Inflation, labor shortages and supply chain issues are undermining the economy, but midsize and small businesses are still hopeful about the new year.
The big picture: 83% of midsize businesses and 71% of small businesses “are optimistic about their own performance in 2022,” according to JPMorgan Chase’s 2022 Business Leaders Outlook Survey out today. That’s up from 77% and 63% at the dawn of 2021, respectively.
GM and Ford may be making progress on electric vehicles, but Toyota became the best-selling automaker in the U.S. in 2021, usurping GM for the first time with strong sales of hybrid vehicles and SUVs.
The big picture: GM held the title since the Great Depression but has been losing market share for decades. GM's slide is partly by design. The automaker has discontinued a slew of passenger car models to focus on more-profitable SUVs and pickups.
The most popular American pickups are poised to test whether the nation's obsession with trucks can go electric.
Driving the news: Ford on Tuesday announced plans to nearly double production capacity of its forthcoming F-150 Lightning amid what it called “soaring customer demand.”
Federal Reserve officials see forces fueling high inflation lasting potentially beyond 2022. That could mean raising interest rates sooner than they had thought, according to the minutes of their last policy meeting released Wednesday.
Why it matters: Fed leaders' view that inflation pressures aren't evaporating anytime soon means that the era of ultra-easy money is likely to end in 2022, creating risks for markets and the economy.
AGBO, the production company co-founded by "Avengers: Endgame" directors Anthony and Joe Russo, on Wednesday said it sold a minority stake to Tokyo-based video game company Nexon.
Why it matters: This the latest in a series of investments in high-profile production companies, spurred on by the global rise of streaming.
General Motors CEO Mary Barra on Wednesday outlined the next steps in the company's aggressive electric vehicle rollout, including a plug-in Chevrolet Silverado EV pickup truck and two SUVs, while demand for its electric delivery vans grows.
Why it matters: Pickups and SUVs are the heart of the U.S. vehicle market. Sales of electrified versions — if they take off — would help GM toward its goal of ending sales of gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035.
Ford's stock jumped 12% Tuesday after it revealed plans to boost production of the electric F-150 pickup, and today rival General Motors will unveil the electric version of the Chevy Silverado pickup.
Why it matters: Pickups' early prominence in the wider EV plans of U.S. auto giants (GM also has an electric Hummer and plans an electric Sierra) signals how the industry sees an opening in the truck market.
Xage, a company that aims to secure operational components of the electrical grid, announced Wednesday it has raised $30 million in a Series B round of financing.
Why it matters: There is increased interest in improving the security of the grid's operational assets following a year that featured escalating cyberattacks, including the shutdown of a major oil pipeline.
2021 was a record year for much of the financial markets — but bankruptcies were a notable exception.
Driving the news: Bankruptcy filings for both individuals and companies were far lower than 2020’s activity, and remain below pre-pandemic levels, according to new data from Epiq Bankruptcy, a provider of data, technology and services.
For today’s investors, the latest jackpot idea might be sandwiched between cat videos and political snark on social media.
Driving the news: About 60% of Gen Z and millennial investors have made an investment as a result of social media, according to a new survey out today from M1 Finance.
Fanatics has acquired Topps' trading card and collectibles business for roughly $500 million, according to people familiar with the deal.
Why it matters: Fanatics, the world's largest seller of licensed sports apparel, is now the dominant player in the booming trading card space, and home to the hobby's most iconic brand.
The buy now, pay later (BNPL) industry — an increasingly important driver of retail sales — could face new rules as D.C. scrutiny builds.
Driving the news: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is peering into the policies of Affirm, Afterpay, Klarna, PayPal and Zip — a few of the most notable players in the BNPL industry..
Calling legacy media "almost paralyzed," two of journalism's top disrupters — Bloomberg's Justin Smith and Ben Smith of the New York Times — unveiled a long-secret idea for a richly-funded global news platform.
The Smiths either are very early in their planning or are cleverly disguising their intentions: No name was announced, and neither could say where the venture will be headquartered.
