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☆ Microsoft closes $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard after lengthy regulatory review
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-13 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

"Today we start the work to bring beloved Activision, Blizzard, and King franchises to Game Pass and other platforms," Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said in a blog post . Microsoft has closed its $69 billion acquisition of video game publisher Activision Blizzard , according to a regulatory filing by the company Friday. Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick will stay on as CEO through the end of the year. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who took the helm in 2014, is aiming to diversify the company's business beyond its core areas such as operating systems and productivity software. WATCH: Microsoft deal with Activision Blizzard set to clear final hurdle

Persons: Phil Spencer, Tony Hawk, It's, Bobby Kotick, Satya Nadella, pushback, Victoria Graham, Activision Blizzard Organizations: Activision, Blizzard, Microsoft, Markets Authority, Federal Trade Commission, European Commission, Markets, Economic, Activision Blizzard, Nintendo, Sony, Nvidia, San, U.S, Appeals, Circuit, Ubisoft, FTC Locations: U.S, San Francisco federal

☆ Fed's Daly: Risks of doing too much vs too little 'roughly balanced'
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly poses for a photograph at the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank's annual Economic Policy Symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, U.S. August 25, 2023. "How much can the economy take in terms of rate increases so we can get the policy rate to a level that's reasonable to bring inflation down? She was describing the balancing act the Fed faces after raising the short-term policy rate from near zero to 5.25%-5.5% over a span of about 18 months. "I would say now the risks of how we balance those things are roughly balanced -- over-tightening versus under-tightening -- but we still have high inflation and the labor market's still strong," she said. "It's part of a large dashboard of data," she said, to which the Fed needs to be able to respond to with agility.

Persons: Mary Daly, Ann Saphir, Daly, Chris Reese, Leslie Adler Organizations: Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Kansas City Federal, REUTERS, San Francisco Federal, Treasury, Thomson Locations: Jackson Hole , Wyoming, U.S, San, Chicago, Palestinian, Israel

The Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday it is seeking a court order that would compel Elon Musk to testify as part of an investigation into his purchase of Twitter, now called X. But “two days before his scheduled testimony, Musk abruptly notified the SEC staff that he would not appear,” said the agency’s filing. “Musk attempted to justify his refusal to comply with the subpoena by raising, for the first time, several spurious objections, including an objection to San Francisco as an appropriate testimony location.”X is based in San Francisco. The SEC said on Sept. 24, Musk’s lawyers responded by saying Musk would not appear for testimony in any location. A hearing on the matter is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 9 in San Francisco.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, ”, “ Musk, San, Alex Spiro, Andrew Carter, Musk's, Carter, Walter Isaacson Organizations: Securities, Exchange Commission, Twitter, SEC, District Locations: San Francisco federal, San Francisco, New York, Oklahoma, U.S, Fort Worth , Texas, “

The filing Thursday in San Francisco federal court seeks a judge’s order requiring Musk to testify, alleging “blatant refusal to comply” with an earlier SEC subpoena. Musk testified twice as part of the SEC’s investigation in July 2022, according to the agency. The SEC served Musk with a subpoena to testify again in the matter in May 2023, according to the court filing. The current subpoena at issue seeks evidence and testimony from Musk that the SEC does not yet possess, the agency said. The SEC attempted to negotiate with Musk to find alternative dates later this fall, according to court documents.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, —, “, Alex Spiro, ”, Spiro, Walter Isaacson’s Organizations: New, New York CNN, US Securities and Exchange Commission, Twitter, SEC, Inc Locations: New York, San Francisco federal

☆ Yelp sues Texas to defend its labeling of crisis pregnancy centers
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Washington CNN —Yelp is suing Texas to ensure it can continue to tell users that crisis pregnancy centers listed on its site do not provide abortions or abortion referrals, opening a new front in the fight between states and the tech industry over abortion restrictions. Yelp said it currently applies the following label to crisis pregnancy center listings: “This is a Crisis Pregnancy Center. Crisis Pregnancy Centers do not offer abortions or referrals to abortion providers.”Yelp’s complaint said its labels are based on a manual evaluation of “thousands of business pages” on its site and reflect truthful statements. But Paxton’s impending lawsuit threatens to silence Yelp and infringe on the company’s First Amendment rights, the complaint alleges. Yelp argues that its labels for crisis pregnancy centers are not deceptive and that Paxton himself had publicly commended the disclosures as “accurate” in a February press release.

Persons: Washington CNN — Yelp, Yelp, Ken Paxton preemptively, Roe, Wade, Paxton Organizations: Washington CNN, Democratic, Federal Trade Commission Locations: Texas, San Francisco federal

☆ Poland investigates OpenAI over privacy concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A keyboard is placed in front of a displayed OpenAI logo in this illustration taken February 21, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies Openai LLC FollowMicrosoft Corp FollowWARSAW, Sept 21 (Reuters) - A Polish watchdog is investigating Microsoft-backed (MSFT.O) OpenAI over a complaint that its ChatGPT chatbot breaks European Union data protection laws known as the GDPR, it said. OpenAI has already faced at least its second class action lawsuit in San Francisco federal court for allegedly breaking privacy laws. "The case concerns the violation of many provisions on the protection of personal data, so we will ask Open AI to answer a number of questions," said Jan Nowak, President of Poland's Personal Data Protection Office (UODO). The complainant said they were unable to find out which of their personal data was processed by the company, and received evasive and misleading answers to questions.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, OpenAI, Jan Nowak, UODO, ChatGPT, Alan Charlish, Jan Harvey Organizations: REUTERS, Microsoft, Google, Thomson Locations: WARSAW, San Francisco federal

☆ George R. R. Martin, Jodi Picoult and other famous writers join Authors Guild in class action lawsuit against OpenAI
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —A group of famous fiction writers joined the Authors Guild in filing a class action suit against OpenAI on Wednesday, alleging the company’s technology is illegally using their copyrighted work. Martin, Jodi Picoult, John Grisham and Jonathan Franzen are among the 17 prominent authors who joined the suit led by the Authors Guild, a professional organization that protects writers’ rights. “Generative AI threatens to decimate the author profession,” the Authors Guild wrote in a press release Wednesday. Two other authors sued OpenAI in June over the company’s alleged misuse of their works to train ChatGPT. Authors should have the right to decide when their works are used to ‘train’ AI,” author Jonathan Franzen said in the release on Wednesday.

Persons: OpenAI, George R.R, Martin, Jodi Picoult, John Grisham, Jonathan Franzen, Mary Rasenberger, “, Sarah Silverman, Silverman –, ” Sam Altman, Rasenberger, James Patterson, Roxane Gay, Margaret Atwood —, ” Organizations: New, New York CNN, OpenAI, Authors, of, CNN, Amazon, Meta, San, Microsoft Locations: New York, Southern, of New York, San Francisco federal

☆ New economic rules shatter US bonds’ crystal ball
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Ben Winck | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Yield curve “inversions” belong to the latter group. At first sight, they are right: Yield curve inversions have been a consistent predictor of future downturns. Yield curve inversions take place when the yield on short-dated government debt climbs higher than that on longer-term bonds. Lower long-dated bond yields are seen as a sign that investors predict lower rates due to an economic downturn. As such, yield curve inversions have become a popular forward indicator of economic recessions.

Persons: Treasuries, There’s, Eugene F, Fama, Kenneth R, joblessness, Morgan Stanley, Ellen Zentner, Francesco Guerrera, Sharon Lam, Aditya Sriwatsav, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, San Francisco Federal Reserve, Fed, New York Fed, Morgan Stanley U.S, Treasury, European Central Bank, Thomson Locations: United States, U.S, Covid

Consumer sentiment dipped slightly in September, indicating Americans are tentative about the direction of the economy, according to the latest survey-based index from the University of Michigan. The overall consumer sentiment index, released on Friday, retreated to 67.7 from 69.5 in August, while the current conditions assessment dropped to 69.8 from 75.7 and the forward-looking expectations index increased to 66.3 from 65.5. “Sentiment this month was characterized by divergent movements across index components and across demographic groups with little net change from last month. There was improvement in how consumers see inflation going forward. That means workers are keeping just ahead of inflation, although prices for necessities such as groceries and gasoline have increased.

Persons: ”, Joanne Hsu, “, ” Hsu, ” Bernard Baumohl, Baumohl, “ They’re, Joe Biden, – Ford, Peter Berezin Organizations: University of Michigan, Consumers, San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, Economic Outlook, Supreme, United Auto Workers, General Motors, Senate, Fed, BCA Research, Global Locations: Saudi Arabia, Russia, U.S

A Meta logo is seen on a beach during the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in Cannes, France, June 19, 2023. The authors said in the OpenAI case that works like books and plays are particularly valuable for AI language training as the "best examples of high-quality, long form writing." Meta and OpenAI were also sued for copyright infringement in July by a separate group of authors that includes comedian Sarah Silverman, part of a growing list of copyright cases against AI companies. Meta published a list of datasets used to train its first version of the Llama model, which it released in February. The company did not disclose training data for its latest version, Llama 2.

Persons: Eric Gaillard, Michael Chabon, Chabon, Tony, David Henry Hwang, Matthew Klam, Rachel Louise Snyder, Ayelet Waldman, Meta, Sarah Silverman, Blake Brittain, Katie Paul, David Bario, Daniel Wallis Organizations: Cannes Lions International, Creativity, REUTERS, Meta, Google, Thomson Locations: Cannes, France, San Francisco federal, Washington, New York

☆ One unintended consequence of the unaffordable housing market: Crashing furniture sales
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

US furniture retailers like RH and Williams-Sonoma are struggling to sell products in a tight housing market. The unaffordable housing market is stretching wallets and making new furniture less of a priority for buyers. A slew of furniture brands have reported weaker earnings in the most recent quarter. Furniture retailers have reported weaker sales as Americans, who are struggling to break into the housing market, aren't buying the usual amount of couches, tables, and home goods. "A housing shortage and the over 20-year high on fixed mortgage rates has slowed down housing activity.

Persons: RH, Hooker, Jeremy Hoff Organizations: Williams, Service, Bloomberg, San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank Locations: Sonoma, Wall, Silicon, Williams, Elm, Virginia

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., August 15, 2023. The Consumer Price Index reading for August is due on Sept. 13, while the Federal Reserve's policy decision is scheduled for Sept. 20. New York Fed President John Williams kept his options open over future interest rate policy and Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan said while it "could be appropriate" to skip a rate hike in the upcoming meeting, more policy tightening might be needed. DocuSign (DOCU.O) added 3.1% as the e-Signature product provider beat second-quarter results estimates and raised its annual revenue forecast. GameStop (GME.N) fell 2.3% on a report that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating the videogame retailer's chairman, Ryan Cohen.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Mark Haefele, Morgan Stanley, John Williams, Lorie Logan, Mary Daly, Ryan Cohen, Shristi Achar, Arun Koyyur, Vinay Dwivedi Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Mizuho, Dow, Nasdaq, Federal, UBS Global Wealth Management, Traders, FedWatch, Apple, Wall, Dow e, . New York Fed, Dallas Fed, San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, GameStop, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Beijing, China, Bengaluru

☆ San Francisco Fed's chief of supervision to retire
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

A pedestrian walks near the branch of Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S., April 7, 2023. REUTERS/Ann Saphir Acquire Licensing RightsAug 28 (Reuters) - Azher Abbasi, head of supervision at the San Francisco Federal Reserve, will retire at the end of October, the bank's spokesperson said on Monday. Abbasi will be succeeded by Niel Willardson, who will join the San Francisco Fed as interim executive vice president of supervision and credit, the spokesperson said via email. Abbasi joined the San Francisco Fed in 2015. Reporting by Evelyn Nikhila S in Bengaluru Editing by Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Ann Saphir, Azher Abbasi, Abbasi, Niel Willardson, Willardson, Evelyn Nikhila, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Federal Reserve Bank of San, REUTERS, San Francisco Federal Reserve, San Francisco Fed, Minneapolis Fed, Bloomberg, Thomson Locations: Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Salt Lake City , Utah, U.S, Bengaluru

☆ X, formerly Twitter, faces 2,200 arbitration cases and filing fees over $3 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

In this photo illustration, the new Twitter logo rebranded as X (X Corp.) is seen on a smartphone and Elon Musk Twitter account with the new X logo on a pc screen. X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, is facing 2,200 arbitration cases that ex-employees filed after Elon Musk took over the company, slashed headcount, and made other sweeping changes there. The filing fees alone for that volume of cases could amount to $3.5 million. The case is Chris Woodfield v. Twitter, X Corp. and Elon Musk (No. Since JAMS decided that this basic fee applies across the board to X's 2,200 arbitration cases, that would amount to around $3.5 million, with other fees possibly to follow.

Persons: Elon Musk, Chris Woodfield, Woodfield Organizations: X Corp, Elon, Twitter, CNBC, Musk's X Corp, Northern District of Locations: Delaware, Seattle, San Francisco federal, Northern District, Northern District of California

☆ A former San Francisco tech executive was charged with embezzling more than $2.7 million from his employer
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-27 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A former tech exec was charged with embezzling $2.7 million from his employer. Aubrey Jackson Shelton II was accused of using the company's payroll software to "inflate his paychecks." A federal jury charged Shelton II with tax evasion, bank fraud, and wire fraud. AdvertisementAdvertisementA former tech executive has been charged with embezzling around $2.7 million from his employer after an indictment alleged that he inflated his paychecks and hid proceeds from the IRS for more than eight years. Another California tech executive was sentenced to 11 years in prison after being convicted of four counts of defrauding investors last year.

Persons: Aubrey Jackson Shelton, Shelton, Aubrey Jackson Shelton II, Elizabeth Holmes Organizations: US, Office, Northern District of, San Locations: Northern District, Northern District of California, San Francisco, San Francisco federal, California

☆ United Airlines in $30 mln settlement with quadriplegic man's family
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Aug 23 (Reuters) - United Airlines (UAL.O) has agreed to a $30 million settlement after a deplaning incident left a quadriplegic man in a vegetative state, court papers show. The settlement with the family of Nathaniel Foster Jr, known as N.J., was disclosed on Tuesday in San Francisco federal court, and reached after one day of trial. Now 26, Foster has "significant" brain damage, cannot speak or eat solid foods, and is expected to live to age 31-1/2, down from 39 before the incident, court papers show. "Our top priority is to provide a safe journey for all our customers, especially those who require additional assistance or the use of a wheelchair," United said in a statement Wednesday. The case is Foster et al v United Airlines Inc et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No.

Persons: Nathaniel Foster Jr, Foster, Foster's, Jonathan Stempel, Nick Zieminski Organizations: United Airlines, United Express, al, United Airlines Inc, Court, Northern District of, Thomson Locations: San Francisco federal, Monroe , Louisiana, Pleasant Hill , California, U.S, Northern District, Northern District of California, New York

☆ Stocks fall, yields rise after hotter than expected inflation reading
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Sinéad Carew | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The U.S. producer price index (PPI) for final demand rose 0.3% in July, according to the Labor Department. And in the 12 months through July, the PPI rose 0.8% against estimates for a 0.7% advance. On Thursday, Wall Street's main indexes had finished flat, giving up most early gains on milder-than-feared consumer price inflation data. In currencies, the dollar index rose 0.107%, with the euro down 0.18% to $1.0959. On the U.S. Treasuries side, yields rose after the hotter than expected PPI.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Paul Christopher, Christopher, Mary Daly, Sterling, Brent, Sinéad Carew, Elizabeth Howcroft, John Stonestreet, Susan Fenton Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Treasury, Reserve, Labor Department, PPI, Wells, Wells Fargo Investment Institute, Dow Jones, Nasdaq, San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, Britain, International Energy Agency, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Wells Fargo, St Louis, Asia, Pacific, Japan, London

Asian stocks fell to a one-month low and European indexes were in the red, with the STOXX 600 down 0.8% at 1125 GMT (.STOXX). "We’re still getting a mixed message from the inflation numbers," said Ben Laidler, global markets strategist at eToro. The pound was up 0.4% at $1.2725 , after GDP data showed Britain eked out some unexpected growth in the second quarter, helped by a strong June performance. But it remains the only large advanced economy that has not yet regained its pre-COVID late-2019 level, data showed on Friday. Investors will be watching for UK inflation data next Wednesday.

Persons: DAX, Mary Daly, We’re, Ben Laidler, eToro's Laidler, Brent, Elizabeth Howcroft, John Stonestreet, Susan Fenton Organizations: Credit Suisse, Wall, San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, Investors, Nasdaq, HK, Britain, West Texas, International Energy Agency, Thomson Locations: Silicon, China, Australia, Japan

☆ US dollar recovers from inflation-related losses; yen slumps
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The greenback climbed to five-week peaks against the yen of 144.735 , and last traded up 0.7% at 144.71 yen. The recovery of the dollar against both the euro and yen pushed the dollar index up 0.1% to 102.56 . Earlier in the session, the dollar dropped after data showed the consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.2% last month, matching the gain in June. Investors are also on the lookout for possible intervention by the Japan to lift the yen. In September, Japan intervened when the dollar rose above 145 yen, pushing the pair to around 140 yen as the Ministry of Finance bought the yen to weaken the dollar.

Persons: Florence Lo, Yen, Helen, It's, Francisco Federal Reserve Bank Mary Daly, Gertrude Chavez, Dreyfuss, Alun John, Mark Potter, Andrea Ricci, Richard Chang Organizations: REUTERS, Monex USA, Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, Federal, Market, Fed, Labor Department, Analysts, Ministry of Finance, Thomson Locations: U.S, Washington, Japan, London

☆ Daly: Premature to say if Fed has done enough on rates
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"Whether we raise another time, or hold rates steady for a longer period -- those things are yet to be determined," Daly said in an interview with Yahoo Finance. "It would be premature to project what I think would happen because there's a lot of information coming in between now and our next meeting." While goods inflation is receding, and newly signed lease trends signal inflation from housing will also cool, core services inflation excluding housing has so far made little progress, Daly said. The Fed raised its policy a quarter of a percentage point last month, to a range of 5.25% to 5%, and policymakers will consider whether to raise rates further when they meet again in September, November and December. Daly before the most recent rate hike had thought a total of two more interest-rate increases would likely be needed before year's end, but she did not reiterate that view on Thursday.

Persons: Mary Daly, Daly, Ann Saphir, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, Yahoo Finance, U.S . Labor Department, Fed, Traders, Thomson

☆ SoftBank sues social media startup it invested in, alleging it faked user numbers
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

SoftBank's Vision Fund filed suit against the founders of one of its portfolio companies Monday, alleging that they artificially inflated user metrics, lied to the fund about performance and bilked the fund for millions. Buzzy social media startup IRL launched in April 2021 and was seemingly "one of the fastest growing social media apps for Generation Z," the complaint in San Francisco federal court alleges. SoftBank was invested in the company due to its apparently low cost, "strong" user engagement that left it "well positioned for further viral growth" in the same way Facebook and Twitter exploded. SoftBank believed that IRL had 12 million monthly active users. Past missteps from SoftBank include large positions in allegedly fraudulent crypto exchange FTX and devalued property company WeWork .

Persons: Masayoshi, SoftBank, Abraham Shafi, Noah Shafi, Yassin Aniss, Abraham Shafi's Organizations: Vision Fund, Facebook, Twitter, IRL, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission Locations: San Francisco, SoftBank

☆ Twitter sues watchdog Center for Countering Digital Hate
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Washington, DC CNN —Twitter has sued the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a nonprofit group that has criticized the company’s handling of hate speech, following through on a litigation threat that had been publicly revealed just hours before. The lawsuit filed Monday in San Francisco federal court accuses CCDH of deliberately trying to drive advertisers away from Twitter — recently rebranded as “X” — by publishing reports critical of the platform’s response to hateful content. It specifically claims CCDH violated Twitter’s terms of service, and federal hacking laws, by scraping data from the company’s platform and by encouraging an unnamed individual to improperly collect information about Twitter that it had provided to a third-party brand monitoring provider. The complaint accuses CCDH of engaging in a wide-ranging campaign to silence users of Twitter’s platform by calling attention to the views they post on social media. But Monday’s complaint does not appear to include such an allegation.

Persons: CCDH, Ahmed, ”, Elon Musk, ” Ahmed, Musk, ‘ I’m, Imran Ahmed, Twitter, “ Organizations: DC CNN, Twitter, Center, CNN Locations: Washington, San Francisco

Yet a sharp drawdown in the excess savings created by COVID-19 could be a curve ball that slams into bullish sentiment. U.S. excess savings have fallen to around $500 billion from around $2.1 trillion in August 2021, the San Francisco Federal Reserve estimates. In Europe, Deutsche Bank reckons excess savings in Sweden, struggling to contain a property slump, have dwindled. Reuters GraphicsRUNNING OUTDefinitions for excess savings differ, but economists generally agree that this means savings that went beyond trend levels during the pandemic. Cardano chief economist Shweta Singh said U.S. pandemic excess savings are likely to be depleted by year-end.

Persons: Rachel Adams, Janus Henderson, Oliver Blackbourn, Shweta Singh, Guy Miller, Jamie Dimon, Ben, Eren Osman, Arbuthnot Latham, Janus Henderson's Blackbourn, U.S . Russell, Russell, Goldman Sachs, Blackbourn, Zurich's Miller, Simon Bell, Guilluame Paillat, Paillat, Naomi Rovnick, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Oxford, REUTERS, San Francisco Federal, Deutsche Bank, Reuters, Insurance Group, Ryanair, JPMorgan, Unilever, U.S ., London's, Bank of, Aviva, Thomson Locations: Britain, London, China, Europe, U.S, Sweden, United States, downturns, Australia

LONDON, July 26 (Reuters) - Even as fears of a 2023 U.S. recession recede and stock market bears concede defeat, there's scant sign of party mode. After wild swings of output, prices, employment, liquidity and interest rates, firm convictions about the precise onset of "technical" recessions - or even previously reliable gauges of bull and bear markets - have all become a bit suspect. Whether on a domestic or global scale, aggregate views of the economy, or stock market, right now are likely misleading. A bull to bear market and back again in little over 18 months - or so it seems. SP 500 2023 YTD THROUGH JULY 21BLUNTEDChief among the puzzles is the variable impact of sharply higher interest rates on both households and firms.

Persons: Morgan Stanley's, Mike Wilson, Wilson, Morgan Stanley, Andrew Lapthorne, Russell, Mike Dolan Organizations: Reuters Graphics, Barclays, International Monetary Fund, Tuesday, eventual, San Francisco Federal Reserve, Generale, Fed, Reuters, Twitter, Thomson Locations: U.S, midyear

Game enthusiasts and industry personnel walk between the Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation exhibits at the E3 trade show on June 16, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. Sony has signed a binding agreement with Microsoft to keep Call of Duty on its PlayStation gaming consoles after closing the Activision Blizzard acquisition, Microsoft said on Sunday. "We are pleased to announce that Microsoft and PlayStation have signed a binding agreement to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard," Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said on Twitter Sunday. Regulators around the world had expressed significant concern about Microsoft's power over the gaming market if an Activision acquisition was approved. The deal does something to ameliorate those concerns, although Microsoft and Sony aren't disclosing the duration of the agreement.

Persons: Activision Blizzard, Phil Spencer, Jim Ryan, Ryan, Brad Smith, divestitures Organizations: Microsoft Xbox, Sony PlayStation, Sony, Microsoft, PlayStation, Activision Blizzard, Activision, Twitter, Regulators, Sony's PlayStation, Federal Trade Commission, FTC, EU, Markets Authority Locations: Los Angeles , California, San Francisco federal

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