FCC chairman Ajit Pai offered a measured response Tuesday to President Trump's tweets last week arguing for a challenge to broadcast licenses for NBC stations. Pai, speaking at an event hosted by the right-leaning Mercatus Center, said the Federal Communications Commission would not revoke a license based on content.
"I believe in the First Amendment, the FCC under my leadership will stand for the First Amendment, and under the law the FCC does not have the authority to revoke the license of a broadcast station based on the content of a particular newscast."
Netflix blew past user growth expectations, reporting Monday that it added 5.3 million new subscribers last quarter, upwards of 1 million more than expected.
Why it matters: Hitting revenue estimates is a big win for Netflix, given that it poured a ton of money into programming investments (more below), as opposed to focusing on profit. It's also another reminder for Pay-TV providers and TV networks that the traditional cable bundle can't compete with the power of on-demand.
Though the S&P 500 was in the black on Monday, stocks of retail companies fell broadly, with shares of Nordstrom, Sears, and cosmetics vendor Ulta all losing favor with investors during trading hours.
Nordstrom shares lost more than 5% after the company announced it was suspending efforts to take itself private after struggling to find interested investors.
Sears tumbled nearly 12% on the news that Bruce Berkowitz, one of its largest investors and a close associate of CEO Eddie Lampert, would be leaving the board of directors.
Ulta lost 2.5% of its value, following a decision by Goldman Sachs to downgrade the stock — citing slowing growth in the beauty products space. Other analysts have warned that Amazon threatens cosmetics retailers like Ulta and Sephora.
Why it matters: Sears' struggles have been long-standing, but both Nordstrom and Ulta have been at various points cited as traditional retailers immune to Amazon's on-line power, and poised to avoid the struggles of the broader industry.
Bloomberg looked at the rise of dollar stores across rural America, which are replacing the mom-and-pop grocery stores of old and entering communities where big-box retailers like Walmart don't see an opportunity for profit.
Why it matters: The biggest dollar store chains like Dollar General, Dollar Tree, and Family Dollar all tend to operate in poorer, older, less-educated towns where residents are more likely to receive some sort of federal assistance. Their stores often are one of the only food options for rural residents who would otherwise have to travel miles to a supermarket.
President Trump has been boasting to aides that he plans on replacing a total of four justices on the Supreme Court, according to reporting by Axios' Jonathan Swan. Trump has singled out two of the three female justices, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Justice Sonia Sotomayor, for their perceived health issues.
Why it matters: This isn't the first time Trump has insulted or attacked prominent females, including reporters, political opponents, models and celebrities. And his most recent comments about Supreme Court justices come right in the middle of Harvey Weinstein's scandal involving allegations of sexual harassment and assault toward women.
Let's revisit Friday's reports that Saudi Arabia may delay selling shares of state oil giant Aramco on international exchanges next year, and may even shelve the plan entirely. The company is instead weighing plans to privately offer stakes to investors including China, according to various media reports including the Financial Times, which broke the story on Friday. FT says options includes selling shares to big sovereign wealth funds and institutional investors.
Why it matters: The planned IPO would likely have been the largest ever, generating massive fees for exchanges in New York or London, the leading candidates for the principal listing venue. It's meant to raise tens of billions of dollars to seed Saudi Arabia's long-term plan to modernize its economy and diversify away from oil.
"Uber's fast-growing food delivery service accounted for nearly a tenth of the company's global gross bookings in the second quarter... a level that implies the unit is on track to exceed $3bn in gross sales this year," the Financial Times' Leslie Hook dishes from S.F. (subscription):
"UberEats [with a presence in 29 countries] has been growing faster than the core business. ... The previously unreported numbers underscore how rapidly UberEats has grown since its launch two years ago as a standalone app."
