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1. Bank of England Cuts Rates, but Fed Waits For Now
While the U.S. Federal Reserve held off on any interest rate cuts, hinting that a cut could be more likely in September, The Bank of England made its first cut in four years, dropping a quarter percentage point to 5%, the Wall Street Journal reports.
"U.K. inflation has come back down to the bank’s 2% target," the newspaper reports. "But policymakers remained wary of elevated services inflation, which was unexpectedly high at 5.7% in June. One-off factors like a rise in hotel prices driven by a Taylor Swift tour and annual increases on inflation-linked phone contracts were partially responsible, according to economists."
Meanwhile, the potential for a September rate cut in the U.S. continues to grow more politicized, with Republicans increasingly worried about the optics of a rate cut so close to the November election.
2. MGM Reports Record Revenue, Earnings in Second Quarter
MGM Resorts International reported a record high of $4.3 billion in consolidated net revenues and $294 million in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and rent for the second quarter. Company officials touted strong results in China, MGM's relationship with Marriott and "significant progress with our international digital strategy" for reaching the high-water marks.
MGM China accounted for $1 billion in net revenue in the quarter, while Las Vegas Strip resorts contributed $2.2 billion.
3. Mohari Reportedly Outbids LVMH Owner For Hotel Bauer in Venice
Bloomberg reports Mohari Hospitality is closing in on a deal to buy the luxury Hotel Bauer in Venice for €309 million ($333.8 million), outbidding LVMH owner Bernard Arnault in the process.
The news outlet reports "King Street Capital Management has been running the process to sell the Venetian hotel, one of the erstwhile jewels of the Signa real estate empire founded by Rene Benko. ... Following the enforcement of a junior-ranking loan linked to the hotel, filings show that funds administered by King Street took control of shares in a Signa company that owned Hotel Bauer in May."
Other bidders for the property include "sovereign wealth funds and international developers."
4. CloudStrike Faces Lawsuit After Historic Outage
Embattled cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike now faces a lawsuit from its own shareholders in the wake of a global IT outage caused by a faulty software update pushed by the company and days of air travel chaos caused by it, the BBC reports.
"The lawsuit accuses the company of making 'false and misleading' statements about its software testing," the news agency reports. "It also says the company's share price dropped 32% in the 12 days after the incident, causing a loss in market value of" $25 billion.
5. US Officials Mull New Airline Fee Rules
Officials at the U.S. Department of Transportation are considering new rules that would bar airlines from charging families for sitting together, the New York Times reports. Several airlines already guarantee parents can sit next to their children, but others don't exempt families from fees to pick specific, assigned seats.
“Many airlines still don’t guarantee family seating, which means parents wonder if they’ll have to pay extra just to be seated with their young child,” U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. “Flying with children is already complicated enough without having to worry about that.”