Bloomberg Businessweek

The people, companies and trends shaping the global economy.
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Another rally in tech companies after an artificial intelligence-driven rout drove stocks higher ahead of economic data that will help shape the Federal Reserve outlook. Gold topped $5,000. The dollar fell.
Following a surge that added $1 trillion to the S&P 500’s value at the end of last week, the index kept rising to approach its all-time highs. The technology firms that were at the center of a bruising slide continued to bounce. A gauge of chipmakers climbed 1.4% while an ETF focused on software names extended a back-to-back advance to almost 7%. Oracle Corp. jumped 9.6%.
In order to finance its AI ambitions, Alphabet Inc. is set to raise $20 billion from a US dollar bond offering — more than the $15 billion expected — and is also pitching investors on what would be its first ever offerings in Switzerland and the UK. The latter would include a rare sale of 100-year bonds.
Traders are also gearing up for a busy week of economic data that include the two most-consequential snapshots — employment and inflation.
The jobs report - due Wednesday - is expected to show payrolls rose 69,000 in January. The unemployment rate is seen steady at 4.4%. The data will also include historical revisions that are anticipated to show a sizable downward adjustment to payrolls in the year through March 2025.
Today's show features:
Stuart Kaiser, Head of US Equity Trading Strategy at Citi, on the tug-of-war between market momentum and seasonal trends
Bloomberg News Health Reporter Madison Muller on Novo Nordisk suing Hims and Hers Health for making knock-offs of its obesity medicines
Joyce Huang, Senior Client Portfolio Manager with American Century Investments, on the fixed income market and the key drivers for near-term equity market returns
Denise Paulonis, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sally Beauty Holdings, on quarterly earnings and the health of the consumer
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Since ChatGPT arrived on the scene some three years ago, analysts have been warning that entire industries, including software programming, legal services and film production, are at risk of being disrupted by artificial intelligence. But it took a wave of disappointing earnings reports, some improvements in AI models, and the release of a seemingly innocuous add-on from AI startup Anthropic to suddenly wake up investors en masse to the threat. The result has been the biggest stock selloff driven by the fear of AI displacement that markets have seen. And no stocks are hurting more than those of software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies.
Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, the CEO of cloud-based accounting software provider Xero, explains why she believes the firm's small business tools will be enhanced by AI, not overtaken, as the firm builds its large language model (LLM) "on the back of" AI models. Sukhinder speaks with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily.
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Featuring some of our favorite conversations of the week from our daily radio show “Bloomberg Businessweek Daily.”
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The people, companies and trends shaping the global economy.
Watch Carol and Tim LIVE every day on YouTube: http://bit.ly/3vTiACF.
Trump administration officials are exploring opening an antitrust investigation into US homebuilders as the White House sharpens its focus on tackling the country’s housing affordability crisis.
The Department of Justice could open the probe in the coming weeks, according to people familiar with the discussions. No decision has been made and the administration may abandon the effort without launching an investigation, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing non-public information.
One potential focus is on how information is shared through an industry trade group called Leading Builders of America, according to the people. Officials have grown concerned that the trade group — whose members include Lennar Corp. and DR Horton Inc. — could be used to restrict housing supply or coordinate pricing, the people said.
A White House representative referred a request for comment to the Department of Justice, which declined to comment. Representatives for the homebuilders and the trade group didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
The administration’s interest in homebuilders comes during a period where the cost of buying a home is at its most expensive in decades, with the Covid-era housing boom and subsequent interest rate hikes weighing heavily on buyers. It’s also a precarious time for the builders themselves, with the inventory of unsold homes hovering at high levels.
President Donald Trump put the industry on alert in October, when he used a social media post to compare big homebuilders to The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which wields immense control over the oil market.
Today's show features:
Bloomberg News Real Estate Reporter Patrick Clark discussing on Trump administration officials mulling an antitrust probe into US homebuilders to tackle the country's housing affordability crisis
Gregory Daco, Chief Economist at EY, on expectations for the upcoming January jobs report and the broader US economic outlook
Mark Mahaney, Senior Managing Director and Head of Internet Research at Evercore ISI, on mega-cap tech firms’ AI spending splurge and recapping earnings from Alphabet, and Amazon
Bloomberg News Executive Editor for Crypto, Payments and Digital Finance stacy-marie ishmael on this week’s large swings in Bitcoin and cryptocurrency prices
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ConnectOne Bancorp delivered an 8% increase in adjusted pre-provision net revenue in its most recent quarter, reflecting margin expansion and operating efficiency. Bloomberg Intelligence notes that management tempered loan-growth expectations for 2026 to 3-5% from 5% vs. estimates of 5.5%, and expects net interest margin to exit 2026 at 3.35-3.4% vs. consensus' 3.45%.
Frank Sorrentino, Founder and CEO of ConnectOne Bank discusses the state of regional and local banks as Santander snaps up Webster for $12 billion in a push for US expansion. Sorrentino says smaller banks benefit from consolidation as clients move from firm to firm and bank product options change. He also discusses the state of the consumer and the housing market as the Trump administration mulls different housing-related proposals centered around affordability. Frank speaks with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily.
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