The everything old is new again trend is alive and well in retail with shoppable livestreaming — which is basically interactive commercials. Thanks to social technologies popularized by Gen Z, live video shopping a la QVC is on fire.
Why it matters: Consumer media and shopping habits moving online have primed retail and digital video to combine more seamlessly.
The big picture: The infants' deaths, which occurred between December 2015 and June 2020 according to the CPSC, were linked to three newborn lounger models. The infants reportedly suffocated after being placed on their back, side or stomach on the lounger and were found on their side or on their stomach.
Devoted Health, a health insurance startup that focuses on Medicare Advantage plans, is raising up to $1.2 billion in new funding at around an $11.5 billion valuation, according to a Delaware stock authorization filing.
Why it matters: The Waltham, Massachusetts-based company serves around 40,000 seniors in four states, more than double from the first half of 2020, and wants to eventually become a nationwide provider.
The monster debt crisis that utterly failed to cause any catastrophe this week was that of Evergrande, the Chinese property giant.
Why it matters: Evergrande's share price has collapsed to pennies, its bonds are pricing in a default with very limited recovery, and even its customers are demonstrating across China. But so far the broader repercussions have been minimal.
Half of U.S. Latinos feel their workplacedoes not have a nurturing environment for diverse professionals, even as a majority think their office leaders do consider inclusion to be important, per a poll carried out by YouGov and LinkedIn.
By the numbers: The survey found that 37% of Latino professionals said they are considering leaving their jobs because of lack of recognition, of opportunities and of leaders with shared experiences who can offer mentorship.
How much would you pay for "a sleek, if pleasantly confusing, package of moods" or "a confusing tangle of disjointed installations" or even "the total erosion of meaning itself"? The answer, according to the current market-clearing price, seems to be about $35.
Why it matters: Investors are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into ticketed experiences — immersive, interactive museum-like spaces that don't have the d0-not-touch stuffiness of traditional museums.
We're more than a decade into the political debate over how to tax carried interest, the profits earned by private fund managers on others investors' capital. And somehow the proposals are getting worse.
Background: For the uninitiated, carried interest is usually taxed as a capital gain, rather than as ordinary income.
Veritas Capital and Elliott Management hired bankers to consider a sale or IPO process for Athenahealth, which could be valued at more than $20 billion, per Bloomberg.
Why it matters: This could be a four-bagger for Veritas and Elliott, which paid just $5.7 billion for the Watertown, Massachusetts-based health tech company in 2018, less than what Elliott had originally offered to pay, before its hostile efforts were buttressed by the departure of company co-founder Jonathan Bush.
Former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis testified on Wednesday during Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes' criminal trial, saying that he was misled to believe the company had developed a technology that could scan health issues with drops of blood, AP reports.
State of play: Prosecutors presented Mattis' testimony to support their allegations that Holmes lied to investors about having a business relationship with the Pentagon, per the Wall Street Journal.
NTWRK, a livestream shopping platform, has raised $50 million in a new funding round, bringing its total amount raised to $60 million, the company said Thursday.
Why it matters: The pandemic dramatically expedited the shift to e-commerce, further increasing the opportunity for platforms like NTWRK to capitalize on growing trends, like live video shopping.
Facebook confirmed Wednesday that CTO Mike Schroepfer will leave that post next year and become a part-time adviser, while longtime engineering executive Andrew Bosworth will assume the CTO role.
Why it matters: It's a major leadership shift that has one veteran engineering leader cutting back his involvement and another getting a significant promotion.
Home sales cooled as prices continued to heat up in August.
Driving the news: The share of first-time existing homebuyers (29%) last month was the smallest in two years, according to new data from the National Association of Realtors.
Most of the questions Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell fielded at Wednesday's press conference related to the coming taper. A runner-up: the trading controversy that’s put a spotlight on some Fed officials, including Powell himself.
Catch up quick: Recent financial disclosures showed two regional Fed officials owned — and in one case, actively traded — assets sensitive to the drastically expanded monetary policy they helped shape.
Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky and co-founder Joe Gebbia said during a visit to Washington on Wednesday that they're offering temporary housing to 40,000 Afghan refugees worldwide, doubling a previous commitment.
The big picture: The housing typically lasts several weeks, and Airbnb and Airbnb.org provide subsidies to hosts. Hosts and donors also help pay.
The state wants to drive more tourism — and the revenue that comes with it — to its poorest rural counties.
A new program will try to accomplish that goal through Tennessee's vast network of parks, forests, and other natural areas.
Why it matters: Tennessee state parks have seen a historic increase in camping and other activities during the pandemic.
Four of the top 10 camping months in the state's history were in 2020.
State parks last year had a $1.84 billion economic impact, according to an internal review. That economic impact could be a lifeline for distressed communities.
The latest: On Wednesday, the Department of Environment and Conservation announced a task force to look for ways to harness the popularity of public land to benefit rural counties.
The effort will focus on Tennessee's nine economically distressed counties, which rank among the 10% most economically challenged counties in the country.
The big picture: Gov. Bill Lee came into office in 2019 on promises to invest more heavily in Tennessee's rural communities. As he approaches reelection, the governor has repeatedly touted his efforts to do so.
What's next: The task force will work through May 2022 to develop plans for each of the distressed counties.
TDEC spokesperson Kim Schofinski told Axios potential plans could include new trails, new overnight campgrounds, or more marketing for existing attractions.
We've all heard dire reports about the dearth of workers in nursing homes and assisted living facilities, but the situation continues to deteriorate — and the growing number of mask mandates, which are vital, could exacerbate the crisis.
Why it matters: Stalwarts of the care community could be forced to close if they can't find enough people to fill open positions or if current workers are forced into such onerous shifts that they can't take it anymore.
Consumers who rushed to use delivery services during the pandemic won't abandon them even though most restrictions have eased, says Instacart's new president, Carolyn Everson.
No one wants to test the strength of the debt ceiling. The current Treasury secretary, backed up by many of her predecessors, says that it's so rock-solid that running into it will be catastrophic.
Why it matters: The brinkmanship we're currently seeing over the debt ceiling is the kind of dance that no sane person would perform on the edge of a real cliff. One possible explanation is that the cliff isn't quite as vertiginous as politicians are being warned it is.
With rental cars in short supply, enterprising car owners have amassed their own small fleets of automobiles, renting them out to travelers at a premium.
A snapshot: If you need a car in Boston for a weekend in mid-October, you can rent a Ford Fiesta hatchback from Budget for about $500 — or pay the same fora Maserati Quattroporte from Turo.com, a car-sharing site.
Some hospitals are refusing to administer Biogen's new Alzheimer's drug, Aduhelm, but many freestanding infusion centers are offering it despite concerns about the drug's safety and lack of effectiveness.
Yes, but: Hardly any patients are receiving the drug, even with infusion centers eagerly advertising it. Just over 100 patients have actually gotten Aduhelm so far, way below Biogen's already-tempered forecasts, STAT reported.
