Omicron Surge Expected to Take Bite Out of January Jobs Report

Jobs Report Friday again, and general consensus is that with the Omicron surge hitting smack dab in the middle of January hiring, these numbers are going to be weird. Very weird - NYTimes and WSJ and MarketWatch

The more analysts dug into Meta’s quarterly earnings report yesterday, the less they liked. To the tune of a nearly 26% drop in company shares on Thursday that “erased more than $230 billion off its market value” and set the stage for Wall Street’s worst one-day drop in almost a year - NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg and MarketWatch

Interesting consideration here: what role, exactly, Apple’s new ad-privacy policy had (and will have) on Facebook’s financials - WSJ and NYTimes

Over at Amazon, the company’s cloud computing arm and a strong return on its investment in e-truck maker Rivian  saved the day, making up for lower operating income compared to a year ago and juicing net income to $14.3 billion - NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg

Ford, too, relied on its Rivian investment to help push annual earnings $9 billion higher than it reported the year before. Ford CFO John Lawler predicted yet more growth for the company in ’22 - NYTimes and WSJ

Former Goldman Sachs exec Stephen Scherr will succeed interim chief Mark Fields as Hertz’s CEO. Scherr retired at Goldman’s CFO at the end of 2021 and takes over a company that “turned out to be a surprise winner as the pandemic reshaped Americans’ habits” - WSJ

Getting to know Phil Spencer, the Microsoft “lifer and lifelong gamer” who heads up the its gaming division and will be charged with using the recent $75 billion acquisition of Activision to, oh, you know, “reinvent the company” - WSJ

And sometimes, a paean to pellet ice is the only way to see us into the weekend – TheNewYorker

Stay safe, get boosted, and enjoy those Opening Ceremonies,

MDR

The Robins Kaplan Financial Daily Dose features top stories and latest news headlines in financial markets, banking, securities and technology topics.