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☆ Paralyzed by Choice: the Golden Age of Online Shopping Is Over
▼ + stars: | 2024-11-04 | by ( Emilie Friedlander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Online shopping, which the US Census Bureau estimates accounts for roughly 16% of all retail sales, theoretically makes it easier to find exactly what we are looking for. AdvertisementThe golden age of comparison shopping isn't so golden after all. Ursu has studied two factors in shopping: search costs and search fatigue. Ursu guessed that the most exhausting stage of shopping is comparison shopping — when people pore over minuscule details between products to find the best one. Related storiesIf people abandon their shopping carts because they get overwhelmed by search fatigue, it can come back to bite retailers.

Persons: We'd, It's, Barry Schwartz, Jason Goldberg, Publicis, they've, Marsh, Samantha Kleinberg, you've, moisturizer, New York University's Leonard N, Ursu, Qianyun Zhang, Elisabeth Honka, lockdowns, Lauren Ralph Lauren, Goldberg, Rufus Organizations: Ikea, Amazon, Accenture, Swarthmore College, Walmart, Shoppers, Lehigh University, Stevens Institute of Technology, Cognitive, New York, Stern School of Business, Google Locations: New, Netherlands, Wayfair

☆ Stop Trying to Optimize Everything; Key to Happiness Is Being Average
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-04 | by ( Emily Stewart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

The laws of capitalism say we have to constantly be on the move — work hard, play hard, consume hard, rinse and repeat. In an age where you're supposed to optimize everything, maybe it's fine to just be … fine. "You really do need to work hard and earn a lot (or inherit a lot) to live in decent material conditions in these contexts," he said. Related storiesAs the old saying goes, money doesn't equal happiness (though I have a hard time believing it doesn't help). "There's a hell of a lot of people who are really going to be normal or average, ordinary.

Persons: Thomas Curran, we're, Curran, Avram Alpert, Alpert, Barry Schwartz, Swarthmore College who's, Schwartz, Nathan Cheek, We're, doesn't, influencers, You've, Taylor Swift, Kelly Goldsmith, Jamie Ducharme, Goldsmith, they've, —, isn't, it's, Beyoncé, Emily Stewart Organizations: London School of Economics, Swarthmore College, Purdue, YouTube, Vanderbilt University, American Psychological Association, Ivy League ., Business Locations: America, Greece

☆ Google recently cut 'people' from its Search guidelines. Now, website owners say a flood of AI content is pushing them down in search results.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

"This is a joke," another person wrote on a forum for website owners . No longer is it "helpful content written by people, for people," but simply, "Helpful content written for people." She watched pages that previously ranked first for certain terms tumble to fifth, sixth, or seventh place in Google search results. Spotting AI content is impossibleIt's unclear how much of the content that has been bumped up is AI-generated, or whether this is just other content written differently by humans. AdvertisementAdvertisementGoogle continues to say that content built entirely for the purpose or ranking high in search results will be punished.

Persons: Morgan Overholt, I've, –, Barry Schwartz, Overholt, they've, John Mueller, Schwartz, Mueller, Johannes Vermeer Organizations: Google, Service Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ TSX hits a 2-month low as dividend-paying stocks fall
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Fergal Smith | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Art Deco facade of the original Toronto Stock Exchange building is seen on Bay Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada January 23, 2019. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) ended down 33.52 points, or 0.2%, at 19,784.87, its lowest closing level since June 27. "Interest rates continue to climb, which is something negative for the TSX which is littered with dividend payers," said Barry Schwartz, a portfolio manager at Baskin Financial Services. Stocks paying high dividends dominate the real estate, utilities and financials sectors. Shares of Restaurant Brands International (QSR.TO) gained 0.9% after J.P.Morgan initiated coverage on the stock with an "overweight" rating.

Persons: Chris Helgren, Barry Schwartz, Stocks, Fergal Smith, Shubham Batra, Shashwat Chauhan, Shilpi Majumdar, Deepa Babington Organizations: Toronto Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Energy, Toronto Stock, TSX, Baskin Financial Services, Bank of Canada, Technology, Restaurant Brands, Thomson Locations: Toronto , Ontario, Canada, Real, Toronto, Bengaluru

☆ Opinion | The Dramatic, Comic, Tragic, True-Life Story Behind the Death of DVD.com
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Pamela Paul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Or I can allow for serendipity — movies appear in my mailbox that I barely remember adding in the first place. During the service’s glory days, you could easily sort movies by country of origin and display them in chronological order. This was well before streaming led the company to spin off DVD.com like a discarded training bra, a source of shame to what had become an entertainment behemoth. There is a cost to clinging to products and services as they shuffle off into obsolescence. It mutters out movie dialogue reluctantly, barely exceeding the swooshing sounds of the elliptical treads.

☆ Some TD shareholders urge bank to ditch or renegotiate First Horizon deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Maiya Keidan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Regional lenders in the U.S. face a crisis of confidence after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank last month. First Horizon shares are trading almost 30% below TD's offer price of $25 each, which points to the high risk to the deal closing. TD offered a 37% premium to buy First Horizon more than a year ago in a deal that would make TD the sixth-largest U.S. bank, operating in 22 states. Even the shareholders who support TD going ahead with the deal say it should not pay the original price proposed. A First Horizon top-20 shareholder told Reuters he expects the deal to be extended with no other changes.

☆ Credit Suisse fears hit Toronto's main stock index
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TORONTO, March 15 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell 1.6% on Wednesday, dragged down by energy and financial stocks as Credit Suisse spooked world markets, renewing concerns of a banking crisis. By provisional close on Wednesday, the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) was down 315.32 points at 19378.84, its worst day since December 2022. Canadian financial stocks (.SPTTFS) fell 1.9% on Wednesday, mirroring global financial stocks in falling once again, following a brief relief rally on Tuesday, as Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) hit a record low after the Swiss lender's biggest backer said it would not buy any more shares. Brent crude fell 4.1% to $74.26 a barrel. The Toronto market's industrials and utilities sectors escaped the losses on Wednesday, up 0.8% and 0.2% respectively.

"China was closed for months and just improving economic data gives buyers of commodity stocks confidence that those prices can hold, and as we know it is a good chunk of the TSX index," said Barry Schwartz, portfolio manager at Baskin Financial Services. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) ended up 244.37 points, or 1.2%, at 20,581.58, its highest closing level since Feb. 16. Wall Street also advanced as U.S. Treasury yields eased and economic data helped investors look past the growing likelihood that the Federal Reserve will keep its restrictive policy in place for longer than anticipated. Sleep Country Canada Holdings Inc (ZZZ.TO) was up 5.9% after the company's fourth-quarter sales and earnings beat estimates. Reporting by Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Deepa BabingtonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ TSX climbs as materials stocks gain on higher gold, copper prices
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Johann M Cherian | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ET (1512 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) was up 99.49 points, or 0.49%, at 20,436.7. The materials sector (.GSPTTMT) climbed 0.6%, tracking strength in copper and gold prices as strong economic data in top consumer China raised demand hopes. Following a volatile February, the TSX tracked weekly gains of 1.2%, its best performance in seven weeks. The index is on track to snap three straight weekly declines as strong economic data from China allayed fears of a global economic slowdown. Among stocks, Suncor Energy Inc (SU.TO) added 0.8% after Equinor (EQNR.OL) said it would acquire the British oil and gas business of the energy firm for $850 million.

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