Amazon shares drop after company posts first loss in seven years - April 29, 2022

Amazon shares dropped in early morning trading Friday after the tech giant posted its first quarterly loss in seven years and signaled ongoing uncertainty. Apple forecast bigger supply chain problems even as the company posted record profit and sales in the second fiscal quarter. Tech investors lost $1.8 trillion in April alone during a turbulent earnings season, and interest rate hikes expected next week could increase market volatility. The U.S. economy shrank in the first three months of the year and continues to face threats from inflation and rising interest rates, though economists say the decline is not likely to signal a recession. Household spending rose 1.1% in March due in part to higher prices and demand for services. Economists expect employer spending to rise in the first quarter as organizations competed for workers in a tight job market. The Food and Drug Administration proposed banning menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars Thursday. Leading health and civil rights groups praised the move, saying the tobacco industry has a history of marketing menthols to Black communities. Dozens of interest groups – including tobacco lobbyists, anti-smoking advocates, small business owners and civil rights groups – lobbied the White House in recent days, underscoring the widespread impacts of banning menthol, which makes up more than one-third of the U.S. cigarette market. Moderna asked the Food and Drug Administration for approval on low-dose coronavirus vaccines for children under five. If cleared, Moderna will be the first company to offer the vaccine to the youngest Americans. The announcement places pressure on the FDA to move quickly as parents and pediatricians have grown increasingly impatient for vaccines and treatments for young children. Sixty percent of Americans, including 75% of children, have been infected since the beginning of the pandemic, according to a new study. Measles cases also jumped 79% in 2022 as the pandemic disrupted vaccinations for the disease. India expanded incentives for co