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☆ Electric vehicle sales hit a tipping point in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Bloomberg includes plug-in hybrids in its count of “electric vehicles,” but a large majority are purely battery-powered models. It’s unclear exactly why 5% seems to mark the point where EV sales really take off. The Mustang Mach-E, which hit the market in in 2021, was the first electric vehicle to take a notable chunk of Tesla’s still-dominant EV market share. The act, passed this year, changes the rules around which electric vehicles are eligible for consumer tax credits. Given their popularity and already high sales, incentive rules could help push EV sales significantly higher.

☆ How actor Robin De Jesús became a TV show's secret weapon
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Alicia Ramírez | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Robin De Jesús always shows up. Kumail Nanjiani and Robin de Jesús in "Welcome to Chippendales." “With or without my consent, as a Latino actor, even with my light skin, I end up being the representative of my specific demographics: Latino Puerto Rican, working class,” the actor said. “It helped me clarify who my character was and his intentions.”Robin de Jesús and Kumail Nanjiani in "Welcome to Chippendales." “I’m a very fortunate actor that I get to do really, really beautiful work, but I’m still in my come-up,” he said.

☆ Battery swapping spurs Kenya's electric motorbike drive
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Ayenat Mersie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Workers at ARC Ride assemble an electric motorcycle at the company's warehouse in Industrial Area, Nairobi, Kenya November 2, 2022. REUTERS/Monicah MwangiSummary Electric motorbike startups making inroads in KenyaSay battery swapping saves drivers time, moneyPlanning to expand model to Tanzania, UgandaNAIROBI, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Over recent months, sets of sturdy, brightly-branded battery swapping stations have cropped up around Kenya's capital Nairobi, allowing electric motorcyclists to exchange their low battery for a fully-charged one. "It doesn't make a lot of economic and business sense for them to acquire a battery...which would almost double the cost of the bike," said Steve Juma, the co-founder of electric bike company Ecobodaa. EXPANSION PLANSEcobodaa is just one of several Nairobi-based electric motorcycle startups working to prove themselves in Kenya before eventually expanding in East Africa. "We're putting over 200 swapping stations in Nairobi and expanding to Dar es Salaam and Kampala," said Hurst-Croft.

☆ The Best Electric Razor for a Smoother Shave
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: +19 min

You can find a capable electric shaver for even less, but the learning curve (and lack of add-ons) could prove problematic. If you’d like to read how we vetted and tested these electric shavers, scroll down for all the details. Best overall electric shaverBuy Side Top Pick Braun Series 7 7027cs $137 at Amazon $ 150 Save $ 13 $139 at Walmart The best combination of performance, accessories and price of any electric shaver. Best lower-price electric shaverAndis ProFoil Lithium Titanium Foil Shaver $55 at Amazon $ 68 Save $ 13 $55 at Walmart This model is priced as low as you’ll want to go for a quality electric shaver. Make sure the electric shaver you’re buying has the accessory package that makes the most sense for your needs and your budget.

It could also negatively impact African nations that produce battery materials. The United States has a Free Trade Agreement in place with only one African country, Morocco. Battery materials and trade are set to be a focus at next week's U.S.-Africa Leaders' Summit in Washington where President Joe Biden will meet presidents of African countries including Congo. Under IRA, U.S. carmakers will get tax credits if they source at least 40% of battery materials domestically or from American free-trade partners. His is one of many projects across sub-Saharan Africa aiming to produce battery materials like lithium, nickel and graphite.

☆ Wordle is the most-searched term on Google in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Jordan Valinsky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN Business —Admit it: You’ve probably either Googled the answer for Wordle, or at the very least searched to play it. Google has revealed that “Wordle” is its most-searched term this year in the United States and globally, signifying that the five-letter guessing game owned by the New York Times still has a grip on us. Some days, however, getting the answer is tricky, prompting people to search for hints, tips and even the result. So much so, that the New York Times (NYT) bought Wordle in February 2022 to bolster its gaming subscription business and attract new people to the newspaper. Wordle remains free to play, but the Times puts its other games behind a paywall following a limited amount of free plays.

☆ A market mystery: Energy stocks are still riding high even as crude oil tumbles
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Bob Pisani | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Traders are watching oil vs. oil stocks and thinking something has to give. Energy bulls insist supplies will remain tight and oil prices will likely be higher in 2023. Variable dividends Lower oil prices are not just a threat to profits: many oil companies have instituted variable dividends, where the variable portion of the payouts are dependent on cash flow. Companies with a variable dividend include Pioneer (PXD), ConocoPhillips (COP), Devon Energy (DVN), Diamondback Energy (FANG), and Coterra Energy (CTRA). The downside: No one is sure what the total payout (the fixed dividend plus the "variable" dividend) will be from quarter to quarter.

☆ Top JPMorgan stock strategist says the bear market lows are likely to be retested soon
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( John Melloy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The top stock strategist at JPMorgan thinks investors should stop buying the dip as the impact of Federal Reserve rate hikes is about to hit the economy, corporate earnings and share prices. "We believe that further market and economic weakness may occur as a result of central bank overtightening," said Marko Kolanovic, the bank's chief global market strategist, in a note Wednesday. "Our view on risk markets in 2023 consists of 2 periods: market turmoil and economic decline that will force interest rate cuts, and subsequent economic and asset recovery," said Kolanovic. "Until late summer this year we thought that corporate and consumer resilience will be able to withstand the significant increase of interest rates, wealth destruction, and global geopolitical uncertainty," he wrote. "The recent crisis of crypto schemes is likely not over, and its end will put additional pressure on risk sentiment and consumers," the report states.

☆ The energy transition will fail unless industry fixes wind power issues, Siemens Energy CEO says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Anmar Frangoul | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Paul Ellis | AFP | Getty ImagesThe CEO of Siemens Energy on Wednesday argued that the energy transition would fail unless his industry addressed a number of issues currently facing the wind power sector. On Wednesday, Siemens Energy said its "overall performance" had been "held back by the negative development at Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, " a wind turbine manufacturer in which it has a majority stake. In a statement, Siemens Energy said its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, and amortization — and special items — had fallen to 379 million euros (around $393.8 million) compared to 661 million euros for the 2021 fiscal year. Siemens Energy posted a net loss of 647 million euros against a 560 million euro loss in the previous year but also reported a record order backlog of 97.4 billion euros. "And to be crystal clear, [the] energy transition without wind energy does not work."

☆ Vodacom Tanzania says first half EBITDA down 4% yer-on-year
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

DAR ES SALAAM, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Vodacom Tanzania (VODA.TZ) said on Friday its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell 4% in the first half of the year, hurt by a drop in voice and mobile money transfer revenues. Tanzania's biggest telecoms operator, which is partly owned by South Africa's Vodacom Group Ltd (VODJ.J), said in a statement revenue for the first six months ended September 30 from its M-Pesa financial services operations fell 3% to 169.6 billion shillings ($73 million). Its voice revenues fell 2% to 143.8 billion shillings, while EBITDA fell to 154 billion shillings from 159.6 billion shillings in the same period last year, it said. ($1 = 2,329.0000 Tanzanian shillings)Reporting by Nuzulack Dausen; Editing by George Obulutsa and James Macharia ChegeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The congressional races were seen as tests of what has become conventional wisdom and a GOP mantra: that Latino voters are shifting to the Republican Party after President Donald Trump made inroads in the region in 2020. Vallejo won 55.3% of the vote to De La Cruz’s 42.7%, according to unofficial results from the Texas secretary of state. Gilbert Hinojosa, the Texas Democratic Party chairman, said Wednesday that Republicans' "red wave didn’t materialize." In the 34th District, Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez ended Republican Rep. Mayra Flores' short stint in Congress. Suzanne Gamboa / NBC NewsAs voter Benjamin Garza saw it, the Rio Grande Valley is a Democratic oasis in Republican Texas.

☆ Changes are coming to Wordle
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Frank Pallotta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

New York CNN Business —Changes are coming for Wordle … again. It will, instead, include words that the New York Times has chosen. Also changing: The answer will never be a plural that ends in “s” or “es.” However, you can guess plural words to help you eliminate possible words. What solvers choose to use as guess words is their private choice.”The Times bought Wordle for “low seven figures” earlier this year. It’s a part of the Times’ portfolio of online games that includes the Crossword and Spelling Bee.

☆ Pilot whose plane crashed into a lake in Tanzania desperately tried to get out of the cockpit before he died, witness says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Tanzanian passenger plane crashed into Lake Victoria on Sunday, killing 19 people on board. Majaliwa Jackson, the fisherman, was among the first people at the site of the Precision Air plane crash in Tanzania's Lake Victoria on Sunday. "He directed me to break the window screen," Jackson told the BBC. "He pointed out the cockpit emergency door to me," Jackson told the BBC. The plane took off from Tanzania's commercial capital of Dar es Salaam on Sunday morning and was supposed to land in Bukoba when it instead plunged into Lake Victoria, Africa's largest freshwater lake.

☆ Special Report: Voting-system firms battle right-wing rage against the machines
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( Helen Coster | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +19 min

Across the country, election officials have received hundreds of threats or menacing messages that cite debunked conspiracies involving the machines. Some have alleged without evidence that Dominion machines were rigged in plots involving Chinese communists, Venezuelan socialists or Antifa, the loosely organized U.S. anti-fascist movement. Among those calling for Louisiana to ditch Dominion machines is the state’s Republican National Committeewoman, Lenar Whitney. Authorities in the heavily Republican state acknowledge that their aging Dominion machines, most of them bought in 2005, are outdated. Dominion machines remain in use in 14 of Nevada’s 17 counties.

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☆ Passenger plane crashes into Africa's largest lake after it tried to land in stormy conditions, reports say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A Tanzanian passenger plane crashed into Lake Victoria on Sunday due to stormy conditions. The flight was carrying 43 people, of whom 26 were rescued and taken to hospital, a local official said. The Precision Air flight was carrying 43 people, of whom 26 were rescued and taken to hospital, a local official told the BBC. The plane, which took off from Dar es Salaam, crashed into Lake Victoria due to storms and heavy rains, its state broadcaster said. Rescue workers and local fishermen are searching for survivors, according to the BBC, and emergency workers are trying to use ropes to pull the plane out of Africa's largest lake.

CNN —Several passengers on board a commercial flight operated by Precision Air which crashed into Lake Victoria in Tanzania on Sunday have been rescued, the airline and local officials said. Boats with emergency response personnel were deployed to the crash site at Africa’s largest lake near Bukoba airport. The flight had taken off from Tanzania’s commercial capital of Dar es Salaam but was “involved in an accident as it was approaching Bukoba airport and crash landed in Lake Victoria,” the carrier said. Video circulating on social media taken by onlookers on the shores of Lake Victoria showed the aircraft submerged in the water with emergency responders coordinating rescue efforts from nearby boats. “I have received with sadness the information of the crash of the Precision Air flight at Lake Victoria, in the Kagera region,” President Samoa Suluhu wrote on Twitter Sunday.

☆ Passenger plane crashes into Lake Victoria in Tanzania
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( Nuzulack Dausen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DAR ES SALAAM, Nov 6 (Reuters) - A passenger plane crashed into Lake Victoria in Tanzania on Sunday while attempting to land in stormy weather at an airport in the lakeside city of Bukoba, the state broadcaster said. The aircraft, which had departed from the commercial capital Dar es Salaam, "fell in Lake Victoria this morning due to storms and heavy rains", TBC reported. Video footage and images that circulated on social media showed the plane almost fully submerged, with only its green and brown-coloured tail visible above the water line of Lake Victoria, Africa's largest lake. Rescue boats were deployed and emergency workers were continuing to rescue other passengers trapped in the plane, TBC added. "I have received with sadness the news of the accident involving Precision Air's plane," she tweeted.

Numbers don’t lie (Madonna is one of the bestselling pop stars of all time), but they don’t often tell the whole story. Without question, I view Madonna as someone who pushed the boundaries of overtly and unabashedly sexual performances in popular culture. But Black artists often get excised from predominating narratives about U.S. popular culture. But Black artists often get excised from predominating narratives about U.S. popular culture. The risks were much higher for the Black women and the Black and Latinx queer people across genders who chose to be sexually provocative entertainers.

☆ How United Airlines expects electric planes to change the way passengers make travel decisions
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Tim Mullaney | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

As electric cars and SUVs move toward 5% of the new-car market in the U.S. and 9% globally, few airlines have made any major push toward electric planes. Sustainability plans being pursued by American Airlines , Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines barely mention electric planes. "Go back to the 1990s, there were hundreds of small aircraft serving a lot of communities that have now lost service." "There are literally dozens of companies that wouldn't have worked that are now viable startups that you'll hear about United Airlines and United Ventures investing in in the coming months." Most likely, electric planes will serve small markets, hydrogen-powered planes will serve medium-sized passenger loads, and SAF-powered jet engines will serve major cities.

☆ Wall Street Week Ahead: Megacap earnings to test fledgling U.S. stock rebound
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Lewis Krauskopf | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Top stocks' market value as percentage of S&P 500The S&P 500 is up nearly 5% from its Oct 12 closing low for the year after posting its biggest weekly gain since late June. Even with stocks' latest rebound, the index has dropped 21% so far in 2022, on track for its biggest decline since 2008. Yields continued to rise this week, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note hitting a fresh 14-year high. All four stocks command higher valuations than the S&P 500, which trades at nearly 16 times forward earnings estimates. The P/Es for Apple and Microsoft are both about 22 times, Alphabet trades at 17.5 times, while Amazon sits at 60 times, according to Refinitiv Datastream.

☆ Too cheap? 18 stocks with single-digit P/Es that are expected to rally
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

This year's relentless market sell-off may have made some stocks way too cheap, based on certain metrics. Still, there are some parts of the market where the selling may be overdone, creating buying opportunities in stocks that could rally going forward. The stock is trading at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 6.5, and analyst expect Ford earning's to grow by 24.5% this year. The stock is trading at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 7.9, and analysts see upside of more than 27% on average. This shows the earnings potential of Pfizer beyond the loss of exclusivity of key drugs through the end of the decade.

☆ Wall Street surges as market seeks bottoming signs
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Reuters Staff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

FILE PHOTO: Raindrops hang on a sign for Wall Street outside the New York Stock Exchange in Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S., October 26, 2020. That seems to be the daily MO for the market.”PHIL BLANCATO CEO OF CEO OF LADENBURG THALMANN ASSET MANAGEMENT“This is the turnaround week every single year. If you look for the single best turnaround week for the year, it’s always the second week of October. The fourth quarter is on average the best quarter every single year and on average the turnaround week happens the second week of October. You’re seeing earnings hold on so far.

☆ The biggest takeaway from Bank of America's earnings, and what it means for the broader stock market
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Michael Santoli | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

This is the daily notebook of Mike Santoli, CNBC's senior markets commentator, with ideas about trends, stocks and market statistics. There has been no net downside since June 16 even with yields higher, earnings expectations slipping and recession anticipation becoming entrenched. And the S & P has not even bounced back to Friday morning's high at this point, so it could be simply a bit more noisy, untrustworthy action. This market has many issues, but the valuation of the typical stock is no longer one of the top ones. Here we see year-ahead P/E ratios for the S & P 500, equal-weighted S & P 500 (back near late-2018 lows) and S & P 600 Small Cap (near Covid crash low).

The world should mourn the loss of Angela Lansbury, a gifted actress who died this week at 96 after a career of more than seven decades. Angela Lansbury stars as mystery writer and crime solver Jessica Fletcher on the CBS television series "Murder, She Wrote" in 1990. “Murder, She Wrote,” however, featured not only a woman, but an older one at that. I remember well Lansbury’s character, with her constant bike riding and quick mind. While I’m sorry that Lansbury is no longer with us, I’m glad that the era of “Murder, She Wrote” has passed.

☆ Oil Refinery Strike Grips France Amid Energy Crisis
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Matthew Dalton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Workers on strike outside an Exxon Mobil oil refinery in Port-Jerome-sur-Seine, France, on Wednesday. PARIS—A strike by French refinery workers has choked fuel supplies nationwide, deepening the country’s energy crunch as temperatures drop and Europe grapples with a sharp cut in Russian natural-gas supplies. The CGT, France’s far-left union, decided on Wednesday to continue a strike that has hobbled the country’s refining system. The union also moved to extend the strike to a refinery in Donges on the Atlantic coast owned by TotalEnergies SA. The government on Tuesday ordered employees at a fuel depot owned by Esso -SAF ES, a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corp., to return to work, invoking rarely-used legal powers to end strikes.

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