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☆ Republican Sarah Huckabee Sanders faces off against Democrat Chris Jones in Arkansas' gubernatorial election
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Hanna Kang | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Republican Sarah Huckabee Sanders is running against Democrat Chris Jones in Arkansas' gubernatorial race. Sanders, a former Trump administration official, is the daughter of former Arkansas Gov. Election 2022 Arkansas Results Explore more election results Alaska Arizona California Colorado Connecticut Florida Georgia Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Nevada New Hampshire New Mexico New York North Carolina Ohio Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island Texas Virginia Washington WisconsinRepublican Sarah Huckabee Sanders faces off against Democrat Chris Jones in Arkansas' gubernatorial election. Arkansas' gubernatorial candidatesSanders is the daughter of former Arkansas Gov. Jones, Sanders' opponent, is a nuclear engineer with a Ph.D. in urban planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

☆ Here are the states voting on marijuana legalization on Election Day
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Stefan Sykes | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

A recreational marijuana smoker indulges in smoking weed on April 14, 2020 in the Bushwick section of the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota could join 19 other states and the District of Columbia, which have already legalized recreational marijuana. A 6% sales tax on recreational marijuana would go toward facilitating automatic expungements for people with certain non-violent marijuana offenses on their records, veterans' health care, substance misuse treatment and the state's public defender system. North DakotaMarijuana legalization failed to pass in North Dakota when it appeared on ballots in 2018, losing by a margin of 41% to 59%. This election, New Approach North Dakota got a revised proposal back on the ballot.

☆ For Chip Makers, the Flip from Shortage to Glut Intensifies
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Asa Fitch | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Electronics manufacturers tend to stock up on chips ahead of the holiday selling season, but that hasn’t played out this year for some. The chip industry has pivoted hard from a clamor for higher output to cost cutting as it adjusts to a slump for semiconductors that has infected almost all parts of its business. Chip companies in recent weeks have instituted hiring freezes and layoffs, slashed capital spending plans, reduced factory output and warned investors of a stark reversal in their customers’ buying habits.

☆ Chip Makers Cut Costs as Demand Slump Supplants Pandemic’s Chip Shortage
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Asa Fitch | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Arkansas Issue 4: Voters could legalize marijuana with a measure that would also give stipends to law enforcement
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Taiyler Simone Mitchell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Arkansas Issue 4 would legalize marijuana use and provide a stipend to law enforcement. Ballot measure detailsIssue 4 would legalize recreational marijuana use for adults over the age of 21 in the state of Alabama. The measure would establish a 10% sales tax for marijuana if passed and 15% percent of the tax revenue would then be allotted toward an annual law enforcement stipend. Gubernatorial nominee Chris Jones called Issue 4 a "good first step toward Arkansas embracing a pragmatic cannabis policy," according to the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette. Arkansas's Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson argued at the Arkansas Municipal Police Association Convention in August that supporters are "going to sell this as something that's going to help law enforcement.

☆ Chip Maker Qualcomm Sees Smartphone Slump Worsening
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Asa Fitch | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Qualcomm, which exhibited at a recent Beijing fair, is projecting sales short of estimates for the current quarter..Qualcomm Inc. again slashed its forecast for smartphone shipments and gave a gloomier than expected sales outlook, joining other chip makers confronting a sharp turn in consumer demand after a pandemic-fueled boom. The designer of mobile-phone chips cut its forecast to a low-double-digit percentage decline from an earlier forecast of a mid-single-digit fall, indicating that the downward trend in the handset market is accelerating. Qualcomm, in reporting quarterly results on Wednesday, said it projected up to $10 billion of sales for the current quarter, well short of Wall Street estimates of around $12 billion.

☆ AMD Forecasts Deepening Slump in PC Sales as Consumer Demand Softens
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Asa Fitch | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

AMD last month had warned that its third-quarter revenue could be lower than its prior outlook as PC shipments slowed. Chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. issued a glum sales outlook for the current quarter that signaled weakness in demand for consumer products is outpacing residual strength in the business-focused server market. AMD said it expected around $5.5 billion of revenue in the current quarter, up by 14% but below what analysts forecast in a FactSet survey.

☆ Fertilizer Producers Add Back Cut Production Amid Lower Gas Prices
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Yusuf Khan | Jenny Strasburg | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

European fertilizer producers are restarting production across the continent, spurred on by the recent, sharp fall in natural-gas prices, though other energy-intensive industries are taking a wait-and-see approach to their own capacity cuts. Norway’s Yara International ASA, one of the world’s largest fertilizer companies, said that it was now operating at 65% of its European ammonia capacity—having slashed output to just over a third of its total capacity for much of the second half of this year. Commodity research firm CRU International Ltd. said Yara’s moves are in line with other producers. Overall, European fertilizer output is now at about 63% of total capacity, having previously stood at around 37% at the start of October, CRU said.

☆ Carbon-Capture Projects Are Taking Off. Here’s How They Stash the Greenhouse Gas.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Eric Niiler | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Sixty-five miles off the coastal Norwegian city of Bergen, a drilling rig is punching through layers of mud and rock below the North Sea. The energy firms behind the rig aren’t prospecting for oil or gas. They are searching for a place to stash vast amounts of the greenhouse gases emitted by industrial facilities across Europe. The Northern Lights project—a $2.6 billion joint venture of Shell PLC , TotalEnergies SE, Equinor ASA and the Norwegian government—is one of almost 200 carbon-sequestration projects now in operation or in development around the world, according to the Global CCS Institute, a think tank that promotes carbon capture. When completed in 2024, Northern Lights will be the world’s biggest effort to sequester, or store, carbon dioxide underground.

☆ Intel Earnings Expected to Slump on PC Rout, Economic Weakness
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Asa Fitch | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Inside a data center at Intel headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif.; Intel has been one of the worst-hit companies in the chip sector because of its heavy exposure to PCs. Intel is expected to report a sharp drop in quarterly earnings, hurt by a rapidly shrinking market for personal computers that its chips go into. The company after the closing bell Thursday is projected to post sales of about $15 billion during the quarter ended in September, a retreat of more than 21% from the year-earlier period, according to a FactSet survey of analysts. Net income likely fell by around 93% to $494 million, the analysts estimate.

☆ Intel to Cut Jobs in Cost-Savings Drive as PC Slump Weighs on Earnings
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Asa Fitch | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Inside a data center at Intel headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif.; Intel has been one of the worst-hit companies in the chip sector because of its heavy exposure to PCs. Intel Corp. has embarked on an aggressive cost-cutting push as the chip maker tries to navigate a sharp plunge in demand for PCs that has weighed on the company’s earnings. Intel posted a 20% drop in third-quarter sales, issued a forecast for even weaker revenue in the current quarter and lowered its full-year outlook.

☆ Microsoft Earnings Growth Seen Slowing as Computer Sales Slip
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Asa Fitch | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Microsoft shares have fallen around 26% so far this year, slightly better than the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index, which has declined close to 30%. Microsoft likely recorded slower earnings and sales growth last quarter as a sharp decline in personal computer sales eroded demand for its Windows software, counteracting some of the demand for its cloud and other businesses serving companies. The Redmond, Wash., corporation’s revenue growth is expected to slow to about 10% in the three months through September compared with a year earlier, while its net income is expected to edge up 1%, according to analysts surveyed by FactSet. They predicted the company would report sales of $49.66 billion and net income of $17.36 billion for the period.

☆ Microsoft Earnings Fall, Stock Slides as PC Demand and Strong Dollar Hurt Sales
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Asa Fitch | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Microsoft shares tumbled Tuesday after it said it expects a sharp decline in personal computer sales and the dollar’s strength to continue to weigh on growth. The Redmond, Wash., firm’s revenue rose 11% to $50.1 billion in the three months through September compared with a year earlier, while its net income fell 14% to $17.6 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had predicted sales of $49.66 billion and a net income of $17.36 billion for the period.

☆ Microsoft Earnings Decline, Sales Growth Slows Amid Weakening PC Sales
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Asa Fitch | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Microsoft said its profit fell and sales growth slowed last quarter as a sharp decline in personal computer sales eroded demand for its Windows software, counteracting some of the demand for its cloud and other businesses serving companies. The Redmond, Wash., firm’s revenue rose 11% to $50.1 billion in the three months through September compared with a year earlier, while its net income fell 14% to $17.6 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had predicted sales of $49.66 billion and a net income of $17.36 billion for the period.

☆ Intel CEO Calls New U.S. Restrictions on Chip Exports to China Inevitable
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Tim Higgins | Asa Fitch | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif.—Intel Corp. Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger said that recently imposed U.S. restrictions on semiconductor-industry exports to China were inevitable as America seeks to maintain technological leadership in competition with China. Speaking at The Wall Street Journal’s annual Tech Live conference, Mr. Gelsinger said the restrictions, which require chip companies to obtain a license to export certain advanced artificial-intelligence and supercomputing chips as well as equipment used in advanced manufacturing, are part of a necessary shift of chip supply chains.

☆ Netanyahu comeback dominates Israel election 'all about Bibi'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Maayan Lubell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"RIGGED"Israel has been stuck in an election loop since 2019, the same year which saw Netanyahu indicted for corruption on charges he denies. "The only thing that really matters is Bibi or not Bibi, unfortunately," said Hila Shay Vazan, former Knesset member and commentator. And he feels, evidently, that this for him is a political battle for life and death," said political analyst Amotz Asa-El at Shalom Hartman Institute. read moreLike Trump, Netanyahu says he is a victim of a political witch-hunt, counting on support from voters with little interest in the legal details of the trial, Asa-El said. "They say Bibi voters are stupid and ignorant," said Ramla-raised importer Moti Karo, 56.

☆ 'Changed my life': Trans teen testifies against nation's first ban on gender-affirming care
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Jo Yurcaba | Jo Yurcaba Is A Reporter For Nbc Out. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

The Save Adolescents From Experimentation Act bars minors in the state from receiving certain gender-affirming medical care, including puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries. Carolyn Kaster / APThe American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in May on behalf of four trangsgender youths and their parents, as well as two physicians who provide gender-affirming care. ‘Changed my life for the better’The parents of four transgender young people represented in the suit spoke to how gender-affirming care has improved their children’s lives. Donnie Saxton of Vilonia, Arkansas, said his 17-year-old son, Parker, became “a new person” after coming out as trans and receiving gender-affirming medical care, according to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. Three other states — Alabama, Arizona and Tennessee — have also passed measures restricting gender-affirming care for minors.

☆ Thai telco regulator gives conditional clearance to True, DTAC merger
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Chayut Setboonsarng | Andres Gonzalez | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BANGKOK, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Thailand’s telecommunications regulator cleared the merger of the country’s second and third largest mobile operators, True Corporation Pcl (TRUE.BK) and Telenor ASA’s (TEL.OL) Total Access Communication Pcl (DTAC) (DTAC.BK) with conditions. The combined entity will overtake Advanced Info Service Pcl (AIS) (ADVANC.BK), as market leader. True, DTAC and AIS did not immediately respond to requests for commentDTAC is backed by Norwegian firm, Telenor. Thai agri-industrial conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group holds a 49% stake in True Corp with China Mobile holding 18%, True’s website shows. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Chayut Setboonsarng; Editing by Susan Fenton;Editing by Elaine HardcastleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Nvidia, Applied Materials Warnings Cast Shadow on Chip-Earnings Season
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Asa Fitch | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Applied Materials says sales for its current quarter will probably be lower than it previously expected. Chip companies are facing a new period of tumult with a global semiconductor drought giving way to a sharp drop in demand for consumer electronics and new trade restrictions on China. U.S. curbs on exports of some of the most advanced chips to China unveiled less than two weeks ago have triggered a new round of profit warnings from semiconductor businesses and have prompted analysts to cut earnings forecasts for some of the companies designing chips and the tools to produce them.

☆ Lam Research Adds to Nvidia, Applied Materials Warnings on Chip-Earnings Season
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Asa Fitch | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Chip-tool maker Lam Research warned of a potentially steep drop in sales as the U.S. imposes new restrictions on exports to China, highlighting how the global semiconductor industry’s earnings woes have grown beyond a slump in demand for some consumer electronics. U.S. curbs on exports of some of the most advanced chips to China unveiled less than two weeks ago have triggered a new round of profit warnings from semiconductor businesses and have prompted analysts to cut earnings forecasts for some of the companies designing chips and the tools to produce them.

Many Americans who spent years socking away enough money for a down payment to buy a house are now waiting on the sidelines until mortgage rates or home prices drop. Fannie Mae forecasts that mortgage lenders will complete 49% fewer single-family-home loans in 2022 than 2021. With mortgage rates pushing 7% and home prices still high, buyers often park their down-payment money in low-yield accounts, financial advisers say. While relatively safe, the funds often collect more dust than interest.

☆ Consortium including Aker, Trafigura offers to buy OMV's E&P unit -report
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( David Carnevali | Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File PhotoVIENNA, Oct 18 (Reuters) - A consortium including Norwegian energy group Aker has made an unsolicited offer to buy most of Austrian oil and gas firm OMV's exploration and production business, according to newspaper report on Tuesday which an industry source confirmed to Reuters. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterAn industry source confirmed the consortium's expression of interest but identified Aker BP as the member rather than Aker ASA. OMV confirmed that it had received a letter expressing interest in its E&P business. The offer also did not include OMV's Romanian unit Petrom or E&P business in Russia, Kurier reported. The consortium estimated the value of the 51% stake in the E&P division at $5.5 billion to $7 billion, Kurier added.

☆ Landmark trial begins over Arkansas' ban on transgender youth care
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

The nation’s first trial over a state’s ban on gender-confirming care for children begins in Arkansas this week, the latest fight over restrictions on transgender youth championed by Republican leaders and widely condemned by medical experts. The families of four transgender youth and two doctors who provide gender-confirming care want Moody to strike down the law, saying it is unconstitutional because it discriminates against transgender youth, intrudes on parents’ rights to make medical decisions for their children and infringes on doctors’ free speech rights. Arkansas was the first state to enact such a ban on gender-confirming care, with Republican lawmakers in 2021 overriding GOP Gov. Hutchinson, who had signed other restrictions on transgender youth into law, said the prohibition went too far by cutting off the care for those currently receiving it. Children’s hospitals around the country have faced harassment and threats of violence for providing gender-confirming care.

Companies are spending billions of dollars to connect customers. Here’s a closer look at their different approaches, and the services they hope to offer.

☆ Superfast 5G Gadgets Are Off to a Slow Start
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Asa Fitch | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

One of many 5G soil-moisture probes throughout the apple orchards of Swans Trail Farms in Snohomish, Wash. It was one of 5G’s big selling points: millions of always-connected internet-of-things devices exchanging data wirelessly at lightning speed, revolutionizing the portability of everything from augmented-reality goggles to surveillance cameras. Several years into the 5G rollout, the internet-of-things boom largely hasn’t happened. There were about 4.4 million 5G-connected internet-of-things devices in the U.S. in 2021, according to analysis firm International Data Corp.—a sizable number but a drop in the bucket compared with the nearly 100 million smartphones capable of 5G.

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