The Week in Business: Stocks Hit a Record High, and Facebook Wants to Replace Your Bank

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Here’s your quick rundown of the week’s biggest stories in business and tech, so you can spend more of your weekend hours enjoying the sun on the longest days of the year. (Or, you know, sit inside and watch season 2 of “Dark” on Netflix. You do you.)

What’s Up? (June 16-22)

Social Currency

Maybe you don’t trust Facebook with your personal information. But what about your money? On Tuesday, the tech giant announced an ambitious vision for its new digital currency, Libra, which it has been secretly working on for over a year and plans to roll out in early 2020. Unlike Bitcoin, Libra will be backed by actual currency (the dollar, the euro and so on), ideally making it more stable. Facebook’s larger goal: to create a global financial system that enables people to send and receive funds online without dealing with banks at all — effectively cutting out (or replacing) the middleman. But the plan already faces an uphill battle with government officials, who have no idea how they’ll regulate it.

Same Rates, New Story

The stock market hit a record high on Thursday after the Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome H. Powell, said he might be open to lowering interest rates — but not just yet. The Fed chose last week to keep rates where they are for now. Their decision defied the wishes of President Trump, who has been pushing for decreased rates to juice the slowing economy, weaken the dollar and help with his trade wars. Still, Mr. Powell indicated that rate cuts might be on the horizon if “increased uncertainties” continue to weigh on American businesses and consumers. Many investors are now predicting that cuts could happen as soon as this summer.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/22/business/the-week-in-business-stocks-facebook-trade.html?emc=rss&partner=rss