The Dow Jones Industrial Average just closed out its worst week since the 2008 financial crisis, finishing down nearly 7%. The stock market overall had its worst week since 2011, per the AP.
Why it matters, via Axios' Dion Rabouin: This week's market undoing has analysts and fund managers on Wall Street breaking out the 'R' word — recession. While many had sworn off such language a couple weeks ago, the looming government shutdown and crumbling global growth outlook has Wall Street talking openly about recession.
Snap Inc.'s stock fell below $5 per share Thursday, and hit its all time low of $4.85 Friday. The company went public last year at $17 per share and has gradually lost momentum since.
Why it matters: Despite dodging a bad press cycle that other data-driven ad companies faced, Snap has still failed to win over investors that are skeptical of the company's plan to grow its user base and business.
There's been a bit of correction in public tech stocks lately amid a larger market slump, and although Silicon Valley venture capitalists are telling Axios it could impact later stage companies who haven't been performing well, most founders will likely go unscathed.
The big picture: "Having a bit of air let out of the balloon could be a good thing," IVP partner Jules Maltz tells Axios. And having it happen on the private side also wouldn't be bad, adds another VC.
The U.S. is moving to ease decades of get-tough prisons policy by, among other things, beefing up training programs so that ex-convicts can get jobs.
The big picture: The First Step Act, sent to Trump on Thursday, will also reduce some sentences and give judges more sentencing flexibility. But one of the most pernicious aspects of the criminal justice system is how it has fallen short in allowing ex-convicts to make a fresh start.
President Trump officially signed the $867 billion farm bill into law Thursday after months of negotiations in Congress.
The big picture: The massive bill legalizes the cultivation of industrialized hemp and provides billions in aid to farmers who have seen their business bogged down by the U.S. trade war with China. Earlier Thursday, the Trump administration announced a plan to tighten the work requirements for food stamps — a change House Republicans wanted to include in the farm bill, but was ultimately stripped out of the final version.
Companies are pulling their advertisements from Tucker Carlson's show on Fox News after he said mass immigration makes the U.S. "poorer and dirtier."
The big picture: This isn't the first time Fox News hosts have gotten heat for their rhetoric — Laura Ingraham faced similar pushback over tweets mocking Parkland school shooting survivor David Hogg earlier this year. Fox News stood by Ingraham then, and it continues to stand by Carlson now.
A New York City judge ruled that a criminal prosecution on several charges of sexual assault against former Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein will move forward, the Los Angeles Times reports.
What's new: Weinstein appeared in court Thursday to have his charges exonerated, but prosecutors said there's ample evidence to bring his case to trial. Defense attorney Ben Brafman said Weinstein is "obviously disappointed" the charges were not dismissed. The next hearing is scheduled for March 7.
