Investments and Business

William O'Dowd IV, CEO of Dolphin Entertainment Inc. (NASDAQ:DLPN), increased his personal investment in the company by acquiring an additional 13,000 shares of common stock. The shares were purchased at an average price of $1.09 each, bringing the total value of the transaction to approximately $14,170. This move highlights O'Dowd's confidence in the company's future and its recent performance metrics, including an impressive 94% gross profit margin and a 22% revenue growth rate over the past year. The purchase, completed on December 17, 2024, increases O'Dowd's direct ownership in Dolphin Entertainment to 147,493 shares. In addition to this, O'Dowd also…

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will announce their latest monetary policy decision on Wednesday, and market participants are preparing for a surprising move. Despite inflation remaining above the Fed's 2% target, robust economic growth of around 3% and a strong labor market, the central bank is expected to lower its benchmark interest rate by 25 points basis, bringing the target range to 4.25%-4.5. %. This potential cut comes as a surprise to many, as conventional wisdom would suggest that the Fed might maintain or even raise rates under such economic conditions. Futures market…

The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point this week, a move some analysts are calling a “hard reversal” in monetary policy. This decision comes alongside updated economic forecasts and interest rate projections as the central bank attempts to balance its goals against a backdrop of changing economic conditions and the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump. The expected rate drop would lower the Fed's key interest rate to a range of 4.25% to 4.50%, marking a full one percentage point reduction from September, when the central bank began…

The U.S. auto market is poised for its strongest performance in years, with new vehicle sales expected to rise to levels not seen since 2019. Industry analysts expect a recovery in 2025, driven by improved affordability, lower interest rates and a gradual normalization of the vehicle market. stocks after years of supply chain disruptions and inflated prices. Cox Automotive expects new light-duty vehicle sales to reach 16.3 million units in 2025, slightly ahead of forecasts from S&P Global Mobility and Edmunds, which call for sales of about 16.2 million. These estimates represent a modest increase from this year's expected range…

The Republican-led US House of Representatives passed legislation on Friday to prevent a government shutdown, rejecting President-elect Donald Trump's calls to include billions of dollars in new funding. The bill, which now moves to the Democratic-controlled Senate, must be approved and signed into law by President Joe Biden before current funding expires at midnight Saturday. The bill passed the House with broad bipartisan support in a 366-34 vote, extending federal funding through March 14. The bill allocates $100 billion for disaster relief and $10 billion for farmers, but excludes controversial provisions, including raising the debt ceiling, a controversial Trump issue.…

The NBA All-Star Game is set to undergo another major transformation, as the league announced a new three-team mini-tournament format for this year's event in San Francisco. Featuring the league's top 24 players alongside the team that wins the Rising Stars Challenge, this format marks the third significant change to the All-Star format since 2020. The objective of the championship? To make the event more competitive or, at the very least, more entertaining for the fans watching from home. “I think we've reached a point where the modern All-Star Game is as much about entertainment as it is about competition,”…

Apple is accused of illegally surveilling the personal devices and iCloud accounts of its employees, particularly when they discuss pay and workplace conditions. A new complaint, filed by Domingo Amar Bhakta in a California state court, accuses the tech giant of requiring employees to install software on personal devices used for work. This software supposedly grants Apple access to sensitive personal data, including emails, photo archives, health information, and even data from “smart home” devices. Bhakta, who works in Apple's digital advertising division and has been with the company since 2020, claims that Apple has strict privacy policies that prevent…

The UK economy unexpectedly contracted in October, exacerbating fears of a prolonged economic slowdown as businesses and households grapple with uncertainty. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.1% month-on-month, defying economists' expectations of a modest 0.1% increase. This contraction follows a similar 0.1% decline in September, marking the second consecutive month of negative growth and raising concerns about the country's economic trajectory. The ONS attributed October's decline to reduced output across all key sectors. However, on a three-month rolling basis, GDP showed a slight increase of 0.1% for the period ending in…

A judge has ruled against President-elect Donald Trump's attempts to throw out his guilty plea in a case involving allegations of falsifying business records, a case linked to a controversial payout during his 2016 presidential campaign. The ruling comes in context of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity, raising questions about the case's broader implications. Judge Juan M. Merchan of Manhattan rejected Trump's bid to overturn his guilty plea, delaying any potential resolution until he takes over the presidency next month. Trump's legal team has argued that the charges should be reconsidered, citing his imminent return to…

November brought an unexpected rise in wholesale prices, casting doubt on the pace of inflation's decline, according to data released Thursday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The producer price index (PPI), a key measure of what manufacturers charge for goods and services, rose 0.4% on the month, beating the Dow Jones estimate of 0.2%. On a year-over-year basis, PPI rose 3%, the biggest annual gain since February 2023. Excluding food and energy price volatility, core PPI increased 0.2%, in line with market expectations. Furthermore, excluding commercial services, the monthly PPI increase fell to just 0.1%. However, the core…