Members Exchange (MEMX) will launch the previously announced stock exchange in the first half of next year, as it begins the process to secure an exchange license from the SEC "shortly," Jonathan Kellner, in his first public comments as CEO of MEMX, said at the Milken Conference.
Why it matters: There are few details about the venture so far, including how much cheaper its model will be versus the existing stock exchanges. MEMX — backed and owned by a group of major Wall Street firms— promises to be a less costly alternative to challenge the stock exchange business dominated by Nasdaq and New York Stock Exchange parent Intercontinental Exchange. "There is room for competition and there needs to be competition," Kellner said.
On Wednesday morning, Axios Executive Editor Mike Allen interviewed Anthony Scaramucci at the China Business Conference at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce about the president's next moves on China and how to make sense of Trump's behavior.
American consumers are paying more for washing machines and dryers as a result of the tariffs Trump imposed in January 2018, NBC reports.
Details: A recent study from the University of Chicago and a Federal Reserve Board governor found that washing machines cost an average of 12% more per appliance, or about $86 to $92 more, after Trump's tariffs on imported machines went into effect. That's both a result of the increased cost of imported machines and because domestic manufacturers like Whirlpool are raising prices.
Meal prep company Blue Apron noted a profit in its first quarter earnings report yesterday, but it wasn't enough for investors who sold the stock after the report.
The big picture: It looks to be too little, too late, the Wall Street Journal's Elizabeth Winkler reports, "As the company has struggled, many employees — including all three of its founders — have left. The company’s market value of around $220 million is just one-tenth of what it was worth when it went public in June 2017."
Investors are raising their expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut rates at least once this year, ahead of today's Fed policy meeting.
Driving the news: Fed funds futures prices show traders see a 65% chance the Fed cuts rates at least once this year and a greater than 20% chance of 2 rate cuts, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool. Bets on more than 1 rate hike have picked up notably over the past month.
The New York Times, in an editorial sparked by an "appalling" cartoon that ran last week in the paper's international edition, warns of numbness to the creep of anti-Semitism — "to the insidious way this ancient, enduring prejudice is once again working itself into public view and common conversation."
What they're saying: "This is also a period of rising criticism of Israel, much of it directed at the rightward drift of its own government. ... A particularly frightening, and also historically resonant, aspect of the rise of anti-Semitism in recent years is that it has come from both the right and left sides of the political spectrum."
CNN and BBC have been taken off the air by the Venezuelan government after violent street clashes erupted on Tuesday instigated by supporters of National Assembly leader Juan Guaidó, amid a push to oust embattled President Nicolás Maduro.
Details:CNN reports that broadcast providers DirecTV, Net Uno, Intercable and Telefónica have "all received orders from Venezuela's government regulator Conatel to block CNN" after the network broadcast a feed showing a military vehicle running over protesters. A BBC spokesperson also told CNN that BBC Global News has been taken off the air in the country. Guaidó's call for a military uprising against Maduro quickly gained support from the Trump administration.
Money flowed strongly into mutual funds and ETFs of all kinds except for equity funds last week. According to the most recent data from Lipper, equities saw $7.3 billion of outflows, the only asset group it tracks to see money pulled out of funds.
Why it matters: Despite the run in U.S. stocks, data shows that real money investors have been selling for most of this year. That trend continues even during what should be bouts of exuberance.
Cable provider Altice USA announced Tuesday that it acquired the streaming news network Cheddar for $200 million, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Why it matters, via Axios' editor-in-chief Nicholas Johnston: The move comes as a sign that Altice, a relative unknown, is jumping into the streaming wars.
ORLANDO — Sports media and entertainment is growing fast in the region that has long been known for theme parks and tourism.
Why it matters: The sizable presence of sports media and video game industry signals a hub growing outside of the New York/Connecticut and California regions.
In the latest phase of the desperate race to survive against Amazon's immense selling power, brick and mortar stores are increasingly aping one of the retail giant's most potent practices: dynamic pricing.
Between the lines: This increasingly popular tactic — in which a seller constantly adjusts the price of its products, for example hiking hotel prices during a big convention — benefits both buyers and sellers, its defenders argue. But as pricing is increasingly automated, the dangers include gouging and discrimination.
