Headlines Today in Finance, Technology & Politics — Sony, Apollo bid $26B for Paramount, stocks rise 13%
Politics in Focus: Kennedy’s No-Spoiler Challenge
Published in
3 min readMay 3, 2024
Finance/Economy News
- Sony Pictures and Apollo Global Management Acquisition: Proposed a $26 billion all-cash deal to acquire Paramount Global, causing a 13% rise in Paramount’s stock. This move comes amid management changes and potential public status discussions with Skydance Media.
- UBS Cost Reductions: Following the acquisition of Credit Suisse, UBS plans to cut $300 million in costs from its asset management sector due to ongoing financial challenges with Credit Suisse.
- Commodities Market: U.S. cattle prices fell due to avian flu fears affecting beef supply, impacting cattle futures. Additionally, a significant recall of ground beef due to E. coli was reported, affecting products sold to Walmart.
- Big Tech Stock Gains: Led by Apple, which announced a $110 billion stock buyback after a smaller-than-expected decline in sales. This could influence future rate policy decisions as per the upcoming US March jobs report.
- T-Mobile Acquisition: Purchased Mint Mobile, Ultra Mobile, and Plum for approximately $1.4 billion, enhancing competition and consumer choice in telecommunications, with Ryan Reynolds staying on in a creative role.
- Florida Lab-Grown Meat Ban: The state banned lab-grown meat, citing economic threats to its traditional ranching and agriculture sectors. This decision has caused a divide within the meat industry, with larger companies opposing the ban.
Technology News
- Universal Music Group and TikTok Agreement: Resolved their disputes with a new licensing deal that enhances royalty payments and introduces AI protections, ensuring UMG’s music integrates with TikTok’s e-commerce.
- Vaulted Deep Funding: A tech startup secured $58 million to store biomass waste underground, reducing carbon emissions. The technology involves converting agricultural and food wastes into a slurry for permanent underground storage.
- Google and Apple Deal: Google paid Apple $20 billion to remain the default search engine on Safari, as revealed in a government antitrust case, demonstrating Google’s strategy to maintain market dominance.
Kennedy’s No-Spoiler Challenge
Independent 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. challenged President Joe Biden to a “no-spoiler” pledge, proposing a joint poll to determine which candidate would fare better against Donald Trump in the upcoming election. Kennedy suggested that the candidate with lower poll numbers against Trump should withdraw. At a campaign event, Kennedy presented polls indicating he would defeat Trump, while Biden would not. He expressed willingness to make a similar pledge with Trump, claiming he could outperform him against Biden.
Left’s Opinion:
- Democrats critique Kennedy’s proposal for Biden to withdraw as unrealistic, emphasizing the seriousness of his campaign is questionable.
- They believe Kennedy’s presence in the race potentially splits the Democratic vote, especially problematic due to early and mail-in voting starting before his proposed October decision.
- Democratic strategists have mounted operations to counter third-party influences like Kennedy, viewing them as threats to a unified Democratic vote.
Right’s Opinion:
- Right-leaning perspectives generally view Kennedy as a potential spoiler who could inadvertently help Trump by splitting the Democratic vote.
- Some on the right acknowledge Kennedy’s proposal for a “no-spoiler” pledge as an interesting strategic move but question its practicality and sincerity.
- Pundits and commentators on the right debate whether Kennedy could also pose a threat to Trump, considering his populist appeal on certain issues.
- Trump has aggressively attacked Kennedy on social media, labeling him as a far-left liberal and suggesting a vote for Kennedy would be a wasted protest vote.
