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☆ Amazon employees are outraged by a new warning about individual office attendance: 'Is this supposed to scare people?'
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Some Amazon staff got an email warning them about their office attendance records. The email and internal ticket also suggest that Amazon may be tracking individual office attendance records, even though it previously said it only saved "anonymized" data . Another said this is "peak absurdity" since most employees who received the warning email have been complying with the rules. One of the points added to the internal ticket said future communications should not include "gaslighting-like language" because "it does not come across well." As a reminder, you can find FAQs about working from the office on Inside Amazon News and My HR.

Persons: they've, I've Organizations: Amazon

☆ Walmart focuses India’s retail valuation debate
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MUMBAI, July 31 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Walmart (WMT.N) is bumping up its stake in Flipkart, India’s e-commerce giant, at a handsome valuation. The U.S. retailer is buying shares from Tiger Global for $1.4 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. It’s a good deal for the seller as investors assess India’s hottest retail businesses. Reliance Industries’ (RELI.NS) retail unit might come sooner; analysts peg its valuation anywhere between $57 billion and $131 billion. How the market finally values India’s consumer will be closely watched.

Persons: India’s, Japan’s SoftBank, Robyn Mak, Pranav Kiran Organizations: Reuters, Walmart, Tiger Global, Wall Street, Reliance Industries, Twitter, BT boss’s, of Japan, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI, Flipkart, U.S, Una

☆ New BT boss’s biggest test is investor relations
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, July 31 (Reuters Breakingviews) - BT’s (BT.L) board faced the challenge of hiring a new CEO willing to implement a turnaround strategy decided by their predecessor. It has solved that problem by appointing one of its own members, Allison Kirkby, to the post vacated by outgoing Philip Jansen. Shares in the Swedish telco sank 4% on news of her departure, suggesting Telia’s loss is a gain for BT. Kirkby won’t take over until January 2024 but, having sat on BT’s board for more than four years, she should be able to hit the road running. Keeping these two investors on her side will be the real test for Kirkby at BT.

Persons: Allison Kirkby, Philip Jansen ., Swedish telco, Kirkby won’t, Patrick Drahi’s, Jansen, Pierre Briançon, Liam Proud, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, Telia Company, BT, Kirkby, Deutsche Telekom, Twitter, Soaring, of Japan, Thomson Locations: Swedish, Kirkby

☆ Opinion: The Donald Trump and Hunter Biden surprises
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( Richard Galant | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +20 min

So it was remarkable Wednesday when the deal for Hunter Biden to plead guilty to two misdemeanors for his failure to pay taxes on time fell apart in a federal courtroom after the judge raised questions about it. Special counsel Jack Smith unexpectedly added a major allegation to the indictment charging former President Donald Trump with mishandling classified documents. The Trump and Hunter Biden developments underlined how America’s political climate is being shaped by what happens in the courts. This addition, an alleged surveillance tape conspiracy, almost reads like a spy novel.”“It features Trump employee and co-defendant Walt Nauta’s surprise clandestine trip to Florida. To W. James Antle III, it was the Hunter Biden plea deal snafu that brought to the forefront the “powerful split screen that drives” how Republican voters see the emerging 2024 presidential race.

Persons: Robert Burns, beasties, ”, Burns, aren’t, Hunter Biden, Jack Smith, Donald Trump, ” Smith, Trump, Dana Summers, Norman Eisen, Walt Nauta’s, Nauta, De Oliveira, De Oliveria, ’, ” Eisen, James Antle III, Hunter, Joe Biden’s, Maryellen Noreika, ” “ Noreika, couldn’t, Joe Biden, wasn’t, ” Bill Bramhall, Mitch McConnell, Sen, Dianne Feinstein, Julian Zelizer, “, ” “, Walt Handelsman, Elon Musk’s, Twitter “, Bill Carter, it’s, … Musk, —, Musk, ” Carter, Bill McGuire, ” McGuire, Mark Wolfe, Cassandra Lovejoy, Clay Jones, David Grusch, Jason Colavito, Colavito, Barbara Lee, Abigail E, Moore, ” Lee, Michael Bociurkiw, Odesa, Vladimir Putin’s, ” Bociurkiw, “ Handshakes, ” Netanyahu Israel’s, Benjamin Netanyahu, Frida Ghitis, Netanyahu, Drew Sheneman, Peniel, Joseph, Kamala Harris, Sophia A, Nicole Hemmer, Patrick T, Brown, David J, Skorton, Frank R, Lisa Benson, Barbie, Dean Obeidallah, ‘, GOP Sen, Ted Cruz, Mattel, Barbie —, Greta Gerwig’s, Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling —, ” Obeidallah, Taylor Swift Taylor Swift, Swift, Barbra Streisand, Margaret H, Willison, O’Connor Sinéad O'Connor, Andrew Chin, Sinéad O’Connor, Sarah Gundle, Taylor, Sinead O’Connor’s, ” Don’t, Lawrence, Kara Alaimo, Jill Filipovic, Jeff Pearlman, He’s, Catherine Steenkeste, David A, Andelman, Mort Rosenblum, who’s, he’s, ” We’ll Organizations: CNN, Mar, Trump, Justice Department, Fox, Republicans, GOP, of Justice, New York Daily, Times, Twitter, SpaceX, World Meteorological Organization, University College London, Pentagon, “, Disney, Supreme, Agency, Education, African, Trinity, Warner Bros, Warner Bros ., Billboard, Machine, Vogue Theatre, International Herald Tribune Locations: Scottish, Florida, Bedminster, New, California, Rhodes, Corfu, Evia, Europe, United States, Odesa, Miami, York, Ukrainian, Kyiv, Israel’s, North America, Vancouver, Canada, White, Paris, Seine, gunpoint, ”

☆ Soaring StanChart still has lots of work to do
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SINGAPORE, July 28 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Bill Winters’ bank is finally getting its act together – to an extent. London-listed Standard Chartered (STAN.L) on Friday reported its highest first-half revenue and earnings since Winters joined as CEO in 2015. The upgraded 12%-14% top-line growth for this year, from 10% previously, caught investors' eyes, as did a chunky $1 billion share buyback programme. Winters managed to get costs down to 61% of revenue in the first half, close to his 2024 target of around 60%. Even after Friday’s bump, StanChart trades at just two-thirds of 12-month forward tangible book value, using analyst estimates gathered by Refinitiv Datastream.

Persons: Bill Winters, Winters, It’s, Refinitiv Datastream, Liam Proud, Streisand Neto Organizations: Reuters, “, HSBC, DBS, Twitter, Bank of Japan, Thomson Locations: SINGAPORE, London

☆ Bank of Japan has its cake and eats it
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Governor Kazuo Ueda on Friday shocked global markets by pledging more flexibility in the Bank of Japan’s (8301.T) yield curve control scheme, its mechanism for controlling long-term interest rates. The central bank said its previous rigid target of keeping yields on 10-year sovereign bonds in a range of 0.5% to minus 0.5% was now just a “reference”. And it promised to buy 10-year bonds at 1%, which Ueda defined as a “just-in-case” cap. Traders immediately breached the officially unchanged range; the yield on 10-year government bonds hit a 9-year high of 0.575%. Instead, the bank may have found a way to make it more sustainable.

Persons: Kazuo Ueda, Ueda, Francesco Guerrera, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, Bank of Japan’s, Traders, Global, Twitter, Consumers, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI, Japan, Una

☆ Neste's output snafu dents net-zero aviation goals
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Neste’s production woes are a big headache for Chief Executive Matti Lehmus but also for the aviation sector. That includes up to 1 million tons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which is key to make planes greener as it cuts carbon emissions by up to 80%. Neste is now predicting that it will produce 230,000 tons less of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel in the second half of 2023. Neste's production problems will further complicate the aviation race to net zero. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Persons: Matti Lehmus, Pamela Barbaglia, Lisa Jucca, Streisand Neto Organizations: Reuters, Twitter, Thales, Thomson Locations: Singapore, Neste

☆ Consumers will win in cannabis-credit card clash
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The $376 billion payments network wants its financial partners in transactions for cannabis to crack down on using its debit cards, Bloomberg reported on July 26. The budding industry is running out of convenient options for customers to pay for its products. By definition, payments networks such as Mastercard and Visa (V.N) are middlemen, facilitating the movement of money between parties. In the weed business, that means they take the money from the buyer’s bank account and ship it into the dispensary’s. In Washington, D.C., some cannabis shops peddle quasi-worthless knickknacks such as stickers to customers while “gifting” small amounts of pot.

Persons: workarounds, Mastercard’s, Anita Ramaswamy, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Sharon Lam Organizations: YORK, Reuters, Mastercard, Bloomberg, Visa, D.C, Twitter, Thomson Locations: Washington

☆ Ticketmaster halts tickets for Taylor Swift’s French concerts after another snafu
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

London CNN —Ticketmaster has created more bad blood with Taylor Swift fans after its website glitched Tuesday, preventing thousands of Swifties from buying tickets for the singer’s upcoming concerts in France. Ticketmaster said on Twitter Tuesday that it had “put on hold” ticket sales for four dates of Swift’s hugely popular Eras Tour in Paris, including two dates in Lyon, both scheduled for spring next year. Responding to Ticketmaster’s tweet, one Twitter user said she had been “waiting hours.”“Will the ticket sales commence again today? It’s a problem Swift fans know all too well: The ticketing site crashed in November after millions of people flocked to the platform to try to snag Eras Tour tickets. In March, Ticketmaster ran into trouble again when some fans of the Eurovision Song Contest found they were unable to access the platform.

Persons: Taylor Swift, “, ” “, ”, Swift Organizations: London CNN, Ticketmaster, Twitter, CNN Locations: France, Paris, Lyon

☆ A Quick and Easy Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Melissa Clark | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Both the cookie and the cake would pair delightfully with an iced coffee lightened with Gabriella Lewis’s sweet cream cold foam. Serve it with Eric Kim’s watermelon and feta salad for a juicy, refreshing contrast to all that deli meat. You do need to subscribe to cook these recipes, along with the tens of thousands of others at New York Times cooking. Improvise Your Melon SaladsTo make Eric’s watermelon salad even more colorful, substitute sliced cucumber and cantaloupe for some of the watermelon. Or use any combination of melons here; the simple olive oil, feta and basil dressing will work brilliantly with whatever you have.

Persons: Gabriella Lewis’s, Slagle’s, Eric Kim’s Organizations: New York Times Locations: Italian

☆ Netflix is reportedly plotting its first live sports event, a celebrity golf tournament that could redeem the streamer after its 'Love Is Blind' livestreaming debacle
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Ashley Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Netflix may be ready to get into live sports after its "Love Is Blind" reunion livestreaming snafu. Netflix may be looking to a sports event to prove its livestreaming chops after it fumbled a recent live reunion special of the reality show "Love is Blind." The streaming company is planning a celebrity golf event as its first foray into live sports, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. But its most recent livestreaming attempt, a reunion special for its hit reality show "Love Is Blind," was a spectacular failure. The company has yet to ink any live-sports pacts, finding success instead with docuseries around sports like Formula 1, professional golf, and professional tennis.

Persons: Chris Rock's, Greg Peters, Netflix's, Chris Rock, Peters Organizations: Netflix, Street Journal, Morning, Wall Street, Formula, ESPN

☆ A bright spot in the economy is at risk as 30 million Americans face student loan payments for the first time since the pandemic
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

More than 43 million Americans together owe $1.6 trillion in student loans. That additional load could weigh on consumer spending, and eventually increase delinquencies on other payments like credit cards and personal loans, strategists said. "We view the resumption of student loan debt payments as an incremental headwind for borrowers and consumer finance companies," BofA said. This, in other words, means the odds of the hotly-anticipated recession are about to go up as consumers divert cash back to student loan payments. Do you have student loans?

☆ Default Fears Rattle Main Street Investors
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Matt Grossman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Benjamin Samuels, a 31-year-old cybersecurity auditor from Los Angeles, started shifting his emergency cash into Treasurys last year, attracted by rising interest rates. He hadn’t expected the U.S. government—thought to be the world’s safest borrower—to find itself two weeks from default. Mr. Samuels had set up his Treasury holdings to reinvest automatically as bills mature, but he logged on to the Treasury Department’s website last week to reverse that setting. Now he is holding more cash, spooked by the approaching deadline for Congress and President Biden to raise the government’s borrowing limit to avoid an unprecedented U.S. borrowing snafu.

☆ The US once had a 'mini-default' on some of its debts because of a technical glitch. The minor mistake cost billions.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The incident caused Treasury yields to spike up by 60 basis points or 0.6 percent and cost billions long-term. The US is now flirting with a full default as Republicans in Congress demand spending cuts in exchange for paying America's debt. "Payment delays were chiefly due to back-office technical and organizational problems," according to a report by the Congressional Research Service, a nonpartisan public policy research institute of Congress. Congress has raised the debt ceiling multiple times under previous administrations without negotiations — including under President Donald Trump. President Joe Biden has refused to negotiate over the debt ceiling, while Republicans are also holding firm on their demands.

☆ 9 bits of wisdom that my mentors from PayPal, Facebook, and LinkedIn gave me that I still use today as a CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Deb Liu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

Mentors can give us advice and guidance, helping us in ways that others, who are too close to the problem, never can. When I sought her advice, she didn't tell me where I should choose to go; instead, she gave me this kernel of wisdom. He advised me to defer my acceptance and try to get into business school instead. I was about to learn that the skills that make you a great individual contributor PM do not always make you a great manager. If you don't have a mentor, I highly recommend finding one (check out my last post on mentors for tips!).

Boeing shares rose 2.5% in early afternoon trade after the company reaffirmed its plans to generate $3 billion to $5 billion in free cash flow this year, as well as deliver 400 to 450 737 MAXs and 70 to 80 787 Dreamliners. Deliveries will increase to about 40 MAXs a month during the back half of the year, he said. Reuters reported earlier this month that Boeing's schedule called for suppliers to produce 38 737 MAXs a month from June. Reuters GraphicsBoeing's first-quarter cash burn slowed to $786 million from $3.57 billion a year earlier on higher jet deliveries. Reporting by Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bengaluru and Valerie Insinna in Washington; Editing by Anil D'SilvaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

April 26 (Reuters) - Boeing Co (BA.N) said on Wednesday that it planned to ramp up production of its 737 MAX jets to 38 per month by year-end, while backing its annual cash-flow goal, offering some relief to investors after a new manufacturing snafu threatened to derail deliveries. Reuters reported earlier this month that Boeing's schedule called for suppliers to ramp up to 38 737 MAXs a month in June. Overall, Boeing reaffirmed plans to generate $3 billion to $5 billion in free cash flow this year, as well as deliver 400 to 450 737 MAXs and 70 to 80 787 Dreamliners. Boeing reported an adjusted loss per share of $1.27, wider than analyst expectations of a loss of $1.07 per share, per Refinitiv data. Boeing executives are expected to detail the scope of the problem on an investor call later in the day.

☆ Netflix says technical glitch that torpedoed the 'Love is Blind' live reunion was from a bug accidentally introduced after Chris Rock's comedy special
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Netflix co-CEO said a bug caused the technical glitch that hit the live "Love is Blind" reunion live special on Sunday. About 6.5 million viewers have watched the "Love Is Blind" special so far, Peters added on Tuesday. The delay of the "Love is Blind" special angered fans who hit out at the streaming service for the mishap. It added 1.75 million streaming subscribers in the January to March quarter — short of analyst estimates of 2.06 million additions, per Refinitiv. The streaming service plans to roll out its unpopular paid account sharing across households this quarter, it said in its letter to shareholders on Tuesday.

REUTERS/Jim VondruskaApril 18 (Reuters) - Southwest Airlines Co's (LUV.N) said a technology failure caused a one-hour nationwide stoppage of its flights on Tuesday, another snafu for the carrier after a software problem over the Christmas holiday stranded thousands. The Dallas-based carrier's flights resumed after a vendor-supplied computer network firewall went down Tuesday morning and connection to some operational data was "unexpectedly" lost. Data from flight tracker FlightAware showed 47% of Southwest's flights were delayed as of late afternoon on Tuesday. "This is another demonstration that Southwest Airlines needs to upgrade their systems and stop the negative impacts to individual travelers,” said Senator Maria Cantwell in a statement. The FAA had to halt flights nationwide in January due to a systems outage.

☆ Lordstown Motors resumes production, deliveries after snafu
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 18 (Reuters) - Electric-vehicle company Lordstown Motors Corp (RIDE.O) said on Tuesday production and deliveries of its Endurance electric pick-up truck resumed this month after a pause in February to address quality issues. EV startups have been struggling with dwindling cash balances and production challenges as access to capital tightens amid rising U.S. interest rates to tame inflation. Ohio-based Lordstown, whose shares were trading 1% higher premarket, also said it has struck a deal under which Amerit Fleet Solutions will provide service and maintenance for its fleet customers. In January, the EV company forecast production would slow through its first quarter due to supply-chain constraints, particularly with respect to the availability of hub motor components. Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika SyamnathOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Netflix blames technical bug for live 'Love Is Blind' reunion snafu
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Alex Sherman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Netflix Co-Chief Executive Officer Greg Peters blamed a technical "bug" for why the company had to delay its "Love Is Blind" reunion special. About 6.5 million viewers ultimately watched the "Love Is Blind" special on Netflix, Peters added. "A reunion show that's going to generate news and buzz, it really does play better live," Sarandos said. "We're super disappointed to not be able to come across with the live product for everyone who wanted it on the 'Love is Blind' reunion, but we're super thrilled people love the show. Some of those results oriented shows do play a little better live."

☆ A Texas House committee hearing was derailed after prank names like 'Connie Lingus' and 'Anita Dickenmee' were called for public comment
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Aditi Bharade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A Texas House committee meeting on March 29 took an unexpected and hilarious turn. The meeting went awry when people submitted prank names like "Anita Dickenmee" and "Holden Middick." What about Anita Dickenmee? This is the second time in the last month that state legislators have been pranked by people at House committee meetings. At a meeting in Florida last week, Florida Republican Will Robinson Jr. read out names like "Anita Dick" and "Holden Hiscock."

☆ Google Bard is here. Catch up on everything you need to know about the ChatGPT alternative.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Google debuted its AI chatbot Bard this week with a nod to the unpredictability of AI chatbot responses. Bard works like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Microsoft's Bing chatbot, but can give multiple responses to a prompt. Google had also moved to reassure users this week that Bard "is not trained on Gmail data," according to a tweet. Here's how it worksGoogle's new Bard chatbot told an AI expert it was trained using Gmail data. Google asked staff to spend time teaching its Bard chatbot to write like a human.

☆ Days after Putin's dead-of-night trip to a city far from the front, Zelenskyy visited the heart of the bloodiest fighting in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( John Haltiwanger | Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Days after Putin's dead-of-night trip in Ukraine, Zelenskyy visited troops near the front lines. State media followed the Russian President meeting with residents who told him the occupied, war-torn Ukrainian city is a "little piece of paradise." Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) visits a recently renovated theater in Mariupol. In the original video, Putin meets with local residents near a new apartment complex in the dead of night. Zelenskyy visits troops fighting on the front lines in BakhmutUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks with troops near the front lines of Bakhmut.

☆ The world's top metals trader is stuck in another nickel-shipment snafu after getting bags of stones from a Dutch warehouse
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Trafigura discovered that it received bag of stones from a warehouse in Rotterdam instead of nickel. Last month, Trafigura disclosed an unrelated fraud on nickel shipments and faces a $577 million loss. Earlier, the Wall Street Journal reported that JPMorgan Chase was the owner of bags of stones at the warehouse. Stratton Metals, a metal trader in Europe, also reportedly got bags of stones instead of nickel. Meanwhile, Trafigura has said there's no connection between the bags of stones and a separate snafu related to nickel cargoes.

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