Restaurant reservations may get tougher without American Express
I'm Conway Giddens, reporting from the New York Stock Exchange. Here's what we're watching on the street today. Stocks coming off a solid quarter as Wall Street kicks off the second-half of the trading year. Investors are gearing up for shortened trading week with the July 4th holiday on Thursday. With the all important June jobs report on Friday, this report will give investors a clearer picture of the state of the labor market. In other news, if you're having trouble making a reservation for your Saturday night out, it might be because you don't have an American Express card. Amex announced it is buying Talk, a booking app that's host to roughly 7000 restaurants, bars and other bookable venues. American Express already owned rival Apparezi before its new $400 million top deal. The move now gives customers even more access to hard to find reservations. But that special access can come with a hefty price tag. For example, the American Express Platinum Card has an annual fee of $695, while the Delta Sky Miles Reserve Card cost $650 a year. Of the acquisition, American Express's president of U.S. consumer Service said, quote. Now we can connect even more premium customers with the most exciting restaurants while providing merchants and restaurants more technology to help their businesses thrive. In addition to talk, American Express also announced it is acquiring Rome, a technology company that powers mobile payments, ordering and integrations with point of sale marketing and loyalty systems. That'll do it. For your daily briefing from the New York Stock Exchange, I'm Conway Gittens with the Street.