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☆ Carmakers face a crossroads as they work to fit auto dealers into their EV plans
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Michael Wayland | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

"I think we're all building this airplane as we fly," Michael Alford, president of the National Auto Dealers Association, a trade association that represents more than 16,000 U.S. new franchised dealers, told CNBC. Automakers and franchised dealers have a complex relationship that is backed, in many states, by laws that make it difficult, if not illegal, to bypass franchised dealers and sell new vehicles directly to consumers. Both automakers and franchised dealers want to maximize profits, but they're separate businesses that heavily rely on one another to succeed. David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesHonda Motor has said it plans to move more sales online, including 100% online sales for its luxury Acura brand for EVs. Jay Vijayan, who assisted in building out Tesla's digital and IT systems, doesn't believe selling EVs exclusively online will pan out.

☆ Britain's 2022 car production hits over six-decade low
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SMMT, an automotive trade association in the UK, said 775,014 cars were made in Britain in 2022. UK factories, however, produced a record 234,066 battery electric vehicles (BEV), plug-in hybrid and hybrid electric vehicles, with combined volumes rising 4.5% year-on-year to account for almost a third of the overall car output. "These (total) figures reflect just how tough 2022 was for UK car manufacturing, though we still made more electric vehicles than ever before," SMMT Chief Executive Mike Hawes said. Total annual output for the domestic UK market rose 9.4%, while exports dropped 14%. In December, the overall car production fell 17.9% over the year earlier, snapping two straight months of growth in output.

☆ Meet Thom Browne, the stripe-obsessed designer who took on Adidas and won
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Danni Santana | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Thom Browne defeated Adidas in court this month over its right to use its four stripe design. Adidas sought roughly $7.8 million in damages — equivalent to the amount Adidas believed it would have earned through a licensing agreement with Thom Browne and profits Thom Browne made off the parallel stripe designs. Fashion Designer Thom Browne arrives at Manhattan Federal Court on January 03, 2023. Thom Browne made $285 million in 2021 revenue compared to $23 billion for Adidas, according to the New York Times report. By then, Thom Browne was dressing sports teams like the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers and European soccer club FC Barcelona for pregame appearances.

☆ How to find a job in the one tech market that is not seeing layoffs: Cybersecurity
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Kaitlin Balasaygun | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Sakorn Sukkasemsakorn | Istock | Getty ImagesStrong demand for cybersecurity workers is continuing even as big technology companies lay off thousands of employees. But with a supply-demand ratio currently at 68 workers per 100 job openings, the nearly 530,000 more cybersecurity workers need in the U.S. went up year over year. The total number of employed cybersecurity workers was estimated at 1.1 million, steady year over year. Lightcast says that public sector job demand trend isn't a one-year phenomenon, growing by 58% over the past three years in all. Related to that, the Washington, D.C. metro area accounted for 19% of all public sector domestic cybersecurity job listings.

☆ Justice Department Can’t Reopen Realtor Antitrust Probe, Court Rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Laura Kusisto | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Under a settlement with the Justice Department, the National Association of Realtors agreed to help provide more transparency to buyers about commissions. A federal judge Wednesday said the Justice Department must honor an agreement it made with the real-estate industry’s largest trade association to close an antitrust investigation into rules governing how agents market properties and set commissions for home sales. During the Trump administration, the Justice Department investigated whether a lack of transparency to buyers around the roughly 5% to 6% commission rate for agents had caused artificially high transaction costs, despite disruptive forces such as the proliferation of online listings and venture capital-funded startups. In nearly every residential real estate transaction in the U.S. the buyers’ agents are paid by the home seller and not directly by the buyer.

Power giant Orsted aims to build a huge offshore windfarm to help the country meet renewable goals. Last year the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA), which regulates offshore energy activity, concluded that large crossovers between such ventures were unfeasible with current technology. This largely unreported clash risks undermining Britain's drive to meet its climate goals, according to the companies involved and a North Sea green transition expert. The BP-Orsted showdown could also presage similar disputes elsewhere in an increasingly crowded North Sea, the experts told Reuters. There is hope on the horizon for wind and CCS projects that share ground, say regulators and industry experts.

☆ Fact Check-No evidence that four AI robots killed 29 scientists in Japan or South Korea
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

There is no evidence to support claims online that four artificial intelligence robots killed 29 scientists in a lab in Japan or South Korea. “Japanese A.I Robots Murders 29 Scientists,” reads one tweet (here). Some posts say that the supposed incident happened in Japan, while others (fb.watch/i9iz5cDId7/) place it to South Korea. Reuters found no evidence that such an incident took place in Japan or South Korea. There is no evidence to support claims circulating online that 29 scientists were killed in a lab in Japan or South Korea by four artificial intelligence robots.

☆ Businesses see lower odds U.S. in or entering recession, NABE says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] People line up outside a Kentucky Career Center hoping to find assistance with their unemployment claim in Frankfort, Kentucky, U.S. June 18, 2020. Approximately 53% of those polled by the National Association of Business Economics (NABE) said they had a more than-even expectation the United States would enter a recession over the next 12 months, while 3% indicated they thought the country was already in one. In the NABE's previous poll released in October, 64% of respondents indicated that the U.S. economy was either already in a recession or had a more-than-even likelihood of entering one in the next 12 months. A total of 60 NABE members who work for private-sector firms or industry trade associations responded to the latest survey, which was conducted from Jan. 4-11. Inflation, based on the Fed's preferred measure, is still nearly three times the central bank's 2% target.

☆ American truckers' wages have dropped by more than $50,000 since 1980, creating one of the industry's biggest problems
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Bianca Giacobone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The deregulation of the trucking industry in the 1980s led to wages being slashed by almost half. A high turnover rate — around 90% for large fleets — is considered a big problem of the industry. The change is tied to the Motor Carrier Act of 1980, which deregulated the trucking industry. Along with depressed wages, truckers face a dangerous job: In the US, one in 6 workers killed on the job is a trucker, according to Levy. That contributes to a high turnover of over 90% for large fleets.

☆ Wall Street succession plans: The case for why all 6 big banks could consider a leadership change this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman confirmed what everyone already presumed: There are three executives in the running for his job. It turns out you could make the case for every top US bank making a change in leadership, either with or without the consent of their CEO. At 64 years old, he's the second-oldest CEO among the big six US banks. When discussing succession plans with Bloomberg on Thursday, Gorman acknowledged he doesn't want this job forever. And at 63 years old, he's not exactly a spring chicken.

☆ Texas AG to halt most of Citi's municipal offerings on gun law dispute
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Attorney General of Texas Ken Paxton speaks during former U.S. President Donald Trump's rally, in Conroe, Texas, U.S., January 29, 2022. Texas enacted a law in 2021 that prohibited government contracts with entities that discriminated against the firearms industry. "Citi's designation as an SB-19 discriminator has the effect of halting its ability to underwrite most municipal bond offerings in Texas," Paxton's office told Reuters, referring to the law. Bloomberg News first reported the news, citing a letter that Leslie Brock, assistant attorney general chief of the public finance division, distributed to lawyers on Wednesday. "Therefore, until further notice, we will not approve any public security issued on or after today's date in which Citigroup purchases or underwrites the public security, or in which Citigroup is otherwise a party to a covered contract relating to the public security," according to the letter.

☆ Texas AG to halt most of Citi's municipal offerings on gun law row
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

☆ Brazil should work with other countries to curb illegal gold trade, says mining lobby
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Brazil's mining lobby group asked the country's foreign ministry to work with other governments to improve tactics used to combat the illegal gold trade, it said on Friday. "The trade of illegal gold feeds a criminal alliance in Brazil, which is responsible for part of the devastation we see in the Amazon rainforest, something the world is watching," said Raul Jungmann, president of the Ibram trade association, in a statement. Ibram represents mining giants such as Vale (VALE3.SA), Rio Tinto (RIO.AX), BHP as well as gold miners such as South Africa's AngloGold Ashanti (ANGJ.J) and Canada's Yamana Gold <YRI.TO. The lobby group called for the ministry to work with countries that buy illegally mined Brazilian gold, such as Switzerland, to "reduce the space" for illicit operators. It has pledged to stop deforestation in the Amazon, a vital biome whose health is considered vital in the fight against climate change.

☆ In the era of online scams, here's how to not get tricked when starting a digital business
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Alexandra York | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

An entrepreneurship professor shares her advice on avoiding potential online scams. Business coaches — a community that's also growing on social media — provide guidance and mentorship. Meanwhile, "business opportunities," which often focus on instant financial success, "have a more significant potential for abuse," Franklin said. "Business opportunities are focused on a financial outcome in a relatively short period," Franklin said. It becomes especially important to verify all claims and customer reviews for potential coaches.

Companies are increasingly working together to cut greenhouse-gas emissions but such collaboration faces the threat of antitrust action demanded by politicians who say it violates competition rules. There are now more than 150 business climate collaborations, according to research by Harvard Business Review. “There are a lot of ways to stay on the right side of antitrust laws,” says Justin Stewart-Teitelbaum, antitrust partner at Freshfields. Traditionally, in most jurisdictions, antitrust officials weigh whether the benefits of cooperation outweigh any economic harm caused by it. The anti-ESG movement in the U.S. bases its antitrust threats partly on an assertion that climate action provides little societal benefit to outweigh any economic harm of cooperation.

☆ UK factories face tough 2023 after December weakness
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( David Milliken | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] A member of staff works on the production line at Jaguar Land Rover’s factory in Solihull, Britain, December 15, 2022. "Output contracted at one of the quickest rates during the past 14 years, as new order inflows weakened," S&P director Rob Dobson said. The figures broadly chime with a gloomy outlook issued last month by trade association Make UK, who forecast output in the sector would fall 3.2% in 2023. "These results are the latest in a series of weak indicators ... which suggest that GDP likely fell again in Q4 2022. But factories still cut jobs by the most since October 2020, as orders fell from both domestic customers and clients in China, the United States, mainland Europe and Ireland.

☆ Washington moved fast to crack down on TikTok but has made little progress with Big Tech
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

But in fast-tracking the bill, Congress can’t help but draw attention to its notable lack of progress on regulating American tech giants more broadly — despite years of reports, hearings and proposed legislation. Washington finds a different tech villainThe tech industry’s largest players have faced a kitchen sink of allegations in recent years. The central allegation against TikTok is that the company poses a potential national security risk. But earlier this year, it acknowledged that China-based employees can access TikTok user data and declined to commit to cutting off those data flows in general. “We’re disappointed that Congress has moved to ban TikTok on government devices—a political gesture that will do nothing to advance national security interests—rather than encouraging the Administration to conclude its national security review,” said Brooke Oberwetter, a TikTok spokesperson.

☆ European countries switch off Christmas lights this winter to cut energy usage as Russia keeps tight hold on gas supply
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

European countries have turned off or reduced Christmas lights this year to cut down on energy use. Russia's crackdown on gas supplies to Europe has led to energy-saving measures on the continent. United KingdomThe infamous Christmas lights in London are running for fewer hours this year, according to the organizer the New West End Company. Smaller towns across the UK have also decided to switch off their Christmas lights in order to save money, per reports. GermanyAccording to the German non-profit environmental organization, Deutsche Umwelthilfe, Christmas lights in houses, apartments, and cities should be unplugged this year.

☆ UK's post-Brexit settlement scheme for EU citizens unlawful, London court rules
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Small toy figures are seen in front of UK and European Union displayed flags in this illustration picture, October 17, 2019. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationSummary Judge says government interpretation was "wrong in law"IMA citizens' rights body welcomes rulingBritish government to appealDec 21 (Reuters) - The British government's post-Brexit settlement scheme for EU citizens is unlawful, London's High Court ruled on Wednesday. He argued this aspect of the EU settlement scheme – and a similar scheme for citizens from the countries of the European Economic Area and the European Free Trade Association – was "straightforwardly incompatible with the withdrawal agreement". Judge Peter Lane ruled the British government's interpretation of the withdrawal agreement was "wrong in law" and the settlement scheme was unlawful. "The EU settlement scheme goes above and beyond our obligations under the withdrawal agreement, protecting EU citizens' rights and giving them a route to settlement in the UK.

☆ GOP Sen. Mike Lee proposes bill that could ban access to Internet porn in the US
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

GOP Sen. Mike Lee proposed a bill that would redefine obscenity and could upend the porn industry. Lee's bill targets content that has the "objective intent to arouse, titillate, or gratify the sexual desires of a person." The Free Speech Coalition, which represents the adult film industry, said the bill threatens the performers' livelihoods. Lee, of Utah, introduced the one-page bill, titled the Interstate Obscenity Definition Act, on December 14. —Free Speech Coalition (@FSCArmy) December 15, 2022Mike Stabile, public affairs director with the Free Speech Coalition, also told VICE News that the bill "has gotten a huge amount of attention."

☆ AbbVie to leave leading U.S. drug industry trade group
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 15 (Reuters) - AbbVie Inc (ABBV.N) is leaving Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the leading U.S. drug industry group said on Thursday. Politico, which first reported on AbbVie's exit, said the drugmaker was also leaving the industry group Biotechnology Innovation Organization as well as Business Roundtable, citing a person with knowledge of the matter. Reuters reported in August the pharmaceutical industry spent at least $142.6 million on lobbying Congress and federal agencies in the first half of 2022, more than any industry. AbbVie said it regularly evaluated its memberships with industry trade associations and decided not to renew with select trade associations, without naming the groups. "AbbVie has decided not to renew their membership with PhRMA in 2023.

☆ China scraps tracking app as it relaxes strict 'zero-Covid' rules
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

China will drop a travel tracing requirement as part of an uncertain exit from its strict “zero-Covid” policies that have elicited widespread dissatisfaction. It’s part of a package of apps that includes the health code, which has yet to be disabled. Facing a surge in Covid-19 cases, China is setting up more intensive care facilities and trying to strengthen hospitals’ ability to deal with severe cases. At midnight on Monday, the smart phone app will cease to function, meaning residents’ travels will not be traced and recorded. Many believed Covid-19 restrictions may have impeded rescue efforts.

☆ Freight railroad service is terrible, even without the threat of a strike
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

But that doesn’t mean freight railroads are providing good service to their customers. Many of the problems tangling up the supply chain, driving up prices and slowing the economy can be traced to the steady decline in freight rail service in recent years. Some experts who represent rail customers who have complained about service in the past say service has gotten better since earlier this year. “The national freight rail network is broken, and the need for long-term rail reform is clear. Union Pacific (UNP), Norfolk Southern (NSC) and Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRKA) Burlington Northern Santa Fe all reported record earnings in 2021.

☆ UAW calls on automakers to move supply chain out of Xinjiang region
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Police officers patrol in the old city in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China, May 4, 2021. REUTERS/Thomas PeterWASHINGTON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - The United Auto Workers (UAW) union called on automakers to shift their entire supply chain out of China's Xinjiang region after a new report on Tuesday suggests that nearly every major automaker has significant exposure to products made with forced labor. "The time is now for the auto industry to establish high-road supply chain models outside the Uyghur Region that protect labor and human rights and the environment," said UAW President Ray Curry. "In some cases, Uyghur forced labor is apparent at multiple steps" of parts manufacturing, mining, refining, pre-fabrication and assembly, it added. Curry called on the U.S. government to "devote the necessary resources to allow Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to effectively identify and ban the importation of products made with forced labor."

☆ Global airlines see return to profitability in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Emma Farge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Global airline industry body International Air Transport Association (IATA) Director General Willie Walsh attends an interview with Reuters in Doha, Qatar, June 19, 2022. Airlines lost tens of billions of dollars in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, but air travel has partially recovered and some airports have struggled to cope. DOWNSIDE RISKIATA believes global air traffic levels will return to pre-COVID or 2019 levels by 2024, led by the United States and with Asia-Pacific "notably lagging." If China does not loosen restrictions, airlines' profitability would be affected. Walsh said airlines had survived the worst of the downturns, though Europe's fragmented market remained an area to watch.

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