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Today's big stories

US regulators moved to block Microsoft’s gigantic Activision Blizzard deal
Finimizers made some bold predictions for 2022 – Read Now
Chipmaker TSMC bucked the broader chip slump

Microsoft’s Blizzard Deal Turns Cold

What’s Going On Here?

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced plans to sue to block Microsoft’s mega acquisition of Activision late last week.

What Does This Mean?

Back in dark, damp January, Microsoft dropped a bombshell, announcing a $70 billion deal to acquire Activision Blizzard – the biggest ever acquisition for the old-school tech titan, which would see it become the third-biggest gaming company in the world by revenue. But as the deal made waves, regulators began to take notice: see, Activision is one of the few game developers that publishes top games – like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft – across multiple devices and consoles. So this deal would give Microsoft the power to crush competition by manipulating prices, lowering quality on competing consoles, or even withholding content from competitors. And the FTC has a point: Microsoft already made two upcoming Bethesda titles exclusive to its own platforms, despite promising EU regulators it wouldn't.

Why Should I Care?

Zooming in: Obstacles in spades.
Microsoft has been trying to work its way into regulators’ good books, signing a 10-year deal last week to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo for the first time in a decade. Given the game’s $30 billion lifetime sales, that’s a big step, but it hasn't been enough to satisfy regulators. And with UK and EU authorities side-eyeing the acquisition too, Microsoft could be in for a tough fight. After all, the FTC objected to Nvidia's purchase of ARM this time last year, and we all know how that turned out.

The bigger picture: The FTC means business.
The FTC is coming in hot, having promised to take on Big Tech's market power in a bid to root out anti-competitive practices in the US. The regulator has already nixed the merger between Lockheed Martin and Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings this year, plus the Nvidia deal, and it’s heading to court this week to stop Meta buying a virtual reality startup.

You might also like: Big Tech’s got issues, sure. But that doesn’t mean it’s all over.

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Analyst Take

Finimizers Made Some Wild-Card Predictions For 2022: Here’s How Those Panned Out.

By Paul Allison, Analyst

At the beginning of the year, we asked you Finimizers to dust off your crystal balls and give us some wild-card predictions for 2022.

After a weeklong community discussion, and some creative and logical thinking, you came up with a list, which I’ve whittled down here and presented in no particular order.

If you think you can do better next year, enter the 2023 community competition: I’ll even kick it off with a prediction of my own.

That’s today’s Insight: five bold market predictions you had for 2022.

Read or listen to the Insight here

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There’s no better time to get started: our new partnership means you can get six free months of Finimize Premium and three free months of Revolut Premium if you sign up for Revolut today.

We’ll even send you £10 (or equivalent) to your Revolut account to get you started.

Bezos spilled the beans on Amazon

Bezos said he believes that “Amazon will be disrupted one day”.

And he put his money – or at least his stocks – where his mouth is, dumping billions of dollars’ worth of Amazon stock.

He’s not just sitting on cash, either: Bezos is reinvesting his money into a fledgling technology that he thinks will “improve every business”.

That big bet is all over a tiny, manufactured component – something that Amazon doesn’t even make in-house.

Oh, there’s nothing like a good cliffhanger. Enjoy the suspense, then find out what Bezos is backing with The Motley Fool.

Find Out More