U.S. job openings remained strong, “with 11.5 million positions listed as available in March, underscoring the continuing strength of the labor market.” The number of workers voluntarily leaving jobs “also reached a high” in March, “an indicator that many workers are confident they can leave their jobs and find employment that better suits their desires or needs” - NYTimes and WSJ and CNBC
Wall Street’s eyes and ears will all be trained on Fed Chair Powell’s messaging following the wrap of the Fed’s Open Market Committee meeting later today. A rate hike’s coming, but how much, and what next are all open questions to be addressed - WSJ and Bloomberg and MarketWatch and Marketplace and NYTimes
Elon Musk announced on Tuesday that he plans to return Twitter to public ownership within a few years of closing his $44 billion purchase of the social media company. Musk has given “few details about his exact plans for the company” other than potentially freeing up its content moderation, and he has also said in the past that “he doesn’t care whether he makes money on the deal.” So, you know, maybe don’t consider those go-public timetables set in stone - WSJ
Government I bonds—the “low-risk federal savings bonds indexed to inflation”—are continuing to impress, the small bright spot in an inflation-obsessed economy. Because of the way I bonds are set up (each bond rate “has two parts: a fixed rate, set when the bond is issued, which stays the same for its 30-year life, and a variable rate, which is based on the six-month change of the Consumer Price Index and can reset twice a year, in May and November”), those holding older bonds “may be earning double-digit rates” - NYTimes
Back on the not-so-great-side of inflation, Americans are adding rising electricity bills to the higher gas prices that have plagued them at the pump in recent months. The “national average residential energy rate was up 8 percent in January from a year earlier, the biggest annual increase in more than a decade” - NYTimes
LinkedIn will pay $1.8 million to resolve claims by the Labor Department that it underpaid nearly 700 women at two of its California offices from 2015 to 2017. The settlement arises from a “routine evaluation” in which the agency “found that the women in question had been paid ‘at a statistically significant lower rate’ than their male counterparts even after taking into account ‘legitimate explanatory factors’” - NYTimes
China’s ride-hailing giant, Didi Global, revealed that the SEC is conducting a probe examining its June 2021 IPO. The investigation adds to Didi’s woes over the offering, which has prompted action by the Cyberspace Administration of China in the form of a potential “fine and other penalties” after Didi went forward with the IPO “over the regulator’s objections” - Bloomberg
Streaming device company Roku and PE-firm Apollo Global Mgmt are joining forces to make a bid for Starz, the “pay-TV and streaming service” currently associated with Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Lions Gate acquired Starz for $4.4 billion in 2016 “but has struggled to fulfill the promises of the deal” - WSJ
A brutal launch of the company’s Alzheimer drug, Aduhelm, is spelling the end for Biogen CEO Michael Vounatsos. Vounatsos is out after 5 years at the helm of Biogen, though he “will remain in his role until a successor is appointed” - NYTimes and WSJ
We’ve watched the Moneyballing of baseball (and nearly all other sports) in the decades since Billy Beane made analytics the name of the game. Here’s hoping that the Giants’ “unconventional coaching staff” can help shake things up in the dugouts and on the sidelines and benches of other teams, too - WSJ
Stay safe,
MDR
The Robins Kaplan Financial Daily Dose features top stories and latest news headlines in financial markets, banking, securities and technology topics.
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