The US market seemed to show signs of recovery on Tuesday’s early trading session after the indexes closed in the red on Monday. On Monday, the indexes continued to post declines due to persisting uncertainty surrounding the spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined by 1.23%, the Nasdaq 100 was down 1.24% while the S&P 500 fell 1.14%.
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US Market Major News
Meta shareholders request public safety probe
Shareholders of Meta (formerly Facebook Inc) requested an independent assessment of the company’s oversight body according to a report by Axios citing a letter sent to Meta’s corporate secretary.
“Shareholders request the board commission an independent assessment of the Audit and Risk Oversight Committee’s capacities and performance in overseeing company risks to public safety and the public interest and in supporting strategic risk oversight on these issues by the full board,” the investors stated.
Elon Musk to Pay Over $11 billion in taxes in 2021
Tesla CEO Elon Musk claimed on Twitter that he will be paying over $11 billion in taxes in 2021.
“For those wondering, I will pay over $11 billion in taxes this year,” he wrote in a brief tweet.
Musk, Time’s Person of the Year for 2021, has sold over $12 Billion worth of Tesla’s shares in the past two months after his fans voted in favor of him selling 10% of his stock at the company to deny he has been using it as a way to avoid paying taxes.
Nike’s Q2 revenue
Nike Inc. on Monday reported that its total revenue for the second fiscal quarter of 2022 was up slightly by 1% vs the same period last year up to $11.4 billion.
It’s direct sales were up 9% to $4.7 billion as Brand Digital sales rose by 12%, with a 40% growth in North America.
Oracle to acquire Cerner for $28.3 billion
Oracle Corp. on Monday said that it had reached an agreement to acquire health information tech company Cerner Corp. in an all-cash transaction at $95 per share, for a total value of around $28.3 billion.
According to a statement, Cerner will be organized as a dedicated industry business unit within Oracle.
FedEx to buy back $1.5B in shares from Goldman Sachs
FedEx Corp. has entered an accelerated share buy-back agreement with Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, a subsidiary of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., worth $1.5 billion in shares.
Based on the current market prices, the deal will include approximately 4.8 million shares. The purchases will be finalized before the end of FedEx’s fiscal year, which is May 31, 2022.
SEC fines Nikola $125M over fraud
United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday announced that Nikola Corporation agreed to pay a $125 million fine to settle fraud charges.
The SEC had taken legal action against the company and its founder and former CEO Trevor Milton, who was accused of misleading investors about Nikola’s products, technological progress, specific capabilities of products, as well as commercial prospects of the company.
Nikola reached the settlement “without admitting or denying” SEC’s charges, but agreed to stop engaging in activity that had led to the legal case and to “continue cooperating with the Commission’s ongoing litigation and investigation,” the market regulator added.
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