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☆ The rise and fall of Birchbox, the once-buzzy startup valued at nearly $500 million that frustrated customers are now saying has 'vanished'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Avery Hartmans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Birchbox pioneered the monthly beauty subscription box and was once valued at nearly $500 million. The company also raised another round of funding, this time $60 million, which pushed the startup's valuation to $485 million. Meanwhile, Sephora had launched a monthly beauty box of its own. Meanwhile, Birchbox's subscriber count was dropping, and the company raised its monthly subscription price for the first time in its history. Customers are now accusing Birchbox of having 'vanished'Birchbox's monthly box includes sample sizes of high-end beauty products.

☆ 75% of Americans who moved last year have regrets—here's the No. 1 reason why
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Mike Winters | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Three out of four Americans say they had regrets about relocating last year, according to a recent survey by Home Bay , a real estate brokerage. Of those that moved, 65% said they felt positive emotions like excitement and relief. The top reasons Americans moved in 2022 were to improve their quality of life (24%), live in a cheaper area (23%), and get a bigger place (22%), according to the survey. Some of the regrets — like picking the wrong moving company — reflect the stress of the move itself, which is temporary. 1 best piece of advice for regular investors, do's and don'ts, and three key investing principles into a clear and simple guidebook.

☆ London's 'The Holme' is the world's most expensive home for sale with a reported asking price around $300 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( Aaron Mcdade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

"The Holme," a 205-year-old mansion in Regent's Park in London, is reportedly for sale. The agents handling the sale are reportedly asking for up to 250 million British pounds, about $300 million. If it reaches the reported asking price, the property would become the most expensive ever sold in the United Kingdom. Another massive mansion held the previous UK record — 2-8 Rutland Gate, which overlooks London's Hyde Park was sold in 2020 for £210 million, or $232 million. An 1820s sketch of The Holme in Regent's Park, which is currently for sale for an estimated $300 million.

SummarySummary Companies Centrica, StanChart jump on upbeat earningsVodafone up on report exploring options for African UnitFTSE 100 up 0.2%, FTSE 250 flatFeb 16 (Reuters) - Britain's internationally-focussed FTSE 100 on Thursday closed above 8,000 points for the first time as upbeat earnings from Centrica and Standard Chartered countered global risk-off sentiment after hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation data. The blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE) gained 0.2%, off an intra-day record high hit earlier in the day, but still at its highest ever closing level of 8,012.53 points. The exporter-heavy index has had a stellar start to the year, gaining 7.5% so far as positive corporate earnings and rising commodity prices supported the index. Data showed U.S. producer prices rose more than expected in January while jobless claims unexpectedly fell, fanning speculation the U.S. Federal Reserve would keep raising interest rates for longer than expected. Shares of Centrica (CNA.L) jumped to top the FTSE 100, adding 5.7%, after the British Gas owner's annual profit more than tripled and it announced an extension of its share buyback programme.

Analysts said the new cash may afford Bed Bath only a few quarters to revive its business, and a weakening economy would diminish any chance of a successful turnaround. Bed Bath declined to comment on Hudson Bay Capital's role in the share sale. "All is on hold," a maker of children's apparel said last week, adding that it had stopped shipping products to Bed Bath since early January. A shopping cart is seen at a Bed Bath & Beyond store in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., June 29, 2022. Reuters reported late last month that Bed Bath had lined up liquidators to close additional stores unless a last-minute buyer emerged.

Hudson Bay Capital is unrelated to Canadian department store chain Hudson's Bay Co. Bed Bath & Beyond declined to comment earlier Tuesday on Hudson Bay Capital leading investment in the share sale. A shopping cart is seen at a Bed Bath & Beyond store in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., June 29, 2022. REUTERS/Andrew KellyPrices on Bed Bath & Beyond bonds due in 2024 climbed to 24 cents on the dollar from around 5 cents, a level still indicating financial distress. Bed Bath shares rose 2.7% in extended trading, after closing down 49% on Tuesday.

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☆ Teslas are finally getting cheaper. It's a sign Elon Musk's back is against the wall.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Tesla cutting prices by up to 20% on its models in a sign of trouble for Elon Musk. Interest rate hikes have also increased the costs of financing the purchase of a Tesla, making it harder for consumers already battered by inflation to make the switch. Moores added that when it comes to demand, "backlog orders have come down significantly for Tesla," making price cuts is "a good way to increase the immediate- and medium-term sales pipeline". Price cuts will of course be welcomed by consumers. Wedbush's Ives estimates that "all together these price cuts could spur demand" by 12-15% globally in 2023.

☆ Dow soars 700 points after December jobs and services activity reports boost hopes for Fed rate cuts
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Carla Mozée | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

US stocks jumped Friday after December payrolls and services-sector data. The economic data showed signs of easing inflation, bolstering hopes the Fed will cut interest rates this year. The S&P 500 avoided a fifth consecutive weekly decline. Meanwhile, the Institute for Supply Management's services-sector report showed prices paid decelerated while services activity shrank for the first time since May 2020. Billionaire investor Leon Cooperman sees just a 5% chance the S&P 500 pares back the losses it's logged since March 2022.

☆ Europe’s recession may not be as bad as feared
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

On Wednesday, France’s statistics institute said consumer price inflation was 5.9% in December, down from 6.2% in November. A drop in energy prices drove the decline, the institute said. In Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, provisional data released on Tuesday showed that inflation had fallen to 8.6% in December, from 10% the month before. “If we are seeing a continued flight to value, then the relative cheapness of European stocks is a big plus,” he said. Benchmark prices for European natural gas futures have tumbled 10% since Monday to €69 ($73) per megawatt hour.

☆ Elon had to choose between Twitter and Tesla. He's choosing Tesla.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Elon Musk has been forced to make a tough choice: Tesla or Twitter. He's picking Tesla, which represents nearly half his $156 billion in estimated wealth, and the Twitter poll gave him a handy escape pod. That red ink wasn't as much of a problem when interest rates were low, and Tesla's shares were soaring. But as the Federal Reserve has aggressively hiked interest rates to curb inflation, using Tesla stock to pay off the debt on the Twitter buyout is a problem for Tesla. "Tesla is so much an Elon stock, it stands or falls because of him," Beauchamp said.

[1/2] A worker shelters from the rain under a Union Flag umbrella as he passes the London Stock Exchange in London, Britain, October 1, 2008. An investor in Wood Group (WG.L), an oilfield services company, urged the company to buy back some of its own shares to avoid being a target. The domestically-focused FTSE 250 (.FTMC) is down by almost a fifth this year while the internationally-focused blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE) is up 0.8% thanks to a drop in the pound. A currency advantage alone does not necessarily kick-start deals though, according to Owain Evans, co-head of UK M&A for Goldman Sachs. "Large corporates continue to look at 'bolt-ons', where they can draw on existing facilities to do those deals, that's why the mid-cap space is attractive to the strategics in this environment," said Celia Murray, head of UK M&A at JPMorgan.

☆ FTSE 100 slips as China COVID protests rattle markets
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Shashwat Chauhan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies China protests drag global markets lowerEnergy, miners slip on lower commodity pricesReal estate down after dour dataFTSE 100 down 0.7%, FTSE 250 off 0.9%Nov 28 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 slipped on Monday, with energy and mining stocks leading broad-based losses, as investors globally fretted over China's economic outlook following rare protests in the country against its strict COVID-19 restrictions. The blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE) shed 0.7%, following two weekly gains that lifted the index to its highest levels in more than two months. Energy stocks were the biggest drags in the FTSE 100, with oil majors BP (BP.L) and Shell (SHEL.L) down around 1.5% each. Commodity prices dipped on worries about demand from top consumer China where protests against strict COVID-19 restrictions flared up. "It's a very hard thing to price, even the markets are not used to seeing demonstrations in China," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG Group.

☆ A clinical psychologist shares 8 tips for navigating ‘very food-centric holidays’ if you’re in recovery from an eating disorder
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Renée Onque | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

While the holidays are a joyful time for many, they can also be difficult for those recovering from eating disorders (ED). "They're very food-centric holidays," says Marshall Beauchamp, assistant professor in the Applied Psychological Science Program at Pacific University and a licensed psychologist who researches eating disorders and their treatments, "So much revolves around food." Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah and even Halloween are all occasions with a major food component, which can be triggering for people who've recently stopped harmful eating behaviors, Beauchamp tells CNBC Make It. But, that doesn't mean that if you're recovering from an ED that you can't have a wonderful holiday season with the people you care about, he says. Here are some tips for approaching the holidays while in recovery and resources to keep in your back pocket.

☆ NBA roundup: Short-handed Warriors cap 0-5 trip
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

Jusuf Nurkic recorded 14 points and eight rebounds, and Justise Winslow had 12 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Nic Claxton recorded 18 points and nine rebounds while Cam Thomas contributed 17 points and six assists off the bench. Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with 24 points, while Karl-Anthony Towns had 22 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. RJ Barrett finished with 22 points and nine rebounds while Cam Reddish added 11 points off the bench. Kelly Oubre Jr. led the Hornets with 17 points, while James Bouknight had a season-high 14 points.

With the release of director Chinonye Chukwu’s “Till,” the conversation of the nation’s racist history and violence toward Black people is being revisited. Deadwyler told NBC News that the telling of Till’s story today is just as important as it was decades ago. “In the United States, we tend to think of our history in romantic terms,” Glaude told NBC News. The Senate passed a bill in January posthumously awarding Till and his mother the Congressional Gold Medal. But, Glaude said, even with these initiatives, without a racially just America, Till “died in vain.”“We can never forget,” he added.

☆ These 3 charts show the chaos that ran through markets during the 45 days that Liz Truss was UK prime minister
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Liz Truss resigned as UK prime minister on Thursday after just 45 days in the role. Truss quit as UK prime minister after just 45 days in the role Thursday, becoming the shortest-serving leader in the country's history. "First her policies went up in flames, then her brief career as prime minister," IG's chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp said. "The great political gamble of Liz Truss has spectacularly backfired but not before wreaking significant damage to the UK economy." Read more: UK Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned after the market rebelled against her aggressive economic growth plan.

☆ Can one-star Amazon reviews for Yankee Candles actually predict the next Covid surge?
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Renée Onque | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Initial claims about a link between Yankee Candle reviews on Amazon and a rise in cases of Covid were posted on Twitter and later explored on the platform during the Omicron surge in December 2021. Twitter user @drewtoothpaste took screen grabs of one-star reviews of Yankee candles that were all made within a week of each other. "The reviews were leading, and the Covid cases were lagging. In Beauchamp's paper, he analyzed nearly 10,000 Amazon reviews and was able to determine that negative reviews weren't linked to specific seasons where Covid cases typically rise and fall — like winter and summer. Another consideration was the link between negative scented product reviews and cases of the flu, and there wasn't a correlation there, he notes.

☆ Dollar dips as UK budget U-turn improves market sentiment
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Karen Brettell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

British Pound Sterling and U.S. Dollar notes are seen in this June 22, 2017 illustration photo. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterBritish gilts rallied sharply after the news, helping to also send U.S. Treasury yields lower. Hunt replaced Kwasi Kwarteng, whose package of unfunded tax cuts on Sept. 23 unleashed a bond market sell-off. "For now, the market seems happy to give the new chancellor time and space to put the government's house back in order," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG. Traders are also on watch for any intervention from the Bank of Japan after the yen fell to a 32-year low.

☆ How the filmmakers behind ‘Till’ depicted Black trauma without showing violence
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( Harmeet Kaur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

The problem with ‘Black trauma porn’“Black trauma porn” – much like “disaster porn” or “poverty porn” – generally refers to graphic depictions of violence against Black people that are intended to elicit strong emotional responses. The implication is that these images can be needlessly traumatizing to Black viewers for whom violence is an inescapable fact of life. “There’s a difference between telling a story of Black trauma and telling a story that is ‘Black trauma porn.’”How Till avoids the trap of ‘trauma porn’What, then, is the line between a story of Black trauma and “Black trauma porn?”For Young, the distinguishing factor is context. Put bluntly, is that depiction of Black trauma intended to appeal to the sympathies of White people? It’s notable that many of the recent projects deemed to be “Black trauma porn” have been the work of Black creatives – an obvious reminder that Black people are not a monolith.

☆ UK finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng has been fired as the government waters down tax cuts
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

UK finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng was fired from his role on Friday. His tax cut proposals have rattled markets for weeks, with yields on gilts soaring. Prime Minister Liz Truss is expected to announce a policy U-turn at 9AM Eastern Time. Chief finance minister Kwarteng's pledges to carry on cutting income and corporation tax have rattled markets in recent weeks, with yields on gilts – UK government bonds – soaring. Read more: Pound crashes to record low against the dollar as UK tax cut plans rattle investors

☆ 'Till' review: Danielle Deadwyler shines as Mamie Till Mobley after her son Emmett Till's death
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Review Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Getting the delicate balance of the story mostly right, “Till” captures how Mamie Till Mobley turned the inconsolable grief over the murder of her son, Emmett, into resolve and activism. Anchored by Danielle Deadwyler’s towering performance, it’s a wrenching portrayal of reluctant heroism under the most horrific of parental circumstances. Danielle Deadwyler as Mamie Till Mobley. More than 65 years after his death, the Emmett Till Antilynching Act was signed into law earlier this year – a sign, as Chukwu notes in a director’s statement, of “present cultural and political realities” that echo through the film. “Till” clearly felt the weight of that legacy, and there’s a difficult-to-avoid aspect to the production that can’t entirely escape a movie-of-the-week feel.

☆ Reactions: UK's Truss fires Kwarteng, set to U-turn on tax cuts
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

LONDON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Liz Truss fired her finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng and news reports said she will scrap later on Friday parts of the economic programme of big, unfunded tax cuts that they delivered last month. Consequently, the scope for a rally in gilts (move lower in yields) and sterling would seem to be limited." BENJAMIN NABARRO, ECONOMIST, CITI"The key issue in the near term is the contradiction between monetary and fiscal policy. RACHEL REEVES, OPPOSITION LABOUR PARTY'S FINANCE CHIEF"This humiliating u-turn is necessary - but the real damage has already been done. We may well be through the worst of the volatility but I fear that the UK is nowhere near out of the woods."

☆ Reactions: Britain's finance minister unveils "mini budget"
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Britain's blue-chip stocks (.FTSE)remained mired in the red, in line with a broader equity-market decline. FOREX: Sterling extended losses, falling 1.9% on the day to around $1.1047, having hit a new 37-year low earlier on. British homebuilders and household goods makers hit session highs, buoyed by the prospect of consumers getting tax breaks. The tax-cutting budget and ‘go for broke’ growth aims are unlikely to change the longer-term bearish GBP trend." If you get more fiscal stimulus and less monetary stimulus, that’s something that’s buoyant for the currency.

☆ Bank of England hikes interest rates 50 basis points as it battles to tame soaring inflation and prop up the plummeting pound
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The Bank of England hiked interest rates by 50 basis points Thursday. It's trying to curb soaring prices, with UK inflation running close to a four-decade high at 9.8%. The bank's monetary policy committee voted 5 to 4 in favor of raising rates by 50 basis points. The bank's decision comes after the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates by 75 basis points for a third time in a row Wednesday, as it also battles to tame soaring inflation in the US. The Federal Open Market Committee raised interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point on Wednesday, marking the third consecutive hike of that size.

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