Good morning, Quartz readers!
What to watch for today
The Bank of Japan tries to stop the bleeding. Japan’s central bank is expected to cut its growth and inflation forecasts, and may announce additional stimulus measures in the face of weak consumption and the strengthening yen.
Chinese banks reveal the toll from bad loans. State-owned lenders Industrial & Commercial Bank of China and Agricultural Bank of China report first-quarter earnings. They may post their first annual profit declines in a decade due to the money they have set aside for non-performing loans.
Amazon looks to the cloud for growth. The online behemoth is expected to post slightly higher revenue for its retail business, while Amazon Web Services could grow by 50% or more. As is the norm for Amazon, analysts think its profit will be relatively modest.
While you were sleeping
Facebook’s quarterly results soared. The social media giant demolished analyst expectations with a 51% increase in revenues, thanks to its expanding mobile and video advertising businesses. The company also announced a new shareholding structure designed to keep CEO Mark Zuckerberg in control.
Elon Musk announced a target date for reaching Mars. SpaceX will start sending its Dragon spacecraft to the red planet as early as 2018. The mission, which will take about six months, is intended to gather data that will lay the groundwork for human colonization
The Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady. It’s the third time this year that chairwoman Janet Yellen and her colleagues decided to keep the benchmark rate unchanged, due to fears about the volatile global economy. But in a “slight hawkish tilt,” the central bank left open the possibility of a rate hike in June.
Police investigated a death at Apple’s headquarters. Details are still emerging, but local news media report that a male employee was found dead in a conference room, with a gun nearby. Officials believe it was an “isolated incident.”
Yahoo reached a truce with Starboard. The struggling internet giant will add four of the hedge fund’s hand-chosen directors to its board. The agreement prevents a proxy battle and paves the way for the sale of the company, which Starboard has been pushing for.
Quartz markets haiku
There’s a reason that
A group of doves is known as
a “piteousness“
Quartz obsession interlude
Steve LeVine on Donald Trump’s big foreign policy moment. “His speech was a polished, re-packaged version of his familiar threats and bombast. But they were delivered with uncharacteristic presidential trappings—read from a teleprompter at a non-Trump hotel in Washington, DC.” Read more here.
Matters of Debate
Trade with China is making US politics insane. Lost manufacturing jobs have pushed voters to ideological extremes.
Elon Musk is a corporate governance nightmare waiting to happen. Moving money between his companies and personal accounts could be a catastrophe.
The Theranos debacle isn’t Silicon Valley’s fault. Experienced investors noticed many red flags at the healthcare start-up.
Surprising discoveries
The NSA can’t say how many Americans it’s surveilling. It’s “working on” providing an answer.
Scientists want to teach humans to speak cat. A project called “Meowsic” is translating meows, purrs and hisses.
A real lightsaber would be the most dangerous weapon in the world. In an actual duel, your body would be vaporized.
A third of Italy’s pizza-makers are immigrants. A surprising number hail from Egypt.
McDonald’s is making a more natural McNugget. The current version has 32 ingredients, most of which are not chicken.
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