DAILY DOSE: April 26, 2021

Posted on 04/26/2021


1. California Secretary of State says the recall of California Governor Gavin Newsom has officially been triggered with over 1.6 million signatures collected. Newsom will be on the ballot later in 2021 facing expulsion from office by voters.

2. Tesla Inc. says first quarter 2021 net cash outflow of US$ 1.2 billion is related to bitcoin. Tesla CEO Elon Musk says Tesla sold bitcoin to prove liquidity as a cash alternative. Tesla made about US$ 101 million on the sale of bitcoin in the first quarter 2021.

3. Lyft, Inc. to sell autonomous driving unit called “Level 5 division” to Woven Planet Holdings, a unit of Toyota Motor Corporation, for US$ 550 million. Lyft will receive US$ 550 million in cash, with US$ 200 million paid upfront. The remaining US$ 350 million will be made in payments over five years.

4. Spotify plans to increase prices for many of its plans.

5. JPMorgan is preparing to offer an actively-managed bitcoin fund to private wealth clients.

6. Netherlands to ban fllights from India due to Indian COVID surge and mutation fears.

7. CDC advisors vote: 10-Yes, 4-No, 1-Abstain. Yes votes to recommend Johnson & Johnson vaccine for people 18 and over. There will be an added warning about rare blood clots but not restricting use in U.S.

8. JD.com starts paying some workers in digital yuan.

9. Turkey President Erdogan declares national COVID virus shutdown from April 29, 2021 to May 17, 2021.

10. Israel health officials are examining dozens of cases where people experienced heart inflammation after receiving Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE’s coronavirus gene therapy vaccine. The government identified 62 incidents of inflammation of the heart muscle, or heart-muscle membrane.

11. Awards shows seem to be dying out among the U.S. public. The 93rd Academy Awards (Oscars) ceremony were broadcast live from both Union Station and the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on ABC. Nielsen Live+Same Day preliminary national numbers gave an average of 9.85 million viewers.

In 2014, viewership for the Oscars was 43.7 million.
In 2019, it was 29.6 million.
In 2021, it was 9.85 million.

12. Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin is mad that NASA’s awarded SpaceX a US$ 2.9 billion to land astronauts on the Moon by 2024.

“NASA has executed a flawed acquisition for the Human Landing System program and moved the goalposts at the last minute,” Blue Origin said in a statement released on Monday, calling NASA’s decision “high risk.”

“Their decision eliminates opportunities for competition, significantly narrows the supply base, and not only delays, but also endangers America’s return to the Moon. Because of that, we’ve filed a protest with the GAO,” the statement read.

Keywords: Bezos Expeditions.

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