Wednesday, January 26th, 2022
Fed Rate Hike?, SAT Changes & Hidden Bad Reviews
All the news you need in about 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by Seed.com/newsworthy and Zocdoc.com/newsworthy
Story Summaries
All the news stories mentioned in today's episode are listed with links below, so you can spend as much -- or as little -- time as you want reading about the latest happenings…
Russia Military Drills
Russia is still in a standoff with the U.S. and NATO over Ukraine. Russia announced a bunch of military drills all across its country. Those exercises involve tanks and drones, as well as ballistic missiles and other equipment. Thousands of troops are testing their combat skills, and three Russian ships are doing drills with a Chinese fleet in the Arabian sea. Despite all this, Russian leaders still say they don’t have plans to invade Ukraine. Instead, they say the drills are happening because of the information being spread by the U.S. and NATO. Remember, the U.S. and its allies say a Russian invasion of Ukraine is “imminent.”
Read more: The Hill, WaPo, NY Times, Business Insider
US Alternate Fuel Source
Officials from the U.S. and Europe started looking for backup fuel sources. They’re worried Russia might cut off natural gas shipments as leverage in the conflict. That’s an issue because Russia provides about a third of Europe’s fossil fuel. Plus, since it's the height of winter, this is when Europe needs it most. So the Biden administration says it's working with gas and crude oil suppliers from the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia on a backup plan for Europe. The U.S. is hoping once European allies get reassurance about their energy supplies, they’ll be more willing to punish Russia should it actually invade Ukraine.
Read more: AP, NY Times, Forbes, White House
US Covid Deaths Rising
The number of people dying from Covid-19 in the U.S. is hitting another high. This week, the average number of newly-reported Covid-19 deaths in the U.S. reached nearly 2,200 a day. That’s the highest level since early last year before all Americans were eligible for vaccines. It also surprised the daily averages from the delta variant surge. Even though evidence shows omicron is less likely to kill the people it infects, the sheer number of people getting it now means more deaths, too.
Read more: WSJ, Politico, Axios, BBC, Johns Hopkins
Long Covid Study
A new study found some people might be more susceptible than others to what’s known as long Covid. That refers to people who recover from Covid-19 but are left with symptoms, even months later. Well, the study found people who go on to develop long Covid have lower levels of certain antibodies in their blood soon after they’re infected with the virus. The author of the study says this is a key finding since it means scientists could someday be able to develop a blood test to figure out a person’s risk for long Covid. For now, there’s no standard diagnosis or treatment for it.
Read more: NBC News, WBZ, Nature
Fed Meeting Concludes Today
Investors are paying close attention to the Federal Reserve. The central bank’s two-day meeting wraps up today. When it does, the Fed Chairman is expected to announce some new policy decisions. For example, its first interest rate hike is expected in March. Then, more hikes are expected later in the year. The Fed has been saying it plans to roll back stimulus and interest rates this year as a way to address decades-high inflation, but it still seems to be stressing investors out since they don’t know how big the rate hikes will be.
Read more: CNBC, NY Post, Yahoo! Finance
Wall Street Swings Continue
With uncertainty around the Fed’s announcement today, many investors are selling off anything they consider a risky asset. So, stocks tanked yesterday, then partly recovered and dropped again. For the second day in a row, the Dow swung more than 1,000 points from the high to the low point. While stocks swung back up a bit, all three major indexes ended in the red. Some financial experts called this downturn “jaw-dropping” and worry it could get worse before the week is out. Others say it was bound to happen after stocks climbed so much last year.
Read more: NY Times, WSJ, CNN, WaPo
Companies Dangerously Low on Semiconductors
A new federal report says the global chip shortage has gotten so bad that some factories might have to shut down. We’re talking about various types of computer chips used in everything from cell phones and laptops to cars and medical devices. Now, the U.S. Commerce Department says some American manufacturing companies that use semiconductors are down to less than a five-day supply of key chips. To compare, in 2019, companies typically had eight times that amount. The concern is any small disruption could end up rippling through the supply chain since so many companies rely on every, single shipment that comes in.
Read more: WaPo, WSJ, CNET, Axios, Commerce Dept.
Fashion Nova Fined by FTC for Blocking Bad Reviews
A popular fashion website is the first company to be fined by the Federal Trade Commission for hiding its bad reviews. Fashion Nova agreed to pay $4.2 million to settle those claims with the FTC. The agency says the affordable fashion site never posted the thousands of bad reviews and ratings left on its clothes and accessories from 2015 to 2019. At the time, Fashion Nova was using a review management software that automatically posted only 4- and 5-star reviews. The company fired back, saying it fixed the issue back in 2019 when it became aware.
Read more: The Verge, NY Times, AP, FTC
SAT Going Digital
The SAT is going to be all online, shorter, and supposedly simpler. It will now last two hours instead of three. However, the test will still have to be taken inside a school or testing center, not at home. The test will still be graded on a 1600 point scale. College Board, which gives the SAT, said it wants to make the test more relevant. Last year, it pilot-tested the digital SATs, and 80% of students said it was less stressful. The new exam kicks off internationally in 2023, and then in 2024 for U.S. students.
Read more: Axios, AP, WSJ, NY Times, College Board
David Ortiz Baseball HOF
Former Boston Red Sox star David Ortiz made it into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was the one and only player inducted this year, on his first year of eligibility. He’s also the youngest player of all 75 living members at the age of 46. Ortiz says it’s an honor. He’ll officially be inducted into the hall of fame in July. Meanwhile, other big stars Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens missed out on their last year of eligibility. Both superstars were dodged by rumors they used performance-enhancing drugs.
Read more: ESPN, CBS Sports, The Athletic, MLB
Work Wednesday: US Labor Movement Shrinking
Several workers at big-name companies have been jumping on the unionization train lately. Starbucks baristas in Buffalo, New York and Amazon workers at a couple of locations considered forming unions. However, the uptick in companies trying to unionize doesn’t reflect the downward trend of actual union memberships in the U.S. that’s been happening for more than four decades. U.S. Labor Department statistics show that in 1983, 20% of employees were part of a union. By 2021, that number dropped nearly in half to just over 10%.
Read more: NY Times, Business Insider, DOL, Gallup