DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Oil rebounds from early plunge after Saudis deny OPEC+ output report
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Laila Kearney | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Brent crude futures for January settled at $87.45, shedding 17 cents. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for December settled at $79.73 a barrel, falling 35 cents ahead of the contract's expiry later on Monday. Oil then retraced its losses after Saudi Arabian energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said the kingdom is sticking with output cuts and not discussing a potential oil output increase with other OPEC oil producers, state news agency SPA reported, denying the Journal report. Expectations of further increases to interest rates have buoyed the greenback, making dollar-denominated commodities like crude more expensive for investors. The front-month Brent crude futures spread narrowed sharply last week while WTI flipped into contango, reflecting dwindling supply concerns.

☆ Oil prices rebound from early dive as reports vary on OPEC+ output
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Laila Kearney | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Brent crude futures for January fell 77 cents, or 0.9%, to $86.85 a barrel by 12:54 p.m. EST (1754 GMT) . U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for December were down 58 cents, or 0.7%, at $79.50 ahead of the contract's expiry later on Monday. Oil retraced most losses after Saudi Arabian energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said the kingdom is not discussing a potential oil output increase with other OPEC oil producers, state news agency SPA reported, denying the Journal report. Expectations of further increases to interest rates have buoyed the greenback, making dollar-denominated commodities like crude more expensive for investors. The front-month Brent crude futures spread narrowed sharply last week while WTI flipped into contango, reflecting dwindling supply concerns.

“You really need leadership in these local areas to execute on the Inflation Reduction Act to the fullest extent,” Spears said. “This completely opens the pathway for Michigan to lead on clean cars of the future, and that’s really exciting,” Spears said. Climate victories at the local level are also poised to make a big impact. If fully implemented, climate experts have said the Inflation Reduction Act could reduce U.S. emissions by about 40% below 2005 levels by 2030. “So it’s really important to have climate leadership in state and local governments to actually execute on that and make sure it happens well.”

☆ Oil falls on easing geopolitical tensions, China demand outlook
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Arathy Somasekhar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"Thankfully, those fears have abated and the situation de-escalated, which has seen oil gains unwound," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA. Brent crude fell $2.13 to $90.73 a barrel, a 2.3% loss, by 10:58 a.m. China reported rising daily COVID-19 infections and Chinese refiners have asked to reduce Saudi crude volume in December, Reuters has reported, while also slowing Russian crude purchases. "Struggling Chinese consumption is embodied in sinking domestic need for both Russian and Saudi crude oil," said Tamas Varga of oil broker PVM. Oil gained some support from official figures that U.S. crude stocks fell by a bigger than expected 5 million barrels in the most recent week.

SINGAPORE, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Oil prices extended declines on Thursday as concerns over geopolitical tensions eased, while rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in China added to demand worries in the world's largest crude importer. Brent crude futures fell by $1.04, or 1.1%, to $91.82 a barrel by 0430 GMT. On Wednesday Brent dropped by 1.1% and WTI 1.5% after Russian oil shipments via the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary restarted. "Crude oil fell after NATO cleared Russia's missile attack on Poland, while demand concerns (are) back to trader's focus amid ongoing China's COVID curbs and gloomy global economic outlooks," said Tina Teng, an analyst at CMC Markets. Sustained concerns about weak demand in China are also "keeping markets grounded," said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.

☆ Oil falls as geopolitical tensions ease, China COVID concerns return
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Emily Chow | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 65 cents, or 0.8%, to $84.94 a barrel. Brent dropped by 1.1% and WTI declined by 1.5% on Wednesday after Russian oil shipments via the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary restarted. "Crude oil fell after NATO cleared Russia's missile attack on Poland, while demand concerns (are) back to trader's focus amid ongoing China's COVID curbs and gloomy global economic outlooks," said Tina Teng, an analyst at CMC Markets. Oil prices eased despite a larger-than-expected draw in crude oil stockpiles in the United States, added Teng. read moreSustained concerns of demand weakness in China are also "keeping markets grounded," said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, as it continues to report more COVID cases in major cities.

A startup that has developed lab-grown chicken made by culturing animal cells received a key safety sign-off Wednesday from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The California-based company, called Upside Foods, was cleared by the FDA on the safety of its animal cell culture technology, which can produce meat products without slaughtering any live animals. In an update released Wednesday, the FDA said it evaluated Upside Foods' production process and cultured cell material and has "no further questions" about their safety. The decision has significant implications for sustainable food production and the burgeoning cultivated meat industry. “Human food made with cultured animal cells must meet the same stringent requirements, including safety requirements, as all other food.”

The leaks were different from those that forced NASA to call off the first two Artemis launch attempts. As part of the Artemis program, NASA envisions regular missions to the moon to establish a base camp on the lunar surface before the agency eventually ventures to Mars. Martin added that each Artemis launch is expected to cost around $4.1 billion. If successful, Artemis I will be followed by a planned Artemis II test flight, tentatively scheduled for sometime in 2024. After that, NASA said the Artemis III flight will include the first woman and first person of color to land on the moon.

NASA is readying its next-generation megarocket and space capsule for a historic test flight to the moon early Wednesday morning. The debut flight of the agency’s uncrewed Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is slated to lift off at 1:04 a.m. If successful, the mission would mark a crucial step in NASA’s yearslong program to return astronauts to the moon. The SLS rocket remained on the launch pad during the storm, suffering only minor damage from high winds, according to the agency. NASA’s new moon initiative was named Artemis after the goddess of Greek mythology and twin sister of Apollo.

☆ Rick Scott launches his Trump-backed challenge of Mitch McConnell to become Senate GOP leader
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Sen. Rick Scott is challenging Mitch McConnell to become the top Senate Republican. Scott's challenge comes as former President Donald Trump and some Senate Republicans blame McConnell for a lackluster midterm election. As Politico broke the news of Scott's challenge, McConnell's allies lashed out. As the leader of Senate Republicans' campaign arm, Scott played a key role in shaping his party's strategy. Unlike McConnell, Scott did not want the GOP to aggressively intervene in contested primaries, which led to Trump-backed challengers like Dr. Mehmet Oz and Don Bolduc emerging in key races in Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, respectively.

☆ Oil reverses gains, falls on China COVID surge, firmer dollar
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Emily Chow | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Summary Brent, WTI prices ease after Friday's gainsMajor China cities report record number of COVID-19 casesU.S. Fed not "softening" fight against inflation - Gov. "USD strength appears to be weighing on oil and the broader commodities complex this afternoon," said Warren Patterson, head of commodities strategy at ING. But COVID cases climbed in China over the weekend, with Beijing and other big cities reporting record infections on Monday. China's demand for oil from world's top exporter, Saudi Arabia, also remained weak as several refiners have asked to lift less crude in December. A firm dollar after comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller also weighed on oil.

SINGAPORE, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Monday, extending gains from the previous session, after China eased some of its strict COVID-19 protocols, fuelling hopes of a recovery in economic activity and demand at the world's top crude importer. Contracts for Brent crude and U.S. West Texas Intermediate edged up nearly 1% earlier in the session but later pared some gains. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were also up 23 cents, or 0.3%, at $89.19 a barrel after closing Friday's session 2.9% higher. "Moreover, it will take some time from the release of the policy to its implementation, so China's full liberalisation may have to wait until the first quarter of next year, which means that the rebound of oil prices last Friday is unsustainable." China's demand for oil from world's top exporter, Saudi Arabia, also remained weak as several refiners have asked to lift less crude in December.

☆ A Classic Mercedes Helped Him Shift Gears in Work and Life
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( A.J. Baime | Photographs Martin Albert For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

William Li , 53, co-host of the television culinary series “Lucky Chow” and co-founder of the wellness brand the Hao Life, who lives in Columbia County, N.Y., on his 1988 Mercedes-Benz 560 SL, as told to A.J. To me, cars played an outsize role in the movies and TV shows of that era, and one model in particular. I remember seeing Richard Gere in “American Gigolo”—he drove a Mercedes 450 SL. The character Jennifer Hart in “Hart to Hart” was always in her Mercedes 450 SL. As a teenager, I thought that car typified success.

The Biden administration on Friday announced plans to significantly tighten regulations against methane emissions from domestic oil and gas drilling. The Environmental Protection Agency said the proposed standards would reduce methane from the oil and gas sector by 87% below 2005 levels. In the United States, oil and natural gas operations are the nation’s biggest industrial source of methane, according to the EPA. The Biden administration announced its plan to reduce methane emissions in November 2021 at the last U.N. Last year, the U.S. and the European Union launched the Global Methane Pledge, which aims to reduce the world’s methane emissions by 30 percent by the end of the decade.

Global emissions of carbon dioxide stayed at record high levels in 2022, giving the planet less than a decade to meet the goals of the landmark Paris Agreement, according to a report released Thursday. The Global Carbon Project, made up of scientists who track and quantify greenhouse gas emissions, found no signs of the cuts in emissions needed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times. Carbon dioxide emissions in 2020 fell by a record 1.9 billion tons as a result of strict Covid lockdowns that halted most air travel and disrupted daily lives. So-called carbon sinks, or natural lands and oceans that absorb and store carbon, continue to take up roughly half of the planet's carbon dioxide emissions. “If governments respond by turbo charging clean energy investments and planting, not cutting, trees, global emissions could rapidly start to fall,” she said in a statement.

Climate activists across Europe and the United States blocked entrances to airports Thursday to protest emissions from the aviation industry and call for a ban on private jets. Activists with three groups — Extinction Rebellion, Scientist Rebellion and Guardian Rebellion — descended on the airport terminals as part of organized actions in at least 13 countries. In the U.S., activists gathered at King County International Airport in Seattle and blocked entrances to a private jet terminal at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina and at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey. The activists targeted private jets because they represent the contributions of the ultrarich — and their lifestyles — to global greenhouse gas emissions. “The planet is on fire and people are still flying private jets.

NASA has delayed the launch of its next-generation megarocket and space capsule to the moon as Florida braces for an approaching storm. Tropical Storm Nicole, which is expected to strengthen into a hurricane Wednesday, is projected to batter Florida's eastern coast, forcing the space agency to reschedule its planned launch on Nov. 14. NASA is now aiming to launch its uncrewed Space Launch System rocket Nov. 16, during a two-hour window that opens at 1:04 a.m. The rocket is sitting at launch pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. NASA said the SLS booster is designed to withstand 85 mph winds and will remain at the launch pad during the storm.

☆ IBM Unveils New Chip in Push to Realize Quantum Computing’s Promise
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Isabelle Bousquette | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Quantum computers use quantum bits, or qubits, which represent and store information in a quantum state that is a complex mix of zero and one. Jerry Chow, IBM fellow and director of infrastructure for IBM Quantum, at the Watson Research Center. Since 2016, IBM has been putting their quantum computers on the cloud to enable companies, universities and individuals to experiment with the technology. Jerry Chow, IBM fellow and director of infrastructure for IBM Quantum, said the companies would be able to start using the Osprey chip in the first quarter of next year. Boeing Co. said it is using IBM’s quantum computers via the cloud to experiment with modeling chemical reactions related to corrosion on its aircraft.

A Covid outbreak at an American scientific research station in Antarctica has forced U.S. officials to temporarily halt all travel to the remote outpost. The agency confirmed that 10% of the research station’s population have tested positive for Covid during this recent outbreak. There are 885 people currently living and working at McMurdo Station. Though the station operates year-round, many scientists typically travel to McMurdo in November for field research during Antarctica’s summer season. It’s not yet clear what, if any, impact the outbreak could have on research and operations at the outpost.

Skywatchers on four continents will have the chance next week to catch the last total lunar eclipse for three years. The eclipse will occur Tuesday, with the moon set to turn blood red as it slips into Earth’s shadow. Lunar eclipses occur when the moon, Earth and sun are aligned and the moon passes into Earth’s shadow. After Tuesday's eclipse, the next total lunar eclipse will not occur again until March 14, 2025, according to NASA. While the next total lunar eclipse won’t happen until March 2025, a so-called penumbral lunar eclipse — when Earth’s faint outer shadow falls on the moon’s face — will occur next year in May, followed by a partial lunar eclipse in October 2023.

Countries from Spain and France to as far north as Norway and Sweden are experiencing unseasonably warm temperatures for this time of year. When the band of air is wavier than normal, it can move warm air northward or conversely cause polar air to reach farther south. Still, it’s clear that climate change is amplifying the consequences of jet stream anomalies, O’Reilly said. Across western and central Europe, unseasonably warm temperatures are expected to persist for the next two weeks. While it’s unusual, the anomalous warm spell fits within the bigger pattern of global warming, Pershing said.

☆ 11 Best Gifts for Dog Lovers
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: +8 min

For the bakerThe Dash Dog Treat Maker—a small waffle iron with bone-shaped plates—lets your pal whip up homemade dog treats. It makes up to eight bone-shaped dog treats at a time, and it includes sweet and savory recipes. Dockx eased her golden retriever’s separation anxiety while she was at work with a Snuggle Puppy, a plush toy with a battery-powered heartbeat. To brush up on dog speak, DeWillems recommends “Doggie Language: A Dog Lover’s Guide to Understanding Your Best Friend,” which decodes canine body language through illustrations that highlight subtle nuances in their mannerisms. For the devoted dog dadDog Dad Hats Custom Dog Dad Hats $69 at Dog Dad HatsAny proud parent will dig a Dog Dad Hat, with a custom embroidered illustration of their pet’s portrait.

One of the most commonly used antibiotics in the country, amoxicillin, is in short supply, federal health officials say. The department also listed a shortage for an oral powder. It wasn't immediately clear what prompted the shortage or how long it could last. A spokesman for the FDA previously said a number of factors can cause drug shortages, including manufacturing and quality problems, delays and discontinuations. The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, which maintains a database of drug shortages, last reported shortages from the companies Monday.

☆ Factbox: North Asia gears up for peak winter energy demand season
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Nov 3 (Reuters) - Key North Asian economies are stockpiling fuel, diversifying sources and conserving power to ensure adequate supplies for winter, as an unprecedented global energy crisis makes spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) purchases costly. * City gas providers held 2.54 million tonnes at end-August, ministry data shows, versus 1.97 million tonnes a year earlier and also above a five-year average. * South Korea's LNG stocks stood near 3.9 million tonnes at end-September, a source with knowledge of the matter said. * Households and businesses are being encouraged to reduce energy consumption through incentives like tax cuts, though details have not been announced. CHINA* China is expected to stay clear of spot LNG purchases this winter due to higher prices and slow demand growth amid COVID-19 curbs.

"If LNG from Russia is disrupted, we will need to negotiate to take alternatives from other suppliers," Hirofumi Sato added. Meanwhile, China is expected to steer clear of spot LNG this winter amid higher prices and low demand growth due to COVID-19 curbs. This pushed Asian spot LNG prices to record levels, though they have since eased amid solid inventory levels. Asia LNG prices rise above seasonal levels for most of 2022 as supplies tighten after Russia cuts gas supply to EuropeBut supply risks persist. "Supply side risks remain with Freeport LNG still undergoing maintenance in the U.S. and Nigeria LNG under force majeure."

Search resuls for: "Chow"

25 mentions found