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Cloudera and Hortonworks to merge

Dan Primack, author of Pro Rata

Cloudera CEO Tom Reilly. Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images.

Cloudera and Hortonworks on Wednesday announced an all-stock merger that would create a $5.2 billion provider of data management solutions in the cloud.

Be smart: The companies are calling it a "merger of equals," but it isn't. Cloudera shareholders would own 60% of the combined business, and its CEO Tom Reilly remains in charge. Hortonworks CEO Rob Bearden would step down from an operating role, but join the board of directors,

Go deeper

Courtenay Brown
31 mins ago - Economy & Business

Trading platforms curb trading on high-flying Reddit stocks

Major trading platforms including Robinhood, TDAmeritrade and Interactive Brokers are restricting — or cutting off entirely — trading on high-flying stocks like GameStop and AMC Entertainment.

Why it matters: It limits access to the traders that have contributed to the wild Reddit-driven activity of the past few days — a phenomenon that has gripped Wall Street and the country.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Courtenay Brown
Updated 1 hour ago - Economy & Business

2020 was the economy's worst year since 1946

Source: FRED; Billions of chained 2012 dollars; Chart: Axios Visuals

One of the last major economic report cards of the Trump era lends perspective to the historic damage caused by the pandemic, which continued to weigh on growth in the final quarter of 2020.

By the numbers: The U.S. economy grew at a 4% annualized pace in the fourth quarter, a sharp slowdown in growth compared to the prior quarter. For the full year, the economy shrank by 3.5% — the first annual contraction since the financial crisis and the worst decline since 1946.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Dion Rabouin, author of Markets
3 hours ago - Economy & Business

How GameStop exposed the market

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

Retail traders have found a cheat code for the stock market, and barring some major action from regulatory authorities or a massive turn in their favored companies, they're going to keep using it to score "tendies" and turn Wall Street on its head.

What's happening: The share prices of companies like GameStop are rocketing higher, based largely on the social media organizing of a 3-million strong group of Redditors who are eagerly piling into companies that big hedge funds are short selling, or betting will fall in price.

Go deeper (2 min. read)Arrow