Wall Street Today | Goldman Sachs CEO Says Recession Is Likely, With 35% Chance of a Soft Landing

$Goldman Sachs(GS.US)$'s David Solomon warned about pay and job cuts, citing “some bumpy times ahead.” $Bank of America(BAC.US)$ is slowing hiring as fewer employees leave ahead of a possible economic contraction, chief Brian Moynihan said. $Morgan Stanley(MS.US)$ is embarking on a fresh round of job cuts, while $JPMorgan(JPM.US)$'s Jamie Dimon told CNBC a “mild to hard recession” may hit next year.

$Goldman Sachs(GS.US)$ CEO David Solomon said Tuesday he's mostly expecting a recession in the coming months, as interest-rate hikes and inflation continue to let the air out of what is now a relatively strong economy. Goldman Sachs economists are currently forecasting 1.9% global growth in 2023, but 2024 remains less certain.

Asked about the potential for a soft landing, Solomon said he feels there's roughly a 35% chance that the economy will remain in positive growth mode of about 1%, with inflation at roughly 4%.
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$Discover Financial Services(DFS.US)$ is seeing weakening on its cards spending, and is pulling back on some origination activity, CEO Roger Hochschild said Tuesday at the Goldman Sachs Group Inc. financial-services conference in New York. Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan also flagged the slowing rate of growth in consumer expenditures, and $Capital One Financial(COF.US)$'s Richard Fairbank said low-income customers have already faced cuts.

In a significant shift for the project, $Apple(AAPL.US)$ is now planning a less-ambitious design that will include a steering wheel and pedals and only support full autonomous capabilities on highways, according to a Bloomberg report.

$MongoDB(MDB.US)$ shares soared in the extended session Tuesday after the database company surprised Wall Street with a profitable quarter while forecasting another one, while analysts had expected losses.
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For viewers who don't want to see commercials, $Netflix(NFLX.US)$already offers multiple plans ranging in price from $9.99 a month to $19.99 a month. And the company will likely do the same for its ad-supported model as the business grows, Sarandos said at the UBS TMT conference.

On Wednesday, $Microsoft(MSFT.US)$ President Brad Smith and his attorneys will be heading to Washington D.C. to meet with the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) three Democratic members, to ensure the deal isn’t scrapped due to anti-trust concerns. The FTC’s commissioners are scheduled for a closed-door meeting on Thursday to discuss the merger and “There’s an outside chance they could vote on it", noting the FTC could also meet to vote on the deal later this month. Microsoft thought the FTC would make its final ruling in the first quarter of 2023.

$Buzzfeed(BZFD.US)$ said the decision to lay off staff comes in response to challenging economic conditions, its acquisition of Complex Networks and an ongoing audience shift to short-form, vertical video.