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☆ Factbox: Global banks cut jobs as cost pressures mount
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The British investment bank has performed well in recent quarters, especially in fixed income trading, but a blunder in the United States that saw it sell more securities than permitted has cost it hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties. CITIGROUPCiti (C.N) eliminated dozens of jobs across its investment banking division, as a dealmaking slump continues to weigh on Wall Street's biggest banks, Bloomberg News reported on Nov. 8. The cost savings reported are likely to involve more job cuts than previously announced for the first wave of reductions, including in its wealth business, Reuters reported. DEUTSCHE BANKDeutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE), Germany's largest bank, cut staff in its investment bank's origination and advisory teams in October, in a move than affected mostly junior bankers. MORGAN STANLEY (MS.N)In December, the investment bank slashed about 2% of its workforce, a source familiar with the company's plans told Reuters.

☆ Barclays cuts Apple price target on concerns over demand weakness, slowing services growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Barclays recently cut its Apple price target from $144 per share to $133 per share, noting it's concerned that Apple Services estimates are "at risk." The firm lowered its revenue estimate by 7% for the quarter to account for slowing services growth, production problems and weakening demand. "What started out as production driven cuts has moved to demand weakness across product categories," they wrote in a Tuesday note. Apple struggled with iPhone 14 Pro shipments during the holiday season because of Covid restrictions on its primary factory in China. Foxconn has attempted to entice workers back with bonuses, and Reuters reported that Foxconn's Zhengzhou factory is almost back to full production.

☆ Uganda declares itself Ebola-free after swiftly turning tide on outbreak
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Elias Biryabarema | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] Motorists and cyclists are seen at a traffic light intersection in Kabuusu area of the Lubaga division amid the Ebola outbreak in Kampala, Uganda November 16, 2022. "We have successfully controlled the spread of Ebola in Uganda," Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng said during a ceremony to mark the outbreak's end. Aceng said this was Uganda's eighth Ebola outbreak since 2000, when the country recorded its first and most deadly one that killed more than half of the 425 people it infected. In the early weeks of the outbreak, cases spread beyond the epicentre of Mubende, 150 km (90 miles) west of the capital Kampala, to several other districts, including Kampala. Unlike the more common strain of the virus, Ebola Zaire, which has been behind several recent epidemics in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, the strain behind Uganda's outbreak, Ebola Sudan, has no proven vaccine.

☆ Disney CEO Bob Iger tells staff to return to the office 4 days a week, saying 'nothing can replace' in-person work
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Disney staff have been told to return to the office four days a week from March. CEO Bob Iger, who returned to the company in late 2022, announced the policy in a memo to staff. "It is my belief that working together more in-person will benefit the company's creativity, culture, and our employees' careers," Iger told staff. For roughly the past year, most Disney staff have been required to visit the office three days a week, The New York Times reported. Disney is following in the footsteps of other companies who have told staff to return to the office as coronavirus cases largely decline.

☆ China's big consumer market isn't rebounding to pre-pandemic levels just yet
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

For the past six months, revenue had dropped to 30% of typical levels, Chong said. The travel season for China's big holiday runs this year from around Jan. 7 to Feb. 15. That's twice what it was last year, and 70% of 2019 levels, China's Ministry of Transport said Friday. It noted most of the trips will likely be for visiting family, while just 10% will be for leisure or business travel. By that time, people will have been able to process their passport applications, while the number of international flights may have recovered to 50% or 60% of 2019 levels, Chen said.

☆ How the end of China's travel lockdown could boost online retail powerhouses like Shein
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

As of January 8, Chinese citizens may travel out of the country freely for the first time in years. The change could boost Chinese e-commerce powerhouses like Shein and Alibaba. Though there are plenty of dedicated cargo flights in and out of China, more than half of air cargo worldwide travels in the belly of passenger planes. Chinese online retailers stand to benefit even more, said Brian Bourke, chief commercial officer of Seko Logistics, a freight forwarding company that manages transportation for Shein, among other US and Chinese e-commerce giants. Cheaper air cargo rates are likely to encourage even more investment in speed from Shein and others.

☆ Fact Check-No reports of an Ebola virus outbreak at GW Hospital
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

There is no evidence of a patient testing positive for the Ebola virus at The George Washington (GW) University Hospital in Washington, D.C., health officials told Reuters. Users online are sharing a claim that the hospital is no longer accepting patients out of concern over a possible Ebola outbreak. Examples of users sharing images of a tweet that reads, “BREAKING NEWS: GW HOSPITAL isn’t accepting no patients due to a possible EBOLA OUTBREAK. Also Washington Hospital Center has no bed space with a line out the door” can be seen on Facebook (here) and (here). There has not been a reported case of a patient who tested positive for the Ebola virus at GW Hospital, health officials told Reuters.

☆ UK construction activity falls by most since May 2020 -PMI
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Jan 6 (Reuters) - British construction activity fell last month at its sharpest rate since May 2020, as new orders dried up in the face of rising interest rates and broader cost pressures, a survey showed on Friday. "The UK's construction sector registered a relatively poor finish to 2022, with business activity falling into decline following a three-month growth sequence amid the fastest contraction in new work since the initial pandemic period in May 2020," S&P economist Lewis Cooper said. Britain's construction sector had been performing strongly earlier in 2022, with output up 7.4% in the year to October according to official data. However, Bank of England interest rates have been rising steeply - hitting a 14-year high of 3.5% in December - and house prices have recently started to fall. The construction PMI showed falls in both house building and civil engineering work.

☆ NY Fed says China's COVID woes are pressuring supply chains
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Michael S. Derby | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The regional Fed bank's December Global Supply Chain Pressure Index ticked down to 1.18 from November's revised 1.23 reading. According to the report, supply chain pressures have been easing notably since the spring of last year and bottomed in September, and have since then been bouncing around in a tight range. Given China's large role in manufacturing, that approach has kept pressure on supply chains over recent months. The report noted that China's recent woes were affecting other Asian economies, and said the future of that nation's impact on supply chains is uncertain. Supply chain pressures as measured by the New York Fed have been generally easing since hitting a peak in the closing months of 2021.

☆ An architect bought a crumbling 19th-century French château and restored it to match the original owners' plans. Now you can rent it for up to $600 a night — see inside.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Claire Turrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Sibylle Thomke, a Swiss architect, bought a 19th-century château in France with her savings in 2017. Sibylle Thomke. "You could buy a three-bedroom apartment in Zurich for the price that I paid for this property," Thomke said. "My biggest concern was how to make sense of the château," Thomke said. As they offer the luxury of a dinner service four nights a week at the château, Thomke chose not to place it on Airbnb.

☆ India's services growth at 6-month high on robust demand - PMI
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Anant Chandak | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Rupak De ChowdhuriBENGALURU, Jan 4 (Reuters) - India's services industry saw activity increase at the fastest pace in six months during the final month of 2022 amid robust demand, fuelling business optimism despite high costs, a private-sector survey showed. The S&P Global India services purchasing managers' index (PMI) (INPMIS=ECI) rose to 58.5 in December from 56.4 in the previous month, confounding expectation in a Reuters poll for a fall to 55.5. The index was above the 50-mark separating growth from contraction for the 17th straight month - the longest stretch of growth since June 2013. Hiring hit a five-month low, albeit in expansionary territory, even though the new business sub-index rose to a four-month high due to strong demand. Thanks to the growth in services as well as in manufacturing, the composite index rose to 59.4 in December, the highest since January 2012, from 56.7 in November.

☆ Tesla makes China boss Tom Zhu its highest-profile executive after Elon Musk
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

In this article TSLA Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTTom Zhu Xiaotong, Tesla's current executive in charge of China, speaks as a new Tesla experience store opens on Aug. 18, 2015 in Hangzhou, China. The move makes Zhu the highest-profile executive at Tesla after Chief Executive Elon Musk, with direct oversight for deliveries in all of its major markets and operations of its key production hubs. Under Zhu, Tesla's Shanghai plant rebounded strongly from Covid lockdowns in China. Tesla country managers in China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand continued to report to Zhu, the notice showed. Zhu, who was born in China but now holds a New Zealand passport, joined Tesla in 2014.

☆ China continued to reject Marvel movies in 2022, and the country's box office plummeted 36%
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Travis Clark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

China's box office dropped 36% in 2022 compared to the previous year. Chinese film officials also continued to reject many Hollywood releases, particularly Marvel movies. China's box office dropped 36% to $4.35 billion in 2022, according to Deadline, which cited figures that China's Film Administration released to state media. The 2022 North American box office rose to an estimated $7.5 billion, according to Comscore, a 64% increase from the previous year. To make matters worse for its box office, China also didn't have a local smash hit last year, like it did in 2021 with "The Battle at Lake Changjin."

☆ Irish manufacturing activity shrinks again in Dec - PMI
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The AIB S&P Global manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) was unchanged in December after falling in November to 48.7 from October's 51.4. Any reading below the 50 mark points to a contraction in activity. Ireland's factories have nevertheless proven more resilient to the Europe-wide cost-of-living crisis and it was the only euro zone member measured by the PMI where manufacturing was still growing until two months ago. That led to the slowest round of input price inflation since February 2021. Input prices were still elevated and output price inflation also remained high, accelerating in December.

☆ Musician's app helps Kenyan creatives sell music and merchandise
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HustleSasa, which officially launched in November 2021, allows the singer-songwriter and fellow creatives to stream music or sell branded merchandise, concert tickets, food, fashion and other services in one mobile phone application. Artists or vendors sell their products directly to the market, with no set-up costs or monthly fees, and receive payment instantly via bank card or mobile money, avoiding expensive commissions charged by some apps. "Our region has one of the lowest payout rates in the world from other streaming platforms, but on HustleSasa you are getting value for money in real time," Alusa said. Yaba, another Kenyan musician, said the app's streaming service allows him to make more money and to connect directly to his audience. "It's the future of ticketing, it's the future of selling merch, it's the future where we are going to have the power and future in our hands."

☆ Tom Zhu: China boss is now highest-profile Tesla executive after Elon Musk
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The move makes Zhu the highest-profile executive at Tesla after Elon Musk, with oversight for deliveries in all of its major markets and all of its production outside the still-ramping Tesla plant in Germany. Under Zhu, Tesla’s Shanghai plant rebounded strongly from Covid lockdowns in China. Tesla country managers in China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand continued to report to Zhu, the notice showed. Sleeping roughZhu, who was born in China but now holds a New Zealand passport, joined Tesla in 2014. Tesla board member James Murdoch said in November the company had recently identified a potential successor to Musk without naming the person.

☆ Tom Zhu, who reportedly just became Tesla's 2nd most-powerful exec, slept at a Chinese factory during COVID lockdown — a habit he shares with CEO Elon Musk
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Reuters reported Tuesday that Tesla has made executive Tom Zhu head of US plants and sales. The role effectively makes Zhu Tesla's second-most powerful executive after Elon Musk. Like Musk, Zhu has a habit of sleeping overnight in Tesla facilities, according to Reuters. Like Musk, Zhu's committment to Tesla has extended to overnight stays in Tesla facilities in the past. Zhu reportedly slept in Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory alongside other employees during the city's two-month COVID-19 lockdowns last year, in an effort to keep the plant running, per Reuters.

☆ Exclusive: Tesla makes China boss highest-profile executive after Musk
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] Tesla's China chief Tom Zhu speaks at a delivery ceremony for China-made Tesla Model 3 vehicles in the Shanghai Gigafactory of the U.S. electric car maker in Shanghai, China December 30, 2019. The move makes Zhu the highest-profile executive at Tesla after Chief Executive Elon Musk, with direct oversight for deliveries in all of its major markets and operations of its key production hubs. Under Zhu, Tesla's Shanghai plant rebounded strongly from COVID lockdowns in China. Tesla country managers in China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand continued to report to Zhu, the notice showed. Zhu, who was born in China but now holds a New Zealand passport, joined Tesla in 2014.

REUTERS/Tingshu WangBEIJING/WUHAN, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Some people in China's key cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Wuhan braved the cold and a spike in COVID-19 infections to return to regular activity on Monday, confident of a boost to the economy as more recover from infections. But Monday's one new COVID death - flat with the previous day - among China's population of 1.4 billion does not match the experience of other countries after they re-opened. Cumulative deaths in China since Dec. 1 have probably reached 100,000, with infections at 18.6 million, it said. Airfinity expects China's COVID infections to reach their first peak on Jan. 13, with 3.7 million daily infections. China has said it only counts deaths of COVID patients caused by pneumonia and respiratory failure as COVID-related.

☆ A married couple with a 47-unit real estate portfolio worth $19 million explain why the housing market is setting investors up for 'significant opportunities' in 2023 — and the top regions to buy in
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Lisa Kailai Han | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Kenny Simpson and Krystle Moore have amassed a $19 million, 47-unit real estate portfolio. With a recession on the horizon, inflation remaining at decades-high levels, and rapidly climbing interest rates, the future of the real estate market heading into 2023 seems bleak. "I think the general theme of 2023 is going to be significant opportunities for people in real estate," Moore told Insider in a recent interview. A Fed pivot will also help stimulate the real estate market since the industry is highly sensitive to rates, boosting jobs in construction and lending. Finding emerging markets can be a goldmine for real estate investors, since these areas are oftentimes cheaper than their more established counterparts.

☆ Macron says 2023 will be the year of pension reform in France
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] French President Emmanuel Macron is seen on a screen through the light of a Christmas tree as he delivers his New Year's speech to the nation at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, December 31, 2022. REUTERS/Sarah MeyssonnierPARIS, Dec 31 (Reuters) - The coming year will be one of much-delayed pension reform, President Emmanuel Macron told the French in a New Year's Eve speech on Saturday. Reforming France's costly and complicated pension system was a key plank of Macron's election platform when he came to power in 2017. Macron put the initiative on hold as he ordered France into lockdown in early 2020. "We need to work longer," he said in a televised speech, adding that the reform would be implemented by the end of the summer.

☆ RIP: Tech That Died in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Christopher Mims | Joanna Stern | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

As we look ahead to the tech trends we face in 2023, we should also spare a moment to reflect on the gadgets and software that headed into the sunset in 2022. Meta Portal 2018-2022Despite cool video-calling tricks, the Portal never found mass appeal—even during Covid-lockdown Zoom marathons. After Facebook became Meta and refocused on its core business and the metaverse, it pulled the Portal plug.

[1/6] People release balloons as they gather to celebrate New Year's Eve, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Wuhan, Hubei province, China January 1, 2023. “I was still afraid when I came out tonight, but I just wanted to come out, because everyone has come out." In late November hundreds of people took part in lockdown demonstrations on the streets of cities across the country including Wuhan. “Those restrictions were in place for too long, so perhaps people were pretty unhappy," said 24-year-old Wuhan resident surnamed Chen, who works in e-commerce. “People have been afraid to come out since the COVID policy was loosened,” he said.

☆ Here's how the U.S. economy could escape a recession in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

The U.S. economy heads into 2023 facing what might be the most anticipated recession in history. That basically means some parts of the economy will feel like they're in a recession while others won't. "Some areas of the economy may not feel like they actually are in recession. "For certain parts of the economy, it will feel like a very deep recession. For other parts, it will feel like a healthy growth economy, particularly in the parts of the economy where we see strong demand," she said.

☆ Rising Interest Rates Imperil Remodeling Mania
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Ryan Dezember | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Higher interest rates have slowed home sales. Now, rising borrowing costs threaten to put the brakes on the renovation boom. Spending on home remodeling and renovation by stuck-at-home Americans helped the economy surge out of lockdown in 2020. Demand overwhelmed makers of paint, wood panels and PVC pipe, leading to shortages. Lumber prices shot to more than twice the old record.

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