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☆ Tesla's deliveries expected to fall on plant shutdowns, soft demand
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Aditya Soni | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Visitors stand outside barriers surrounding Tesla's new Model 3 sedan displayed at the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, China September 2, 2023. That would mark the first sequential decline in Tesla's deliveries since the second quarter of 2022. In the third quarter, Tesla slashed prices of its Model S and Model X by 14% to 21% in main markets China and the U.S. The company also cut its production plan at its German factory amid soft demand, a report by Business Insider said. The restyled variant comes with a higher price and is expected to launch in Europe and China in the fourth quarter.

Persons: Florence Lo, Tesla, Baird, Guggenheim, LSEG, Thomas Martin, Aditya Soni, Jaspreet Singh, Hyunjoo Jin, Shounak Dasgupta Organizations: Fair for Trade, Services, REUTERS, Barclays, Ford, Reuters, Business Insider, Detroit, General Motors, United Auto Workers, Globalt Investments, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, Europe, U.S, United States, Bengaluru, San Francisco

☆ Opinion: The ‘rising superpower’ myth about China
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Opinion Peter Bergen | Joel Rayburn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

He was the US Special Envoy for Syria and the senior director for Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon on the National Security Council staff during the Trump administration. After that, China’s National Bureau of Statistics said it would suspend publishing youth unemployment data in the future. What does it signify that China’s national power, which today is vast, is almost certain to be weaker in the future? If Xi and his strategists have a feasible plan for nimbly averting China’s demographic doom, they are keeping very quiet about it. This brings us back to the question of national security strategies for the United States and its allies.

Persons: Peter Bergen, Peter Bergen ”, Joel Rayburn, Trump, Biden, Saddam Hussein’s, Lloyd Austin, China’s, Xi Jinping, Stephen Shaver, ”, Ng Han Guan, Xi, China “, ” Trump Organizations: New, Arizona State University, Apple, Spotify, American Center for Levant Studies, New America, US, National Security Council, CNN, Strategy, Pentagon, of Defense, Development Research Center, Communist Party, UPI, Manpower, Census Bureau, National Bureau of Statistics, Financial, China’s Southwestern University of Finance, Economics, Rocky, United Nations, Beijing, Pew Research Center, Communist, Trump administration’s National Security, Twitter, Trump Locations: New America, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Washington, China, United States, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, al Qaeda, Ukraine, People’s Republic of China, Beijing, India, Yarkent County, China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Saudi Arabia, USSR, Russia, Russia’s Ukraine, Vietnam, Korea, Italy, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong

☆ Column: India milestone shows its power emissions will surpass Europe's permanently
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Gavin Maguire | Thomson Reuters | Gavin Maguire Is The Global Energy Transition Columnist. He Was Previously Asia Commodities | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

High-tension power lines are pictured outside a Tata Power sub station in the suburbs of Mumbai, India, August 8, 2017. At the same time, India's power emissions climbed 4.5% to new highs on the back of record use of high-polluting coal, which generates roughly 75% of India's electricity. SOFT PATCH/HIGH POINT OVERLAPDuring the April-June window, when India's emissions exceeded Europe's, India's total power use levels rose on high demand for air conditioning in the hottest months of the year. These conflicting approaches to energy sector management reflect the starkly different developmental phases of each market. India's government has established ambitious long-term goals for boosting renewable energy generation and lowering power sector emissions.

Persons: Shailesh Andrade, RC1F247F86F0, Gavin Maguire, Muralikumar Organizations: Tata Power, REUTERS, Union, Spain, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Mumbai, India, LITTLETON , Colorado, Europe, pare, Ukraine

☆ US housing starts surge in boost to economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-16 | by ( Lucia Mutikani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The sharp rebound in groundbreaking on single-family housing units reported by the Commerce Department on Wednesday was another sign of the economy continuing to defy dire forecasts of a recession. Single-family housing starts, which account for the bulk of homebuilding, jumped 6.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 983,000 units last month. The increase in groundbreaking was led by the West, where single-family starts soared 28.5%. Overall housing starts increased 3.9% to a rate of 1.452 million units in July. TIGHT SUPPLYDespite the rise in starts, housing supply is likely to remain tight.

Persons: Mike Blake, homebuilding, Christopher Rupkey, Freddie Mac, Nancy Vanden, Daniel Silver, Goldman Sachs, Lucia Mutikani, Chizu Organizations: REUTERS, WASHINGTON, Commerce Department, Federal, National Association of Home Builders, Reuters, Oxford Economics, Treasury, Realtors, U.S, Fed, JPMorgan, Thomson Locations: San Marcos , California, U.S, New York, homebuilding, Nancy Vanden Houten, Midwest

☆ DeSantis ditches his campaign manager, but it's a reset that may have come too late
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ron DeSantis completed his campaign reset by replacing his campaign manager. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday completed the full-scale reboot of his once-promising presidential campaign, reassigning his campaign manager and elevating a loyal hand from his governor's office. James Uthmeier, DeSantis' chief of staff in Tallahassee, will now lead his campaign, news first reported by The Messenger. DeSantis' former campaign manager Generra Peck, who also led DeSantis' midterm reelection romp, will remain as a chief strategist. Uthmeier's elevation comes after the DeSantis campaign laid off more than a third of its staff that once boasted more than 90 people.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, DeSantis, James Uthmeier, Uthmeier, reassigning, Trump's, Donald Trump, it's, Trump, Joe Biden, Generra Peck, Peck, David Polyansky, Andrew Romeo, FiveThirtyEight Organizations: Service, Gov, GOP, Florida Republican, PAC, Republicans, Trump, Politico Locations: Wall, Silicon, Milwaukee, Tallahassee, Florida, Iowa, Trump

☆ US has yet to produce their best at World Cup, says coach
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Amy Tennery | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WELLINGTON, July 27 (Reuters) - The United States have yet to produce their best performance at the Women's World Cup, coach Vlatko Andonovski said on Thursday, after the Netherlands held them to a frustrating 1-1 draw in their second match of the tournament in Wellington. It was the first World Cup draw that the United States have seen since Sweden held them 0-0 at the tournament in 2015. I've said this before, this team is not just young, this team is also a fresh team," said Andonovski. "We're just going to get better from game to game and we're going to be a lot more efficient as well." The United States close out their Group E against Portugal on Tuesday.

Persons: Vlatko Andonovski, Lindsey Horan, Andonovski, Julie Ertz, Becky Sauerbrunn, Savannah DeMelo, Rose Lavelle's, I've, We're, Amy Tennery, Stephen Coates Organizations: WELLINGTON, United, Wellington ., U.S ., Portugal, Thomson Locations: United States, Netherlands, Wellington, Sweden, Vietnam, Savannah

Our experts answer readers' student loan questions and write unbiased product reviews (here's how we assess student loans). With the student loan forgiveness plan struck down, my husband and I are revising our budget. After all, $20,000 in student loan forgiveness could have a significant impact on my bottom line. If you're looking at your expected student loan payments and the number seems daunting, don't give up just yet. We both have a fair amount of student loan debt, so allocating a big chunk of our budget to pay those eventual student loan payments was necessary.

Persons: Joe Biden's, I'm, we've, It's Organizations: Service, Hulu Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ EV sales: Hyundai overtakes GM, but Tesla's U.S. dominance continues
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Michael Wayland | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Meanwhile, Hyundai — including the Kia brand that's owned by the same parent company — increased its EV sales by roughly 11% during that time to 38,457 units. GM, which was second in EV sales through the first quarter, more than quadrupled electric car and truck sales to 36,322 units through June compared with a year earlier. And Volkswagen more than doubled EV sales to 26,538 units sold through June. Scott Mlyn | CNBCGM's EV sales thus far have been disappointing, especially when it comes to new models with the automaker's "Ultium" battery technologies. Correction: GM was second in EV sales through the first quarter of this year.

Persons: Brandon Bell, Tesla, Andrew Frick, hasn't, Elon Musk, Musk, disappoints Hyundai's, Randy Parker, we're, Parker, Scott Mlyn, Cadillac Lyriq, Mary Barra, Barra, It's, —, Phil LeBeau, Lora Kolodny Organizations: Getty, Hyundai Motor, General Motors, Motor Intelligence, Hyundai, Kia, GM, Ford Motor, EV, Ford, U.S, Automotive, Biden, Hyundai Motor America, New York Auto Show, CNBC, GMC Hummer, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Aspen Ideas, Chevrolet Silverado, Detroit Locations: Austin , Texas, U.S, Mexican, Texas, North America, South Korea

Ford Motor Company's electric F-150 Lightning on the production line at their Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan on September 8, 2022. DETROIT – Ford Motor 's second-quarter sales increased 9.9% from a year earlier, spurred by significant sales gains of its F-Series trucks. "Our EV sales continue to grow. Improved Mustang Mach-E inventory flow began to hit at the end of Q2 following the retooling of our plant earlier this year, which helped Mustang Mach-E sales climb 110% in June." Ford's electric vehicle sales remain small for now: EVs represented just 2.8% of the automaker's total sales during the second quarter, while traditional internal combustion engines represented roughly 91% of sales.

Persons: Ford, Andrew Frick, EVs Organizations: Ford, Electric Vehicle, DETROIT, Detroit, EV Locations: Dearborn , Michigan

☆ US weekly claims rise moderately; private payrolls surge in June
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Lucia Mutikani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"A tight labor market will keep the rate path on an upward trajectory, until policymakers see a material rebalancing in supply and demand." Claims, relative to the size of the labor market, are below the 280,000 level that economists say would signal a significant slowdown in job growth. A survey last month showed consumers' views of the labor market more upbeat in June relative to May. Though policymakers viewed the labor market as remaining "very tight," they "anticipated that employment growth would likely slow further." The claims data has no bearing on June's employment report, scheduled for release on Friday.

Persons: Rubeela Farooqi, Unadjusted, payrolls, nonfarm payrolls, Andrew Challenger, Lucia Mutikani, Safiyah Riddle, Chizu Organizations: Federal Reserve, Labor Department, Reuters, Treasury, Fed, ADP, Challenger, Companies, Thomson Locations: WASHINGTON, White Plains , New York, Minnesota, Michigan , New York , Kentucky, Ohio, Texas, New Jersey, U.S

☆ Wheels Up’s Jumbo Challenge: Post-Covid Turbulence
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Soma Biswas | Mark Maurer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Wheels Up Experience, an upstart in the membership-driven private jet industry, is retooling its business model to try to survive the post-Covid era and avoid the bankruptcy filings that have plagued other pandemic darlings. Air travelers flocked to Wheels Up after the pandemic’s onset, helping the company go public in a mid-2021 merger with a special-purpose acquisition company. Since then, its stock price has dwindled from a $110 high to a fraction of that amid widening losses and the unexpected departure in May of founder...

☆ Column: Europe's clashes over coal may extend well beyond Poland
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Gavin Maguire | Thomson Reuters | Gavin Maguire Is The Global Energy Transition Columnist. He Was Previously Asia Commodities | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

However, while Poland may be Europe's most coal-dependent economy with roughly 70% of electricity coming from coal, it is far from being Europe's only economy with a vested interest in extending the life of its power plants. HEAVY USERSGermany has the highest number of coal plants in Europe, with 53 facilities listed as participating in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), data from Ember shows. Poland is also home to the Belchatow Power Station, which is by far Europe's largest thermal coal plant, which alone spewed out over 35 million tonnes of CO2 in 2022. Czechia, formerly the Czech Republic, has 19 coal-fired plants in the EU ETS which emitted a collective 34 million tonnes of CO2 in 2022. Share of electricity from coal in select European countriesBulgaria, which depended on coal for 42% of electricity last year, has five plants in the EU ETS which emitted 23.8 million tonnes last year.

Persons: Ember, Belchatow, Gavin Maguire, Sonali Paul Organizations: Union, European Union, EU, Trading, ETS, EU ETS, World Bank, Belchatow, Southern, Global Energy Monitor, Western, Reuters, Thomson Locations: LITTLETON , Colorado, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Netherlands, Romania, Turkey, Czechia, Greece, Europe, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Italy

☆ US weekly jobless claims race to 1-1/2-year high, economists urge caution
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Lucia Mutikani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

After rampant fraud in Massachusetts briefly boosted claims to a 1-1/2-year high in May before being revised away, economists cautioned against reading too much into the latest rise. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 235,000 claims for the latest week. Unadjusted claims increased only 10,535 to 219,391 last week, with applications in Ohio surging 6,345 and filings in California shooting up 5,173. The Federal Reserve is expected to keep its policy rate unchanged next Wednesday for the first time since March 2022 when it embarked on its fastest interest rate hiking campaign since the 1980s. The U.S. central bank has raised its policy rate by 500 basis points since then.

Persons: Conrad DeQuadros, Unadjusted, Gisela Hoxha, Matthew Martin, Stuart Hoffman, Lucia Mutikani, Chizu Nomiyama, Andrea Ricci Organizations: Labor Department, Brean, Reuters, Auto, Citigroup, Federal, Treasury, Oxford Economics, PNC Financial, Institute for Supply Management, PMI, Thomson Locations: WASHINGTON, Ohio , Minnesota, California, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Minnesota, U.S, Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania

☆ An Automaker Has a Stark Warning for the U.K. Car Industry
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Stanley Reed | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A distress flare has gone up from the beleaguered British car manufacturing industry. The company implied that it might shut down its two plants in Britain, where it employs more than 5,000 people. manufacturing becomes uncompetitive and unsustainable, operations will close,” the company warned in a five-page document published this week. These words resonated across the country on Wednesday, partly because Stellantis plans to play an important role in the electrification of the British auto industry. Stellantis is already the largest producer in Britain of the popular Vauxhall commercial vans.

☆ How do you solve a problem like AI? Tax it
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( John Foley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The chances of “generative AI” being put back in its box are very small. Goldman Sachs economists estimate that 18% of work could be automated globally, and that 7% of the U.S. workforce might be substituted by AI. Moreover, while AI will create profit windfalls, many countries don’t tax those as effectively as they ought to. But a dollar of saved costs for a company creates only 21 cents in corporate income tax revenue. Capital gains are still taxed below the level of income in most countries.

☆ Human genome reboot better reflects global population
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The new genome rundown may help clarify the contribution of genetic variation to health and disease, improve genetic testing, and guide drug discovery. "A pangenome is not just one reference genome, but a whole collection of diverse genomes. Researchers in 2003 unveiled what was billed as the complete sequence of the human genome, though about 8% of it had not been fully deciphered. That reference genome was a mosaic drawn from about 20 people, including 70% from one individual of mixed European and African ancestry. The first complete human genome, based on a single European individual, was published last year after scientists filled in the gaps.

☆ How Singapore's giant sovereign wealth fund is investing in generative AI technology
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Alistair Barr | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

As CEO of GIC, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, he must keep the country's savings growing ahead of inflation. AI retoolingThe 2 investors were most animated when discussing the recent explosion of generative AI technology, including large language models. Chris Emanuel, head of the Technology Investment Group at GIC, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GICThere's already a generative AI startup feeding frenzy among venture capital funds. Secondary market actionFinally, GIC is keen on doing more in the secondary market, where private stakes in startups and VC funds change hands. That means general partners, the people running VC funds, already know GIC and are more comfortable dealing with the organization, Lim explained.

☆ Popular board games, like Scrabble, get tweaked for elderly players
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Parija Kavilanz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Tweaks to the board games feature several age-inclusive components, said Ted Fisher, co-founder and CEO of Ageless Innovation, which specializes in developing toys for elderly consumers. Ageless InnovationThe new Scrabble Bingo 3-1 edition (priced at $40) has three games — the classic word game of Scrabble, Scrabble Bingo and Scrabble Pass. Foster said Hasbro reached out last year with the idea to adapt the three board games. Toy industry expert Jim Silver said age-inclusive Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit and The Game of Life games make sense. I’m interested to see if Hasbro adds other board games, like Monopoly, to this effort,” he said.

☆ Why GM is killing the Chevy Bolt — America's cheapest EV — amid record sales
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Michael Wayland | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

In this article GM Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTA Chevrolet Bolt EUV on display at the New York Auto Show, April 13, 2022. Scott Mlyn | CNBCDETROIT — After years of lackluster performance and a fire-provoked recall, the all-electric Chevrolet Bolt EV was finally gaining traction for General Motors . The Bolt EV would start at $26,595, followed by the Bolt EUV at $28,195. A 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV caught fire at a home in Cherokee County, Georgia on Sept. 13, 2021, according to the local fire department. Cherokee County Fire DepartmentStill, GM touted the Bolt EV as proof of the concept for its electric-powered future.

"At this point, we are no longer behind in building out our AI infrastructure," Zuckerberg said on a conference call. AI recommendations increased time spent on Instagram by 24% in the January-March quarter, Meta said. Reuters GraphicsCOST CONTROLSpending on the AI retooling has spiked the company's capital expenditures, which came in slightly under expectations at $7.1 billion for the quarter. "We've been focusing on both AI and the metaverse for years now, and we will continue to focus on both." Revenue for the first quarter rose 3% to $28.65 billion, beating an average estimate of $27.66 billion.

The company said its expenses for the year may be lower than it had forecast in March. Spending on the AI retooling has spiked the company's capital expenditures, which came in slightly under expectations at $7.1 billion for the quarter. Analysts had forecast $7.2 billion in capital expenditures in the quarter, based on the company's annual forecast of $30 billion to $33 billion, which it kept unchanged. Net profit for the first three months of the year fell to $2.20 per share from $2.72 a year earlier, but beat expectations of $2.03 a share. Revenue for the first quarter rose 3% to $28.65 billion, beating an average estimate of $27.66 billion.

Generative AI gobbles up reams of computing power, amplifying the urgency of Meta's capacity scramble, said five of the sources. Executives also that spring set about reorganizing Meta's AI units, naming two new heads of engineering in the process, including Janardhan, the author of the September memo. According to four of the sources, Meta did not prioritize building generative AI products until after the launch of ChatGPT in November. Zuckerberg announced a new top-level generative AI team in February that he said would "turbocharge" the company's work in the area. Carvill, the Meta spokesperson, said the company has been building generative AI products on different teams for more than a year.

☆ Inside Meta's scramble to catch up on A.I.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

For more than a year, Meta has been engaged in a massive project to whip its AI infrastructure into shape. He declined to comment on whether Meta abandoned its AI chip. Generative AI gobbles up reams of computing power, amplifying the urgency of Meta's capacity scramble, said five of the sources. By 2021, that two-pronged approach proved slower and less efficient than one built around GPUs, which were also more flexible in running different types of models than Meta's chip, the two people said. Executives also that spring set about reorganizing Meta's AI units, naming two new heads of engineering in the process, including Janardhan, the author of the September memo.

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☆ Column: Germany goes all in on energy transition with nuclear shutdowns
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Gavin Maguire | Thomson Reuters | Gavin Maguire Is The Global Energy Transition Columnist. He Was Previously Asia Commodities | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

To combat that vulnerability, and ensure Germany's energy system can accommodate a recovery in power demand from last year's stunted levels despite lower gas-fired and nuclear output, Germany's power producers must continue to retool the country's entire power system at record pace. FIT FOR PURPOSEThe key near-term challenge for Germany's energy producers is to generate as much power and electricity as was delivered before Russia's incursions into Ukraine upended power markets. The lower electricity generation totals also indicate that power producers may be struggling to lift overall generation levels given the falling supplies of nuclear power output and continued tight availability of natural gas. The extent of coal's demand growth will be determined by overall power demand needs in Germany over the coming months. But with low-emitting nuclear power now off the table, more coal use looks inevitable, at least over the near term.

☆ Don’t Expect Mass Adoption of Electric Cars Anytime Soon
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Ted Nordhaus | Ashley Nunes | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The electric Ford Mustang Mach-E, shown at a trade event in Los Angeles in 2019, is the third-best selling electric car in the U.S. but costs $15,000 more than its gas-powered equivalent. If you believe the hype about electric vehicles (EVs), the internal combustion engine will soon be a thing of the past. Congress, under the recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act, has extended generous subsidies to buyers of EVs. President Biden wants EVs to account for 67% of auto sales by 2032, and California plans to ban the sale of gas-powered vehicles in 2035. Soon enough, proponents suggest, EVs will be sitting in every American driveway, ending our love affair with the internal combustion engine, breaking our centurylong dependence on oil and allowing the U.S. to deeply cut its carbon emissions.

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