🚀 Amazon investigating its engineers

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Market Overview
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Year To Date Performances:

1. Amazon has launched an internal investigation into three of its engineers who publicly testified at Seattle City Council meetings in favor of a newly passed, year-long moratorium on artificial intelligence data center construction, prompting the workers to file a local civil rights complaint alleging unlawful corporate intimidation. The employees—members of the activist group Amazon Employees for Climate Justice (AECJ)—criticized the tech sector’s "all-costs-justified AI build-out" amid Amazon’s massive $200 billion capital expenditure strategy and concurrent 30,000 corporate layoffs. Following their testimony, the engineers were called into human resources investigations regarding potential policy violations, with legal counsel for the workers asserting that Amazon monitored their political advocacy and threatened disciplinary actions ranging up to termination. Amazon spokesperson Margaret Callahan defended the inquiry, stating the company is consistently enforcing internal protocols to determine if the staffers inappropriately spoke "in their capacity as Amazonians and not as private citizens," while disputing claims that termination was threatened or that the action constitutes retaliation. In response, the targeted engineers filed a complaint with the Seattle Office for Civil Rights accusing the e-commerce giant of violating a municipal ordinance that strictly prohibits employment discrimination based on an individual's political ideology.

2. The Trump administration on Thursday announced a temporary 1-percentage-point interest rate reduction for federal student loan borrowers who enroll in autopay, significantly increasing the existing 0.25-percentage-point discount. Scheduled to take effect from July 1 through June 30, 2028, the measure gives loan holders until September 30 to sign up for automatic deductions to qualify for the relief. Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent framed the move as an effort to simplify repayment ahead of a massive summer overhaul under President Trump's sweeping legislative reforms, which plan to restrict affordable repayment plans and alternative relief programs. According to the U.S. Department of Education, only 40% of active student loan borrowers are currently enrolled in autopay, plummeting from over 80% prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. While consumer advocates support automated billing to prevent costly delinquencies, higher education experts note the financial savings will be minimal, approximately $8 a month on a $10,000 balance at a 6.5% interest rate, while warning that the rollout could face technical friction given historical loan servicer billing errors.

3. SpaceX's stock (SPCX) fell 3.6% on Thursday to just under $184.98 a share, dragging its five-day volume-weighted average price (VWAP) down to $181.71 and leaving the average post-IPO open-market buyer near break-even. After soaring from its $135 initial public offering price to an intraday high above $225 on Tuesday, the stock then posted a sharp 20% pullback over two days, erasing a significant portion of the stock's massive post-debut surge, which had briefly pushed the rocket manufacturer's market valuation close to $3 trillion. While thousands of retail investors who secured direct IPO allocations through platforms like Robinhood, Fidelity, and SoFi remain in the green due to their lower $135 entry price, the swift reversal underscores a sudden shift in market sentiment as investors reassess whether the company's rapid advance is fundamentally justified.

   Headlines

   1. The Nasdaq rose 2% yesterday as semiconductor companies rose.

   2. Waymo has recalled 3,900 cars after some of them began driving into construction zones.