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Stock futures dip after back-to-back gains – Bitcoin briefly rallies above $23K – Amazon adds prime generic prescription perk – Citadel’s record $16 billion haul – 61% chance of recession this year, economists say – Tech job cuts
Stock futures took a dip on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 100 points or 0.3%, while S&P 500 futures slid 0.3%, and Nasdaq-100 futures pulled back by 0.4%, CNBC reported.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was down -0.011 for a yield of 3.513% as of 8:51 AM EST.
In oil futures, Brent crude was down -0.11% at $88.09 a barrel, while WTI crude was up +0.02% at $81.64 a barrel as of 8:53 AM central time.
Between January 20 and January 21, Bitcoin rallied to reach the $23,000 level and was hanging close on Tuesday at $22,932, CoinTelegraph reported. Bitcoin briefly topped $23,100 on Monday, following a high of $23,333.83 on Saturday, the first time since August 19, according to Coin Metrics, CNBC reported. The coin has now climbed almost 39% since the start of January 2023.
Amazon is adding another benefit to its Prime program for US users that will add a new generic prescription benefit. The add-on is called RxPass, and it will allow Prime members to get as many drugs as they need from a list of 50 generic medications used to treat over 80 common and chronic conditions. The service cost $5 per month per person and includes free delivery, CNBC reported.
Citadel has become the most successful hedge fund, with the highest annual windfall on record after it made $16 billion last year. The latest gains bring Citadel’s total gain since its inception to nearly $66 billion, topping Bridgewater’s $58.4 billion in gains, to take the top spot for the first time in 7 years, CNN Business reported.
A recent poll of economists from the Wall Street Journal calculated the chance of a recession in 2023 at 61 percent. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan also stated he believes a recession is “the most likely outcome” of the current economic trajectory, CNBC reported.
While the Federal Reserve has used interest rates to slow inflation, which has begun to decelerate, and the Fed is indicating it needs to taper off the rate increases, many economists still believe that the aggressive moves by the Fed has triggered a broader slowdown in the economy. Higher mortgage rates have hurt the housing sector while manufacturing activity is showing signs of trouble.
In the past month alone, there have been nearly 50,000 job cuts in the technology sector, PBS reports. Here is a look at some of the cuts by companies and the number of employees let go.
August 2022: Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, let go of 20% of its staff, roughly 1000 people. Robinhood let go of 23% of its workforce, about 780 people.
November 2022: Twitter, roughly half of its staff, 7500 people. Lyft released 13% of its workforce, about 700 employees. Meta, parent company of Facebook, laid off 13% of its workforce, about 11,000 people.
January 2023: Amazon cut 18,000 positions, only a fraction of its workforce. Salesforce, let go of 10% of its workforce, about 8000 employees. Coinbase cut 20% of its workforce, about 8000 employees. Microsoft announced it will cut 5% of its workforce, about 10,000 jobs. Google says it will lay off 6% of its workforce, about 12,000 workers. Spotify will cut 6% of its workforce, about 400 jobs.
