MARKETS
COVID-19
India Sets Its Daily Record High and Brazil Reports 2 Million Coronavirus Cases
On Thursday, India broke its record high for the virus’s biggest daily spike with 32,695 new coronavirus cases. In late March, India had one of the strictest lockdowns but due to the damaged it caused to the economy, decided to lift some of those restrictions early June. Now the virus is spiking, and individual states and cities are imposing lockdowns again. An additional 606 deaths were reported Thursday summing to a total of 24,915 deaths. Brazil has reported that they passed 2 million in confirmed cases of virus infections and 76,000 deaths. This puts Brazil second to the United States with 3.68 million confirmed cases.
MEDIA
What do Joe Biden, Elon Musk, Barack Obama, and Jeff Bezos all have in common?
They all had their Twitter accounts hacked by bitcoin spammers on Wednesday, July 15th asking for bitcoin donations and doubling the amount sent in return. A dozen more verified Twitter accounts of celebrities, mayors, and corporations were compromised in this hacking, making it the worst security breach the app has gone through. The address surprisingly received $103,000 worth of bitcoin and Twitter shares dropped 3% after hours. Twitter blocked all verified accounts for two hours on Wednesday 3:15PT in efforts to stop the spam and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey expressed his concerns and how internal work is being done to get to the bottom of the hacking.
The hacked tweets looked like this:
ECONOMY
June Retail Sales Increasing 7.5% But Still Signal an Uncertain Recovery
A 7.5% increase in retail sales for the month of June showed that Americans started spending more as states eased lockdowns. However, these increases may be short-lived as infections started to rise approaching the end of June. Iconic and big-name companies from department stores to gyms have filed for bankruptcy due to the pandemic. Some of the companies are: J.Crew, Neiman Marcus, JCPenny, Hertz, and many more. Bankruptcy doesn’t mean that a company will go out of business but instead will need financial restructuring. Some companies who saw bankruptcy in their rear-view mirror before the pandemic hit, were granted court approval to take a break from paying their rent.
Tech
Zoomin’ Into Expansion with Hardware
Looking to upgrade your Zoom rig for classes this semester? Say no more, Zoom is expanding into selling hardware for $599. There are no signs that in-person anything will be going on in the predictable future and Zoom is ready to capitalize on it. Zoom for Home – DTEN ME is marketed as an “all-in-one personal collaboration device.” The specs are: multi-touch display, 3 cameras array, 8-microphone array, integrated speakers, and a LED 27” display. However, the high price might deter consumers as other video chat devices that are on the market like Google’s Nest Hub start at just $90. Pre-orders are available right now and Zoom expects to be shipping them out in August.
FOOD
Chipotle Testing New Cauliflower Rice to Give Customers What They Want
Over the past year, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. shares went up 156% – How? Analysts believe that Chipotle menu enhancements such as the “Lifestyle Bowls” line launched in January 2019 have a big part in this increase, and in 2020 they are looking to maintain the momentum. Popularized diets such as Whole30, keto, and paleo have played a part in consumer taste buds and lifestyle as the low-carb keto diet had a $10.8 billion global market and is expected to rise to $17.8 billion in 2026. With a popular demand from customers for more options, Chipotle is now testing their cilantro-lime cauliflower rice at 55 restaurants in Denver and throughout Wisconsin starting July 15, 2020. Cauliflower is rich in antioxidants and fiber and has become popularized to substitute grains, mashed potatoes, and gnocchi as it is low in carbs and calories (best of both worlds). So how much will this cost you? An additional $2.
Written By: Sarah Lee