DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Ivan Menezes, Who Led a Liquor Giant, Dies at 63
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Daniel E. Slotnik | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ivan Menezes, who as chief executive of the spirits corporation Diageo used his canny understanding of the drinking public to help the company grow into a global colossus, died on June 7 in London. The cause was complications of emergency surgery for a stomach ulcer, a Diageo spokesman said. Diageo is omnipresent in the world of alcohol, selling more than 200 brands in more than 180 countries — including Smirnoff vodka, Tanqueray gin, Johnnie Walker Scotch, Captain Morgan rum and Guinness beer — and has the largest global net sales in some spirit categories. Mr. Menezes (pronounced muh-NAY-zes) was trained in marketing, and closely studied consumer sentiment. To him, spirits provided what he called “accessible luxury” to customers — a dram of the good life even in an unstable economy.

Persons: Ivan Menezes, Johnnie Walker Scotch, Morgan, Menezes, ” Mr, Johnnie Walker Blue Organizations: Diageo, Yorker, New York Times Locations: London

☆ Boris Johnson: How Britain's once most popular prime minister fell out of favor
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-10 | by ( Luke Mcgee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

For decades, his carefully honed media persona – part pseudo-intellectual; part loveable-but-out-of-touch-poshboy – won Johnson fans beyond the traditional Conservative base. Johnson attended a Parliament's Privileges Committee hearing, where he gave evidence on whether he deliberately misled parliament over Partygate. Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty ImagesThat same day, Johnson’s dwindling influence was further underscored as he led a futile rebellion against Sunak’s new Brexit deal, something Johnson has publicly criticized. Johnson delivered Brexit in 2016, but it was now Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who received praise from US President Joe Biden for fixing the issue Johnson's deal created with Northern Ireland. And living in denial might be the kindest thing that Johnson could possibly have done for himself and his legacy.

Persons: Boris Johnson, Downing, Sir Winston Churchill, Johnson, poshboy –, Kois Miah, Johnson’s, Liz Truss, it’s, tutted, Adrian Dennis, Sunak, “, ” Johnson, Brexit, Rishi Sunak, Joe Biden, Dan Kitwood, won’t Organizations: CNN, Johnson, Conservative, London Olympics, Getty, Brexit, EU, Brits, Northern Ireland Locations: British, London, Beijing, Victoria Park, Partygate, AFP, Britain’s, Northern Ireland, Ukraine, Kyiv, Northern, Europe

☆ Cramer says the money's in tech this year, tread carefully when it comes to any other sector
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Julie Coleman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The safest spot for your money right now is tech -- otherwise, tread carefully. "That's the defining feature of this market, because if you stray from a small portion of the tech complex, you're gonna be destroyed." The industries seeing losses on the market right now include energy, utilities, healthcare, real estate, consumer staples, materials, industrials and even banks, especially regional ones. Real estate is being badly burned as remote work persists, with office building owners like Boston Properties and Alexandria Real Estate seeing huge losses. To Cramer, tech is only immune to this widespread turmoil because of the boon that is generative AI.

Persons: CNBC's Jim Cramer, Cramer, Leidos, GPT Organizations: Moderna, CVS, Boston Properties, CNBC, Club Charitable Trust, Nvidia Locations: Real, Alexandria

☆ Here are stocks to own to take the debt ceiling, bond market out of your investing equation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +18 min

Are the travails of the bond market, like Macbeth expounds, a "tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing?" The billionaire class — so incorrectly sought after by the media — so often seems to use the bond market as a sort of intellectual cudgel. That's why I always start my discussion on bonds with the simple query of "where are the layoffs, not forget about stocks, think fixed income." Here the bond market polices only those companies that haven't pivoted to making a profit. They, among all sectors, could be pummeled by the bond market freeze and by the consumers' paralysis.

☆ Vice, Decayed Digital Colossus, Files for Bankruptcy
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Lauren Hirsch | Benjamin Mullin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Vice Media filed for bankruptcy on Monday, punctuating a yearslong descent from a new-media darling to a cautionary tale of the problems facing the digital publishing industry. A group of Vice’s lenders, including Fortress Investment Group and Soros Fund Management, is in the leading position to acquire the company out of bankruptcy. The group has submitted a bid of $225 million, which would be covered by its existing loans to the company. It would also take over “significant liabilities” from Vice after any deal closes. The lenders have secured a $20 million loan to continue operating Vice and then, if a better bid does not emerge, the group that includes Fortress and Soros will acquire Vice.

☆ 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.

☆ Opinion: The world just tilted in India’s favor
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Opinion Frida Ghitis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

She is a weekly opinion contributor to CNN, a contributing columnist to The Washington Post and a columnist for World Politics Review. CNN —Imagine a world in which the world’s most populous country is a democracy. The United Nations Population Fund announced Wednesday that, according to its calculations, India’s 1.4 billion have already surpassed mainland China’s population, and will exceed all of China’s – including Hong Kong’s population – by the middle of this year. In addition to shrinking, China’s population is growing older. Today, after decades of breakneck economic growth, China’s population is much wealthier than India’s.

☆ This 1977 Nike memo that calls personal ambition a 'danger' and urges workers to 'fight the law' is getting renewed attention thanks to 'Air'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Matthew Kish | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

In 1977, Nike executive Rob Strasser typed a list of 10 company "principles." The raw and unfiltered list captures the irreverence and combativeness of early Nike employees. It was republished after the April 2023 release of "Air," a movie about how Nike signed Michael Jordan. The list, which captures the irreverence and competitiveness of early Nike employees, once again is making the rounds on social media. One of them: "Be on the offense, always," a direct nod at Strasser's list, and a phrase that remains a favorite of Nike executives.

☆ Edward H. Meyer, Who Built an Advertising Empire, Dies at 96
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Alex Williams | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Edward H. Meyer, an empire-building chief executive who, using an iron-willed management style and a laser focus on even the smallest details, transformed a midsize New York advertising agency into the global power known as Grey Group, died on Tuesday at his apartment in Manhattan. Mr. Meyer joined Grey Advertising, as it was then known, as an account-services executive in 1956, when the agency was billing about $34 million a year. He was named president in 1968 and assumed the reins as chairman and chief executive in 1970. As a manager, Mr. Meyer was anything but passive. Demanding performance at all levels, he had an uncompromising drive that inspired comparisons to corporate barons like Rupert Murdoch and Sumner Redstone.

Endeavor, the Hollywood entertainment colossus that owns the Ultimate Fighting Championship, is close to a deal that would combine that league with World Wrestling Entertainment, two people familiar with the negotiations said on Sunday. The combination would mean a behemoth in combat entertainment, both real and scripted. The deal could be announced as early as this week, said the people, who requested anonymity to discuss confidential negotiations. The deal would create a new, publicly traded company, according to the people, with Endeavor’s U.F.C. league composing 51 percent of the business and W.W.E.

☆ When Songs Sound Similar, Courts Look for Musical DNA
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On the surface, Ed Sheeran and Led Zeppelin might not seem to have a lot in common. Led Zeppelin is a classic-rock colossus whose molten riffs are part of the foundation of heavy metal. Yet when it comes to the recent history of copyright litigation in music, Sheeran and Led Zeppelin are practically joined at the hip. In some ways, “Thinking Out Loud” bears an obvious resemblance to “Let’s Get It On.” They share nearly identical chord progressions and similar bass lines. (In this case, performance elements in the recordings are irrelevant; the suit involves only the underlying compositions.)

☆ Walmart’s ho-hum is the new fabulous
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Jennifer Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, Feb 21 (Reuters Breakingviews) - At Walmart (WMT.N), boring is the new fabulous. But Walmart benefits from being big, established, and, importantly, profitable, and the latter can’t be said for Amazon.com’s (AMZN.O) retail business. As the shine comes off of technology companies, Walmart’s failures are an afterthought. Walmart’s commitment to keeping prices low is reflected in its operating margins that currently hover at a slim 3%. Walmart’s enterprise value to this year’s EBITDA, at 12 times, is a hair more than Amazon’s.

☆ How unusually mild weather prevented what could've been the first aircraft carrier battle since World War II
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Sebastien Roblin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Argentine jets were poised to strike when the usually turbulent South Atlantic winds took a mild turn. Few of the half-dozen Argentine aviators expected to survive the attack, dubbed "Banzai Night" after the famous Japanese battle cry. Government of ArgentinaIronically, the Veinticinco de Mayo was originally a British carrier named the HMS Venerable launched by the Cammell Laird shipyard near the end of World War II. After a damaging boiler-room fire, the Karel was sold in 1969 to the Argentine Navy which extensively modernized and rebuilt the 25-year-old vessel. The Harrier and the Sea DartSea Harrier jump jets aboard HMS Hermes in the South Atlantic on May 1, 1982.

☆ CVS pays exorbitant $10 bln price to diversify
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Robert Cyran | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, Feb 8 (Reuters Breakingviews) - CVS Health (CVS.N) keeps marching ahead with its plan to create an American healthcare colossus. Its latest acquisition involves paying $10.6 billion, including debt, to buy Oak Street Health (OSH.N). CVS is buying home-healthcare assessment provider Signify Health (SGFY.N) for $8 billion, and now Oak Street, to beef up its capabilities. CVS is valuing each Oak Street healthcare provider at more than $17 million, and each patient at about $67,000. In September, CVS agreed to buy Signify Health, a home healthcare provider mostly for Medicare patients, for $8 billion.

☆ See the wild 1977 Nike memo that calls personal ambition a 'danger' and urges workers to 'fight the law'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Matthew Kish | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

In 1977, Nike executive Rob Strasser typed a list of 10 company "principles." The raw and unfiltered list captures the irreverence and combativeness of early Nike employees. The list, which captures the irreverence and competitiveness of early Nike employees, once again is making the rounds on social media. Several former Nike employees replied to Reames and said they still have copies of the original document. One of them: "Be on the offense, always," a direct nod at Strasser's list, and a phrase that remains a favorite of Nike executives.

SAN LUIS, Ecuador—Built near a spewing volcano, it was the biggest infrastructure project ever in this country, a concrete colossus bankrolled by Chinese cash and so important to Beijing that China’s leader, Xi Jinping , spoke at the 2016 inauguration. Today, thousands of cracks have emerged in the $2.7 billion Coca Codo Sinclair hydroelectric plant, government engineers said, raising concerns that Ecuador’s biggest source of power could break down. At the same time, the Coca River’s mountainous slopes are eroding, threatening to damage the dam.

☆ Goldman slams into unwelcome sort of volatility
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( John Foley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

NEW YORK, Jan 17 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The similarities between Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and Morgan Stanley (MS.N) are drawing attention to what makes them different. Investment banking fees halved year-on-year for each, though Goldman generated roughly 50% more from deal advice and underwriting stocks and bonds than its archrival. During the decade before he took over, Goldman traded at a premium to Morgan Stanley. Separately, rival Morgan Stanley reported earnings per share of $1.26 for the same three-month period, 37% less than for the same span in 2021, and slightly higher than analysts’ forecasts, according to Refinitiv. Goldman reported a $2 billion full-year loss for its new “platform solutions” division, which includes the credit card it offers alongside iPhone maker Apple.

☆ The Forces That Shaped Donovan Mitchell’s 71-Point Night
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Robert O'Connell | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

In one sense, what Donovan Mitchell accomplished Monday night was truly rare. The Cleveland Cavaliers guard scored 71 points in an overtime win over the Chicago Bulls, the most in one game since Kobe Bryant scored 81 in 2006 and tied for the eighth-most in NBA history. The list of players who scored 70 points in a game features just seven people, one of whom—Wilt Chamberlain, still basketball’s statistical colossus—did so six times. “We were treated tonight to one of the greatest performances in the history of the NBA,” Mitchell’s coach, J.B. Bickerstaff, said after the game.

☆ Fearsome spinosaurus wasn't the scourge of prehistoric seas after all
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Sereno and his team returned to their work with Spinosaurus in search of answers about what life had really been like for the fearsome dinosaur. James GurneyNext, the team turned to Spinosaurus’ tail. Dr. Frank Fish, tail mechanics expert and professor of biology at West Chester University of Pennsylvania, took the lead. Fish compared the Spinosaurus tail with those of alligators and other reptiles and found the dinosaur would have been too rigid to function well underwater. Spinosaurus fossils have largely been found in the riverbank deposits of Niger’s inland basins, which are distant from prehistoric marine coastlines.

☆ From backyard colossus to Midtown jewel: Journey of the Rock Center Christmas tree
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Associated Press | Matthew Nighswander | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: 1 min

In a ceremony dating back to 1933, the Rockefeller Center tree will be lit Wednesday night, completing the metamorphosis of a backyard giant into one of the world's most famous Christmas trees. Construction workers pooled their money in 1931 to buy the first tree to grace the plaza, a 20-foot high balsam fir with garlands made by their families. Rockefeller Center decided to make the tree an annual tradition and the first tree-lighting was two years later.

☆ Ko wins LPGA Player of the Year, final title as a single lady
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"I couldn't have drawn it up any better," the world number three said after winning the LPGA's biggest cheque of $2 million at the Tiburon Golf Club in Naples. Ko wiped away tears as she tapped in for par on the final hole at Tiburon, having outlasted Ireland's third-round co-leader, Leona Maguire. The win, her second in the season-ending event, ensured her a second LPGA Player of the Year award, seven years after her first. She also claimed the Vare Trophy for a second year in succession after finishing with the season's lowest scoring average of 68.988. Only Annika Sorenstam, the Swedish great, has a better average (68.70 in 2002) among Vare Trophy winners.

☆ Amazon gets irrationally swept up in tech angst
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Lauren Silva Laughlin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Revenue for the business that delivers goods in the mail jumped to $107 billion, a 13% increase from a year earlier. Amazon said fourth-quarter operating income could be as low as zero along with net sales projections that fell below what analysts were expecting, according to estimates gathered by Refinitiv. Unlike Meta, Amazon is a victim of wider trends, including angst over the technology sector. Amazon Web Services, the data storage business, increased sales 28% from a year earlier to $20.5 billion, also short of Wall Street’s expectations. For the fourth quarter, Amazon said it expects net sales to be between $140 billion and $148 billion, up 2% to 8% from the fourth quarter in 2021.

☆ China Evergrande’s Debt-Crisis Fallout: Losses, Layoffs and More Defaults
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Cao Li | Rebecca Feng | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

When China Evergrande Group began struggling under a mountain of debt last year, it quietly set off a chain reaction across the country. Chinese authorities prevented a disorderly collapse of the real-estate colossus, but Evergrande’s distress has spread across China’s housing market and many related industries. The situation has worsened this year into what is now a full-blown property downturn that has become a major drag on China’s economy.

☆ U.S. stock market is taking hits, but we’re still doing better than the rest of the world
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-07 | by ( Bob Pisani | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The U.S. stock market may be down 21% this year, but it's far better than most of the rest of the world. The U.S. stock market, which has been outperforming most other markets for a long time, is continuing to increase its market share of global equities. That 66%, Hartnett says, is an all-time high. Hartnett notes that Tesla's market cap, at roughly $750 billion, is now the same as the entire European banking sector. U.S. stock market: king of the hill (by market capitalization) U.S.: 60.3% Japan 5.4% China 4.1% UK 3.9% Canada 3.2% France 2.7% Switzerland 2.5% Australia 1.9% Germany 1.9% Taiwan 1.6% Other 12.2%

☆ 7 companies poised to cash in on the $30 billion hydrogen commercial-vehicle market by winning over giants like Amazon
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Andrew Moseman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Rising fuel costs, the possibility of stricter emissions regulations to come, and questions about battery supplies, have all increased the appeal of zero-emission fuel cells. Volvo TrucksVolvo GroupCEO: Martin LundstedtMarket Cap: $32.97 billionHQ: Gothenburg, SwedenVolvo Trucks said in June 2022 it had begun testing hydrogen fuel-cell trucks. In the latter case, Plug Power has provided Amazon with more than 15,000 fuel cells to replace the batteries in its warehouse forklifts since 2016. Plug just signed a new deal to provide the behemoth with the liquid hydrogen necessary to run its fuel-cell vehicles starting in 2025. As part of a deal with Weichai group, Ballard is building fuel cells in China to power fuel-cell vehicles in that market.

Search resuls for: "colossus"

25 mentions found