1. Redditors Take On Wall Street Resulting In A Boom For Online Trading Platforms (CNBC)

Redditors taking on Wall Street appear to have created a windfall for share trading apps. The Reddit community r/wallstreetbees, which has 2.8 million members, encouraged members to buy stocks of historically unloved companies like GameStop and Blackberry. As a result, prices of these stocks have surged, and trading apps like Robinhood and WeBull have climbed in US app rankings.

2. GameStop’s Wild Surge Raises Awkward Questions For President Biden (Bloomberg)

The saga that is GameStop Corp. has turned into nothing short of a national sensation, reaching the doorsteps of both new President Joe Biden’s administration and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Each found themselves on the receiving end of awkward questions about their takes on a business that sells five used video games for $10.

3. Apple’s New Tracking Restrictions Pushed Back To Spring 2021 (TechCrunch)

Apple has delayed tracking restrictions on its iOS 14 update until 2021, saying it wanted to give developers more time to make the necessary changes. The App Tracking Transparency feature moves from the old method where you had to opt-out of sharing your Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) to an opt-in model.

  4. Apple Sees Revenue Growth Accelerating After Setting Record For iPhone Sales, China Strength (Reuters)

Apple Inc. on Wednesday reported holiday quarter sales and profits that beat Wall Street expectations, as new 5G iPhones helped push handset revenue to a new record and sparked a 57% rise in China sales. Apple’s revenue for the quarter ended on December 26 rose 21% to $111.44 billion.
 

5. Facebook Q4 Results Soar, Predicts Obstacles In Ad Targeting And Revenue In The Prelude To An Uncertain 2021 (TechCrunch)

Facebook predicted uncertainty for 2021 and said its revenue in the latter half of the year could face significant pressure. Facebook is currently facing challenges in targeting advertisements, including Apple’s coming launch of privacy protections which could limit Facebook’s ability to target ads.

6. AT&T Q4: HBO Max Activations Double To 17.2 Million, Warner Bros. Revenue Declines 21% (AdExchanger)

AT&T said the release of “Wonder Woman 1984” helped HBO Max double activations — to 17.2 million — in the fourth quarter of 2020. But a 21% decline in Warner Bros. revenue for Q4, as well as other COVID-related impacts, pulled the company’s revenue down for the quarter.

7. Facebook & Twitter Face Scrutiny While NextDoor Is Set To Replace The Local Papers (OneZero)

Facebook and Twitter are getting the scrutiny while Nextdoor, a social network, is reshaping politics one neighborhood at a time. Though it hasn’t disclosed how many people use its service, a Chicago city official told OneZero that Nextdoor has 277,760 users within the city, accounting for about 17% of all Chicago households, by the city’s calculation.