You look perfect

MARKETS

  • U.S. markets: A second-straight weekly gain is in the books. Take some good jobs data (more below) and enjoy your weekend, Wall Street.
  • Fed drama: It continues. President Trump told reporters the Fed should “drop interest rates and get rid of quantitative tightening.”

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BIZ LAW

Motel 6 Pays the Price for Priceless Information

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“We’ll leave the light on for you...and starting now we won’t give your personal information away without a warrant.” Interesting new slogan, Motel 6.

The highway exit stronghold has agreed to pay $12 million in a settlement with Washington state over a controversial policy—allegedly sharing the personal information of about 80,000 guests with immigration officials without the knowledge or permission of those customers.

The details

From 2015 to 2017, workers at seven separate WA Motel 6 locations regularly allowed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents access to personal information from every guest on the books.

The ICE agents used the information to identify, detain, and sometimes deport Motel 6 guests. At least nine Washington residents were detained because of the Motel 6 arrangement. A few of the stories, c/o the NYT:

  • One man was spending the night in a Motel 6 to wrap Christmas gifts for his kids. He was approached by ICE agents in the parking lot and subsequently deported.
  • Another was detained for six days after ICE approached him while making a car run to get milk for his infant.

It wasn’t just in Washington. Some of the chain’s locations in Arizona had similar arrangements, and the Phoenix New Times reported ICE arrested 20 people at Motel 6 locations in the state.

So now...

Motel 6, which is owned by the private equity firm Blackstone Group, said it will no longer hand over guest info without a subpoena or warrant, unless it deems someone to be in imminent danger.

Zoom out: While $12 million is effectively a slap on the wrist, Motel 6 many now face the fallout of contracting (however discreetly) with the controversial ICE—just take the word of Microsoft and Deloitte, whose own employees criticized company partnerships with the agency.

ECONOMY

A Jobs Report Cut From a Single Block of Marble

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If slogging through labor data is like walking through a museum, the March jobs update was David in a sea of fingerpainted portraits. We’re not convinced Michelangelo himself didn’t craft the report.

Because it was nearly perfect. The U.S. economy added 196,000 jobs last month, topping expectations of a 170k gain and trouncing February’s 33,000 new jobs. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.8%.

  • But even David had some...uh, shortcomings. Average hourly earnings grew 3.2% from March of last year—still good, but below estimates and not quite the stiff 3.4% year-over-year wage gains we saw in February.

Bottom line: You can relax if February’s slowdown had you concerned about the future of this decade-long economic expansion. March marked the 102nd straight month of job gains for the U.S., and as CUNA Mutual Group told CNBC, “February was more of an outlier than a canary in the coal mine.”

HOSPITALITY

What Is Going on With Brunei?

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This week, a group of nine luxury hotels went dark on social media. The mass logout follows a growing movement to boycott the hotels, which are operated under the Dorchester Collection brand, but owned by the kingdom of Brunei.

And that’s the crux of it. The outcry stems from Wednesday’s implementation of new hyper-conservative Islamic laws in Brunei that make gay sex and adultery punishable by stoning to death.

A-listers including George Clooney and Ellen DeGeneres have responded by spearheading a boycott of the hotel group—which operates some of the most exclusive lodging in NYC, London, and Paris.

  • But that hasn’t gone over well with everyone. The Dorchester Collection employs 3,630 people, and many online have suggested a boycott will only hurt the average worker...
  • Not the Sultan of Brunei, who owns the world’s largest collection of rare cars and the world’s largest private home.

Still, the boycott has teeth. Both Virgin Australia and the U.K.’s STA Travel ended deals with Royal Brunei Airlines this week.

MUSIC

Here Comes Apple Music

A quick update on the rivalry that’s split families, turned neighbor on neighbor, and flipped lives upside down: Apple Music vs. Spotify. The WSJ reports that Apple Music has passed Spotify in paid U.S. subscribers, up to at least 28 million for Spotify’s 26 million.

What these numbers don’t include: Listeners in 1) free trial offerings or 2) the free, ad-supported version of Spotify. So overall, Spotify (+0.65%) has plenty more users in the U.S. than Apple (+0.67%).

Who’s got the advantage? You decide.

  • Advantage Apple: As Oprah said, “They’re in a billion pockets, y’all. A billion pockets.” The iPhone, a ubiquitous piece of hardware, already comes preloaded with Apple Music. Plus, it’s got a marketing machine that makes Spotify’s look like a garage sale sign.
  • Advantage Spotify: When you look at global numbers, Spotify’s dominance comes into view. It had 207 million active users in December (and 96 million paid subscribers), while Apple has a little over 50 million paid subs. Partnerships with Hulu and Showtime have helped boost Spotify's numbers, too.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

  • Boeing (-2.34% after hours) will cut monthly production of its 737 Max jet by almost 20%. It’ll also appoint a new board committee to oversee new plane development.
  • Samsung reported its worst operating profit drop in more than four years on account of slowing smartphone sales and lower chip prices.
  • David Malpass, a former Bear Stearns economist, has been unanimously approved as the next president of the World Bank.
  • Deutsche Bank (-1.76%) is reportedly open to revamping its struggling U.S. investment banking operations in a possible Commerzbank merger, per Reuters.

BREAKROOM

Saturday Headlines
Think of this week’s Saturday Headlines as the last gasp of April Fools. Three of these headlines are real, the other is from the Onion...where April Fools never ends.

  • "Why do Garfield phones keep washing up on this beach?"
  • "Harry Potter books burned by Polish priests alarmed by magic"
  • "Prince Harry wants 'Fortnite' banned"
  • "'There is beauty in decay,' says head of Federal Highway Administration while surveying nation’s crumbling roads"

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Breakroom Answers


Saturday Headlines
The FHA head might've been thinking it, but never said "There is beauty in decay."

 

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