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☆ Australia's AMP fined $16.3 mln for charging fees to deceased clients
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The penalty ordered by the court was under proceedings brought forward by the country's corporate regulator, Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), in 2021 against AMP trustees – AMP Super and NM Super, AMP Financial Planning, AMP Life and AMP Services. AMP had disclosed in 2018 that it had charged thousands of customers for financial advice it never gave, despite knowing they had deceased as it had no system in place to prevent dead clients from being billed. The company said the court has charged AMP Life and AMP Financial Planning with the fine. The penalty handed down was fully provisioned for by the company in its financial statements for the year ended Dec. 31, 2022, AMP said. ($1 = 1.4743 Australian dollars)Reporting by Riya Sharma in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh VenkateshwaranOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Tesla applies to expand Shanghai plant, add pouch battery cell output
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 16 (Reuters) - Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) has applied for regulatory clearance to expand its Shanghai plant and to begin producing for the first time pouch-type battery cells, albeit in small numbers. It was not clear how Tesla would use the pouch cells, which it has not previously used in its electric vehicles. Pouch cells, widely used in consumer electronics, differ from the cells Tesla has used for EVs in that the battery components are housed in a more flexible metal bag rather than a rigid cylinder. Tesla’s Shanghai plant, its largest worldwide, produced about 726,000 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles in 2022, more than half of the automaker’s global sales. Tesla is also seeking to ramp up production of cylindrical, 4680 battery cells in China and has brought in new suppliers to cut costs, Reuters has reported.

SYDNEY, May 8 (Reuters) - Australia's 30 biggest pension funds increased their investments in key coal, oil and gas producers by 50% in 2022 despite the funds' long term commitments to net zero carbon emissions, environmental activist group Market Forces said. Superannuation or retirement funds raised their investment to more than A$34 billion ($23 billion) in companies most responsible for expanding fossil fuels, Market Forces said. Market Forces only named AustralianSuper, which it said had increased its stake in Woodside Energy Group Ltd (WDS.AX), Australia's top independent gas producer, by about 19 times in 2022. In an emailed response, AustralianSuper said it had raised its stake as gas was a key part of an "orderly energy transition" ahead. It estimated more than A$140 billion of Australians' retirement savings are invested in fossil fuel companies through the funds, which have more than 9% of members' share investments in these firms on average.

☆ Workers say they're engaging in 'productivity theater' for over 10 hours a week to appear busy, a survey shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Workers are engaging in "productivity theatre" to look busy at work, a new survey revealed. "Productivity theater," or performative work, refers to tasks that workers do to create the appearance of being busy rather than actually doing valuable work, according to Visier. Fear of job security is another factor at to why workers want to look busy and boost their visibility at the company. As major companies in the US have laid off thousands of staff, concerns around job security have intensified. The rise of remote and hybrid work has also played a part in concerns over job security and "proximity bias."

Hudson will be one of the few female executives leading a major company in Australia, although rival carrier Virgin Australia also has a woman as its CEO, Jayne Hrdlicka. "I come with an understanding of this organization that is very deep," Hudson told reporters in her first news conference as CEO designate. "Vanessa has been market-facing as CFO since October 2019, which will have prepared her well for the very public role as Qantas CEO," RBC Capital Markets analyst Owen Birrell said in a note. Though men still account for far more top executive roles in Australian-listed companies, a growing number of high-profile CEO roles are occupied by women, including at the No. Qantas said Hudson would continue in her current role until taking over as Qantas' 13th CEO at the 2023 annual general meeting.

Some have sought to toughen existing work requirements for food and cash assistance, as well as adding similar conditions to Medicaid eligibility. Photo: KEN CEDENO/REUTERSWASHINGTON—House Republicans are pushing to require more people seeking federal assistance to find jobs, thrusting a long-running debate over aid for poor Americans into the middle of a battle with Democrats over raising the debt limit. In legislation that passed the House on Wednesday with only GOP support, lawmakers moved to toughen existing work requirements for food and cash assistance, while proposing to add similar conditions to be eligible for Medicaid, a healthcare program for low-income and disabled people.

☆ Australia's home prices rise again in sign of market bottom
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, May 1 (Reuters) - Australian home prices rose for a second straight month in April, in a further signal that the nation's property market may have hit a floor ahead of a central bank rate decision on Tuesday. Figures from property consultant CoreLogic released on Monday showed prices nationally rose 0.5% in April from March, when values were up 0.6%, indicating Australian home prices may have bottomed out after slumping 9.1% from May 2022 to February. We now expect home prices to rise by 3% in 2023 and forecast a further increase of 5% in 2024." Shane Oliver, chief economist at AMP, also no longer expects a top-to-bottom fall of 15-20% in housing prices, citing "a far worse property demand and supply imbalance" with immigration levels surging and supply remaining tight. PropTrack data on Monday showed that home prices rose 0.14% in April, bringing the cumulative increase this year to 0.75%.

☆ These 3 clean tech stocks should beat the market the rest of the year, JPMorgan says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Investors may want to consider betting on three downtrodden clean technology stocks situated to outperform the market as the year stretches on, according to JPMorgan. But these stocks should benefit from favorable policy tailwinds, analyst Bill Peterson said in a Monday note to clients. Support for hydrogen, electric vehicle charging and batteries following the Inflation Reduction Act should fueled strong demand for these stocks going forward, Peterson said. PLUG YTD mountain Plug Power shares in 2023 So far this year, the stock's tumbled more than 28%. Another name JPMorgan is betting on long-term is ChargePoint as a longer-term clean tech winner.

☆ Indigenous Australians file human rights complaint with pension funds over Santos gas projects
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, April 26 (Reuters) - A group of Indigenous Australians on Wednesday filed a human rights complaint against 20 large Australian pension funds for investing in Santos Ltd's (STO.AX) two gas projects, putting pressure on the funds over their fossil fuel investment plans. Three traditional landowners, in the complaint filed directly with the superannuation funds, alleged the funds had an "obligation to prevent adverse human rights impacts of companies in which they are invested". Commonwealth Super Corp, AustralianSuper, Australian Retirement Trust, Aware Super and AMP - the five largest pension funds - did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment. An appeal by Santos to resume drilling on its A$3.6 billion Barossa gas project off northern Australia was rejected by the federal court in December after indigenous groups raised objections. Santos then said it would apply for fresh approvals for its biggest project in line with the court's order.

☆ Bill Gates says A.I. chatbots will teach kids to read within 18 months: You'll be 'stunned by how it helps'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

That's according to billionaire Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who says AI chatbots are on track to help children learn to read and hone their writing skills in 18 months time. AI chatbots, like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Bard, have developed rapidly over the past several months, and can now compete with human-level intelligence on certain standardized tests. But AI chatbots' ability to recognize and recreate human-like language changes that dynamic, proponents say. And AI technology must improve at reading and recreating human language to better motivate students before it can become a viable tutor, Gates said. Gates said he regularly asks Microsoft AI developers why chatbots can't perform relatively simple calculations, or even multiply some numbers.

REUTERS/Nadja Wohlleben/File PhotoApril 20 (Reuters) - From cannabis-infused flowers to edible weed gummies, marijuana companies are pulling out all the stops as they eye bumper sales on April 20 - a day referred to as "4/20" in weed culture. Industry insiders expect highest single-day sales ever for the cannabis sector on Thursday even as the industry faces increased scrutiny from lawmakers in the United States. 4/20, derived from a trope for smoking marijuana, typically sees cannabis companies such as High Tide, Canopy Growth (WEED.TO), and Trulieve Cannabis Corp (TRUL.CD) amp up promotions, throwing in exclusive deals and discounts to lure customers. Wholesale cannabis platform Leaflink expects sales of infused flowers and pre-rolled joints to jump 500%-1,000% compared to 2022. According to seasonality data from cannabis data firm BDSA, cannabis retailers see more sales on Thursdays than on Wednesdays and Tuesdays.

☆ Healthy breakfast ideas: Start your day with these quick meals
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Casey Barber | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Because of the versatility and hands-off aspect of the preparation, these are some of my favorite breakfast options for road trip vacations and camping adventures — but they work for busy at-home mornings, too. Overnight oats are one of the most versatile breakfast options out there — and can easily be taken on the road or enjoyed at home. NelliSyr/iStockphoto/Getty ImagesTartines, AKA open-faced sandwiches — or as I like to call them, “things on toast” — comprise a catchall category of breakfast options that can skew savory or sweet. When I have a few minutes and am feeling famished, my go-to move is to grab eggs and tortillas for breakfast tacos or burritos. Eggs and tortillas pair well in the morning to make breakfast tacos or burritos.

☆ Australia's AMP says Q1 fund outflows lower, credit quality strong
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 19 (Reuters) - Australian financial services firm AMP Ltd (AMP.AX) said on Wednesday net cash outflows for its flagship Australian wealth management business were 30% lower in the March quarter, while the banking unit's credit quality remained strong. The company also said momentum in loan applications was improving, despite higher interest rates in the country. "While economic conditions have become more difficult for some borrowers, AMP Bank's credit quality remains strong," the company said. The flagship Australian wealth management business saw net cash outflows of about A$606 million ($407.84 million) for the quarter ended March 31, compared with A$873 million of outflows a year ago. ($1 = 1.4859 Australian dollars)Reporting by Harshita Swaminathan; Editing by Anil D'SilvaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Meanwhile, BlackRock is part of another group investing $650 million to build chargers along freight routes. Because port real estate is at a premium, most early drayage charging projects will be "behind the fence" on trucking company property, experts said. Electric trucks cannot operate without chargers, but it does not make sense to build chargers if drivers are not using electric trucks. Prologis, the biggest U.S. warehouse owner, created its mobility business to install electric truck chargers and solar panels. "A marriage between real estate and energy infrastructure" will be needed to accelerate the transition to electric-powered trucking, Prologis Mobility's Holland said.

☆ Asian stocks ease ahead of US inflation data, Fed minutes
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Ankur Banerjee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The Eurostoxx 50 futures was down 0.16%, German DAX futures up 0.01% and FTSE futures down 0.07%. The consumer price index is expected to show core inflation rose 0.4% on a monthly basis and 5.6% year-over-year in March, according to a Reuters poll of economists. Markets are now pricing in a 66% chance of the Fed raising interest rates by 25 basis points in May and then pausing for the subsequent meetings, according to the CME FedWatch tool. The Fed last month raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, taking it to a range of 4.75% to 5.00%. With oil prices rising again and labour market cooling only gradually, risk remains tilted for core inflation to remain elevated for longer," they said.

Yet investors aiming to amp up their bets face an ominous obstacle: a lack of liquidity that could trigger wild price swings. Slippage, a liquidity measure describing how much prices change between the placement and execution of a trade, has also increased. The vanishing liquidity can be traced back to the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX exchange and hedge fund Alameda Research. Until then, "liquidity is probably going to get worse and worse", said Joseph Edwards, investment adviser at Enigma Securities. "Even if some players haven't left the place, they are on the sidelines right now because of what's happening with banking turmoil," Edwards said.

☆ This Turntable Let Me Finally Listen to Records on My Sonos Speakers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

The company’s Stream Onyx is one of the first record players designed specifically to work with Sonos, letting you listen to your vinyl albums as easily as streaming songs from Spotify. Both work the same way: Do some light assembly, plug them in, launch the Victrola app and soon, that weathered copy of “Rumours” can be playing through all your Sonos speakers. The analog-to-digital conversion means you’ll hear all the characteristic vinyl hisses and cracks, and since Sonos speakers generally sound pretty good, so will your records. If you already have a turntable you like, but you’re in the market for new speakers, then consider Sonos’ new Era speakers. Once you have one of those connected to your record player, you can then stream your vinyl to the rest of your Sonos products.

☆ Australia's biggest pension funds not doing enough on climate, activist investor says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Industry Insight | Reuters Professional | Food Brands Struggling To Weather The 'Polycrisis' Unleashed War | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SYDNEY, March 15 (Reuters) - Australia's five largest pension funds were not doing enough to push fossil fuel companies toward decarbonisation, activist investor group Market Forces said on Wednesday, arguing their environmental commitments could amount to greenwashing. The term 'greenwashing' describes exaggerated and misleading claims that suggest an entity are stewards of the environment without real action. Market Forces said in a new report AustralianSuper, Commonwealth Super Corp, Australian Retirement Trust, Aware Super and AMP, which cumulatively manage more than A$1 trillion ($668 billion) in savings, had failed to "demonstrate effective engagement strategies". Commonwealth Super Corp, Australian Retirement Trust, Aware Super and AMP did not immediately respond to a Reuters request seeking comment. Australia's corporate regulator has ramped up action against greenwashing, last month accusing pension fund Mercer Superannuation of misleading members about the sustainability of some of its investment options.

☆ Small-business owners say they've seen higher sales, skyrocketing click-through rates, and better brand awareness by using user-generated content in 3 smart ways
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Erin Greenawald | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Small-business owners and marketing pros say user-generated content boosted their brands on social. When users post content about a brand on their own channels, it gets the brand in front of new audiences. Insider spoke with several small-business owners to learn how they source user-generated content and use it across channels to maximize their marketing efforts. Use it for more than just organic social mediaReposting UGC on social media is an obvious way to fill your brand's social channels with engaging content. "Small-business owners should capitalize on creating mock UGC in-house to fill the gaps between their professional content and true UGC," Kutting said.

☆ VIEW US intervenes to shore up SVB deposits, stem financial fallout
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

March 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. government announced actions to shore up deposits and stem any broader financial fallout from the sudden collapse of tech startup-focused lender Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB.O) (SVB), sending U.S. stock futures higher. "The market turbulence sparked by SVB has upended rising market expectations on the Fed rate path. The fact that SVB and Signature Bank depositors will be made whole is critical in maintaining trust in the financial system and should help stem contagion fears this week. But it also means that 50 basis points (a possible Fed interest rate hike) is off the table." Given what's happened in the U.S. financial system, a 25 basis point hike is more likely than a 50 basis point hike."

☆ Instant view: US intervenes to shore up SVB deposits, limit financial fallout
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +11 min

March 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. government announced actions to shore up deposits and stem any broader financial fallout from the sudden collapse of tech startup-focused lender Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB.O) (SVB), sending U.S. stock futures higher. ALVIN TAN, HEAD OF ASIA FX STRATEGY, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS, SINGAPORE:"Markets remain unsettled from the SVB failure. "The market turbulence sparked by SVB has upended rising market expectations on the Fed rate path. ANTHONY SAGLIMBENE, CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST, AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL, TROY, MICHIGAN:"It was imperative that regulators stepped in and decisively acted before markets around the world opened for the week. GREG MCBRIDE, CHIEF FINANCIAL ANALYST, BANKRATE:"While the Fed has talked about a lot in the past year, until today it has been in the context of monetary policy.

☆ Australian regulator says banks paid $3.10 bln in compensation for wrongly charged fees
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] Australian dollars are seen in an illustration photo February 8, 2018. REUTERS/Daniel MunozMarch 10 (Reuters) - Australia's corporate watchdog said the country's six largest banking services providers have paid or offered A$4.7 billion ($3.10 billion) in compensation to customers who suffered losses for fees charged for services that were not provided. The largest business lender in Australia, NAB, took the lead and coughed up A$1.49 billion in compensation as of the end of 2022, followed by CBA and Westpac coughing up a payout of A$1.13 billion and $1.03 billion, respectively. ASIC said its final update on remediation figures "draws a line" under its eight-year long programme of addressing financial institutions' failure to provide ongoing services to fee-paying customers. ($1 = 1.5177 Australian dollars)Reporting by Riya Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/3] Students walk past stalls during the orientation week at The University of Sydney, in Camperdown, Australia February 15, 2023. 'BIG RUSH'The shortage has meanwhile jumpstarted one of the few subsets of Australian residential property, the student accommodation sector, that languished during COVID. Before 2020, Chinese students accounted for about 40% of the A$40 billion ($27 billion) Australia made educating foreigners annually. But China's reopening has raised the issue about the availability of beds in a "welcome sign" for investors, said Brad Williams, managing director of AMP Capital's diversified infrastructure trust, Australia's third-largest owner of purpose-built student accommodation. Tomas Johnsson, CEO of UniLodge Australia, the country's biggest operator of purpose-built student accommodation, said some developers were even paying more to speed up construction.

☆ Stocks shrug off rates risk as U.S. consumers spend
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Tom Westbrook | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Equities - with the Nasdaq (.IXIC) up 15% so far this year - are clinging to the positives, while in interest rate markets investors are quickly ditching hopes for cuts later in 2023. Two-year Treasury yields , which also track short-term interest rate expectations, hit their highest since November at 4.703% overnight. S&P 500 futures rose 0.2%. Elsewhere the repricing of the interest rates outlook is putting an end to a couple months of selling of the dollar in currency markets. The U.S. dollar index is eying a third weekly gain in a row - the longest streak since September, when the index was galloping towards a 20-year high.

☆ Buy this next-gen cybersecurity stock with nearly 30% upside, Canaccord Genuity says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Samantha Subin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Cybersecurity stock SentinelOne is poised to rally nearly 30% as companies amp up their investment in automation tools, Canaccord Genuity said. Analyst T. Michael Walkley initiated coverage of the cybersecurity stock with a buy rating and $20 price target, calling SentinelOne a "next-gen leader" within the endpoint security industry. S YTD mountain SentinelOne's year-to-date performance Shares rose about 3% premarket, positioning the stock to build on 8% gains so far this year. Last year, shares tumbled more than 71% as growth and the broader tech industry took a hit in a difficult macro environment. The firm's $20 price target suggests shares stand to gain as much as 27% from Wednesday's close.

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