Today's Top Stories From the Breitbart News Desk
Investors celebrated the news that Jack Dorsey would step down as chief executive of Twitter by bidding the shares up nearly five percent. The insult to Dorsey, who founded Twitter but who reportedly spends most of his time running the fintech mobile payments company Square, no doubt stung a bit less because Dorsey's net worth was rising with the shares of Twitter.
That initial rush of enthusiasm was understandable given the underperformance of Twitter shares relative to its social media peers like Facebook and Snap over the last twelve months. But investors quickly came to their senses as they learned more about Twitter's new chief, Parag Agrawal. In the first place, Agrawal has publicly said he sees no reason to distinguish between white people and racists and expressed disdain for the concept of free speech. Whatever the context of such remarks, his leadership is likely to increase conservative criticism of the company and bring further scrutiny from Republican lawmakers. If Republicans take the House next year, as expected, Twitter will likely be subject to hearings and investigations, and Agrawal does not seem to be well-positioned to defend the company.
A related problem is that Agrawal comes from the tech team and is currently the company's chief technology officer. It's unlikely that Twitter's greatest challenges in the near future will be primarily technological. Many investors would no doubt have liked to see someone with an ad sales background elevated into the top spot. Such a person would also probably have a keener sense for not alienating the American right.
The market recovered a bit from the Omicron panic that sent stocks reeling during the shortened trading session Friday. While some of the selling might have been overdone, the sell-off was a good reminder that the virus will remain a headwind for stocks and the economy for the foreseeable future. This will not be the last major variant detected. New waves of infections will arise.
We're likely to hear something about that from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen tomorrow. The pair are scheduled to give their semi-annual report on the CARES Act programs to Congress. One thing investors will be following closely is whether Powell gives any hint that the arrival of omicron has changed the Fed's thinking when it comes to tapering its bond-buying program. Our guess: it's too early for a change to a program announced just last month.
– Alex Marlow & John Carney
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