Weekend roundup

Here’s what you missed while you were living your best life:

• 🚗 Tesla cut prices across the world. The carmaker slashed prices in global markets including China and Germany, after doing the same in the US on Friday. The move topped off a chaotic week that included a recall of all Cybertrucks.

• 🖥️ Salesforce’s talks to buy Informatica fizzled out. The deal would have been one of Salesforce’s biggest acquisitions ever, potentially valuing Informatica in the region of $10 billion. But the two companies reportedly couldn’t agree on terms.

• 📈 The NYSE is considering a move to 24/7 trading ($). The exchange is polling market participants on the merits of trading around the clock. It comes as Steve Cohen-backed startup 24 Exchange seeks SEC approval for a 24/7 clock exchange.

Featured weekend story

BlackRock steps up security for Larry Fink after ‘anti-woke’ backlash

BlackRock has more than tripled its security spending ($) for CEO Larry Fink in the last year, after he became a target for ‘anti-woke’ activists. The asset manger paid more than $500,000 to upgrade security systems at his homes last year, on top of more than $200,000 of protection by bodyguards, according to company filings.

Fink has been singled out by conservatives and fringe groups as part of a backlash against BlackRock’s ESG investing activities. He was repeatedly mentioned in the Republican primary debates. Vivek Ramaswamy, one of the candidates, called Fink “the king of the woke industrial complex [and] the ESG movement”.

BlackRock isn’t the only US company to step up security spending on its CEO. Disney chief Bob Iger’s 2023 compensation package included $1.2 million in costs for “security services and equipment”, up from about $830,000 the previous year. Covid-19 vaccine makers Pfizer and Moderna also spent heavily on CEO security last year.

What to watch this week

Investors are crying sweet relief this morning after tensions between Israel and Iran seemed to simmer down for now. It’s risk on, as market participants roll into stocks and out of gold and bonds.

Here are your upcoming market events:

• 💸 Q1 earnings pick up steam. Big hitters reporting numbers include Visa, Boeing, and tech giants Meta, Alphabet, and Microsoft. Things could get hairy for Tesla – investors are expecting its worst performance in seven years.

• 🇺🇸 US GDP and inflation. Thursday’s GDP reading is followed by core CPE on Friday – the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge. Economists see it staying high in March, supporting the Fed’s emerging narrative that rates need to stay higher for longer.

• 🇯🇵 BOJ rate decision. The Bank of Japan gives its first decision on Friday since its historic rate rise. It’s expected to hold this time, but with the yen weak, investors will be looking for clues on FX intervention.

What we’re reading

Are you single and ready to mingle? You need to stop looking for a partner and start looking for leads.

• 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 The rise of strategic dating (The Guardian). Meet the woman looking for a partner the way a B2B SaaS acquires customers.

• 🎤 Taylor Swift isn’t the economic force, it’s her fans (TIME). And those fans aren’t exactly who you think they are.

• 📆 The philosophical case for a four-day workweek (Jacobin). Why do we insist on working so hard?

Off-balance sheet items

There’s always room for improvement. Here’s this week’s tip to become the ultra-human you know you can be:

• Are you wasting your spare time on Netflix and TikTok? Maybe you need a 5-9 routine to become more intentional.

The bottom line

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