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 The U.S. Consumer Price Index rose 8.3% in April compared to last year. Inflation came down slightly from an 8.5% annual rate reported in March but was still over the Dow Jones estimate of an 8.1% increase. The Core CPI rose 6.1%. More: - Sectors with the most significant price increases include energy, food (groceries and dining out), and air travel.
- Used vehicle prices were up 22.7% in April compared to last year, down from a 35.3% rise in March.
- Prices for new vehicles were up 13.2% YoY.
- On a month-to-month basis, CPI rose 0.3% in April, down from a 1.2% increase reported in March.
- The Fed has been working aggressively to curb rising prices. Earlier this month, the central bank increased its interest rate by 50 basis points, bringing its target rate between 0.5% and 0.75%.
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Shares of crypto platform Coinbase dropped over 26% on Wednesday following its Q1 2022 earnings report on Tuesday. The company reported net revenue of $1.17B, down 27% YoY. Coinbase reported a net loss of $430M, or $1.98 a share, a steep drop from the $771M profit reported at the same time last year. Coinbase stock is down more than 80% since its IPO in April 2021. More: - Monthly Transacting Users (MTUs) fell to 9.2 million, down from 11.4 million reported in Q4, but up 51% YoY.
- Trading Volume fell to $309B from $547B reported in Q4, down ~8% YoY.
- Assets on Platform fell to $256B from $278B reported in Q4, up ~15% YoY.
- Q1 Operating Expenses rose to $1.72B, surpassing Revenue for the first time.
- The company pointed to an increase in full-time and contract employee headcount.
- Coinbase said it invested in customer support, legal, compliance, and business support functions.
- The company said it chose to spend on growth and diversifying its product offerings.
- Coinbase reiterated its focus on the “long-term,” pointing to the volatility of crypto assets.
- The company said it is exploring other crypto opportunities beyond trading. The company recently launched an NFT marketplace.
- Coinbase shares closed at $53.72 on Wednesday, down 26.4%.
Zoom Out: - Coinbase updated its 10Q disclosure, noting that the crypto assets it holds could be considered property in bankruptcy.
- CEO Brian Armstrong in a Twitter thread on Tuesday evening clarified the 10Q statements, noting that funds in Coinbase are safe and the company has no risk of bankruptcy.
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Apple lost its spot as the most valuable company in the world after dropping more than 5% on Wednesday amid the market sell-off. The tech company now has a market cap of $2.37T. Saudi state-backed oil company Aramco is now the world’s most valuable company, with a market cap of ~$2.43T. More: - Energy stocks have been rising as firms report near-record profits following a jump in energy prices.
- In 2020, Apple surpassed Aramco to become the world’s most valuable publicly-traded company.
- Apple is down almost 20% year to date, while Aramco stock is up over 27% year to date.
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 TerraUSD to USD price over the last 7 days | Image: CoinMarketCap Algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD, which is supposed to be pegged to the U.S. dollar, traded as low as 23 cents on Wednesday. TerraUSD began to fall over the weekend following a series of large withdrawals of the coin from Anchor Protocol. The withdrawals triggered a sort of “bank run” as investors began selling off their TerraUSD and its sister token Luna. More: - According to CoinDesk, TerraUSD has lost over 70% of its value in the last 24 hours, and Luna has lost over 95% of its value in the last 24 hours.
- TerraUSD recovered to about 67 cents at around 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
- In a series of tweets on Wednesday morning, TerraUSD creator Do Kwon said he is resolved to work with investors and noted TerraUSD is here to stay.
- Before this past weekend, TerraUSD was the third-largest stablecoin with a market cap of $18B.
- Cryptocurrencies have fallen significantly over the last week.
- The most valuable digital coin, Bitcoin, fell below $30,000 on Wednesday; it has lost about 24% of its value in the last week.
- Ether is down almost 29% in the last week.
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The Walt Disney Company released its Q2 FY 2022 earnings on Wednesday, adding almost 8 million Disney+ subscribers in the quarter. The company reported total revenues of $19.25B, up 23% YoY. Net income from continuing operations came in at $470M, down 48% YoY. Adjusted EPS was $1.08, up 37% YoY. More: - Disney’s Media and Entertainment unit generated $13.62B in revenue, up 9% YoY.
- As of April 2, Disney had 137.7 million paid subscribers on its Disney+ platform, up 33% YoY.
- Its Parks, Experiences, and Products unit brought in $6.65B in revenue, up over 100% YoY.
- Disney shares were down ~ 2% in after-market trading on Wednesday.
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 Kohl's board members | Image: Kohl's On Wednesday, Kohl’s investors voted to keep all 13 members of the company's board of directors, rejecting activist investor Macellum Advisors GP's push to replace up to 10 board members. Macellum has been urging the department store chain to consider a sale. Macellum owns a 5% stake in Kohl's. More: - Kohl’s has received several offers from bidders looking to buy the company, including private equity firm Sycamore Partners and Canada’s Hudson’s Bay Co.
- In a statement following the vote, Macellum Managing Partner Jonathan Duskin said the vote was close and showed there was support for a sale of the company.
- Kohl’s Chairman Peter Boneparth said the board remains focused on running a robust and intentional review of strategic alternatives while driving shareholder values.
- Kohl’s shares closed at $46.65 on Wednesday, down ~5.5%.
- The company is scheduled to report its Q1 2022 earnings on May 19.
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- Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia joined Republicans in a 51-49 vote to block a bill Wednesday that would have prevented states from banning abortion before fetal viability, generally considered 24 weeks.
- Instagram has launched NFTs on its platform. The social media platform is testing ways creators and collectors can share NFTs. Users would be able to connect their digital wallets to Instagram.
- Private Equity firm Apollo Global is in talks to lead a preferred financing for Elon Musk’s Twitter buyout offer. The funding would exceed $1B and may include Sixth Street Partners and other firms.
- Moderna’s new CFO, Jorge Gomez, who started in the role on Monday, left the company on Tuesday, just one day later. Moderna said Gomez left following a newly revealed internal investigation by his previous employer, Dentsply, regarding financial reporting.
- Airbnb announced several new features on its platform on Wednesday, including a feature called Airbnb Categories, which allows users to search for various types of homestays like “desert,” “OMG,” “Arctic,” and “Islands.”
- Same old marketing automation not cutting it these days? Get our eBook and power up your customer experiences.*
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 |  | Vanessa Omeokachie is a Researcher at Inside. Her interests include finance, tech, and startups. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hiking, attending music festivals, and traveling. Connect with her on Twitter @VanessaOmeo or through email at vanessa@inside.com | | | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 Ford. | |
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