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The Rivian story is "finally" turning around after several difficult quarters, according to Wedbush. The firm maintained its outperform rating on shares while raising its price target to $30 from $25. Ives said the company is "seeing light at the end of the tunnel" after several quarters with overhangs including production and supplier issues. "We continue to strongly believe in the Rivian long-term story … making this a table pounder at current levels," said Ives. Shares are up 17.3% in 2023, but remain in the red by more than 31% over the last 12 months.

Persons: Daniel Ives, Ives, Rivian, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Rivian Locations: Europe, U.S

☆ UK’s leaky water model faces a growing storm
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Neil Unmack | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

The fallout raises two big questions: whether the regulatory regime works, and whether Britain’s water companies should still be privately owned. Average UK water bills are 448 pounds in the current year, versus 409 pounds in Scotland. One option would be to squeeze water companies – cutting allowed prices, and imposing bigger penalties on those that allow leaks. For the sector as a whole, Ofwat assumes equity comprises 45% of water companies’ 94 billion pound RCV, or 42 billion pounds. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsFollow @Unmack1 on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSThames Water investors have become more “concerned” about the company’s turnaround, the chief executive of UK water regulator Ofwat David Black told a UK parliament committee on July 4.

Persons: Macquarie’s, Severn, Ofwat, Jefferies, David Black, Iain Coucher, “, Black, George Hay, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, Conservative, Thames, Ofwat, Reuters Graphics Regulators, Yorkshire Water, United Utilities, Scottish, Dwr Cymru, Barclays, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Thames Water, Water, Sky News, Thomson Locations: Severn Trent, RCV, Water, Wales, Scotland, Germany, United States, Italy, Ireland, Britain

☆ UK water meltdown resurrects bank crisis dilemmas
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Neil Unmack | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The government may take over heavily indebted Thames Water, a hapless privately held utility unable to fund capital needs that may stretch to 10 billion pounds. Under Macquarie’s (MQG.AX) ownership, which lasted from 2006 to 2016, Thames’ debt rose to over 80% of RCV. They’re issued through a vehicle called Thames Water Utilities Finance. Thames Water CEO Sarah Bentley resigned abruptly on June 27. Thames shareholders, led by Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, committed in 2022 to provide 1.5 billion pounds of extra funds.

Persons: Ofwat, Rishi Sunak, Gordon Brown, Kemble, They’re, Sarah Bentley, “, George Hay, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, Royal Bank of Scotland, Thames, Ontario, Thames ’, Guardian, UK, RBS, Investors, Water Utilities Finance, Yorkshire Water, SES Water, Sky News, Thames Water, Thomson Locations: –, Thames, Yorkshire, Britain’s

Bills in some states propose ranked-choice voting only for local elections, while others offer a temporary pilot system that would test the use of ranked-choice voting for a fixed number of years. The state GOP used a ranked-choice voting system at its state convention in 2021 to select a gubernatorial nominee. Discussions are also underway among policymakers in Arizona, who are looking at ranked-choice voting as a possible way of curbing extremism. The latest raft of proposed legislation follows a year of notable and growing enthusiasm for ranked-choice voting. In 2022, lawmakers in 25 states introduced legislation advancing or expanding ranked-choice voting, with bills enacted in six states, according to FairVote.

☆ Oops, We Botched Ranked-Choice Voting
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Nearly two months after November’s election, Alameda County, Calif., has announced that it systematically counted the ballots wrong. Blame the mess on official incompetence, but reserve some ire for ranked-choice voting (RCV), a system that makes it complicated even to explain the mistake. RCV asks voters to rank candidates in order of preference. If nobody wins an outright majority of first votes, the bottom candidate is eliminated, and his supporters are reshuffled based on their subsequent choices. This continues until a majority winner emerges.

☆ Rivian pauses JV plans with Mercedes-Benz to make electric vans in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A Rivian Automotive sign outside the electric truck maker's facility, in Plymouth, Michigan, U.S., July 15, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Krolicki/File PhotoDec 12 (Reuters) - Rivian Automotive Inc (RIVN.O) said on Monday it is pausing its joint venture with Mercedes-Benz Vans, just three months after the companies entered a partnership to make electric vans in Europe. Rivian is in a crowded field of startups trying to cash in on demand for electric commercial vans under pressure from established automakers including Ford (F.N) and General Motors (GM.N). In September, Mercedes-Benz Vans and Rivian signed a memorandum of understanding to produce electric vans in a factory in Poland, Hungary or Romania within the next few years, under the 50-50 joint venture. The plan for Mercedes-Benz Vans' new electric vehicle manufacturing site in Jawor, Poland is not affected and the pace of its electrification strategy remains unchanged, Mathias Geisen, head of Mercedes-Benz Vans, said.

☆ Self-driving truck startup Kodiak Robotics wins $50 million deal to help develop driverless Army vehicles
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( John Rosevear | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Self-driving truck startup Kodiak Robotics said Tuesday that it won a two-year, $49.9 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to help develop automated combat vehicles for the U.S. Army. The company said the vehicles will be tailored for reconnaissance, surveillance and other missions that would present a high risk to a human driver. The contract was awarded by the DoD's Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and is part of the Army's ongoing Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) program. DIU said it received 33 responses to its initial solicitation in October, and selected Kodiak and another vendor, development software provider Applied Intuition, after an extensive review process. The award marks the latest development in the DoD's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Grand Challenge self-driving competitions, which began in 2004.

☆ Special elections are confusing, chaotic messes that bleed taxpayers — and could often be avoided if politicians quit before leveling up, flaming out, or dropping dead
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-18 | by ( Grace Panetta | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +23 min

Young's death triggered an unprecedented series of three statewide votes — a special primary, a special general election held along with a regular primary, and a regular general election — within five months. The Alaska special election is just one of the more than 120 congressional special elections conducted over the past two decades, an Insider analysis found. Special elections bombard votersSpecial elections routinely attract special attention. Rebecca Blackwell/APIn 2022, special elections are 'a perfect storm of confusion'Special congressional elections are, on balance, less democratic than regular elections. "We knew from the beginning that it would be harder to win a special election," McCready said of his September 2019 special election.

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