Axios

The rise of remote employment and the general erasure of work-life boundaries by the pandemic has led to a boom in calendar-management platforms.

Driving the news: Late last month, Calendly, a cloud-based service that can be used to automatically set up and confirm meeting times, closed a $350 million venture investment that values the Atlanta-based startup at over $3 billion.

The homeownership rate for Black families is nearly 30 percentage points lower than that for white families, according to a new data analysis by the National Association of Realtors, which examined trends between racial groups from 2009 to 2019.

Why it matters: The report comes as President Biden has signed an executive order on racial inequity, directing his administration to take steps toward eliminating "racial bias and other forms of discrimination in all stages of home-buying and renting."

Keith Patrick Gill, known on YouTube and Twitter as Roaring Kitty, released his opening statement ahead of testimony before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday about his role in the surge of GameStop's stock price.

The big picture: Gill will join the CEOs of Reddit, Robinhood, Citadel and Melvin Capital at Wednesday's hearing. The committee plans to "examine the recent activity around GameStop (GME) stock and other impacted stocks with a focus on short selling, online trading platforms, gamification and their systemic impact on our capital markets and retail investors," per a statement by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), chair of the committee.

We've all seen countless stories about San Francisco tech workers decamping for Texas and Florida — but according to U.S. Postal Service change-of-address records, they're mostly moving to Bay Area suburbs, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The big picture: The Chronicle analyzed postal service records and found that "the top six destinations for those fleeing the city were all Bay Area counties: Alameda, San Mateo, Marin, Contra Costa, Santa Clara and Sonoma."

Facebook on Wednesday said it would restrict publishers and people in Australia from sharing or viewing Australian and international news content in response to a new law requiring tech platforms to reimburse news publishers.

Why it matters: The move sets a precedent for how Facebook may handle other global efforts to force it to pay news publishers for their content.

Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh died Wednesday at the age of 70 after a battle with lung cancer, his wife announced on his radio show.

The big picture: Limbaugh was one of the most influential conservative media personalities in the country for over three decades. The provocative radio host was a prominent Trump supporter and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the State of the Union last year after his cancer diagnosis.

Google on Wednesday said that it finally struck a multiyear deal with News Corp, the largest owner of newspapers by circulation in Australia, to pay for its content.

Why it matters: The deal, along with several others reached between Google and Australian publishers in recent days, will likely allow the tech giant to avoid a sweeping new Australian law that would have forced it and rival Facebook to pay publishers on terms set by third-parties if they were unable to reach agreements themselves.

Axiom Space, a Houston-based developer of what would be the world's first commercial space station, raised $130 million in Series B funding led by C5 Capital.

Why it matters: Axiom represents what many believe is the future of space, whereby NASA becomes a customer everywhere in low-Earth orbit so that it can focus on the Moon, Mars and beyond.

The House Financial Services Committee tomorrow will hold its GameStop hearing, including testimony from the heads of Robinhood, Reddit, Citadel and Melvin Capital. Plus the trader known as "Roaring Kitty," who had better be wearing his headband.

What we know: Conventional wisdom is that the hearing will be lots of sound and fury signifying nothing.

These are busy days for the California-based electric vehicle tech company Proterra, which is soon to go public as part of the SPAC-wave sweeping the sector.

Driving the news: This morning the European company Volta Trucks announced that Proterra will supply batteries for its "Volta Zero" urban freight delivery vehicle.

Retail sales jumped 5.3% last month — blowing past the 1.2% increase anticipated by economists, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday.

Why it matters: It’s the first month-over-month increase in shopping figures since September — with consumers getting a boost from the most recent pandemic relief package.

The pandemic has accelerated a number of future-of-work trends, ones with the potential to displace 100 million workers around the world, according to a new McKinsey Global Institute report.

The big picture: Scores of jobs in retail and hospitality will be gone forever. And while they'll be replaced by new roles in health care, e-commerce and beyond, it won't be easy for droves of workers to reskill and jump into new careers.

The House Financial Services Committee will convene a hearing tomorrow on "recent market volatility involving GameStop stock and other stocks" to continue the whodunnit of the current state of financial markets, especially U.S. stocks.

What's happening: Chair Maxine Waters will question the CEOs of Reddit, Robinhood, Citadel Securities, Melvin Capital and Keith Gill, also known as Roaring Kitty or u/DeepF--kingValue.

Yields on 10-year and 30-year U.S. Treasuries rose by the most in three months, as benchmark 10-year yields touched 1.33% early this morning, a one-year high.

Where it stands: There was no clear catalyst for the day's move, market analysts said, just like there has been no real catalyst for the continued bearish momentum that has driven prices down and yields up through the better part of this year.

San Francisco fell from No. 1 and was supplanted by Provo, Utah, in the Milken Institute's annual ranking of big metropolitan areas with the best regional economies.

Why it matters: As the pandemic prompts people to move from pricey superstar cities to mid-tier ones where life is cheaper and easier, traditional powerhouses are being upstaged by smaller places focused on economic vitality.

Nearly 4 million Americans have been unemployed for 27 weeks or longer — trapped in a vicious cycle that makes it harder to get back to work.

The big picture: Long-term unemployment during a pandemic is a double whammy. Millions are experiencing food and housing insecurity and lack health care when they need it most.

New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against Amazon Tuesday night over its handling of worker safety during the pandemic, alleging the retail giant hasn't complied with workplace rules.

Details: In the suit, James also alleges that Amazon illegally retaliated when employees expressed concerns about conditions last spring, when it fired an activist following a protest by workers at a warehouse on New York's Staten Island.

Alden Global Capital, a hedge fund known for cutting journalists at local papers to maximize profits, is buying out the remainder of Tribune Publishing, the parent company to the Chicago Tribune, New York Daily News and other local papers.

Driving the news: With the sale, the two companies also announced that The Baltimore Sun would be acquired by a nonprofit backed by a Maryland-based hotel billionaire.