Meta's Earnings Blowout

Meta's second-quarter profits soared by 73%, reaching $13.5 billion. The company’s revenue hit $39.1 billion, surpassing analyst predictions of $38.3 billion.

For the third quarter, Meta projects revenue between $38.5 billion and $41 billion. Shares of Meta rose 8% post-announcement. Meta's user base reached 3.27 billion this quarter.

Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta is heavily investing in chatbots, smart glasses, and virtual reality headsets. Meta's capital expenditures rose to $40 billion.

Meta reported a $4.5 billion loss in its Reality Labs division. This segment focuses on metaverse, AR, and VR technologies.

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Delta Faces $500 Million Hit from Tech Outage

Delta Airlines is grappling with a $500 million cost due to the outage caused by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike. The outage disrupted emergency services, communications, and various businesses, grounding flights and causing delays.

Delta CEO Ed Bastian revealed that the costs include lost revenue and daily expenses for compensation and hotels during the five-day crisis.

Despite the disruption, CrowdStrike has not offered financial assistance to Delta, only free consulting advice.

The Department of Transportation is investigating Delta’s slow recovery and customer service failures, including long assistance lines and stranded minors.

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What are Prediction Markets in the Blockchain?

Polymarket is blockchain-based prediction marketplace where users can wager on everything from political elections to celebrity events.

On Polymarket, people bet using USDC, a stablecoin, predicting events like the 2024 presidential election. There are $446 million currently wagered on the election alone.

The site uses blockchain for transparency and efficiency, relying on Polygon to minimize transaction costs.

Polymarket forecasts a trading volume of $650 million this year, turning debates into quantifiable bets.

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How Middlemen Game the H-1B Visa Lottery

Each April, a lottery determines who gets H-1B visas in the US. Companies like Amazon and Google compete for these visas to hire skilled international graduates.

New data reveals a large portion of these visas go to staffing and outsourcing firms, who exploit loopholes to increase their odds. These firms offer lower wages, and often submit multiple entries for the same applicant. A tactic deemed fraudulent.

In 2022, over 446,000 people applied for only 85,000 available visas. Nearly half went to outsourcing and staffing companies.

The USCIS has tightened rules this year, but violators still face few repercussions.

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