What we’re reading (4/17)
“Alphabet Shares Dip On Report Samsung Phones May Switch To Microsoft Bing Search” (CNBC). “Google pays billions of dollars every year to phone manufacturers, including a reported $20 billion annually to Apple, to serve as the default search engine. In return, the search company reaps billions of dollars worth of advertising, which has long been a profit center for Google. Samsung and Google’s deal is up for renewal soon, the Times reported, and is worth an estimated $3 billion in revenue to Google. Samsung is a major Android manufacturer, and the news that Samsung would consider a switch reportedly surprised Google employees.”
“How To Recession-Proof Your Portfolio” (The Week). “Diversification — which ‘doesn't just mean allocating your money across different forms of investments like stocks or bonds,’ Nerdwallet points out, but also "across industries, geographic locations, and companies of various sizes" — is always important to mitigate portfolio risk. But during a recession, diversification becomes especially important. After all, you don't want to put all of your eggs into one basket that sinks with the market.”
“Fox Could Likely Survive A Nine-Figure Loss To Dominion, Media Analysts Say” (NBC News). “In the event Dominion wins its case, said Lyrissa Lidsky, a constitutional law professor at the University of Florida, the jury is highly unlikely to award Dominion all the money it’s seeking for what it says is the reputational damage exacted by Fox News’ broadcasts.”
“State Street, Schwab See Deposits Drop” (Wall Street Journal). “At Schwab, the brokerage giant, deposits fell 11% to $326 billion from the previous quarter and were down 30% from a year earlier. State Street, one of the largest custody banks, said Monday that deposits totaled about $224 billion at the end of the first quarter, down 5% from December and 11% from a year ago.”
“Life Insurers Could Face Liquidity Crunch Next” (Institutional Investor). “Insurers have faced liquidity problems in the past for a variety of reasons: poor product management, such as writing policies that allowed large-scale, immediate policyholder cash-outs; inadequate liquidity in investment portfolios to fund redemptions; and poorly anticipated disintermediation risk due to changing economic conditions.”
