The daily business briefing: July 21, 2016

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1. Stock rally pauses as ECB holds first meeting since Brexit vote
2. Airbnb hires Eric Holder to help revise anti-discrimination policy
3. Unexpectedly strong quarterly report lifts eBay stock
4. Tesla unveils second part of master plan
5. Alleged leader of world's biggest online piracy site arrested

published 21 July 2016

1. Stock rally pauses as ECB holds first meeting since Brexit vote

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures edged down on Thursday, signaling a lower open for the stock index after nine days of gains. Dow futures dropped by 0.2 percent. S&P 500 futures fell by 0.2 percent, too, while Nasdaq-100 futures fell by 0.1 percent. The Dow and the S&P 500 both advanced to fresh highs on Wednesday with modest gains. The pause in the rally came as investors awaited a flurry of economic news, earnings reports, and as the European Central Bank, as expected, left a key interest rate unchanged for now in its first meeting since Britain's vote to leave the European Union.

Airbnb announced Wednesday that it had hired former Attorney General Eric Holder to help strengthen its anti-discrimination policy. Airbnb, which lets homeowners rent apartments and houses to travelers, has been receiving complaints of discrimination based on race, gender, and sexual orientation. "While we have a policy that prohibits discrimination, we want this policy to be stronger," Airbnb Chief Executive Brian Chesky said in a blog post in which he announced the hiring of Holder, America's first African-American attorney general.

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Shares of eBay rose by five percent in after-hours trading on Wednesday after the auction website reported better-than-expected quarterly results. The company reported earnings of 43 cents per share — a penny more than Wall Street expected. Revenue came in at $2.23 billion, up from the $2.17 billion analysts had forecast. Executives at eBay also raised the company's full-year guidance. "There are signs of momentum in our business," said CEO Devin Wenig.

Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday unveiled the ambitious "Part Deux" of his master plan for the electric car manufacturer. Musk said in a blog post that Tesla would expand into electric semi-trucks and buses, car sharing, and solar energy systems in a bid to become an integrated, carbon-free enterprise. He repeated his call for integrating the operations of solar panel installer SolarCity, where he is chairman and a major shareholder. Fossil fuels are a finite resource, he said, so, "the faster we achieve sustainability, the better."

The Justice Department said Wednesday it had filed copyright infringement, money laundering, and other charges against Ukrainian national Artem Vaulin, the alleged boss of the world's biggest online piracy site, Kickass Torrents. The charges are linked to the alleged distribution of more than $1 billion worth of illegally copied films, music, video games, and other content. Vaulin, 30, was arrested in Poland — reportedly using an IP address used in an iTunes transaction — and the U.S. has requested his extradition.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.