DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ The strengths and weaknesses of the Georgia election meddling case against Trump and his allies
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Tierney Sneed | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

“It’s a type of criminal liability that you can get in trouble for things that other people do,” said Ashleigh Merchant, a Georgia criminal defense attorney with experience in RICO cases. And she’ll be navigating around a federal prosecution of Trump for his 2020 election reversal schemes that has taken a much narrower approach. Here are the strengths and weaknesses of Willis’ strategy:Georgia’s sweeping RICO lawGeorgia’s version of a RICO law – which stands for Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act – is broader than the federal counterpart. Additionally, there is not much appellate case law around the state’s RICO statute, criminal defense attorneys in Georgia told CNN. There stands to be a significant overlap in evidence – including with testimony from some of the same witnesses – in the federal and Georgia cases.

Persons: Donald Trump, Fani Willis –, “, ”, Ashleigh Merchant, CNN Willis, Trump, Willis, Racketeer, Sandy Wallack, that’s, Trump's, Andrew Fleischman, Willis ’, ” Fleischman, Feedback Giuliani, he's, Mark Meadows, Steve Vladeck, Scott McAfee, –, ” Merchant, Jack Smith, Jack Smith’s, Smith, Trump’s, Clark Cunningham, ” Cunningham, It’s Organizations: CNN, Trump, Trump White House, state’s, Georgia, White House, CNN Supreme, University of Texas School of Law, Appeals, Georgia State University Locations: Fulton County, Atlanta, Georgia, Coffee County

☆ Auto supplier Magna to invest $790 mln to build three new facilities
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 20 (Reuters) - Canadian auto parts maker Magna International Inc (MG.TO) said on Thursday it will invest $790 million to build three new supplier facilities, two of which will be housed at Ford Motor Co's (F.N) BlueOval City campus in Tennessee. The development comes as suppliers race to meet requirements from automakers, who have been hustling to boost their electric vehicle output as demand for environmentally friendly vehicles surges. Magna's facilities will support production of Ford's second-generation electric truck, the Canadian company said in a statement. Ford in March said it plans to build up to 500,000 electric trucks a year at its BlueOval City complex under construction. A third Magna facility in Lawrenceburg will produce vehicle frames, the company said.

Persons: Ford's, Magna, Priyamvada, Nivedita Organizations: Magna International Inc, Ford Motor, Ford, Thomson Locations: BlueOval City, Tennessee, Ford's, BlueOval, Detroit, Lawrenceburg, Bengaluru

☆ Citi downgrades U.S. stocks, sees S&P 500 pull back 9% to 4,000
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Strategists at Citi downgraded U.S. equities after a strong first half of 2023, saying an economic slowdown will weigh on company earnings. The Wall Street firm slashed the rating to neutral from overweight Monday and said the S & P 500 will pull back 9% to end the year at 4,000. "After a solid 1H, US outperformance may go on pause," Citi strategists said in a note. The market ended the first half of the year with a bang as the S & P 500 popped 15.9% for its best first half since 2019. The S & P 500 shed 1.2% last week.

Organizations: Citi, US Strategy, Nasdaq, Federal Reserve, Wall Street, CNBC

☆ Inside Netflix's growing M&A machine, who's leading it, and what insiders think the streamer could buy next
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

It then delved further into M&A to kickstart its games business. And the streamer hasn't completely abandoned its build-from-within strategy, as it also announced plans last fall to build its own gaming studio in Finland. He recently was elevated to the Lstaff, a group of 25 Netflix business heads who debate its biggest initiatives. (Netflix ended up doing a partnership in 2019 with that company, Studio Dragon, and its parent CJ ENM.) But leadership has been steadfast that Netflix's M&A mantra hasn't changed.

Persons: Here's, Reed Hastings, It's, it's, who's, what's, Roald Dahl, Dahl, Peter Rabbit, Spry, Harry Potter, execs, Spencer Wang, Michael Porter, Spencer Neumann, who'd, Neumann, Wang, Greg Peters, Ted Sarandos, Bela Bajaria, Scott Stuber, Mike Verdu, Jay MacDonald, Digiday, Ana Milicevic, Hastings, Sarandos, CJ ENM, Mario Organizations: Netflix, stoke, Paramount, Night School, Spry Fox, Disney, Warner Bros, DC Comics, Digital Capital Advisors, MLB, Surf League, Street Journal, Microsoft, Sparrow Advisers, MGM, Amazon, Mario Bros, Activision Blizzard, Epic Games, UBS Locations: Finland, New Jersey, Hollywood

☆ Shipping tax could yield $100 bln climate windfall
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Hugo Dixon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

TINOS, June 12 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The shipping industry emits 2.9% of the world's greenhouse gases. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsPOLLUTER PAYSThe shipping industry uses fossil fuels to power its boats. That said, industry leaders such as container giant Maersk (MAERSKb.CO) are moving into green shipping. This potentially large sum is attracting the attention of people outside the shipping industry, especially those focused on climate change. If a country refused to apply an agreed tax, the international shipping industry would effectively be unable to operate from its ports.

Persons: TINOS, Emmanuel Macron’s, Tristan Smith, Marshall, UCL’s Smith, Al Qaeda, Peter Thal Larsen, Thomas Shum Organizations: Reuters, International Maritime Organisation, United Nations, European Union, EU, Reuters Graphics Reuters, University College London, Shipping, Climate Fund, World Bank, International Chamber of Shipping, Marshall, Al, Trade Center, Thomson Locations: Paris, Danish, Marshall

☆ Wall St Week Ahead: Surging US megacap stocks leave some wondering when to cash out
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Lewis Krauskopf | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) has risen 11.5% this year and stands at a 10-month high. The S&P 500 rose 1.45%. The recent surge in Nvidia showed how a stock can keep climbing even after posting hefty gains. At the same time, only 20.3% of S&P 500 stocks have outperformed the index on a rolling three-month basis, a record low dating back five decades, according to Ned Davis. Kotok views narrowing breadth as an ominous sign for the broader stock market, saying that equities also look less favorable in certain asset valuation metrics.

Persons: Ned Davis, Peter Tuz, Jay Hatfield, ” Hatfield, “, Brendan McDermid Michael Purves, Purves, Kevin Mahn, Refinitiv, ”, Mahn, Dow, David Kotok, Lewis Krauskopf, Ira Iosebashvili, Nick Zieminski, Diane Craft Organizations: YORK, BofA Global Research, Ned Davis Research, Chase Investment, Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Federal Reserve, New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Tallbacken Capital Advisors, Nasdaq, Hennion, Walsh Asset Management, Dow Jones, Cumberland Advisors, Thomson Locations: megacap, BofA, New York City, U.S

☆ Wall St Week Ahead Surging US megacap stocks leave some wondering when to cash out
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Lewis Krauskopf | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) has risen 11% this year and stands at a 10-month high. He is overweight megacaps, including Nvidia, Microsoft and Google-parent Alphabet (GOOGL.O). The recent surge in Nvidia showed how a stock can keep climbing even after posting hefty gains. At the same time, only 20.3% of S&P 500 stocks have outperformed the index on a rolling three-month basis, a record low dating back five decades, according to Ned Davis. In one commonly used valuation metric, the S&P 500 is trading at 18.5 times forward earnings estimates compared to its historic average of 15.6 times, according to Refinitiv Datastream.

Persons: Ned Davis, Peter Tuz, Jay Hatfield, ” Hatfield, “, Michael Purves, Purves, Kevin Mahn, Refinitiv, ”, Mahn, Dow, David Kotok, Lewis Krauskopf, Ira Iosebashvili, Nick Zieminski Organizations: YORK, BofA Global Research, Ned Davis Research, Chase Investment, Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Tallbacken Capital Advisors, Nasdaq, Hennion, Walsh Asset Management, Dow Jones, Cumberland Advisors, Thomson Locations: megacap, BofA

☆ This company could take lab-grown meat mainstream thanks to a green light from the FDA
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Natasha Piñon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +14 min

Upside Foods' pivotal moment also comes at a key moment in the alternative meat industry. The cultivated-meat industry could have a wider consumer base than previously introduced alternative meat products, because unlike plant-based meats, it's "real" meat — minus the slaughtered animals. And, accordingly, some traditional meat companies have expressed interest in the burgeoning cultivated-meat industry, which one day could become a competitor. The cultivated-meat industry will need a similar boost if it's ever going to become a grocery store staple, Swartz said. The FDA's clearance was a voluntary premarket consultation, which means the agency has no further questions about the safety of Upside's products.

☆ What Home Depot's billion-dollar pay raise may help prove about workers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Bob Woods | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

"We are confident we can make the investments needed to remain competitive in a tight labor market while also growing our profitability." "The [home improvement] environment seems to be weakening, not accelerating, and therefore incremental wage investments at this time would open the door to more questions and surprise. "They're behaving as they should given the tight labor market, showing leadership and not just thinking about a 12-month timeframe. And in a tight labor market, it's getting increasingly difficult to keep talent [if] you pay unlivable wages and [offer] few opportunities for growth and success." It's hard to say when, and if, Home Depot will see a demonstrable return on the monumental expenditure for its frontline workers.

☆ Saudi Arabia's TAWAL to buy European towers from United Group
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBAI, April 20 (Reuters) - TAWAL, a unit of Saudi Telecom Company (stc) (7010.SE), agreed to buy tower infrastructure worth 1.22 billion-euros ($1.34 billion) from United Group in its first foray into Europe's telecoms market, the southeast European firm said on Thursday. TAWAL, a tower infrastructure unit that STC carved out in 2018, will buy the mobile infrastructure unit of United Group in Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia, which has more than 4,800 towers, United Group said in a statement. United Group, backed by private equity firm BC Partners, said it was TAWAL's first investment in Europe's telecoms sector. "Upon completion, TAWAL's operations in the European market will be rebranded as "TAWAL Europe" and will serve as TAWAL's platform for any future expansion in Europe," stc said. ($1 = 0.9119 euros)Reporting by Yousef Saba; Editing by Sharon SingletonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China's 'Belt and Road' grew out of a lending spree. Now those loans may be its problem
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Sumathi Bala | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Bloomberg | Getty ImagesAt its peak, China's Belt and Road Initiative was seen as the centerpiece of Beijing's engagement with the world. According to the report, China issued 128 emergency rescue loans worth $240 billion to 22 countries — including Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Turkey, among others. 'Trying to salvage Belt and Road'Chinese efforts to revamp Belt and Road have been underway since 2020, according to one observer. "A nod to the concern that many Belt and Road projects were not economically viable to begin with. "The increased indebtedness in many Belt and Road countries is a direct consequence of Beijing's overshooting in the pre-2020 phase," said Zhong.

☆ The US could lose up to 900 warplanes fighting a Chinese invasion of Taiwan but would emerge victorious, says think tank
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A think tank ran war game analyses for a conflict between the US and China over Taiwan. One of the analysts told Insider the US and Taiwan would likely succeed in beating back a Chinese invasion. The Washington-based think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, conducted war games last year to imagine how such a conflict would play out. The war games are designed to help envision how conflicts would play out. China conducted military drills around Taiwan following Pelosi's visit and said that further "training and war preparation" would continue, The Guardian reported.

☆ Buying the dip on energy stocks? Wall Street pros name their top picks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Zavier Ong | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Energy was the second-best-performing sector of the S & P 500 last week, as investors flocked back into the stocks amid a recent dip in oil prices. Thummel also likes two energy infrastructure stocks — Cheniere Energy and Energy Transfer . He likes Viper Energy Partners , which owns a royalty portfolio of oilfield assets. "Viper Energy has one of the largest backlogs of tier-one locations in the [Permian] basin. Viper Energy is thus able to leverage improving energy prices while having "strong" downside support, according to Davolos.

☆ OpenAI's ambitious master plan to conquer rivals like Google in the AI race hinges on pure speed
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Moving fast looks to be the core of OpenAI's ambitious strategy to become the number one name in AI. And, importantly, OpenAI wants — or, perhaps needs — the other much faster than its competitors can. Speed is key to OpenAI's approachBy now, everyone knows OpenAI, thanks to the smash almost-overnight success of ChatGPT. Much of the process to improve its AI models is to let it connect to more data sources than ever before. But OpenAI isn't waiting around: it wants to move fast, and its ambition stretches beyond just improving ChatGPT and its other AI models.

☆ Morgan Stanley just upgraded a global energy stock it says has 'significant' potential for growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Weizhen Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Morgan Stanley upgraded the shares of French energy firm TotalEnergies . In a March 21 note, Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock from equal weight to overweight, raising its price target to 64 euros ($69) — representing nearly 16% upside. Morgan Stanley said TotalEnergies is the only major European energy company with an upstream business that can fund all the capital expenditure needed to realize its "significant growth potential." In the report, Morgan Stanley assessed the energy production assets of major energy companies in the wake of several key events in 2022 — the Russia-Ukraine war, bad weather and disrupted supply chains — which highlighted the "fragility of global energy supply." Morgan Stanley said TotalEnergies is one of few companies under its coverage of energy companies with growth potential, and estimates it has the ability to support 3.8% growth annually till 2030.

☆ Tesla prepares for its next production hell
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Jonathan Guilford | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Demand woes are already threatening Tesla’s breakneck growth: cars delivered to customers have run below production of late, spurring the company to cut prices. Most promising was a presentation showing manufacturing and battery improvements reducing the cost of a “next gen vehicle” by 50%. A mere $5,000 in absolute gross profit, though, would leave little room for research and development and other operating expenses, which ran to $4,545 per car delivered last quarter. Still, Musk pulled off the seemingly impossible before when ramping up the Model 3, a messy slog he dubbed “production hell” at the time. After an opening presentation focused on the broad viability of transitioning the world to sustainable energy, Musk and fellow executives outlined goals to streamline production, reduce manufacturing costs by half and scale up energy storage products.

☆ An Austin Powers movie helped inspire the US strategy of exposing Russia's tactics in Ukraine, a national security advisor says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

advisor took inspiration from Austin Powers as Russia prepared its invasion, Politico said. The situation reminded him of a scene in the cult comedy movie where a steamroller moves forward. He said in November 2021, he had been discussing a scene in the 1997 spy comedy "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery," with Deputy National Security Advisor Jonathan Finer. Sullivan said that he and other top national security officials settled on the unprecedented strategy of declassifying US intelligence about Russia's plans. It was a gamble that this would work," Emily Horne, a former National Security Council spokeswoman told the publication.

☆ Airbus deliveries fell to 20 jets in January
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Tim Hepher | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PARIS, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Airbus (AIR.PA) deliveries fell to 20 airplanes in January compared to 30 in the same month last year, the company said on Tuesday, confirming an earlier Reuters report. Detailed Airbus data showed that the cancellation came from Viva Air Colombia, a subsidiary of Irelandia Aviation. Airbus eventually lowered then abandoned that goal in 2022 as supply chain and industrial pressures began to bite harder than expected. It made 663 industrial deliveries for the year or 661 after a Russia sanctions-related adjustment. Industry sources have said the shallower "hockey stick" recovery would allow Airbus' COVID-hobbled supply chain to reset and prepare a more reliable catch-up from mid-decade.

PARIS, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Airbus (AIR.PA) deliveries fell by a third to 20 airplanes in January compared to 30 in the same month last year, the company said on Tuesday, confirming an earlier Reuters report. Detailed Airbus data showed that the cancellation came from Viva Air Colombia, a subsidiary of Irelandia Aviation. Airbus eventually lowered then abandoned that goal in 2022 as supply chain and industrial pressures began to bite harder than expected. It made 663 industrial deliveries for the year or 661 after a Russia sanctions-related adjustment. Industry sources have said the shallower "hockey stick" recovery would allow Airbus' COVID-hobbled supply chain to reset and prepare a more reliable catch-up from mid-decade.

☆ David Solomon admits Goldman took on too much, too quickly in consumer business
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon told CNBC Wednesday that his firm suffered an upsetting quarter partly due to its overly ambitious consumer efforts. "I think we now have a very good deposits business," Solomon said. Apart from its consumer platforms, Solomon said Goldman's performance in asset management and lending was solid relative to its peers. "Our relative asset growth and the performance of core business is actually quite good when you stand it up against peers," Solomon said. The bank posted an 11% return on average tangible common shareholders' equity for 2022.

☆ Tesla just started an electric car price war, and it's bad news for Ford and GM
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Nora Naughton | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Tesla has discounted its Model 3 and Model Y cars by up to 20% in a bid to goose sales. The starting price of a Model S also dropped nearly 10%, while the Model X is down 9%. Once a luxury item, Tesla's vehicles will now compete with EVs marketed to more average car buyers. Ford recently hiked the starting price on its F-150 Lightning electric truck to $56,000, up from the original starting price of $40,000. The electric car company has long resisted traditional auto industry discounts, and Musk has even criticized the practice in the past.

☆ Intel’s New Compliance Chief Navigates Geopolitics, Supply-Chain Shift
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Dylan Tokar | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

Carol Tate is the chief compliance officer at Intel. “It’s an exciting time to lead a global team with a company that’s at the center of those things.”Ms. Tate spoke with Risk & Compliance Journal about the supply-chain shift, layoffs and other topics. WSJ: What role does compliance play when it comes to these massive geopolitical pressures around the chip industry? Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | Risk and Compliance Journal Our Morning Risk Report features insights and news on governance, risk and compliance. We refer to it as CRIS [compliance risk intelligence system].

☆ Macau to allow home isolation for COVID infections
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Health officials said that infected patients would be able to stay at home and self-monitor for five days. Macau, a Chinese special administrative region, has directly followed the mainland's coronavirus strategy since 2020, given its huge reliance on Chinese visitors to fuel its gambling-dependent economy. The former Portuguese colony, home to more than 600,000 people, has recorded just over 900 COVID cases since 2020 and six deaths. Macau Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao said last week that up to 80% of the city's population would likely get COVID following a significant easing of pandemic isolation and testing rules. Officials have urged residents not to worry about contracting the virus since most cases involve mild or no symptoms.

☆ China's cities are running out of money to pay huge COVID lockdown bills, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

China's zero-COVID strategy is having a big financial impact on local governments, CNN reported. China's strict strategy involves mass testing and locking down major cities. And local governments have had to pay for much of this, CNN reported. As a result, some local governments have delayed or suspended payments to coronavirus test providers and some are now asking residents to pay for their own coronavirus tests, CNN reported. The zero-COVID strategy has harmed China's economy more widely, by restricting movement and tourism and locking down cities of millions of people, which has also at times meant shutting down factories and manufacturing sites.

☆ On World AIDS Day, Biden administration releases new global strategy to end HIV/AIDS by 2030
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Jamie Gumbrecht | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —On World AIDS Day, the Biden administration renewed its focus on ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2030, releasing a new five-year strategy for the United States’ global response. HIV remains a serious threat to global health security and economic development,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote in the new strategy. Globally, progress toward ending HIV and AIDS has been uneven. In the United States, there are wide disparities in access to treatment, and Black and Hispanic Americans are disproportionately affected by HIV. More than 1.1 million people in the United States had HIV at the end of 2019, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Search resuls for: "US Strategy"

25 mentions found