The daily business briefing: June 4, 2019

Apple says it&#039;s breaking up iTunes in the new Mac operating system.

(Image credit: BRITTANY HOSEA-SMALL/AFP/Getty Images)

Jump to category:

1. Apple breaks up iTunes in new Mac operating system
2. House Democrats launch broad tech antitrust investigation
3. U.S. stock futures edge up despite ongoing trade tensions
4. Chipotle says Trump's Mexico tariffs could push prices higher
5. Quest Diagnostics discloses leak of 11.9 million patients' data

published 4 June 2019

1. Apple breaks up iTunes in new Mac operating system

Apple announced Monday that it plans to break up iTunes into three separate Mac applications for music, TV, and podcasts. The iTunes app, which Apple used to become an entertainment powerhouse, will be replaced in the company's new Catalina operating system with "new standalone versions of Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, and the Apple TV app," said Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of software engineering. The iPhone maker also said at its annual developers' conference in San Jose, California, that it would roll out a new "Sign in with Apple" feature that will allow users to log into apps using Face ID authentication. Federighi compared the new option to Facebook and Google log-in buttons, saying they can be "convenient" but can "also come at the cost of your privacy."

House Democrats on Monday announced plans to investigate whether Google, Facebook, and other big technology companies stifle competition. Democratic Policy and Communications Committee Chair David Cicilline (D-R.I.) said the inquiry would focus on the belief that the "internet is broken" largely due to allegedly monopolistic practices that have led to sanctions in Europe. The House will hold hearings and possibly subpoena Silicon Valley leaders to determine whether big tech companies are steamrolling rivals and harming consumers. The move comes as the Federal Trade Commission reportedly gained authorization to conduct antitrust probes of its own into Facebook and Amazon, and as another report said the Justice Department would begin a similar probe into Google parent company Alphabet.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

U.S. stock index futures made modest gains early Tuesday despite intensifying trade tensions with China and Mexico that threaten to drag down global economic growth. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq all were up by 0.4 percent or more. Stocks had a volatile session on Monday. The Dow inched up Monday by 4.7 points, or 0.02 percent, while the Nasdaq plunged by 1.6 percent and the S&P 500 dropped by 0.3 percent. St. Louis Federal Reserve president James Bullard said Monday that an interest-rate cut "may be warranted soon" due to weak U.S. inflation and the mounting risk of a slowdown due to trade tensions.

Chipotle Mexican Grill said Monday that President Trump's threatened tariffs on Mexican imports could drive up its costs by $15 million this year, possibly forcing the fast-food chain to hike prices. Under Trump's plan, which he says he will enact if Mexico fails to make significant progress stopping illegal immigration, the U.S. would hit Mexican imports with a 5 percent tariff starting on June 10, rising by 5 percent monthly to a maximum of 25 percent. Permanent tariffs might force Chipotle to raise prices modestly, "such as about a nickel on a burrito," Chipotle Chief Financial Officer Jack Hartung said. "Anyone with avocados would be hurt most by Mexico import tariffs," said R.J. Hottovy, senior restaurant analyst at Morningstar. "Chipotle would be the most likely candidate."

Around 11.9 million Quest Diagnostics patients may have had personal information leaked due to an issue with a payment system the company contracts with. Quest's billing collections vendor, American Medical Collection Agency, informed the company on May 14 about a system breach, Quest said in a Monday filing. AMCA didn't have access to patients' lab results, but social security, credit card, and bank account numbers could have been leaked. Quest is one of the world's largest chains of blood testing facilities, and uses AMCA to bill about 11.9 million patients. It's unclear just what or how much data was accessed because AMCA has not yet provided a "detailed or complete" report, Quest said Monday. Quest is working with law enforcement and security experts to evaluate the breach.

Explore More

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.