DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Santander tops forecast as strong Europe offsets weaker US
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( Jesús Aguado | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

In Europe, net profit jumped 64% year-on-year in the quarter, while in South America it fell 7%. In Spain, the bank's biggest market, net profit surged almost 60%, while NII jumped 56%. In the UK, net profit rose 5.7% year-on-year in the quarter. In Brazil, its second-biggest market, net profit fell 8.9%, though NII rose 3.3%, reflecting an improvement in trends. Net profit in the United States fell 50.4% on higher funding costs in the auto business while provisions rose 49%.

Persons: Violeta Santos Moura, Ana Botin, JP Morgan, NII, Jesús, David Holmes, Mark Potter Organizations: Santander, REUTERS, Revenues, Thomson Locations: Boadilla del Monte, Madrid, Spain, MADRID, Spanish, Europe, United States, America, South America, SPAIN, BRAZIL, Portugal, Poland, Brazil

☆ Barclays narrowly beats profit forecasts on strong consumer, credit card business
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON — Barclays on Tuesday reported a net profit of £1.27 billion ($1.56 billion) for the third quarter, slightly ahead of expectations as strong results in its consumer and credit card businesses compensated for weakening investment bank revenues. Venkatakrishnan said the bank "continued to manage credit well, remained disciplined on costs and maintained a strong capital position" against a "mixed market backdrop." Barclays' corporate and investment bank (CIB) saw income decrease by 6% to £3.1 billion, with the bank citing reduced client activity in global markets and investment banking fees. The bank did not announce any new returns of capital to shareholders after July's £750 million share buyback announcement. The cost-income ratio in the third quarter was 63%, but the bank has set a medium-term target of below 60%.

Persons: Venkatakrishnan Organizations: LONDON, Barclays, Reuters, C.S, Barclays U.K, Q423 Locations: London

☆ Israel Reshuffles the U.S. Presidential Election Deck
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Daniel Henninger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley speaks in Nashua, N.H., Oct. 13. Photo: brian snyder/ReutersSuddenly in the aftermath of the Hamas massacre on Oct. 7, we have a presidential election about national security. And that could shuffle the U.S. presidential-candidate deck. The foreign-policy debate on the Republican side—China, Ukraine, the open border—had become rote. Hamas’s killing of civilians and seizing of hostages, including presumably Americans, has forced the world’s troubles to the top of the presidential agenda.

Persons: Nikki Haley, brian snyder Organizations: Reuters, Republican Locations: Nashua, N.H, China, Ukraine

☆ Banks’ wealth-management heyday may have passed
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

For wealth managers, that will make revenue growth much harder to come by, shifting the focus to controlling expenses. LOSING ITS SPARKLEIn Wall Street parlance, wealth management is a capital-light business. Little wonder Morgan Stanley boss James Gorman focused on wealth management after taking charge in 2010. The good news for UBS and Morgan Stanley is that they are better placed than most to handle these pressures. The bank’s wealth-management business generated a 35% ROTE, while the division that houses investment banking and trading managed just 8%.

Persons: UBS –, Morgan Stanley’s, Morgan Stanley, James Gorman, Sergio Ermotti, Goldman Sachs, Italy’s, Iqbal Khan, Morgan Stanley’s Andy Saperstein, Peter Thal Larsen, Sharon Lam, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, Wealth, UBS, Credit Suisse, HSBC, HK, Lloyds Banking Group, Revenue, Treasury, Big, Thomson Locations: Swiss, United States, Americas, Switzerland, Britain’s St, James’s

☆ The Secret Ingredient of ChatGPT Is Human Advice
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Cade Metz | More About Cade Metz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The technique, “reinforcement learning from human feedback,” is now driving the development of artificial intelligence across the industry. For years, companies like Google and OpenAI have relied on such workers to prepare data used to train A.I. Reinforcement learning from human feedback is far more sophisticated than the rote data-tagging work that fed A.I. Last year, OpenAI and one of its competitors, Anthropic, used freelance workers in the United States through the website Upwork. Hugging Face, another prominent lab, is using U.S. workers hired through the data curation start-ups Scale AI and Surge.

Organizations: Google, Workers Locations: United States, India, Africa, chatbots

☆ Nearly half of CEOs believe AI could replace their own jobs, says new poll—and 47% say that's a good thing
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Nearly half of CEOs — 49% — say AI could effectively replace "most," or even "all," of their own roles, and 47% say it might even be a good thing, according to a survey from online education platform edX. The poll, published on Tuesday, surveyed 1,600 full-time U.S. workers, including 800 C-suite executives and CEOs, as well as 800 non-executive workers. "It is clear that a majority [of executives] think that AI is going to be transformative," he tells CNBC Make It. It could also tackle other CEO responsibilities, like analyzing market data and brainstorming ways to improve a business' operations, some experts say. Delegating those mundane tasks could help CEOs focus on "the things that make them CEOs ... vision and dreaming about new products and selling," Agarwal says.

Persons: Anant Agarwal, Agarwal Organizations: —, MIT, CNBC Technology, CNBC

"We are negatively surprised by lack of revenue growth, increased capital target, payout & ROTE cut, and by the lack of details," Jefferies analysts said in a note. It also said its new targets were based on annual revenue growth expectations between zero and 2% between 2022 and 2026, but that it would aim to improve its cost-to-income ratio. A SocGen veteran and former head of its investment bank, Krupa said he would streamline the bank's activities but didn't elaborate. The share price decline put SocGen on course for the biggest one-day drop since March. "It will take time for the shares to discount the cost improvement given SG's mixed track record," they said.

Persons: Gonzalo Fuentes, Krupa, Slawomir Krupa, SocGen, JP Morgan, Tassilo Hummel, Silvia Aloisi, Elisa Martinuzzi, Michal Alexandrowicz, Mathieu Rosemain, Ingrid Melander, Mark Potter Organizations: Societe Generale, La Defense, REUTERS, BNP, Jefferies, Thomson Locations: La, Paris, France, Russia

☆ Key targets in SocGen's new strategy plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A logo of French bank Societe Generale is seen on the company's skyscraper at the financial and business district of La Defense near Paris, France September 14, 2023. Here are key targets:GROWTHAnnual revenue growth expectations between 0 and 2% by 2026. In August last year, the bank said it was aiming for average annual revenue growth of at least 3% for 2021-2025. ROTETargets a 9 to 10% return on tangible equity ratio in 2026, up from a reported 5.6% ROTE at the end of June. CET1Aims for a CET1 ratio - a key measure of financial strength - of 13% in 2026, almost on par with the 13.1% reported at end of June.

Persons: Gonzalo Fuentes, Slawomir Krupa, SocGen, Krupa, Mathieu Rosemain, Ingrid Melander, Mark Potter Organizations: Societe Generale, La Defense, REUTERS, Generale's, Thomson Locations: La, Paris, France

☆ SocGen's new boss Krupa pledges to cut costs to boost profits by 2026
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Societe Generale's new CEO Slawomir Krupa pledged on Monday to cut costs to boost profits by 2026 amid stagnating sales, in his first strategic plan for France's third-biggest listed bank. SocGen said it would target a 9 to 10% return on tangible equity ratio (ROTE) in 2026, up from a reported 5.6% ROTE at the end of June. The bank also said that it would reduce its exposure to upstream oil and gas businesses by 80% by 2030 when compared to 2019. SocGen said its new targets were based on annual revenue growth expectations between 0 and 2% by 2026. SocGen is also open to a sale of its equipment finance unit, sources have told Reuters.

Persons: Slawomir Krupa, Krupa, ambitioned, SocGen Organizations: Generale's, Basel Committee, Reuters, Finance, BNP Locations: Basel, Russia, Ukraine

☆ Santander creates two new global businesses for retail, consumer areas
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Jesús Aguado | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Santander Bank logo is seen in this illustration taken March 12, 2023. The new Retail and Commercial unit and Digital Consumer Bank will join Santander's other global operations in Corporate and Investment Banking, Wealth Management and Insurance and Payments, it said in a statement. The bank is benefiting from higher interest rates in Europe as it seeks to expand its investment banking business. Global heads will define the common business and operating model based on global platforms, said the bank, with all operations aligned under five global business areas. The Digital Consumer Bank will be led by Jose Luis de Mora.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Ana Botin, Daniel Barriuso, Jose Luis de Mora, Javier San Felix, Matias Sanchez, Jose M ., Victor Matarranz, Jesús Aguado, Joan Faus, Richard Chang Organizations: Santander Bank, REUTERS, Rights, Spain's Santander, Digital Consumer Bank, Corporate, Investment Banking, Wealth Management, Insurance, Santander, Corporate & Investment Banking, Thomson Locations: Rights MADRID, Europe

☆ The Case for Acting on Your Desires and Not Being a Good Person - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( Jamieson Webster | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

I‘m increasingly seeing this in my work as a therapist in New York City. It avoids the deeper question of desire, and desire is a compass. The promised image of goodness skirts pleasures that — for obscure reasons — you aren’t sure you can want. Unsettling desires challenge our perception of who we are and what life might look like. Importantly, you come to see that limits cannot be held or crossed under compulsion.

Persons: —, “, ” Locations: New York City

☆ Screen time linked with developmental delays, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Kristen Rogers | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

“The study fills an important gap because it identifies specific developmental delays (in skills) such as communication and problem-solving associated with screen time,” said Nagata, noting there haven’t been many prior studies that studied this issue with several years of follow-up data. The study measured how many hours children used screens per day at age 1 and how they performed in several developmental domains — communication skills, fine motor skills, personal and social skills, and problem-solving skills — at ages 2 and 4. By age 2, those who had had up to four hours of screen time per day were up to three times more likely to experience developmental delays in communication and problem-solving skills. “Kids learn how to talk if they’re encouraged to talk, and very often, if they’re just watching a screen, they’re not having an opportunity to practice talking,” he said. Be choosy about when you rely on screen time, and turn devices off when they’re not in use, Nagata said.

Persons: “, who’ve, ”, Jason Nagata, wasn’t, Nagata, haven’t, John Hutton, “ It’s, Hutton, they’re, ” Nagata, ” Hutton, that’s, “ There’s Organizations: CNN, University of California, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, “, American Academy of Pediatrics Locations: San Francisco, Japan, Tohoku, Miyagi, Iwate, Cincinnati

☆ Professors want to 'ChatGPT-proof' assignments, and are returning to paper exams and requesting editing history to curb AI cheating
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Aaron Mok | Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

College professors are looking to "ChatGPT-proof" assignments to curb cheating. Some professors suggest returning to paper exams and asking students to show editing histories. Changes to assignments come as teachers debate the usage of generative AI in the classroom. Some professors suggest students show their work by including their editing history and drafts along with their completed assignments. The changes to school assignments come as teachers grapple with how to best integrate AI tools like ChatGPT into their classrooms.

Persons: OpenAI's ChatGPT, Bonnie MacKellar, MacKellar, William Hart, Davidson, Hart, Krebs, Dave Sayers, Shannon Ahern, Ahern, Insider's Aaron Mok Organizations: St, Johns University, Michigan State University, University of Jyväskylä, Times Higher Education, Butler University Locations: New York, Finland, Indianapolis, Dublin, Ireland

☆ Trump's growing list of indictments is the biggest political storyline of a generation — but does anyone care?
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

But as the arraignment played out on Thursday, it felt like we had all been there before. Get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in business, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley — delivered daily. Trump was arraigned on Thursday over charges related to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. But compared to his two impeachments and the made-for-TV Capitol riot hearings — all of which accused Trump of serious wrongdoing — the most recent indictment and arraignment felt largely humdrum. But in this case, he's a former president charged with trying to change the outcome of an unfavorable election.

Persons: Trump, Donald Trump, he's, John Lauro, Biden, Charlie Savage, yawning, homed, Martha MacCallum, Andrew McCarthy, we've, Joe Biden Organizations: Service, White, Capitol, Trump, CNN, Truth, Justice Department, New York Times, Fox News, GOP, Monmouth University Locations: Wall, Silicon, Manhattan, Georgia

☆ Bank of Ireland raises full-year forecasts
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBLIN, July 31 (Reuters) - Bank of Ireland (BIRG.I) raised its full-year guidance on Monday and expects net interest income in the second half of the year to be marginally higher than the first when a 68% year-on-year jump drove a more than doubling in profits. The bank reported a 1.2 billion euro ($1.1 billion) first-half underlying profit before tax versus 435 million euros a year ago when it was still operating in a negative interest rate environment. The European Central Bank has since lifted borrowing costs by a combined 425 basis points. Ireland's largest lender by assets said its business income for the rest of the year is expected to be broadly in-line with the first half, when it rose 23% and that its full year return on tangible equity (ROTE) would be similar to the 18.5% posted in the first half. ($1 = 0.9083 euros)Reporting by Padraic Halpin, Editing by Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Padraic Halpin, Louise Heavens Organizations: DUBLIN, Bank of Ireland, European Central Bank, Thomson

☆ BBVA plans 1 bln euro buy-back as Mexico, Spain drive profits
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Jesús Aguado | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The Spanish bank also announced a 1 billion euro share buy-back programme. It follows a smaller additional share buy-back earlier this year and a 3.2 billion euro programme it completed in 2022. In the case of Caixabank, the new buy-back programme follows a 1.8 billion euros share buy-back in 2022. In Mexico, the bank's net profit rose 32% while net interest income climbed 38%. In Spain, net profit more than tripled versus a year earlier while NII was up 51%.

Persons: BBVA's, Jefferies, NII, Jesús Aguado, Emma Pinedo, Inti Landauro, Jason Neely, Robert Birsel Organizations: BBVA, Reuters, Thomson Locations: MADRID, Mexico, Spain, Turkey, Caixabank, Turkish

☆ Caixabank's quarterly net profit jumps 48%, announces 500 mln euro share buy-back
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Jesús Aguado | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The country's biggest lender by domestic assets reported a net profit of 1.28 billion euros ($1.41 billion), ahead of 1.16 billion euros analysts forecast in a Reuters poll. The bank also announced a 500 million euro share buy-back programme that would begin before the end of 2023 and is aimed at distributing capital above the 12% threshold. Last year, the lender bought back 1.8 billion euros of shares. Caixabank's net interest income, earnings on loans minus deposit costs, rose 60.7% year-on-year in the quarter to 2.44 billion euros, above the 2.29 billion euros analysts expected. The lender also said that recent commercial trends implied upside over its more than 30% growth guidance for net interest income in 2023.

Persons: Caixabank, Jesús Aguado, Inti Landauro, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: Thomson Locations: NII, MADRID, Banks, Europe

☆ Sabadell doubles Q2 net profit, lifts guidance for 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Jesús Aguado | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Spain's fourth-largest bank by market value reported a net profit of 359 million euros ($398 million) for April-June, compared with 179 million euros in the same period last year. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a net profit of 287 million euros. TSB's net interest income (NII) - earnings on loans minus deposit costs - grew 9.7% year-on-year in the quarter. Sabadell's NII in the quarter rose 30% year-on-year to 1.17 billion euros. Domestic rival Unicaja (UNI.MC) said its net profit rose by around 6% year-on-year in the second quarter, also supported by higher financial margins.

Persons: Spain's, Leopoldo Alvear, Alvear, Sabadell's, Unicaja, Jesús Aguado, Emma Pinedo, Miral Fahmy, Mark Potter, Susan Fenton Organizations: Bank, Sabadell, Reuters, British, TSB, Barclays, Thomson Locations: MADRID, Sabadell, Spain

☆ Wales Has a Prince, But It Has Never Hosted a British Open
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-23 | by ( Alan Blinder | More About Alan Blinder | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Still near enough to peek through, though, was the Welsh coast, a handful of long tee shots across the estuary. The British Open, scheduled to conclude on Sunday, may never come closer to Wales. First played when Queen Victoria was on the throne, the Open is a national rite that has encompassed only so much of the nation: Unlike England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, Wales has not hosted it. With sites through 2026 already selected and Wales still left out, the drought will last at least as long as the first 154 Opens. By then, Northern Ireland, which did not welcome a modern Open until 2019, will have had another.

Persons: Queen Victoria, ”, Ken Organizations: Royal Liverpool Golf, British, Wales, Welsh Parliament Locations: Welsh, Wales, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Britain

☆ Threads: An Early Vibe Check
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

I come to you with a breaking news vibes report from Threads, the new Twitter clone that Mark Zuckerberg unveiled on Wednesday. It has already signed up 30 million users, according to Zuckerberg, and appears to be the most rapidly downloaded app ever. “Can’t get enough of your threads,” the actress Jennifer Lopez said in a Threads post. For an app that has caused a lot of drama — Twitter is already threatening legal action — the user experience feels basic, even rote. If there’s a dominant topic of conversation, it’s how weird it is to be on Threads.

Persons: Madison, I’ve, Mark Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, you’ve, Olivia Rodrigo, Al Roker, Slim Jim, Wendy’s, MrBeast, “ Can’t, Jennifer Lopez, Paris Hilton, ”, Ellen DeGeneres Organizations: Twitter, Elon

☆ Here are Wednesday's biggest analyst calls: Delta, Netflix, Pinterest, Nvidia, Pepsi, Deere, Nike and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Goldman Sachs reiterates Snowflake as buy Goldman said it's standing by its buy rating after the company's investor day. JPMorgan reiterates Pepsi as overweight JPMorgan said Pepsi is a "safe haven" heading into earnings in July. Wells Fargo upgrades Pinterest to overweight from equal weight Wells Fargo said it sees "above-consensus revenue growth" for Pinterest. Deutsche Bank downgrades Walgreens to hold from buy Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock after its disappointing earnings results earlier this week. Deutsche Bank initiates Western Alliance as hold Deutsche Bank said the regional bank's "funding pressures persist."

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Goldman, Snowflake, it's, Wells, Wells Fargo, Daiwa downgrades Uber, EBITDA, Deere, Canaccord, Oppenheimer, Morgan Stanley, CarMax, Needham, CFRA, KeyBanc Organizations: Nvidia, JPMorgan, Pepsi, Nike, Netflix, Deutsche Bank, Walgreens, RBC, Western Alliance, KMX, Delta, Barclays, Bank of America, Old Dominion, of America, Dominion, ZoomInfo Technologies, Lincoln, EV Locations: China, NVDA, Canada, Old

☆ Restaurant Review: Superiority Burger Has the Courage of Its Quirks
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Pete Wells | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

At times Superiority Burger can seem to be composed entirely of unnecessary grace notes, arbitrary ambitions and whispered messages that may or may not be understood. (Why, when you go to the restroom, do you hear the jingles that play when the doors close on the Tokyo subway?) Cementing all this willful oddity together, though, are solid, mainstream restaurant values. The servers, who seem to be having as much fun as anybody, are serious about helping you get the most out of your meal. Superiority Burger isn’t just more enjoyable than fast-casual chains, which isn’t hard.

Persons: Burger, It’s Locations: Tokyo

☆ It's only a matter of time before A.I. chatbots are teaching in primary schools
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Mikaela Cohen | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

AI is already sending waves throughout education, with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates saying AI chatbots can teach kids to read in 18 months rather than years. Younger generations are surrounded by digital tools, and experts say it's only a matter of time before classrooms are immersed in AI. AI for routine learning, teachers for personalized lessonsAI, and specifically chatbots backed by programmed large language models, can help students, from primary education to certification programs, self-guide through voluminous materials and tailor their education to specific learning styles. With the rise of AI, teachers can transition from being a general practitioner to more of a specialist, where they can focus on helping kids with particular issues and specific concepts, he added. AI can also help teachers leverage existing knowledge and content, so they can repurpose it and dramatically reduce their workload, Guo said.

Persons: Bill Gates, Sarah Guo, Danny King, King, Guo, It's Organizations: Microsoft, Google, Harvard, MIT Locations: McGraw

☆ Bad Bunny asks for reggaeton copyright lawsuit to be thrown out
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Bad Bunny and some of the music industry’s biggest stars want a lawsuit that alleges copyright infringement of a 1989 song thrown out of court. Lawyers from Freundlich Law representing Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, known as the superstar Bad Bunny, filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit Thursday, arguing the musical elements in question don’t fall under copyright protection. Bad Bunny himself is accused in the lawsuit of copyright infringement for 77 songs, the motion said. The lawsuit was originally filed in 2021. Stars from Taylor Swift to Led Zeppelin have been involved in legal battles over their music.

Persons: Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, Bad Bunny, Clevie, Wycliffe Johnson, Cleveland Browne, Shabba, ” Johnson, Bad, Pryor Cashman, Pitbull, Justin Bieber, Karol G, Enrique Iglesias, Ricky Martin, Jason Derulo, J Blavin, Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee, Becky G, Rosalia, Diplo, ”, Pitbull’s Mr, Ed Sheeran’s, Marvin Gaye, ” Pryor Cashman, Sheeran, Taylor Swift, Zeppelin Organizations: New, New York CNN, Freundlich Law, WK Records, CNN Locations: New York, Jamaican, Ozuna, Manhattan

☆ The CEO of pharma giant Eli Lilly shares 3 ways AI could transform his industry
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Yeji Jesse Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The CEO of Eli Lilly said he expects AI to massively change the productivity of the workplace. According to David Ricks, the CEO of the pharma giant Eli Lilly, the technology has the potential to upend the industry. Ricks told Insider that AI is "one of the most exciting technological moves" he's seen in a long time. Three ways Lilly wants to use AIRicks said he sees three main ways Lilly and the larger biopharma space could use AI. In May, Lilly announced a $250 million partnership with pharmaceutical-technology company XtalPi to uncover new potential drugs using AI.

Persons: Eli Lilly, David Ricks, Ricks, It's, Lilly Organizations: Biotech, pharma, Morning

Search resuls for: "Rote"

25 mentions found