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☆ Americans are spending record amounts at casinos and airlines — but recent warnings from Amazon and Apple suggest the party may soon be over
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Jacob Zinkula | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Despite inflation, Americans are still shelling out at casinos, airlines, and restaurants. In October, both American and Southwest Airlines reported record operating revenues for their respective companies in the third quarter. Following "record summer leisure travel demand," consumers continued to hit the skies in September, Southwest CEO Bob Jordan said. A Deloitte survey of nearly 5,000 Americans found that Americans plan to buy 44% fewer gifts — an average of nine versus 16 last year. "Spending should slow down significantly with the holiday hangover and as savings continue to dwindle," RSM economist Tuan Nguyen told USA Today.

☆ The 30 companies information technology students around the world most want to work for
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Madison Hoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Universum published its annual list of the most attractive employers for IT students. That's part of the employer branding expert's World's Most Attractive Employers report. Information technology students want to work for tech companies, such as Google and Samsung, but also hope to end up working at places outside tech. Universum recently released its annual rankings of ideal employers that different students want to work for, which is part of its World's Most Attractive Employers report. From KPMG to Google, below are the 30 companies IT students aspire to work for according to Universum's ranking of the most attractive employers.

☆ The 30 companies business students around the world most want to work for
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Madison Hoff | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Business students want to work at Apple, along with accounting firms and various automotive companies. Business students from around the world hope they can work at Apple. The business standing ranking was determined this year by almost 90,000 business students from across the world. Tech companies Apple, Google, and Microsoft made up this year's top three spots in the business student ranking. The following are the 30 companies that made the top of the business student ranking and how each company's 2022 rank compares to their standing in 2021.

☆ Auditor exodus at embattled China property firms triggers governance concerns
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Clare Jim | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

HONG KONG, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Auditors of at least 14 Hong Kong-listed Chinese property firms have exited this year, securities filings showed, raising governance concerns about the debt-ridden developers several of whom are yet to publish long-pending financial results. Embattled developers including Sunac China (1918.HK), Shimao Group (0813.HK) and Kaisa Group (1638.HK) are among those whose auditors have parted ways in recent months. In many cases, firms outside the Big-Four accounting firms have been roped in as replacements. The trend, which accelerated earlier this year, has seen auditors, including the world's top auditing firms PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Deloitte, resigning from their roles. Deloitte in Hong Kong declined to comment on the reasons for ending their auditing mandates for some Chinese property developers.

The beneficiary listed on your life insurance policy will get your benefits, not your next of kinWhen choosing your life insurance plan, you can choose one or more beneficiaries. Know the difference between term life and whole life insuranceTerm life insurance typically lasts for 10, 20, or 30 years. It's the most affordable kind of life insurance, although premiums may increase over time depending on your policy. Whole life insurance, on the other hand, is a type of permanent life insurance that covers you for your entire life. Life insurance coverage from your employer ends when you leave your jobMany people are offered life insurance as a part of their employer's benefits package, but, says Betts, it's important to understand that those types of life insurance policies end when you leave your job.

☆ U.S. oil production nears 12 mln barrels/day, at pre-pandemic high
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Arathy Somasekhar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] The sun is seen behind a crude oil pump jack in the Permian Basin in Loving County, Texas, U.S., November 22, 2019. President Joe Biden has called on oil companies to boost production to reduce fuel prices. A little over two years after the pandemic wrecked havoc on demand and slashed profits, four of the five largest global oil companies brought in roughly $50 billion in net income in the most recent quarter. Crude production rose 0.9% to 11.98 million bpd in August, highest since March 2020, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in monthly figures. In top oil producing states, monthly output rose 1.6% to 5.10 million bpd in Texas and 0.6% to a record 1.58 million bpd in New Mexico, but fell 0.5% to 1.06 million bpd in North Dakota.

☆ U.S. oil companies' cash flow to rise by 68% per barrel in 2022 - Deloitte
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Sabrina Valle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HOUSTON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - U.S. upstream oil companies are expected to bank 68% higher free cash flows per barrel produced in 2022 as surging prices fuel profits, while output growth lingers at 4.5% year to date, Deloitte consultancy said on Monday. The study illustrates the clash between the White House and oil companies over how skyrocketing profits from high energy prices should be allocated. Unlike in the past, when higher energy prices and profits would lead to increased investment rates, companies have been cutting down on costs and exercising cash discipline, Deloitte said. "We are really seeing caution in terms of where the capex is going," Deloitte Energy Executive Kate Hardin said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Sabrina Valle; Editing by Jamie FreedOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Wealthy people are splurging on bucket-list trips, flying to the Arctic Circle for private-chef-catered meals, renting out African safari lodges, and spending $300,000 for a half-hour opera serenade
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Zoe Rosenberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Hard-to-access places like the Arctic Circle and Galapagos Islands are bucket-list travel hot spots. These well-off wanderlusters have helped create a travel-industry boom, with pent-up demand pushing bucket-list travel into this year's shoulder seasons. American Express Travel's 2022 Global Travel Trends report, which used polling data collected in early February 2022, confirms the move toward bucket-list travel this year. Quality time with loved ones matters above allBut not all bucket-list travel experiences need to be in far-flung corners of the world. Finnegan said traveling with his family made it a bucket-list trip.

☆ The ridiculous rise of the chief purpose officer — corporate America's half-baked attempt to fix the employee burnout crisis
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Tracy Moore | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Every company on Great Place to Work's ranked list of best employers has a chief purpose officer or purpose among the company's missions and goals. Its chief purpose officer, Kwasi Mitchell, who stepped into the role in 2020, told me that establishing purpose was a powerful talent-retention tool. The same is true for chief purpose officers. And a chief purpose officer can be used as a crutch, a way for a business to say, "Of course, we care," when employees raise issues with the culture. Instead of fixing the burnout problem, these executives can allow management to turn a blind eye and assume all is well, letting workplace rot set in even deeper.

☆ Uncertainty clouds holiday shopping for consumers as inflation takes a toll
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Jessica Dickler | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Many consumers are planning to make fewer purchases — and at a discount, according to a recent holiday retail report by Deloitte. Still, households will shell out $1,455, on average, on holiday gifts, in line with last year, the report found. "Inflation is, by far, the biggest issue for households this year," said Tim Quinlan, senior economist at Wells Fargo and author of its 2022 holiday sales report. Household finances have taken a hit with a lower savings rate and declining real wages, which could slow holiday sales, Quinlan said in the report. "The bottom line is, with inflation remaining a headache, dollars aren't stretching as far, and most consumers will still be looking for bargains."

☆ Gold rush: Lawyers are flocking to Arizona to take advantage of new rules resulting in a flood of outside investments in law firms
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Jack Newsham | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

In 2021, Arizona changed its rules to let non-lawyers co-own law firms, many of which are highly profitable: They collectively made an estimated $320 billion in the US last year. Today, 47 states — all but Arizona, Utah, and Washington — ban anyone but lawyers from owning law firms. Some of the firms Arizona has approved have said they plan to advertise nationwide, and refer cases to other law firms that will actually do the work. Pre-settlement funding, which is one of the riskier kinds of loan for plaintiffs' law firms, often has interest rates of 12 to 20 percent, Ziser said. The UK has allowed outside investment in law firms since 2007 without major scandal, he said, but it also takes a loser-pays approach to lawsuits that can cut down on frivolous claims.

☆ This little-known quantum computing stock can more than double, Piper Sandler says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Piper Sandler called D-Wave Quantum a unrivaled leader in quantum computing that is poised to thrive in what will likely become a multibillion dollar market. "The company is a leader in quantum computing and specializes specifically within annealing quantum computers," he said in a note to clients. Kumar said D-Wave Quantum is one of a few revenue-producing companies with a quantum computer, and is able to capitalize in ways that computers used in academic settings are not. However, he did note some countries have quantum computing programs and there are other companies looking to get into annealing. Read more The perils and promise of quantum computing are nearing.

☆ Bank of Ireland offers menopause leave
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN Business —Bank of Ireland Group is offering paid leave for women employees going through menopause, joining a growing list of companies trying to prevent women from exiting the workforce. Employees will be able to take up to 10 days off a year if they experience physical or psychological symptoms related to menopause, the bank announced Wednesday. The bank, which employs around 9,800 people worldwide, will also train managers on how to support colleagues going through menopause. The announcement was made during Ireland’s first ever Menopause Awareness Week and comes as a growing number of companies in Britain and Europe, including Danske Bank and Deloitte, introduce policies targeting menopause. A separate survey by Standard Chartered Bank and Britain’s Financial Services Skills Commission found that a quarter of women are more likely to retire early because of menopause.

☆ How using analytics and AI can help companies manage the semiconductor supply chain
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Bob Violino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

One potential nearer-term solution for companies that rely on semiconductors: advanced data analytics and artificial intelligence tools to help manage supply issues. "The semiconductor supply chain is still constrained," said Brandon Kulik, semiconductor industry leader and principal at Deloitte Consulting. "Organizations can leverage data analytics tools for deeper insights across the supply chain," Tandon said. Rand Technology, an independent semiconductor distributor, is using data analytics to solve customer challenges related to supply. Rand also uses advanced data analytics to identify trends and patterns that enable it to guide customers strategically through perilous market conditions.

☆ This startup wants to give plant-based foods a meaty aroma and taste. Here's the 13-slide pitch deck Nourish Ingredients used to raise $28.6 million.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A startup creating plant-based fat to mimic ones found in meat just landed $28.6 million. Nourish Ingredients hopes its fat will help plant-based meat taste, smell and cook like the real thing. Australia-based startup Nourish Ingredients, founded in 2019, has developed a way to make animal fats using plant-based ingredients. Nourish Ingredients' fat will give foods a meaty aroma and taste, cofounder and CEO James Petrie told Insider. After two years of growth, plant-based food sales have stagnated as public perception dwindles, according to Deloitte.

With Jeremy Hunt taking up the role on Friday, Britain has had four finance ministers in just four months. Prior to the 2016 Brexit vote, Britain had four finance ministers in 23 years, underlining a sense of stability that is now gone. The response was brutal: the pound slumped, government borrowing costs surged, lenders pulled mortgage deals and the Bank of England had to intervene to stop some pension funds from going under. While Truss had touted low corporation tax as a way to attract business investment, the executives said they wanted stability. British business investment, which flatlined after the 2016 Brexit vote and then fell sharply during the pandemic, was 6% lower in the second quarter of this year than its level of six years ago, in stark contrast to international peers.

☆ Partner at Accounting Firm Fined for Allegedly Misleading Investigators
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Mark Maurer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

A partner at accounting firm Spielman Koenigsberg & Parker LLP was fined $150,000 for allegedly misleading investigators, the largest monetary penalty imposed on an individual in a case settled by the U.S. auditing watchdog. The regulator also permanently barred Mr. Taylor from associating with a PCAOB-registered accounting firm. Mr. Taylor became a partner at the firm in 1999, according to the firm’s website. Neither Mr. Taylor nor the firm immediately responded to a request for comment. “The quality control systems at audit firms are fundamental to audit quality and regulatory compliance,” Mark Adler, the acting director of the PCAOB’s division of enforcement and investigations, said in a statement.

☆ Goldman’s brainwaves are best left for its clients
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( John Foley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A strategic swerve is an acknowledgement that brainwaves are best pitched to clients than executed by the Wall Street firm itself. Jamie Dimon’s bank drops around $12 billion a year on technology, an entire quarter of Goldman’s revenue. It’s a U-turn, but that’s okay since Goldman is still a leader on the bread-and-butter Wall Street stuff. The Wall Street firm made an 11% return on equity. Revenue from fixed-income trading increased 41% year-on-year, and equities trading revenue slipped 14%.

☆ UK CFOs say credit is expensive, hit by "mini-budget," Deloitte survey says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( William Schomberg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The quarterly Deloitte UK CFO Survey found 56% of chief financial officers at top companies thought credit was costly, the most since 2010. "A 12-year period of easy credit conditions is drawing to an end," Ian Stewart, chief economist at Deloitte, said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterCFOs who responded after Sept. 23's mini-budget were more likely to report high credit costs than those who responded before, Deloitte said. The Deloitte survey found CFOs on average saw a 78% chance that Britain would fall into recession in the next 12 months, and had tilted towards defensive strategies which prioritised cost reduction and cash control. The survey of 87 CFOs, including 23 from FTSE 100 companies and 30 from FTSE 250 firms, took place between Sept. 20 and Oct. 3.

Thanksgiving airfare prices are currently averaging $281 round trip, up 25% from last year, according to travel booking group Hopper. At the same time, the demand for flights has continued to surge as households book travel that was waylaid by the pandemic. On its quarterly earnings call Friday, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said demand for air travel "remains very strong." "Demand has not come close to being quenched by a hectic summer travel season," Bastian said. "For airlines, the cost of flying each seat is higher than ever before, and for consumers, there are fewer seats available to buy and each is going to be more expensive," Berg said.

☆ Digital LeBron vs. analog Mantle: Sports collectibles remain hot despite NFT boom
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-15 | by ( Jake Traylor | Jake Traylor Is An Associate Producer For Msnbc. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

But amid a crypto winter, the future trajectory of the sports memorabilia market, tangible or NFT, is being disputed. Meanwhile, the success of NBA Top Shot, arguably the most successful sports NFT market, soared and eventually crashed. Millennials are driving the NFT market, according to a Morning Consult survey that found 42% of all NFT collectors are 26 to 40 years old. Some sports market experts argue that regardless of an NFT bounce back, tangibles and NFTs in the sports memorabilia market don’t compete with each other. “I don’t think that [NFTs] are going to eat into the physical memorabilia market,” said Pete Giorgio, leader of Deloitte Consulting’s global and U.S. sports practice, who tracks and forecasts the sports memorabilia market.

☆ From Whole Foods to Gamestop, here are 5 retailers that accept crypto—but there's a catch
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Cheyenne Devon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Nearly 40% of millennials and Gen Zers who own cryptocurrency plan to use it to make payments, according to PYMNT and BitPay's "Paying With Crypto" survey. About 75% of them plan to begin accepting crypto or stablecoin payments within the next two years, according to a recent Deloitte survey. A number of companies are already welcoming payments with digital currencies — just not directly. For example, Flexa, a digital payments platform, partners with a variety of retailers and enables them to accept payments made with crypto such as bitcoin and ethereum. Users store their crypto in the app's digital wallet and then can use a code to spend their funds at various participating stores.

☆ Souring Economy Gives Tech Freelancers a Lift
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Like most companies, he said, it enlists freelancers with specific skills across a range of capabilities, including AI and analytics. “The pandemic and, more recently, the turbulence in the economy, spurred demand for greater labor flexibility both among employers and workers,” Mr. Herbert said. Sebastián Siseles, a vice president at Freelancer.com, said freelance work also allows IT job seekers—especially younger workers—to reduce the risk of being dependent on a single employer. By adapting to remote work during the pandemic, employers “opened the window” to hiring more freelancers, Mr. Siseles said. Many tech-enabled companies such as Uber Technologies Inc., Lyft Inc. and DoorDash Inc., which rely heavily on gig workers, have opposed similar efforts in the past.

☆ Read the pitch deck machine learning startup Arize AI used to raise $38 million from investors including an early backer of Netflix and Airbnb
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Ellen Thomas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Machine-learning observability startup Arize AI recently raised $38 million in a Series B round. Insider got an exclusive look at the pitch deck Arize used to secure its latest funding round. The company has raised $61 million to date, including $38 million in a recent series B round led by TCV. Its competitors include companies like Arthur, which announced a $42 million Series B round of funding in September, and Fiddler, which raised a $32 million Series B round in 2021. Insider got an exclusive look at the pitch deck Arize used to secure its Series B round of funding.

☆ Juicy Marbles: Can a meat-free filet mignon convert carnivores?
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Tom Page | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

With its plant-based prime cut steak, Juicy Marbles thinks it’s mastered the art. The company has raised $4.6 million and its filet mignon was launched online in Europe and the United States earlier this year. It plans to begin selling in shops in the European Union, United States and United Kingdom in 2023. A cross section of a cooked Juicy Marbles filet mignon. Just 7% of the world’s soy — the main ingredient of Juicy Marbles’ product — is directly consumed by humans.

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