In other news, the Federal Reserve is not rushing to cut interest rates, mortgage rates have spiked above 7%, and Netflix's crackdown on password-sharing has led to an increase in subscribers. Additionally, more Americans are becoming ALICEs (asset-limited, income-constrained, and employed), Samsung executives are now required to work six days a week, and tech dealmaking may be making a comeback.
Key takeaways:
- Former President Donald Trump's hush-money trial, the first-ever criminal trial of a former president, has begun with jury selection. The trial is focused on 34 felonies alleging the Trump Organization's business records were falsified to hide other crimes, including a hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
- The trial is expected to take about six weeks, wrapping up in late May or early June. If Trump is found guilty on some or all charges, he will almost certainly appeal the conviction. There is nothing in the Constitution preventing a convicted felon from running for president.
- The Federal Reserve is not in a rush to cut interest rates, according to Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester and New York Fed President John Williams. Meanwhile, mortgage rates have spiked above 7% again, coinciding with a significant drop in existing home sales.
- Netflix's crackdown on password-sharing is reportedly working, with the streaming giant adding more than 9 million subscribers over the first quarter. However, its shares still tumbled in premarket trading after it posted a disappointing revenue outlook.