Good Evening. As traders continued to consider the Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy decision, US stocks fell on Thursday, giving up gains after a rise on Wall Street on Wednesday.
The S&P 500 (3.56%), Dow (3.12%), and Nasdaq (5.00%) all declined significantly. The Nasdaq fell 5% on its worst day since June 2020, as tech stocks underperformed.
MARKET
Apple (AAPL, 5.57%), Facebook (FB, 6.77%), and Salesforce.com (CRM, 7.11%) were all down. Although Apple announced it was leading an attempt to establish passwordless sign-in open standards for the web, there was no meaningful news from these companies today. Furthermore, news from the European Union warned that tougher rules for big tech could be on the way, with severe fines. More than likely, these companies declined in sync with the entire market.
What else could cause this? After a relief rally, people frequently return to their cynicism. Investors are now likely to focus on the next round of inflation statistics, which will be released next week. If inflation remains high, the Federal Reserve may be forced to act more quickly, raising the likelihood of a recession.
The European Union has periodically slapped heavy fines on big tech, and it appears that another is on the way. Given recent supply chain issues and concerns about a consumer device demand slowdown, this is clearly not the best time for Apple and other tech companies to do so.
MEDICINE
Cerebral, a mental health telehealth business, announced Wednesday that it would stop prescribing Adderall and other ADHD medications to new patients. The action comes amid mounting concerns that the startup’s prescription-writing process. Truepill, the company’s preferred pharmacy, recently announced that it would no longer fill or transport prohibited substance prescriptions such as Adderall and Vyvanse.
Ho Anh and current CEO Kyle Robertson co-founded the online mental health company in 2020. In just two years, it has grown to all 50 states, registered 200,000+ patients, and hired Olympic gymnast and mental health champion Simone Biles as its Chief Impact Officer. Cerebral was valued at $4.8 billion during a fundraising round led by SoftBank in December.
However, such expansion may have come at a cost. Cerebral has been accused by former employees of overprescribing medications, overworking doctors, and overmarketing on social media. Cerebral’s former vice president of product and engineering has sued the business for overprescribing ADHD medications.