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☆ Purdue mess pits drug victims against due process
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Robert Cyran | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

That’s the dilemma currently facing the parties involved in the case regarding Purdue Pharma, including states, individuals, and the company’s founding Sackler family. According to the lawsuit, the family withdrew $11 billion from Purdue, but only contributed $6 billion to the settlement. Side with the DOJ, and the Supreme Court could clean up the bankruptcy process that often shields individuals and companies. For now, though, either the victims of the opioid epidemic will have to wait, or those wanting to end bankruptcy shields will. Follow @rob_cyran on XCONTEXT NEWSThe Supreme Court heard arguments on Dec. 4 over whether to approve the Purdue Pharmaceuticals bankruptcy agreement.

Persons: Sackler, Elena Kagan, Neil Gorsuch, Kagan, Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, They’ve, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam Organizations: Reuters, U.S, Supreme, Purdue Pharma, U.S . Department of Justice, Purdue, Liberal, DOJ, Purdue Pharmaceuticals, Thomson

☆ AI Davids ride coattails of industry Goliaths
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

New York, Dec 5 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Artificial intelligence Goliaths like OpenAI continue to open the door for what might become the industry’s Davids. With a low-cost approach and data privacy focus, it may be able to eventually carve out a solid European business. Mistral has whiffs of what OpenAI, eyeing a mooted $86 billion valuation and eight years old, once was, but with tweaks. Mistral has also focused on “open sourcing” its models, which means they can be downloaded and used for free. As a Paris-based company, Mistral could build out its business with a specific focus on complying with AI rules being finalized by the European Union.

Persons: industry’s Davids, eyeing, Anita Ramaswamy, Neiman Marcus, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Aditya Sriwatsav Organizations: Reuters, Mistral, Bloomberg, European Union, X, Saks, Thomson Locations: York, Paris, Kuwait, Hong Kong

☆ Airline investors have reason to grab the barf bag
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Jonathan Guilford | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, Dec 4 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Lately, when airlines suggest a thrilling deal, investors are left feeling queasy. Look at Alaska Air (ALK.N), whose shares cratered 15% on Monday after announcing the acquisition of struggling Hawaiian (HA.O). As happened when first Frontier (ULCC.O) and JetBlue Airways (JBLU.O) bid for Spirit Airlines (SAVE.N) in 2022, though, the buyer’s shareholders are balking. But it suggests that, by tying up, smaller airlines risk combining their woes. The deal comes as a lawsuit by the Department of Justice looking to block the merger of Spirit Airlines and JetBlue Airways heads to closing arguments on Dec. 5.

Persons: they’ll, trustbusters, nix, Pete Buttigieg doesn’t, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam, Aditya Sriwatsav Organizations: Reuters, Alaska Air, JetBlue Airways, Spirit Airlines, Department of Transportation, of Justice, Department of Justice, Thomson Locations: Lahaina, Maui, Alaska, Hawaii

☆ Competition will make obesity drugs successful
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Robert Cyran | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

In an interview with the Financial Times, he proposed spreading reimbursements over time if the medication proves to be successful. There’s some practical grounding in that solution, but the path of other similar drugs suggests that a competitive market is a better way to make it successful. Snag is, the drugs cost several thousand dollars per patient annually, even after discounts. Medicare, which covers 66 million seniors, can’t pay for weight loss drugs under current law. While it makes more sense for insurers or governments to pay over time if the drugs benefits last, schemes like the one that Jørgensen suggests can only do so much.

Persons: Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, Jørgensen, “, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam Organizations: Reuters, Novo Nordisk, Financial Times, Centers for Disease Control, Prevention, North Carolina, The New England, of Medicine, Employers, Thomson Locations: U.S, The, United States, Danish

☆ Everybody could use a Charlie Munger
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Lauren Silva Laughlin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, Nov 29 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Every great leader needs a Charlie Munger. The deputy to Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRKa.N) Warren Buffett died on Tuesday morning just a month shy of his 100th birthday. And Munger kept at it: at age 99, having served as Berkshire’s vice chairman since 1978, he was still giving interviews as recently as this month. Munger was capable when taking the opposite view from his boss, encouraging the kind of debate that fosters better decisions. Follow @thereallsl on XCONTEXT NEWSCharlie Munger, the longtime vice chairman and second-in-command to Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway, died at a California hospital, the company said on Nov. 28.

Persons: Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett, Munger, lobbing, ”, Buffett, CNBC’s Becky Quick, Greg Abel, Ajit Jain, That’s, Buffett’s, Berkshire Hathaway, ” Buffett, Jonathan Guilford, Sharon Lam Organizations: Reuters, Berkshire Hathaway’s, Berkshire, Costco Wholesale, Thomson Locations: Berkshire, Omaha, ”, California

☆ White House needs to talk turkey about inflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Lauren Silva Laughlin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, Nov 22 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Hey, White House. The release noted that lower inflation was among the things that Americans should be thankful for. Gasoline prices, for example, are down a quarter from their high in June 2022, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The price of the average Thanksgiving meal has dropped from last year, too. Meantime food prices in the average U.S. city are up a fifth since December 2020, according to the St. Louis Federal Reserve.

Persons: they’ll, paychecks, Joe Biden, Biden, ”, he’s, Jonathan Guilford, Aditya Sriwatsav Organizations: Reuters, U.S . Energy Information Administration, Louis Federal Reserve, American Farm Bureau Federation, Associated Press, NORC, for Public Affairs Research, White, Thomson Locations: U.S

☆ Silicon Valley saw OpenAI with eyes wide shut
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Anita Ramaswamy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

NEW YORK, Nov 19 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Silicon Valley’s weekend episode with artificial intelligence company OpenAI seems much like the technology: the input is a mishmash, so the output is flawed. The Microsoft-backed (MSFT.O) company’s board fired boss Sam Altman, and now, according to reports, may bring him back. OpenAI has been the leader in AI technology, which is bolstering valuations in the face of slowing growth in Silicon Valley. By September, OpenAI was seeking a valuation of nearly triple that, according to Reuters. Yet with or without Altman, OpenAI’s issues are clear and abundant.

Persons: Sam Altman, Altman, Greg Brockman, Satya Nadella, OpenAI, ’, OpenAI’s, chipmaker, chatbot, Brockman, Greg, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, Microsoft, Stanford, UC Berkley, OpenAI’s, San Francisco, Wall Street, Thomson Locations: Silicon Valley, U.S

☆ American CEOs serve China’s Xi a too-rich dessert
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Lauren Silva Laughlin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque Acquire Licensing RightsNEW YORK, Nov 16 (Reuters Breakingviews) - America’s corporate chieftains were thrilled to see China’s President Xi Jinping at Wednesday’s gala dinner in San Francisco. So thrilled that they gave him a standing ovation, according to Reuters. He has defended China’s stance on Taiwan, equating the self-governing island’s relationship with the People’s Republic to Hawaii’s position vis-à-vis the United States. The standing ovation is just a new, cringeworthy way to follow the money. Xi received a standing ovation as he entered the room and before and after he took the stage, the report said.

Persons: Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, Kevin Lamarque, Xi, Tim Cook, Larry Fink, Steve Schwarzman, Ray Dalio, Bridgewater, Tesla, Elon Musk, Apple’s Cook, Ding Xuexiang, Howard Schultz, Biden, “, John Foley, Aditya Sriwatsav Organizations: Economic Cooperation, REUTERS, Reuters, Apple, Blackstone, ”, China, Xi, Thomson Locations: Filoli, Asia, Woodside , California, U.S, San Francisco, BlackRock, China, United States, Taiwan, Republic, Schwarzman, Beijing

☆ Google antitrust trial crystallizes Apple’s risk
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Robert Cyran | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration Acquire Licensing RightsNEW YORK, Nov 15 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The antitrust case against Google is spelling out some serious problems. The U.S. Department of Justice claims that Alphabet maintains its market dominance by striking deals to make Google the default search engine on other companies’ devices and browsers. One expert witness for Google said Apple receives 36% of the ad revenue Google makes from searches on Apple’s Safari browser. Kevin Murphy, an economics professor at the University of Chicago, and an expert witness for Google, made the remark, Bloomberg reported. The two companies have had a partnership since 2002, where Google shares advertising revenue generated from users of Apple devices, and Google is the default search engine for these devices.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Tim Cook, Bernstein, Kevin Murphy, Alphabet’s Google, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam Organizations: Apple, REUTERS, Reuters, Google, U.S . Department of Justice, Microsoft, U.S . Department, University of Chicago, Bloomberg, Alphabet’s, Thomson

☆ Target’s aim is better at the bottom than the top
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Nov 15 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Target (TGT.N) is improving what it can control to try to compensate for price-sensitive consumers. That’s despite a 4% decline in sales, as customers pulled back on buying apparel, electronics and home accessories. It’s the best the $60 billion retailer can do, and shareholders are rightly rewarding it. The key to its success this quarter is inventory, which fell 14% from the same period last year. For a long time, too much stuff sat in Target’s back room.

Persons: Brian Cornell, Jennifer Saba, taints, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam Organizations: Reuters, U.S . Commerce Department, Cornell, X, Alstom, Thomson Locations: U.S, Target’s

☆ Meta’s China quest thaws thin layer of dense cube
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Anita Ramaswamy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

In August, the United States banned domestic companies from making some new investments in Chinese tech, including computer chips and artificial intelligence systems. Chinese-based ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, counts the United States as its largest market. Selling virtual reality hardware primarily used for gaming is also an easier way of entering China. CONTEXT NEWSMeta Platforms struck a preliminary deal to sell virtual reality headsets in China through an exclusive partnership with Tencent, the Wall Street Journal reported on Nov. 9. China banned Meta’s Facebook platform from the country in 2009 and subsequently banned its WhatsApp and Instagram services as well.

Persons: Carlos Barria, Susan Li, Joe Biden, China’s Xi, Biden, Meta’s, Meta, ByteDance’s, Apple’s, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam Organizations: Meta, REUTERS, Reuters, HK, Wall Street, Facebook, United, Huawei, Companies, Republican, Tencent, Google, New York Times, Thomson Locations: Menlo Park , California, U.S, China, Beijing, Washington, United States, San Francisco, Texas, Florida, Montana

☆ Biden’s economic scorecard touts fragile advantage
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Ben Winck | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +11 min

And if the political strategist James Carville was right that “it’s the economy, stupid,” the next several months could make or break Joe Biden’s economic record. As things stand, the current ruler of the free world touts a fragile advantage. Households’ disposable income after adjusting for inflation hit a record $20 trillion in the month that Biden’s measure was approved, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. STUDENT LOANSForgiving swaths of student debt was another of Biden’s campaign promises, but his efforts have so far failed. And with higher interest rates making debt service more expensive, Biden’s spending could come back to bite him on election day.

Persons: Joe Biden, Ken Cedeno, James Carville, Joe Biden’s, “, aren’t, Breakingviews, it’s, Biden, Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, ”, Realtor.com, Congressional Republicans haven’t, haven’t, WALL, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam, Aditya Sriwatsav Organizations: Edmond's Catholic, REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, House, Republican, AMERICAN, ACT, Brookings Institution, Analysis, Walmart, Nordstrom, Deere, Caterpillar, Republicans, Commerce Department, Micron, Bank of America, Gallup, Federal Reserve, United Auto Workers, RSM, Congressional Republicans, Biden, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Conservative, Thomson Locations: St, Rehoboth Beach , Delaware, U.S, New York, Arizona, West Virginia

☆ SEC may have to let crypto foxes into the henhouse
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has cracked down on crypto exchanges without defining most tokens, stoking criticism that it has fostered a regulatory grey area and depressed prices. But now the agency is struggling to hire the experts it needs to keep policing the sector, partly because crypto lovers don’t want to sell their coins at depressed prices. Hiring such specialists is “critical” to probing new problems in crypto markets, the inspector general wrote. Yet supporters of bitcoin and the like have long criticized the SEC for regulating through enforcement instead of setting clear guidelines. For the SEC to do its job as best it can, it might need to replace its bad-cop routine with some good-cop action.

Persons: Ben Winck, Aston Martin, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Aditya Sriwatsav Organizations: Reuters, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, bitcoin, SEC, X, Paramount, Macquarie, Thomson

☆ Starbucks pays little mind to unions’ pay push
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

People gather outside a Starbucks location while singer Billy Bragg performs for striking Starbucks Workers United Union members in Buffalo, New York, U.S., October 12, 2022. Under Starbucks’ new wage plan announced Monday morning, only baristas with more than five years of experience will win 5% raises. All other employees will come in below the 4.1% jump in average hourly pay over the last 12 months, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Part-time workers at United Parcel Service (UPS.N) won a 48% average pay hike over five years, akin to a 10% annual increase. While U.S. baristas continue to organize, contracts approved at two Canadian Starbucks stores suggests employees’ bargaining power is fizzling.

Persons: Billy Bragg, Lindsay DeDario, Ben Winck, Aston Martin, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Aditya Sriwatsav Organizations: Starbucks Workers United Union, REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Starbucks, Bureau of Labor Statistics, United Auto Workers, General Motors, United Parcel Service, X, Paramount, Macquarie, Pfizer, Thomson Locations: Buffalo , New York, U.S

☆ Bezos makes third losing bet on real estate
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Ben Winck | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

It’s not the only questionable real estate decision Bezos has made in the past several years. He announced in a Thursday Instagram post that he will move to Miami, leaving the Washington city where he founded Amazon in 1994. Bezos grew up in the south-Florida city in the early 1980s, and he will return to a two-mansion compound worth some $147 million, according to Bloomberg. Miami-based real estate had a renaissance during the pandemic as people sought warmer climates where they could be outside. Still, the founder is no stranger to real estate bets that don’t always make financial sense.

Persons: Jeff Bezos, It’s, Bezos, Ken Griffin, David Tepper, lockdowns, That’ll, don’t, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam Organizations: Reuters, Amazon, Bloomberg, U.S . Federal Housing Finance Agency, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Dade, University of Miami, Homes, Climate, U.S . Federal Aviation Administration, Shepard, Thomson Locations: Miami, Seattle, Florida, Washington, Bezos, Indian, Arlington , Virginia, Arlington, Cape Canaveral

☆ Larry Fink’s next M&A may go in surprise direction
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Lauren Silva Laughlin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Reuters GraphicsTIPPING THE SCALESThe shift to low-fee products helped BlackRock’s assets under management swell to more than $9 trillion at the end of September. BlackRock’s history with Blackstone means a reunion with Stephen Schwarzman’s $110 billion firm is a persistent Wall Street rumor. BlackRock’s funds operate under a single name, so uniting with Carlyle (CG.O) or Apollo Global Management (APO.N) would pose a branding challenge. Fink might covet MSCI (MSCI.N), the $38 billion firm which aggregates many of the benchmarks tracked by BlackRock’s ETFs. Given Fink’s long record of pulling off opportunistic and transformational deals, it would be foolish to bet against him springing one last surprise.

Persons: Larry Fink, Fink, Merrill, Rowe Price, Janus Henderson, Blackstone, Stephen Schwarzman’s, Carlyle, covet, MSCI, Michael Bloomberg, doesn’t, LSEG –, Peter Thal Larsen, Thomas Shum, Streisand Neto Organizations: CNBC, New York Stock Exchange, Reuters, BlackRock, Blackstone, Barclays Global Investors, Credit Suisse, UBS, nab, Graphics, Apollo Global Management, London Stock Exchange, Thomson Reuters, New, Bloomberg, Wall Street, New York Times, LSEG – Bloomberg, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, BlackRock, Boston, Swiss, New York, United States

☆ Uncle Sam provides shaky base for Caterpillar
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Ben Winck | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The $500 billion U.S. infrastructure spending bill, passed in late 2021, helped lift the firm’s third-quarter profit 41% from a year ago. As with other sharp pullbacks after government-supported pandemic spending, Caterpillar will prove that counting on federal aid isn’t a viable business model. And the construction firms that order from Caterpillar appeared to step back, with the company's backlog of deliveries falling $2.6 billion in the third quarter. The U.S. CHIPS Act set aside $39 billion to help build semiconductor factories, leaving more money for construction firms and, in turn, Caterpillar. Umpleby may be benefitting from Uncle Sam now, but before long Caterpillar will have to fend for itself.

Persons: Michaela Rehle, James Umpleby, Joe Biden’s, EBITDA, Uncle Sam, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam Organizations: Construction Machinery, Machines, Mining Machines, Construction Vehicles, REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Caterpillar, U.S . General Services Administration, Siemens, Cummins, LSEG, Thomson Locations: Munich, Germany, Texas, China, U.S

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about his administration's commitment to seizing the opportunities and managing the risks of Artificial Intelligence, in San Francisco, California, U.S., June 20, 2023. On Monday, U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order establishing regulatory guardrails for the technology that looks set to upend humanity. The announcement closes some of the rulemaking gap between the United States and its international counterparts. But now, because of the lack of clarity, some firms are considering ditching the United States. If important technologies do move outside of the United States, the country effectively loses its chance to steer development.

Persons: Joe Biden, Kevin Lamarque, Sam Altman, Andreessen Horowitz, Forrester, Ben Winck, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam Organizations: Artificial Intelligence, REUTERS, Reuters, European Union, Cyberspace Administration, OpenAI, Securities, Exchange Commission, Venture, country’s, Thomson Locations: San Francisco , California, U.S, United States, London

☆ Oil giants’ wavering discipline
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oil, miniatures of oil barrels and U.S. dollar banknote are seen in this illustration taken, June 6, 2023. The two companies reported somewhat similar results on Friday, with the $420 billion Exxon earning $9.1 billion, and the $279 billion Chevron making $6.5 billion. With more than $110 billion in acquisitions between the two of them, investors might wonder where they will slot in. Exxon returned over $8 billion to investors and Chevron $6 billion, and right now that’s not at the expense of their balance sheets. Over the past decade both stocks have sharply underperformed the S&P 500 Index (.SPX) as they’ve grown their positions dramatically.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Hess, Robert Cyran, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Exxon, Pioneer Natural Resources, X, Investors, Unilever, Thomson

☆ Influencer model infects US political fundraising
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( Ben Winck | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

In turn, leaders like former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi or Republican Speaker Paul Ryan collected tens of millions of dollars to divert to politically valuable campaigns elsewhere in the party. Florida Republican Matt Gaetz has raised nearly $2 million this year, helped by fundraising emails sent in the lead-up to his successful effort to remove Republican Representative Kevin McCarthy as House speaker. Vocal conservatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert have raised $2.7 million and $2.4 million, respectively, for their 2024 House campaigns. McCarthy raised 2.9% of House Republicans’ cash in the 2022 elections. Republican Representative Garret Graves criticized Representative Matt Gaetz on Oct. 3 for using his vote to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy as a fundraising opportunity.

Persons: Mike Johnson, Nathan Howard, –, Nancy Pelosi, Paul Ryan, Florida Republican Matt Gaetz, Kevin McCarthy, Alexandria Ocasio, Cortez, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, McCarthy, John Boehner, Taylor, Garret Graves, Matt Gaetz, Graves gestured, Gaetz, ” Gaetz, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam Organizations: Republican, U.S, Capitol, REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Representatives, Democratic, Florida Republican, Republicans, U.S . House, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, Florida, U.S

☆ Intel’s reverse bullwhip is strong
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The $150 billion chip giant has weathered a post-Covid maelstrom as an initial work-from-home-driven boost to PC sales slammed into reverse, denting sales and the company’s chunky gross profit margin. Growth isn’t back, but results released on Thursday show the decline is slowing and a new division has promise. At least one pandemic bullwhip might be close to having run its course. Reuters GraphicsBetter yet, Intel’s foundry business - Gelsinger’s push to start making chips designed by others - is narrowing its losses while growing revenue and scaling up. Though many customers are signing up on the condition that Intel’s manufacturing tech reaches certain milestones, that unit is its future.

Persons: Pat Gelsinger, Jonathan Guilford, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam Organizations: Reuters, Intel, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, X, Thomson

☆ US growth boom tees up year-end bust
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The latest report on the country's growth is worth celebrating, but not for too long. Household incomes after inflation and taxes fell by $71 billion in the third quarter, according to Pantheon Macroeconomics. That shrank in the third quarter, with managers flagging peak interest rates as a larger concern, leaving less in the pipeline. Yet stores spent $81 billion in excess inventory last quarter and are likely to wait to restock shelves. Last quarter’s boom should give way to a bust.

Persons: Lee Jae, LSEG, Ben Winck, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam Organizations: Rights, Reuters, Macroeconomics, Savings, Companies, X, Unilever, Thomson Locations: U.S

☆ Amazon's grey cloud is the new blue sky
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Mike Blake Acquire Licensing RightsNEW YORK, Oct 26 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Amazon.com’s (AMZN.O) cloud business is offering a small sliver of light. The performance matches last quarter’s growth and is in-line with what analysts were expecting, according to LSEG. Alphabet, in its earnings on Tuesday, said its similar unit’s growth rate slowed. Shares in the company led by Sundar Pichai declined by a tenth in two days. It’s not exactly a cloudless sky - AWS growth is slowing relative to last year, and its growth rate is still 10 percentage points below Alphabet’s.

Persons: Andy Jassy, Mike Blake, Sundar Pichai, It’s, Jennifer Saba, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam Organizations: Amazon Web Services, REUTERS, Reuters, North, X, Unilever, Thomson Locations: Laguna Beach , California, U.S, It’s

☆ Ford’s electric drive is going the wrong way
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Rebecca Cook Acquire Licensing RightsNEW YORK, Oct 26 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Ford Motor (F.N) may have dealt with its labor problem. While the ebb and flow of fossil-fueled fortunes is nothing new, Ford’s electric-car pivot is printing more red ink than ever. But Ford is trying to scale to profitable sales and right now, things are going the wrong way. The company’s electric division recorded a nearly $37,000 operating loss per battery-powered ride sold this quarter, 51% worse than last year. With once sky-high electric prices now free-falling, Ford faces the brass-tacks problem of simply grinding down costs.

Persons: Jim Farley, Rebecca Cook, can’t, nix, Ford, Jonathan Guilford, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Aditya Sriwatsav Organizations: Ford Motor, North American, REUTERS, Reuters, Ford, General Motors, Cox, X, Unilever, Thomson Locations: Detroit , Michigan, U.S, Detroit

☆ Chevron’s $53 billion deal is risky Exxon copycat
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Robert Cyran | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The $318 billion oil giant said Monday it would buy New York-based Hess (HES.N) for $53 billion in an all-stock deal. The main appeal for Chevron is Hess’s 30% stake in a consortium producing oil offshore in Guyana. Importantly, Chevron is catching up to Exxon, which runs and owns 45% of the same Guyana consortium. Higher production in Guyana after 2024 will increase Chevron’s returns, assuming the price of oil remains favorable. Hess owns a 30% share in a consortium in Guyana alongside Exxon, which owns a 45% interest, and Chinese oil company CNOOC, which owns the remaining 25%.

Persons: Hess, It’s, Mike Wirth, Scott Sheffield, John Hess, Hess’s, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Aditya Sriwatsav Organizations: Reuters, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, New York Stock Exchange, Natural Resources, drillers, Brent, Exxon, Pioneer, Exxon Mobil’s, Thomson Locations: New York, Texas, Guyana, Gulf of Mexico

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