Big news on Wall St

Whether we seek comfort at home or faraway lands, there’s an eager hand ready to help us through: credit card providers. And for newly globetrotting Gen Z bitten by the travel bug, when the bank of mum and dad doesn’t come to the party, it seems digital payment companies are ready to help.

Who’s FAANGING now? Big Tech may have prepared for an economic slowdown and volatility by slimming down staff, but earnings results were still full of small surprises. Seems slight growth in revenue won against growing global competition for eyeballs. But they’re still battening down the hatches ready to weather any storms ahead.

It may have been an explosive and very short inaugural journey for the world’s most powerful rocket, but SpaceX’s inaugural Starship launch was deemed a success… until HQ pulled the pin. Back on terra firma, Aotearoa Earthlings are about to get a whole lot more connected. Beam us up, Musky!

Carmaker Tesla may have led the electric vehicle lineup for nearly two decades, but the teenage OG is now sharing the stage with shiny new wheels. It hasn’t stopped ARK Invest fueling high hopes for the company’s autonomous robotaxis to get the wheels spinning, but could they get gassed by other EV-makers?

Proving Kiwis can fly, New Zealanders have been lining up for tickets to leave the Land of the Long White Cloud. Are we some of the thousands subscribed to Duolingo adding our uniquely Kiwi accent to exotic mother tongues? And will our newest expats fall in love with cheap overseas flights, or pine for chups and dup?

Seems a small minority of folk in the US are stuck between a Kid Rock and a hard seltzer. The 90s rocker is all in a lather about who else has been drinking his favourite Bud Light. Now he’s making a song and dance about ditching it for Coors - the even more LGBTQ-friendly beer. Cheers!

While countries keep digging up dirt to help us reach our clean tech goals, it seems not everything’s coming up roses. The lithium industry has been plagued by queries about environmental concerns, ethical practices and potentially violating first nations’ rights. So how green are our EVs really?

Has Hasbro played a billion dollar hand? They’re printing trading cards like the Fed once printed money and people are buying up large to capture some of that sweet, sweet fantasy. But it seems not even their cosplay treasure chest hitting the big screen has so far battled deadly foes enough to rescue their share price.

Kiwis could be paying eggstra at the supermarket right now, but are times actually tough for companies or are some caught in a cycle of greedflation? Price hikes are typical during a crisis, but after the peak do prices drop to help consumer wallets, or do corporates simply fatten theirs?

While some in Big Tech want to take things slow when it comes to our relationship with AI, others have caught feels and may be ready to reboot. Now Down Under may be set to get their head in the cloud with data centre hopefuls following Cupid's arrow straight into the heart of Tāmaki Makaurau.

While announcing plans to palm off an additional 9,000 workers last week, Amazon One also announced they hope to bring home the dough by getting Panera Bread customers in the palm of their hand signing a deal for pay-with-palm. Who else is getting in on the handsy biometric tech?

Seems like Block’s gone a little bit gangsta and now Hindenburg Research’s firing shots. Block’s Cash App is popping off in rap lyrics and now report-writing short seller Hindenburg’s taken aim. Where there’s smoke there’s fire?