Wall Street expected to open mixed as Southwest Airlines and Tesla shares fall: The Nasdaq is facing headwinds as the Dow Jones Industrial Average heads in the opposite direction moving higher in pre-market trading. Both the S&P and Nasdaq previously closed at record highs. Earnings season continues today with results from Google-parent Alphabet, American Airlines, Starbucks and Amazon.
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T-Mobile and Sprint’s $26.5 billion merger set to gain federal approval: The complicated settlement could be confirmed as early as Thursday. Under the terms of the agreement with the federal government, Dish Network Corp. would purchase key assets, effectively creating a new wireless carrier in the U.S. Opponents have long raised concerns that a combination of T-Mobile and Sprint — the third-and-fourth largest domestic providers, respectively — would lead to higher costs for consumers, a charge the companies deny. For years, both firms have been forced to offer lucrative signing packages to lure new customers away from AT&T and Verizon. Those perks, like unlimited plans, could disappear once the merger is complete. A combined T-Mobile and Sprint, however, would be in a much better position to compete against the telecom giants in the race to deploy fifth-generation technology.
Facebook faces a formal antitrust probe by the Federal Trade Commission: Strong earnings from the social media giant were overshadowed by confirmation that the firm will undergo a new investigation by the FTC into whether Facebook used its dominance to suppress competition. The revelation follows two separate settlement agreements with the FTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission, where the company had to pay over $5 billion and agree to new layers of oversight due to recent privacy violations. Investors appeared to shrug off the news, as Facebook’s stock was on the rise in premarket trading.
Jeffrey Epstein found unconscious after a possible suicide attempt: The millionaire Wall Street tycoon, who is facing charges of child sex trafficking, was found injured in his jail cell earlier this week, according to several reports. Epstein was taken to a hospital, but the extent of his injuries remains unclear, as well as whether it was a suicide attempt or an attack from another inmate. He was previously denied bail after investigators uncovered fake passports and piles of cash in his Manhattan home.
Puerto Rico governor resigns amid a corruption investigation and mass protests on the island: Gov. Ricardo Rosselló announced his resignation on Wednesday following news that attorneys working for Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives uncovered a slew of offenses, including allowing officials to misuse public funds, that laid the groundwork for impeachment. Historic protests have roiled the island for the past two weeks.
