FTC and 17 states file antitrust lawsuit against Amazon
The Federal Trade Commission and 17 state attorneys general have filed a lawsuit against Amazon, accusing the company of monopolizing the industry.
Transcript
00:00 I'm JD Durkin reporting from the New York Stock Exchange.
00:02 Stocks were in the red in a big way
00:04 to close out today's trading session.
00:06 Dow Jones Industrial Average closing down over 300 points.
00:09 The tech-heavy NASDAQ closed down over 1.5%.
00:13 And the S&P 500 closing down 1.47% in the session.
00:18 All this comes as Wall Street digests
00:20 a weaker-than-expected report on the state of the US consumer.
00:23 Consumer confidence dipped to its lowest level
00:26 in four months, meaning Americans
00:28 are feeling less confident financially,
00:30 as inflation and high interest rates
00:31 continue to take a toll on the American economy.
00:34 But there are more economic reports
00:36 to watch later on in the week.
00:37 On Thursday, we will get an update on second quarter GDP.
00:40 That'll tell us how fast the economy grew last quarter.
00:43 And on Friday, we will get PCE, or Personal Consumption
00:47 Expenditures, data.
00:48 It's the Fed's preferred gauge to measure inflation.
00:51 Moving now to the world of tech, Amazon
00:53 might be in a bit of trouble.
00:55 The Federal Trade Commission and 17 US states
00:57 are suing Amazon, alleging the online retailer abuses
01:01 its power in the marketplace by inflating prices
01:03 on other platforms, overcharging sellers,
01:06 and stifling other competition.
01:08 According to FTC Chair Lena Khan, quote,
01:11 "The complaint sets forth detailed allegations,
01:13 noting how Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power
01:17 to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service
01:21 for the tens of millions of American families
01:23 who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands
01:26 of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them."
01:29 According to the Institute for Local Self-Reliance,
01:32 Amazon makes a substantial amount of revenue
01:34 from sellers.
01:35 The company raked in over $32 billion
01:38 from third-party services.
01:40 And the fees cost sellers 45% of their revenue
01:42 in the first half of 2023, up more than double
01:45 from a decade ago.
01:47 That'll do it for today's daily briefing.
01:49 From the floor of the New York Stock Exchange,
01:51 I am JD Durkin with The Street.
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