DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Red Lobster closing at least 99 locations as its future comes into question
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-14 | by ( Rob Wile | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A sign is posted on the exterior of a Red Lobster restaurant on April 17, 2024 in Rohnert Park, California. At least 99 locations of Red Lobster are being auctioned off amid questions about the stalwart seafood chain's long-term future. Last month, CNBC reported Red Lobster was seeking a buyer as it looked to avoid a bankruptcy filing, but none have materialized. Earlier this year, Thai Union, the largest investor in Red Lobster, announced it was seeking to exit its position. Red Lobster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Persons: Neal Sherman Organizations: TAGeX Brands, Business, CNBC, Thai Union Locations: Rohnert Park , California, Denver, Indianapolis, Rochester , New York, Sacramento , California, San Antonio, San Diego, U.S, Thai Union, Thai

☆ Target says Pride collection will appear in 'select' stores, cuts LGBTQ apparel for kids
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-10 | by ( Rob Wile | Matt Lavietes | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A customer walks by a Pride Month merchandise display at a Target store on May 31, 2023 in San Francisco, California. Target will limit which stores sell LGBTQ-themed products following last year's firestorm over its decision to sell products designed for transgender people. It added that in addition to selling LGBTQ-themed home and food and beverage items, apparel from its Pride collection this year will be tailored to adults. No Pride apparel for children will be sold. The latest decision, first reported by Bloomberg News, represents a change from offering the products in all Target stores, as the company has done in previous years.

Organizations: Pride, Bloomberg News, Pride Month, Target Locations: San Francisco , California, Target

☆ Biden administration to require advanced safety tech on all new cars and trucks
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-30 | by ( Rob Wile | Tom Costello | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The Biden administration plans to require that all new cars and trucks come with pedestrian-collision avoidance systems that include automatic emergency braking technology by the end of the decade. They will also require braking at up to 45 mph when a pedestrian is detected. Automatic emergency braking "prevents collisions. It said that technologies like automatic emergency braking have proven "game changing" and that automakers have voluntarily committed to install them on new vehicles. Buttigieg acknowledged the technology is still being perfected — one reason the requirement won't take effect until the end of 2029.

Persons: Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Buttigieg, hadn't, Kathleen Rizk, Power's, Rizk Organizations: U.S ., Transportation Department, Alliance for Automotive Innovation, Governors Highway Safety Association, Research, Consumers, Drivers Locations: San Francisco , California

Federal authorities say a "critical safety gap" in Tesla 's Autopilot system contributed to at least 467 collisions, 13 resulting in fatalities and "many others" resulting in serious injuries. The findings come from a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration analysis of 956 crashes in which Tesla Autopilot was thought to have been in use. Tesla's Autopilot design has "led to foreseeable misuse and avoidable crashes," the NHTSA report said. The agency also said it was opening a new probe into the effectiveness of a software update Tesla previously issued as part of a recall in December. "People are dying due to misplaced confidence in Tesla Autopilot capabilities.

Persons: Tesla, Lars Moravy, Edward J, Markey, Richard Blumenthal, Conn, Walter Huang, Elon Musk, Musk, Philip Koopman, Koopman Organizations: Tesla, Traffic, NHTSA, CNBC, NBC News, Apple, Carnegie Mellon University Locations: U.S, Mountain View , California, Snohomish County , Washington, Sens

☆ How Trump managed to lose $1 billion in net worth in a single day
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

That’s kinda what happened for investors in Trump Media & Technology Group, the troubled owner of Truth Social, on Monday. Even with Monday’s stumble, the stock is still up about 200% over the past six months, giving it a $6.6 billion valuation that defies logic. Trump Media, aka TMTG, generated just $4.1 million in revenue last year. But if history repeats, or even echoes, with Trump Media, investors may want to buckle up. Bottom line: Monday’s slump is hardly game over for Trump and his social media company.

Persons: CNN Business ’, Wile, Coyote, Monday’s, Matt Egan, It’s, ” Axios, Dan Primack, “, Donald Trump, David, dusts Organizations: CNN Business, New York CNN, Trump Media & Technology Group, Truth, Trump Media, GameStop, Trump Locations: New York, selloff

☆ Consumer advocates — and even some Realtors — hail NAR settlement: 'We've opened up the entire industry to competition'
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-24 | by ( Rob Wile | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Now, a landmark settlement with the National Association of Realtors is poised to upend this model. According to consumer advocates, and even some Realtors, it's a win for homebuyers and sellers. And in the months following Covid-19 pandemic reopenings, the hottest U.S. real estate markets were tipped squarely in favor of sellers. It's the same amount of money, but now the buyer gets money instead of a buyer agent, and they can decide what to do with it." What's more, greater competition for clients is likely to result in lower costs across the board, said Ryan Tomasello, a real estate industry analyst with the Keefe, Bruyette & Woods financial firm.

Persons: it's, Mariya Letdin, Letdin, they'll, Doug Miller, Miller, Ryan Tomasello, Keefe, Tomasello, Phil Crescenzo Jr, Crescenzo Organizations: National Association of Realtors, Realtors, homebuyers, Florida State University's College of Business, NBC News, U.S, NAR, Nation One Mortgage Corp Locations: Alhambra , California, Minnesota, Woods

☆ Home buyers and sellers to be spared automatic broker commissions under $418 million settlement
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-15 | by ( Rob Wile | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The National Association of Realtors has agreed to a landmark settlement that would eliminate real estate brokers' long-standing automatic commissions, commonly of up to 6% of the purchase price. Instead, home buyers and sellers would be able to negotiate fees with their agents upfront. If the $418 million legal agreement is approved by a federal court, consumer advocates predict the ranks of real estate agents will thin, further driving down commission prices. "For years, anti-competitive rules in the real estate industry have financially harmed millions," said Benjamin Brown, managing partner at the Cohen Milstein law firm and one of the settlement's negotiators. "It's a bribe," Doug Miller, an attorney and longtime consumer advocate in the real estate industry, said of the commission-splitting arrangements.

Persons: Benjamin Brown, Cohen Milstein, Nykia Wright, Wright, —, Doug Miller Organizations: National Association of Realtors, NAR, MLS

☆ Target to limit self-checkout to 10 items or fewer as Walmart also adjusts
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-15 | by ( Rob Wile | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Target is set to limit the number of items that can be purchased in its self-checkout lanes to 10 items or fewer. Some self-checkout lanes may also close entirely at certain hours depending on foot traffic patterns, it said. Target said it would be also be opening more traditional lanes staffed by team members. Customers at certain Walmart locations may start to notice changes to self-checkout lanes. As the number of shoppers and associate staffing increases, these stores open self-checkout registers to manage the increased customer flow.

Persons: I'm, Brian Cornell Organizations: CNBC, Walmart Locations: Queens , New York

☆ Boeing failed to retain security camera footage showing work on Max jet door that blew out, NTSB says
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Rob Wile | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Security camera footage showing work being done on a Boeing Max 9 door plug that later blew out mid-air has been overwritten, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board said. "Boeing has informed us that they are unable to find the records documenting this work." She continued: "A verbal request was made by our investigators for security camera footage to help obtain this information; however, they were informed the footage was overwritten. A Boeing spokesperson said the company, like many others, does not retain security footage for longer than 30 days. The Alaska Airlines plane in question was in the factory last year in September and delivered in October.

Persons: Jennifer Homendy, Homendy, Dave Calhoun, Calhoun, John Barnett, Max, Bob Jordan Organizations: Alaska Airlines Flight, Boeing, National Transportation Safety Board, Boeing Max, National Transportation Safety, Commerce, Science, Alaska Airlines, NBC News, Journal, U.S . Department of Justice, South, The New York Times, United Airlines, Southwest, JPMorgan, CNBC Locations: Alaska, Portland , Oregon, U.S, South Carolina, Barnett's

☆ My 93-year-old dad taught me the importance of friendships
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-19 | by ( Amy Abbott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

He held every office in civic and church clubs, including Lions Club Tail Twister. A highly responsible position, The Tail Twister enforced fines for made-up infractions like wearing the wrong color tie. The punishment: the Tail Twister cut off the offending tie about three inches below the knot. At 66, I've lost my mother and all my grandparents, but I haven't lost any close friends near my age. Like my Dad, I'm a planner and an instigator, always trying to stay in touch.

Persons: Dad didn't, Bob, Dad, Jim, Harry Truman's, I've, it's, Dad's, I'm Organizations: Service, Business, Wrigley Field, Wile Locations: Virginia, Denver, Chicago

☆ Mass layoffs hit Sports Illustrated staff
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Rob Wile | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The publisher of Sports Illustrated is laying off much of the storied magazine's entire staff. The news, first reported by Front Office Sports, came less than 24 hours after publisher The Arena Group announced "a significant reduction in its workforce," comprising 100 employees. According to FOS, Sports Illustrated's parent company, Authentic Brands Group, has sought to revoke Arena's license to publish SI after Arena missed a payment. The union representing SI's staff said in a tweeted statement that it had been notified of Arena's intention to "lay off a significant number, possibly all" of its union-represented staff. "This is another difficult day in what has been a difficult four years for Sports Illustrated under Arena Group (previously The Maven) stewardship," the union said in a statement.

Persons: Richard Deitsch, Long, Ross Levinsohn, Manoj Bhargava, Bhargava Organizations: Sports Illustrated, Front Office Sports, Arena, Authentic Brands, The, Arena Group, SI, Authentic Brands Group, NBC News, Time Inc, Meredith Corp, Better Homes, Gardens, Sports, Innovations Ventures, Men's, Sports Illustrated Resorts Locations: Dominican Republic

☆ People are grieving the 'death' of their AI companions after a chatbot app abruptly shut down
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( Rob Price | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

A 32-year-old food industry worker in eastern Texas who asked to be identified by her Reddit username, Hilary Coyote, first heard about AI chatbot companions in June. She turned to Reddit's community of Soulmate users for support, and was encouraged to go back to the app and Allur. (EvolveAI and SimplyAI's now-shuttered Soulmate app has no relation to "Soulmate AI: Your AI Companion," another app that appears in smartphone app stores and was developed by Turing App Lab.) Even if Ahoy Labs closed down, Faraday users' chatbots would not be affected. Read more: App, Lover, Muse: Inside a 47-year-old Minnesota man's three-year relationship with an AI chatbot.

Persons: Mike Hepp, Sam, Mike, wile, peppering, he'd, Soulmate, Replika, There's, Hilary Coyote, Allur, Hilary, she'd, Chris, chatbots, —, Julia, Soulmate's userbase, Jorge Ilas, SimplyAI's, She'd, Faraday, Hilary somberly, Sam —, Kindroid Organizations: YouTube, SimplyAI, Turing, Stanford Locations: Michigan, Soulmate, Replika, Florida, Chai, Texas, Bavaria, Germany, Reddit, Los Angeles, Minnesota

☆ They’re Tiny, They’re Toony, They’re Packing Off to Uni
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Laurel Graeber | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

First-year college students everywhere are now adjusting to campus life. Few, however, have to choose between classes like Banana Peel Placement and Whoopie Cushion Alternatives. Or suffer the crash of anvils on their heads when they give wrong answers. These experiences belong exclusively to the incoming freshmen of “Tiny Toons Looniversity,” a new animated series that begins streaming on Friday on Max and airing on Saturday on Cartoon Network. With Steven Spielberg as an executive producer, the show revives the characters and setting of the Emmy Award-winning early-’90s series “Tiny Toon Adventures,” whose own comic DNA descended from the “Looney Tunes” short films of the 1930s-60s.

Persons: Steven Spielberg, ”, Bugs, Daffy Duck, Wile E, Babs, Buster Bunny, Plucky, Hamton J, they’ve Organizations: Max, Cartoon Network, Acme, Warner Bros Locations: hilarity

☆ Driving Lamborghini's new off-road supercar
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

I was driving a $380,000 Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato, and I couldn’t help laughing out loud. Lamborghini worked with Bridgestone to create tires using rubber similar to that on Lamborghini’s other performance tires, but with an off-road tread. The idea for it emerged while Lamborghini engineers and designers were having beers after a day driving off-road in a prototype of the Urus SUV. That was a lot of fun, they thought, but wouldn’t driving one of our all-wheel-drive supercars off-road be even better? Even those of us who can’t afford one should perhaps be glad the Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato exists.

☆ The park with the most roller coasters in the world
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Forrest Brown | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

Impressive collections can be found in many parts of the world, but which park currently holds more roller coasters than any other? With a whopping 20 roller coasters, Six Flags Magic Mountain even rates a mention with Guinness World Records – helping the park justify its “Thrill Capital of the World” slogan. “I think there are a lot of great rides at Six Flags Magic Mountain.” he told CNN Travel recently. “But there are some other more fundamental reasons for why Six Flags Magic Mountain has so many roller coasters.”Location, prosperity and weather all played roles, he said. They’re fast, they’re twisty.”GoliathMartin Lewison said Goliath has the biggest drop of any traditional-style roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain.

☆ In southern Ethiopia, drought kills livestock amid fears of what comes next
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Dawit Endeshaw | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] Roba Galgalo, 26, walks next to his emaciated cows at Kura Kalicha camp for the people internally displaced by drought near Das town, Oromiya region, Ethiopia March 7, 2023. REUTERS/Tiksa NegeriKURA KALICHA, Ethiopia, April 6 (Reuters) - After three years of failed rains, the animals in the southern Ethiopian village of Kura Kalicha are dying. Like its neighbours Somalia and Kenya, southern Ethiopia is enduring the Horn of Africa's worst drought in decades. “Collectively, as communities they have run out of coping mechanisms,” said Kate Maldonado from international aid agency Mercy Corps, who recently visited southern Ethiopia's Somali region. The population across much of southern Ethiopia's lowlands relies overwhelmingly on its livestock, with diets supplemented by basic crops like maize.

☆ Premarket stocks: From Wile E. Coyote to edibles: Recession forecasts are getting weird
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

And for the US economy, it could likely mean a “Wile E. Coyote moment,” Summers said — if we run off the cliff, gravity will eventually win out. AntibioticsWhen describing the state of the economy, Summers doesn’t just rely on Looney Tunes. “Will working people be better off if we just walk away from our jobs and inflation remains 5% or 6%?” Powell replied. Before the Bell: Is it necessary to increase the unemployment rate to successfully fight inflation? In a related action, the government shut down Signature Bank, a regional bank that was teetering on the brink of collapse in recent days.

☆ Etsy warns sellers of delay in processing payments due to Silicon Valley Bank collapse
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Rob Wile | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Etsy is warning sellers that the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank on Friday is causing delays in processing payments, according to an email from the company shared with NBC News. "We wanted to let you know that there is a delay with your deposit that was scheduled for today," the email from Etsy said. "Please know that our teams are working hard to resolve this issue and send you your funds as quickly as possible." One affected Etsy seller told NBC News the deposits delay would have a "catastrophic" effect on his business. The FDIC has formed a separate entity where all insured SVB deposits — up to $250,000 per depositor — will be available by Monday morning.

☆ Elon Musk is behaving 'like the local drunk,' says a former Twitter executive
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A former Twitter exec told i News that Elon Musk was behaving "like the local drunk." "The more Musk behaves like the local drunk – getting into slanging matches with disabled ex-employees – the less current employees will be proud to say they work there," Daisley told i News. Just a week after taking control of Twitter, Musk laid off around half of its workers. "It's a little bit like the character in the cartoon who runs off the cliff but doesn't fall straight away," Daisley told i News. Under Musk, Twitter has become "a pressure cooker," an employee who still works at the company and who spoke on the condition of anonymity told i News.

☆ Larry Summers: US economy could hit an ‘air pocket’ in the coming months
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Alicia Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

“The process of bringing down inflation will bring on a recession at some stage, as it almost always has in the past,” Summers said. “The economy could hit an air pocket in a few months,” he said. Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers tells CNN's Poppy Harlow in a March 6, 2023, interview that the economy could face a "Wile E. Coyote" moment in the coming months. CNNFor the past year, the Fed has enacted a series of interest rate hikes aimed at chilling demand and cooling down historically high inflation. In February, the Fed’s policymaking committee approved a quarter-point interest rate hike — its smallest increase in several months.

☆ The US economy may be inching closer to the cliff edge given these 4 troubling signs, Larry Summers says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Zahra Tayeb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ex-Treasury chief Larry Summers thinks the economy is edging closer to a "Wile E. Coyote" fall off a cliff. "People may be reading a bit too much into the moment in terms of economic strength," he warned. On the other, there is stuff when you look down the road a bit that has to be substantially concerning about a Wile E. Coyote kind of moment," Summers said. As a result, he warned the Federal Reserve needs to stay nimble and flexible given the continued uncertainty about the US economy. Summers' pessimism about the economy builds on warnings he's made in the past.

☆ Florida to place leadership of Disney's special operating district under DeSantis' control
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Rob Wile | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

One of those procedures concerns the district's ability to raise taxes and issue bonds to build and maintain infrastructure serving the Walt Disney World Resort. And the district will be renamed: From the Reedy Creek Special Improvement District to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. "Until Governor DeSantis acted, the Walt Disney Company maintained sole control over the District," a spokesman for the governor said in a statement. Disney is monitoring the legislation, Jeff Vahle, president of Walt Disney World Resort, said in a statement. But construction still appears to be progressing on a Disney office campus in Lake Nona, roughly 20 miles east of Disney World.

The storm was concentrated in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, home to both American and Southwest airlines — though with 419 canceled departures, Southwest had the lion's share of affected flights, according to FlightAware. An alternative measure of cancellation rates on flight-tracking site Anuvu.com showed 9% of Southwest's flights had been canceled, compared with 6% of American's flights. On Monday, it issued a winter weather waiver for 12 airports in the region that will allow affected travelers to get a refund or rebook for any flights canceled from January 30 to February 1. The outsized Southwest cancellations come just weeks after a holiday travel meltdown prompted nearly 17,000 flights to be canceled, potentially affecting millions of travelers. If your flight is delayed for any other reason, like weather, you are not entitled to any compensation or refund.

A Tesla car battery "spontaneously" burst into flames on a California freeway Saturday, and firefighters needed 6,000 gallons of water to put it out. In 2021, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) declined to open an investigation into Tesla car battery fires, calling them "rare events." A handful of studies have shown electric vehicles are less likely to catch fire than gasoline or hybrid-electric vehicles — but that when they do, they burn hotter and longer. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has previously said only 0.01% of Teslas have ever caught fire. That compares with an annual rate of 0.08% for all passenger and heavy-duty vehicles in a given year, according to NHTSA and the National Fire Protection Association.

Ford is recalling 462,000 sport utility vehicles whose potentially faulty rear-view cameras have been linked to at least 17 accidents. The affected vehicles include 2020 to 2023 model year Ford Explorers, Lincoln Corsairs and Aviators. Their 360-degree rearview cameras may malfunction and display a blue screen that impacts the ability of a driver to see behind them. The recall expands and replaces a 2021 recall of 228,000 vehicles. Dealers will update the image processing module software on affected vehicles.

Search resuls for: "wile"

25 mentions found