The headlinefrom Fortune's Jeff John Roberts says it all: "The crypto world is losing its mind over when bitcoin ETFs will arrive."
Why it matters: Pretty much every major price increase in bitcoin in recent months has been chalked up to anticipation that the long-awaited day will soon arrive when investors will be able to buy funds directly tied to the spot price of the OG cryptocurrency.
Alaska Airlines is grounding all 65 of its Boeing 737 MAX-9 aircraft after a harrowing in-flight emergency Friday night left a gaping hole in its fuselage, exposing passengers to the open air.
The big picture: The incident, which didn't end in injuries or fatalities, led the Federal Aviation Administration to require operators of about 171 airplanes worldwide to ground their planes until they were inspected.
Inflation is hated mostly because it erodes the power of your paycheck. But the good news — and the reason why optimism might return to the U.S. in 2024, as I wrote this week — is that real pay hikes have now returned.
Why it matters: As Brendan Duke of the Center for American Progress writes, 57% of workers are making more money now — after adjusting for inflation — than they were a year ago. 41% of us have seen a real wage increase of more than 5%.
L'Oréal and Estée Lauder are the two largest beauty companies in the world, boasting a market share of 16.1% and 13.6%, respectively. (LVMH is a distant third with 8%.)
Why it matters: The two stocks moved in perfect lockstep with each other from pre-pandemic to the beginning of 2023 — but since then, they have sharply diverged.
The humble compact disc has gone from relic to retro as Gen Z music fans look for ways to commemorate their favorite artists.
Why it matters: Though music streaming continues to dominate, younger fans are looking for multiple ways to listen and connect to artists, says Josh Friedlander, senior VP of research and economics at the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Revenues from physical music formats, including CDs, recently hit a decade high.
Florida, Arizona and Colorado have the highest shares of real estate agents, compared to other U.S. states, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Real estate agents are least prevalent — compared to other professions — in D.C., Connecticut and Iowa.
What we're watching: Whether the field shrinks after a mostly stagnant year in real estate, and as commissions come into question.
Key filings for a spot bitcoin exchange traded fund rolled in on Friday, showing progress issuers are making ahead of a final decision, with a few steps remaining.
Why it matters: Two things need to happen before a shop can launch a bitcoin ETF. The issuer needs its S-1 filing to be declared effective by the Securities and Exchanges Commission, and get the nod on what are called 19b-4 filings, which exchanges submit to get permission to list non-standard ETFs.
State of play: The Nasdaq submitted amended 19b-4 filings for Valkyrie and BlackRock, while the NYSE submitted one for Grayscale, Bitwise, Hashdex; meanwhile, Cboe submitted for Ark 21Shares and Invesco/Galaxy.
More of these filings are to be expected, with the SEC staff reportedly telling exchanges and issuers to do so, according to a Bloomberg article citing four people familiar with the matter.
Zoom in: One obvious change in the amended filing for BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust is a technical detail that will likely echo across the others: "The Authorized Participants will deliver only cash to create shares and will receive only cash when redeeming shares."
What we're watching: Don't get on pins and needles until the SEC actually calls a vote, which is shaping up to take place next week.
A feature offered by Twitch, the Amazon-owned live video streaming platform that's popular with teens and kids, is being used by predators to record and share child sexual abuse content, per a Bloomberg News analysis.
The big picture: The investigation reveals another way predators have used evolving media and technology to sexually exploit children and teens.
Jesse Comart has been promoted to chief communications and marketing officer at GoodLeap, a tech platform that helps homeowners finance clean energy installations including solar, batteries, EVs and heat pumps.
Why it matters: Comart will use all internal and external channels to raise awareness and explain how GoodLeap makes clean energy more accessible.
Zoom in: Reporting to co-founder and chief revenue officer Matt Dawson, Comart will oversee product marketing and sales enablement, brand marketing, social media and analytics, public affairs and government relations, paid and earned media, creative services, events and internal comms, and employee engagement.
SAIC named White House and UPS alum Kara Gerhardt Ross as senior vice president, global corporate communications.
Brightcove appointed Kathy Klingler chief marketing officer.
Employer Direct Healthcare named Shelly Townsas chief marketing officer and Amy Dudleyas head of communications.
Endeavor namedSarah Hirdas senior vice president, communications, and Chad Tendler as senior vice president, corporate and financial communications. Tiffany Fang was promoted to senior vice president, head of corporate events and creative, and Marie Sheehy was promoted to senior vice president, communications.
Brunswick Group has appointed Steve Cooke as a partner in London; Alexander Kazan joins as a partner and geopolitical global co-lead; and Samantha Vinograd joins as a partner and geopolitical lead, U.S.
Stagwell Marketing Cloud appoints Elspeth Rollert as its first-ever CEO.
TrailRunner International hired Amanda Bush as managing director.
Melissa Cook O'Reilly has joined Shallot Communications as a principal focused on public affairs.
Prosek Partners named Matthew Goodman as a senior vice president in its New York office.
Ryan Lee joins the International Trade Administration as chief speechwriter and policy advisor.
Jackie McGuinness is communications director for the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
U.S. House of Representatives:
Kerry Rom joins Speaker Mike Johnson's office as deputy communications director; Benjamin Stanislawski is communications director for Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.); Taylor Hulseyis communications director for Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.); and Jonathan Eberle is senior communications advisor for Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.).
Axios: Sabrina Moreno is a reporter for Axios Local — Richmond, Justin Mack is a reporter for Axios Local — Indianapolis, Joseph Gallivan is a reporter for Axios Local — Portland and Holly Moore has been promoted to executive editor, Axios Local.
Amer Sports, a Finnish maker of Wilson tennis rackets and other sports gear, filed for an IPO that's estimated to raise more than $1 billion.
Why it matters: It looks like we'll get some blockbuster IPOs in early 2024, after a molasses-drenched 2023, with Amer coming on the heels of the recent filing by KKR-backed BrightSpring Health.
The U.S. economy added 216,000 jobs last month while the unemployment rate held at 3.7%, the Labor Department said on Friday.
Why it matters: The final snapshot of the 2023 labor market shows hot hiring — the latest sign that the American job market continues to defy expectations of a slowdown.
Tesla will recall more than 1.6 million of its vehicles that were exported to China to fix glitches with their automatic assisted steering and door lock controls, a Chinese regulator announced on Friday.
Why it matters: The recall in China over the glitches, which will be fixed with remote software updates, follows two otherrecalls in the U.S. last month involving millions of the company's electric vehicles that were experiencing similar issues.
The price of sending goods around the world is spiking after six weeks of disruptions in the Red Sea, where Iran-backed Houthi militants are attacking commercial shipping vessels.
Why it matters: The disruptions pose a threat to the global economy, nearly four years after COVID woke the world up to the existence — and fragility — of supply chains.
A second batch of court documents was unsealed Thursday in connection to a lawsuit related to deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Why it matters: The release comes one day after a federal judge unsealed an initial tranche of documents as part of a civil suit against Ghislaine Maxwell.
A second set of court filings related to Jeffrey Epstein was unsealed in New York on Thursday, one day after the first tranche was released.
The big picture: The newly unsealed filings also feature dozens of names related to a civil lawsuit against Ghislaine Maxwell, who was sentenced last year to 20years in prison on sex trafficking and other charges for helping Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls. Being named in the filings does not equate to being accused of wrongdoing.
