WORD ON THE STREET 

• Credit Card Companies Take On Big Name Stores – Behold the “Credit Card Competition Act,” which would mandate that banks include at least one network that isn’t Visa or Mastercard. That’s good news for Best Buy, Amazon, Walmart, and other retailers who want it passed – but Visa and Mastercard are not happy and are lobbying hard against the bill.

• X Replaces Twitter For Good – He’s finally done it. Twitter switched to X on app stores and even on Twitter headquarters as Elon Musk’s quixotic crusade continues. San Francisco is not amused – it is investigating the TecnoKing for putting an X sign on Twitter HQ without permission. I thought this was America?!?

  

   

• “Barbie” Still Dominates At Box Office – “Barbie” continues its romp, bringing in $93 million in its second weekend. “Oppenheimer” is in second place, bringing in more than $46 million in its second weekend. “Barbie” has already brought in more than $351 million in North America, a smash hit for Warner Brothers.  

• We Will Make It Up On Volume – Ford stands to lose $4.5 billion on electric vehicles this year – a major increase from a previous estimate of $3 billion. The staggering loss comes despite a near 40% increase in revenue from EVs. So what happens if they sell even more?

HOT SPOTS: What’s Going on in Geopolitics

• Zelenskyy Says War Coming To Russia – Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy taunted Russia after a drone attack rocked the Russian capital, including briefly shutting down an airport. “Gradually, the war is returning to the territory of Russia – to its symbolic centers and military bases, and this is an inevitable, natural, and absolutely fair process,” he said.
  

• Italy Bails On Belt And Road Initiative – The Italian government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced that it is pulling out of the Chinese government’s Belt and Road Initiative, with one minister blasting the decision to ever join. “The choice to join the Silk Road was an improvised and wicked act, made by the government of Giuseppe Conte, which led to a double negative result,” said Italy’s Defense Minister. “We exported a load of oranges to China, they tripled exports to Italy in three years.”

• Alternative For Germany Picks New Leader – Germany’s populist party has a new leader from its right-wing faction, Maximilian Krah, winning about 66% of the vote. The party is gaining strength, especially in former East Germany, horrifying many other parties. “We are now the most exciting right-wing party in all of Europe,” boasted the new leader as the AfD (Alternative for Deutchland) goes into the 2024 election campaign.

CUTTING EDGE: What‘s Happening In Tech

• Walmart Buys Out Tiger Global In Flipkart – Walmart is making its move for India. Walmart paid $1.4 billion for the remaining holdings of Tiger Global in Flipkart. Walmart already had about 72% of the company beforehand. But don’t mourn for Tiger Global – it made $3.5 billion in total on an initial investment of $1.2 billion.

• Call Of Duty 2 Taken Down By Hackers – It’s an older game sir, but it checks out. The older version of Call of Duty, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, has been hit by malware that spreads inside hacked lobbies. Multiplayer has been taken offline while Activision investigates and attempts to solve the issue.

• Facebook Faces International Alliance Against Encryption – Meta Platforms was planning on introducing end-to-end encryption, but the United Kingdom and other countries are opposing the plan. Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and other countries are demanding safeguards lest it be used by pedophiles and other criminals. “There will be no let up,” warned the British government.

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