Just briefly Brand-friendly: “The U.S. Open is evolving, and becoming more brand-friendly, by design,” Ad Age’s Brian Braiker writes. It’s got 21 official sponsors, including Emirates Airlines, J.P. Morgan Chase/Chase Bank and American Express. That’s up from 19 last year. And there are plenty of brands in the concession stands too; Grey Goose is selling something called a Frozen Honey Deuce for $20.
New job: General Motors has named Cadillac marketing chief Deborah Wahl as its global chief marketing officer, “a position that hasn't been filled since 2012,” Automotive News reports. Wahl previously spent three years as CMO of McDonald's USA.
Quote of the day: The Interactive Advertising Bureau’s Tech Lab doesn’t expect Apple to support its efforts to create new standards for tracking internet users. “They historically have shown that they don’t play well with others,” the IAB Tech Lab’s Jordan Mitchell says. Read more by Ad Age’s George P. Slefo.
Ad of the day: If you’re a fan of “Rudy,” the feel-good football movie from 1993, you’ll be happy to know that it’s getting a mini-sequel, courtesy of KFC and Wieden & Kennedy. As Ad Age’s Jessica Wohl reports, actor Sean Astin reprises the role of the title character in a KFC commercial, but he’s simultaneously playing Colonel Sanders. If you think it sounds wacko, you’re correct. Just watch it.
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Dozens of state attorneys general are set to formally launch separate antitrust probes starting next week into Facebook and Alphabet's Google unit, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter.
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The Google probe is expected to be announced Monday at a news conference outside the U.S. Supreme Court, according to the Journal.
The investigation, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, along with a bipartisan group of about three dozen state attorneys general, will examine Google's impact on digital advertising markets, focusing on potentially harmful information provided to consumers and ad choices.
Meanwhile, New York Attorney General Letitia James, with an overlapping bipartisan group of attorneys general, is organizing a probe into Facebook, furthering the conversation of "unchecked power of large tech companies," the Journal reported.
“The attorneys general involved have concerns over the control of personal data by large tech companies and will hold them accountable for anticompetitive practices that endanger privacy and consumer data," James told the Journal.
This comes at a time when tech giants are already under federal scrutiny.
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“This news along with the broader Senate hearing looking into whether these Tech giants bought up smaller competitors to remain dominant in their respective markets represents an overhang to each stock," according to a team of Wedbush analysts led by Dan Ives. However, the analysts further mention that investors should "focus on the fundamentals in the near-term as any resolution of these probes would likely take many years to complete."
A spokesperson for Google told FOX Business: "Google's services help people every day, create more choice for consumers, and support thousands of jobs and small businesses across the country. We continue to work constructively with regulators, including attorneys general, in answering questions about our business and the dynamic technology sector."
Facebook did not respond to FOX Business' request for comment at the time of publication.
WASHINGTON—State attorneys general are formally launching separate antitrust probes into Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google unit starting next week, according to people familiar with the matter, putting added pressure on tech giants already under federal scrutiny.
The Google probe is expected to be announced at a news conference outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, with a bipartisan group of about three dozen state attorneys general joining the effort, the people said.
After selling its stake in Beyond Meat in the spring, Tyson Foods' next bet is on plant-based shellfish.
Tyson Ventures, the venture capital arm of the meat processing company, is investing in New Wave Foods. Tyson Ventures CFO Tom Mastrobuoni declined to discuss the financial terms of deal but said that Tyson took a minority stake of less than 20% in New Wave.
The start-up, which was founded in 2015, makes plant-based shrimp from seaweed, soy protein and natural flavors.
"I tasted it for the first time in a cafe in Palo Alto, and I had no idea I was eating plant-based shrimp," Mastrobuoni said.
After shrimp, New Wave is planning to tackle crab and lobster. Shrimp is the most consumed seafood in the world, according to co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Michelle Wolf.
"From a business perspective, it made sense because of the market opportunity," Wolf said.
While there are a number of companies tackling plant-based fish like salmon or tuna alternatives, New Wave is one of the few trying to sell crustacean substitutes. Mastrobuoni said that the lack of competition made New Wave a more attractive investment.
Tyson will leverage its scale and network to help accelerate New Wave's growth.
"We've said this all along — alternative protein is an 'and' concept for Tyson, it's not an 'or,' " Mastrobuoni said.
For now, New Wave Foods' distribution is limited to three food-service locations rather than restaurants. CEO Mary McGovern said the company plans to target food service first, in part because 80% of shrimp consumption in the U.S. happens outside the home.
New Wave is Tyson Ventures' ninth investment since starting the fund in 2016. Mastrobuoni declined to disclose any track record of the fund's performance.
Tyson isn't the only traditional food company branching out into plant-based foods. Hormel and Kellogg announced plans Wednesday to produce plant-based meat brands.
Iowa officers are clearing the air on gun laws after Walmart asked customers to no longer openly carry firearms in its stores. Law enforcement officials say if a ...
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will update the public on his outlook in a discussion Friday with the head of the Swiss National Bank.
Photo:
sarah silbiger/Reuters
Federal Reserve officials are gearing up to reduce interest rates at their next policy meeting in two weeks, most likely by a quarter-percentage point, as the trade war between the U.S. and China darkens the global economic outlook.
The idea of an aggressive half-point cut to battle the slowdown hasn’t gained much support inside the central bank, according to interviews with officials and their public speeches.
While market-determined interest rates have tumbled, signaling a dimmer outlook for growth and inflation, many Fed officials believe that the 10-year U.S. expansion can continue at a modest pace and inflation will gradually rise to their 2% target.
“The economy is in a good place, but not without risk and uncertainty,” said New York Fed President
John Williams
in a speech Wednesday. “Our role is to navigate a complex and at times ambiguous outlook to keep the economy growing and strong.”
An important update on the labor market Friday, plus new readings on retail sales and inflation next week, could reshape officials’ outlook. Fed Chairman
Jerome Powell
will also update the public on his outlook in a discussion Friday with the head of the Swiss National Bank.
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Markets already expect the Fed to cut interest rates modestly at the Sept. 17-18 policy meeting. Investors place a 90% probability on a quarter-percentage-point rate cut and a 10% probability on a larger, half-point cut, according to CME Group.
Mr. Williams, a top lieutenant to Mr. Powell, didn’t push back against those expectations in his speech. Increased uncertainty, he said, called for “vigilance and flexibility.”
Mr. Powell cited weaker global growth, trade uncertainty and muted inflation when he led his colleagues in July to cut interest rates to their current range between 2% and 2.25%. He called the move a midcycle adjustment, adding that it wasn’t necessarily the start of a “long cutting cycle.”
The global growth and trade outlook has deteriorated since July. U.S. government bond yields dropped sharply after President Trump’s decision to increase tariffs on Chinese imports last month. Beijing responded with retaliatory measures, prompting Mr. Trump to announce further increases in tariffs.
Yields on the 10-year Treasury note, which stood at 2.02% after the Fed announced its rate cut on July 31, have fallen to 1.46%, while yields on the two-year Treasury note have dropped to 1.44% from 1.89%.
Global manufacturing data have been soft, and revisions to U.S. economic output and employment data suggested the economy is on a slower track than previously thought.
Officials are set to release new economic and interest-rate projections at the meeting. Officials have stressed that shifts in economic conditions will guide policy changes, meaning they are likely to be open to more stimulus after the next rate cut—just as they were in their postmeeting statement in July.
Mr. Powell has weathered unusual and sustained criticism from Mr. Trump for not moving more aggressively to lower rates. The president last month suggested the central bank leader was a bigger enemy to the U.S. than Chinese President
Xi Jinping.
The Fed chief is weighing mixed advice inside his own institution.
In July, several regional Fed bank presidents were reluctant to cut rates at all, and two formally dissented against the decision.
St. Louis Fed President
James Bullard,
on the other hand, wants the Fed to move rates down more aggressively with a half-point move.
“We have seen a big inter-meeting move in bonds. Markets are expecting a lot less inflation and a lot less growth than the Fed is,” said Mr. Bullard in an interview Wednesday.
“We should take some signal” from bond markets that indicate “our rate is too high,” he said. “I’m nervous that our policy rate is above every other rate. It is not a good place for the Fed to be.”
Because markets have largely priced in an additional quarter-point cut at the Fed’s meeting in late October, Mr. Bullard said he saw little reason to delay, if officials concur with investors’ dimmer growth outlook. “Why not just align that now?” he asked.
Other officials have said the Fed shouldn’t overreact to market signals absent stronger evidence that weakness from the global economy or the manufacturing sector is spreading to the services sector or consumer spending.
Risks facing the U.S. economy are elevated, and it would be appropriate to cut rates aggressively if those risks become reality, said Boston Fed President
Eric Rosengren
in a speech Tuesday.
Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell is facing fears of an economic downturn, volatile markets and criticism from President Trump. WSJ's Nick Timiraos explains what pressures weighed on the Fed chief as he headed to this year's annual central bank conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Photo: DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG NEWS
“To date, these elevated risks have not become reality—at least not for the U.S. economy,” said Mr. Rosengren, who was one of the two regional bank presidents who dissented against the July decision to cut rates.
Many analysts see economic output growing at a rate a little above 2% in the third quarter.
Dallas Fed President
Robert Kaplan,
in an August interview, said broad declines in market-determined rates suggested the Fed’s policy stance might be too tight but cautioned against overreacting to those signals by making a half-point cut.
“Monetary policy, in my judgment, did not cause this,” said Mr. Kaplan.
Officials have said the trade fight is complicating policy because it involves making assumptions about hard-to-predict geopolitical risks.
Though there is an argument for the Fed to move aggressively to fight any economic slowdown risk quickly, Mr. Kaplan said the fast-changing trade landscape instead makes him cautious.
“When you have this amount of uncertainty and this frequency of changes, my reaction as a business person is not to speed up—it’s actually a little bit to slow down the cadence of it and maybe take a little bit more time,” said Mr. Kaplan.
Even those who have pushed for more-aggressive moves concede there are limits to how much the Fed may be able to stimulate an economy suffering from weaker business investment related to trade uncertainty.
“Monetary policy is a poor tool to undo the harm of trade war,” said Minneapolis Fed President
Neel Kashkari
in public remarks Wednesday, though he said officials needed to be ready to use that tool anyway.
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Former Nissan Motor Co. Chairman Carlos Ghosn's first court hearing will take place as early as March, his lawyer said Thursday.
Ghosn was arrested last November and is facing a trial for allegedly underreporting his remuneration and diverting company funds to an investment firm he effectively owns.
