The Week in Business: WeWork’s Founder Rises Again
Peloton: Once Hot, Now Not
It has been a brutal year for Peloton, which went from being a pandemic sweetheart to a cautionary tale about the whims of consumers. In February, Peloton’s chief executive stepped down, and the company laid off 20 percent of its corporate work force. In May, it announced that it lost $757 million in the first three months of 2022. And in July, Peloton said it would no longer make bikes and treadmills at its factories and outsource all its manufacturing overseas to cut costs. What will its second-quarter earnings report bring, then? Probably nothing especially upbeat. Peloton’s shares have plummeted nearly 75 percent since January, and although its new head, Barry McCarthy, has said he’s confident that he can lead the company out of this low point, he has admitted to shareholders that “turnarounds are hard work.”
Word From the Fed Chair
Jerome H. Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, will speak on Friday in Jackson Hole, Wyo., where the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City has held an annual symposium for decades. Last year, Mr. Powell reassured the crowd — made up of other central bankers as well as economists and investors — that inflation was likely to be temporary. This time, he’ll have to answer why the opposite appears to be true. He is expected to focus much of his speech on the path ahead for inflation, which showed its first signs of easing last month. The financial markets will be listening closely for hints of whether the Fed will make another three-quarter point increase in interest rates at its September meeting or go with a half-point increase. Mr. Powell will be speaking on the heels of fresh data from the personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, which last showed consumer prices climbing 6.8 percent over the year through June.
What Else?
Starbucks was ordered to reinstate seven employees who were fired in February after leading efforts to unionize the Memphis store where they worked. Brian Stelter is leaving CNN after the network canceled his show, “Reliable Sources.” House sales fell in July for the sixth consecutive month.
Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/21/business/the-week-in-business-weworks-economy.html