockdown plan.
Biden’s debt relief 2.0: $20K interest swipe. President Biden reintroduced a revamped student loan forgiveness plan, aiming to erase up to $20,000 in interest for millions of borrowers, potentially impacting 25 million individuals. This provision, a centrepiece of his updated relief program, signals a renewed effort to tackle student debt while navigating legal hurdles that stalled previous initiatives.
Bitcoin bounces back to $72K and drops again. Bitcoin recovers to $72,000 after a rocky start to April, nearing its all-time high. The market sees ups and downs, with futures interest surged. Volatility triggers $58M in short position liquidations in 24 hours, with one hitting $7.83M.
Pharrell dropped a new album on his 51st birthday. It’s a game-changer because it’s not on streaming. You can only buy it from this website. Hopefully, this is a start to the trend of musicians taking control of their music.
Elon Musk announced Tesla will unveil its robotaxi on August 8 on X/Twitter. The tweet upped Tesla’s stock rise by over 4.8%. Still, people are doubtful since Tesla once predicted robotaxis by 2020. Time will tell if Elon is talking out of his ass again.
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Moncler is set to transform Milano Centrale railway station into a vast art gallery for Milan Design Week with “An Invitation to Dream,” featuring collaborations with notable artists and curated by Jefferson Hack, co-founder and CEO of Dazed Media. Go there. Now.
Bubble Skincare warned their youngest customers against buying a new, harsh exfoliating serum. Thanks to TikTok, demand for skincare in the US has surged among teens and tweens, including girls as young as 8 and 9 years old, and skincare isn’t exactly optimised for faces that young. Do these kids even get acne?
Apple is updating its App Store policies to allow retro game emulators. That doesn’t exactly mean you’ll be jumping away on Super Mario Bros. 3 on your iPhone for free though. The games must comply with “all applicable laws” — indicating that pirated titles will be banned.
Beyoncé’s “COWBOY CARTER” debuts at No. 1 on both the Billboard 200 and Top Country Albums, marking a historic achievement. With 407,000 first-week units, it’s 2024’s biggest debut, and Beyoncé becomes the first Black woman to top the Country chart.
Coinbase was ruled not to have violated securities law by the US Court of Appeals. This marks an important win for Coinbase overall, as they’ve been fighting law-breaching accusations for the past years, which significantly tanked their stock — they IPO’d at $342, and have been climbing a $30 bottom for the past years, currently sitting at $240.
A Superman comic book, featuring the first appearance of the red-caped chad, just sold for $6 million, making it the world’s most valuable comic book. The previous record for a comic sold at auction was $3.6 million for a copy of “Amazing Fantasy No. 15,” featuring the debut of Spider-Man. Snazzy.
Spotify is demonetising all tracks under 1000 streams. The new policy wants to counteract manipulation and prioritise legitimate music consumption.
Amazon scams are booming, specifically fraud returns. Sellers are getting returns with counterfeit or unrelated. Plus, Amazon’s customer-first policy kinda enables this. Scams cost Amazon retailers $101 billion in 2023. Sad face.
Google searches for “eyes hurt” boomed after the solar eclipse, lol.
The Vatican called sex change a violation of human dignity, aligning it with abortion and euthanasia. Despite Pope Francis’ embracing LGBTQ+, this has disappointed and satisfied both sides of the debate.
Phoebe Philo will be available in physical stores for the first time ever. Specifically in Bergdorf Goodman, NYC. They’ll have over 100 pieces from her collections.
Paramount wants the Sonic the Hedgehog movies to reach an “Avengers-level.” That means a bigger cast and epic narratives, starting with introducing Shadow in Sonic 3. Honestly? Pretty cool.
Gold futures soared to record highs… again. June futures recently went up 1.1% at $2,376 per troy ounce.
Missy Elliott is getting on her first headlining tour. “Out of This World,” will feature Busta Rhymes, Ciara, and Timbaland across 24 North American cities, inspired by their ’90s hip-hop legacy. Long time coming.
Shutterstock is eating good off the AI boom. They’ve got tons of stock images, which are actually pretty good data. So, they made deals with Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and OpenAI to train AI on its images. Each deal started in the $25m-$50m range and could grow.
Baldur’s Gate 3’s publishing director called out the gaming industry’s layoff culture, labelling it an “avoidable f*ck up.” He said the massive layoffs at Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft aren’t necessities but choices made at developers’ expense.
