Good Evening. After Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell restated the central bank’s commitment to combating inflation in a hawkish address at the Jackson Hole economic symposium on Friday, U.S. stocks suffered a sharp sell-off.
The S&P 500 fell 3.37%, while the Nasdaq plunged 3.94%. 1,000 points, or 3.03%, were removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
POSSIBLE RUMORS
Friday saw a rise in the price of Electronic Arts (EA) following news that Amazon.com (AMZN) had made a formal offer to purchase the videogame company.
The news that Amazon will reveal its offer to purchase the business behind games like Madden, Battlefield, Fifa and more was first reported by USA Today. However, According to Electronic Arts, it doesn’t comment on rumors and conjecture regarding mergers and acquisitions, according to Barron’s. Barron was also informed by Amazon that it does not comment on rumors.
Why are people thinking the merger might happen? This year, Amazon has begun cutting deals. One Medical, which trades as 1life Healthcare (ONEM), was acquired in July, and earlier this month, Amazon announced it was purchasing iRobot (IRBT), a maker of smart vacuum cleaners. Amazon was also reportedly making a bid for the provider of home health services, Signify Health (SGFY), according to The Wall Street Journal.
Even after reports contradicted earlier rumors of a possible transaction with Amazon, shares of Electronics Arts, increased by 3.57%.
THE BATTLE BETWEEN UNIVERSITIES
According to Bloomberg, the University of Texas may surpass Harvard’s $53.2 billion endowment to take the top spot as the richest university in the US. The University of Texas System has something the majority of universities don’t: 2.1 million acres of oil-rich land.
Why the UT System is so profitable: About 250 drillers, including industry goliaths like ConocoPhillips, who produce 300,000 barrels of crude oil a day and provide the university System royalties, are given leases on the largest oil field in the nation by the group.
It’s also a terrific moment to work in the oil industry. Thanks to the high oil prices, which reached $120 per barrel in June, the UT System is anticipating its largest payout this year. The oil assets of the UT System generate about $6 million a day in revenue.
In the big picture, UT’s journey to the top is a lonely one since more colleges are choosing not to invest in fossil fuels in response to pressure from activists and the general public. Harvard and Yale only pledged to restrict investments in the fossil fuel business last year.