We know Zuck’s all in on the metaverse. And a decrease in Q4 profits and full-year accounting help us understand the monetary size of that commitment: some $10 billion in 2021, as Meta poured cash into its Reality Labs division ahead of what it hopes will be the “next generation of the internet where people share virtual worlds and experiences across different software and hardware platforms” - NYTimes and Bloomberg
Meta’s shares fell accordingly following that disappointing earnings report, down more than 20% after results were announced - WSJ and Bloomberg and MarketWatch
Facebook aside, earnings have generally topped expectations this season. That’s helped drive stocks up, with indices marking a fourth-straight day of gains after a rough start to 2022 - WSJ
Following revelations of a consensual but undisclosed relationship with a top network executive that emerged in the investigation of former anchor Chris Cuomo, CNN President Jeff Zucker unexpectedly resigned on Wednesday—a departure that “stunned his newsroom and threw CNN’s future into flux at a crucial moment,” as the network is on the cusp of introducing “a high-stakes streaming service” - NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg
OPEC and other oil-producing nations agreed this week to begin pumping more oil again “amid soaring oil prices, with concerns over supply heightened due to a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine” - WSJ
If the Czech Republic (of all places) ends up inspiring a new wave of laws that actually make a dent in Big Tech’s dominance, you’ll likely have Seznam to thank. That’s the homegrown search engine that has been waging a two-decade battle against Google—remaining a “continual thorn in Google’s side” even after it ended up controlling more than 80% of the Czech search market - NYTimes
President Biden’s slate of three nominees to fill Federal Reserve Board positions face the Senate Banking Committee today, and all have pledged to make reining in inflation a top priority if confirmed - Bloomberg and Law360 and NYTimes and WSJ
New economic figures show that after a solid year of spending on consumer goods, Americans are shifting their dollars more to services—a trend that coincides with both an increasing end to Covid restrictions and supply-chain issues that make tracking down some of those goods more difficult - WSJ
Mere hours after the close of National Girls and Women in Sports Day, the Journal offers up this fairly damning look at the treatment and support of women’s hockey in the United States—even as the national team prepares to defend its Olympic gold in Beijing - WSJ
Stay safe, and get boosted,
MDR
