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☆ Airlines cancel 5,700 U.S. flights amid fierce winter storms
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Airline cancellations topped 5,700 U.S. flights on Friday as massive winter storms snarled airport operations around the United States and frustrated tens of thousands of holiday travelers. That followed nearly 2,700 canceled flights on Thursday, while just over 1,000 flights have already been canceled for Saturday, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) imposed ground stops or delays for de-icing at a number of U.S. airports because of winter weather. Another 10,400 U.S. flights were delayed on Friday - including more than 40% of those operated by American Airlines (AAL.O), United Airlines (UAL.O), Delta Air Lines (DAL.N) and Southwest Airlines (LUV.N) - after 11,300 flights were delayed Thursday. Southwest canceled 1,238 flights on Friday, 29% of all its scheduled flights, while Alaska Airlines (ALK.N) canceled 507, or 64%, of its flights.

☆ Airlines cancel hundreds of flights as massive winter storm and bitter cold sweep U.S. ahead of Christmas
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Leslie Josephs | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Workers deice an Alaska Airlines plane during a snow storm at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) in Seattle, Washington, US, on Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2022. Airlines canceled hundreds of flights this week as winter storms, bitter cold and high winds snarled U.S. travel ahead of Christmas weekend. That period includes what airlines expected to be the busiest travel times before Christmas, which is Sunday. Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Denver International Airport and Chicago Midway had the biggest share of cancelled flights on Thursday. Airlines warned that the snow, ice high winds and cold temperatures could affect travel from Seattle to Boston to North Carolina.

Last year, the industry handed out the biggest awards since 2006 as the economy roared back from the pandemic. It's a head-spinning reversal for dealmakers who racked up record profits for their firms last year and clinched eye-watering payouts for themselves. Compensation for FICC traders will probably rise slightly or stay flat, said Bell at Sheffield Haworth, while stock traders could see a small drop. Worsening economic conditions have already prompted firms including Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and Citigroup Inc (C.N), to trim their workforces. In the United Kingdom, most big firms are discussing and allocating bonuses now, with decisions not usually announced until early next year.

☆ Earthquake adds new hurdle to slowing Texas oil output gains
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Liz Hampton | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dec 15 (Reuters) - The latest earthquake to rattle West Texas will add costs to producers already snarled by inflation and supply shortages, as operators curtail their use of wastewater wells in the largest U.S. shale field. Regulators in both states have limited how much water can be injected, particularly into deep wells. If another magnitude 4.5 or higher quake occurs in that area, all deep wells within the boundary will shut for 24 months from the date of the event. There are now 78 active disposal wells in that "North Culberson-Reeves Seismic Response Area." "Absolute shut-in of deep wells in the area would cause a significant logistics issue to maintain oil and gas production in highly productive fields in New Mexico and West Texas," she said.

☆ Robots set their sights on a new job: sewing blue jeans
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Timothy Aeppel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/5] A robotic arm positions pieces of stiffened fabric for a demonstration of automated sewing at the Industrial Sewing and Innovation Center in Detroit, Michigan, U.S. August 19, 2021. Industrial Sewing and Innovation Center/Handout via REUTERSDec 12 (Reuters) - Will a robot ever make your blue jeans? Finding a way to cut out handwork in China and Bangladesh would allow more clothing manufacturing to move back to Western consumer markets, including the United States. Rather than teach robots how to handle cloth, the startup, Sewbo Inc., stiffens the fabric with chemicals so it can be handled more like a car bumper during production. The first step is getting robots into clothing factories.

☆ Congress wants to grill Live Nation’s CEO over the Taylor Swift Ticketmaster fiasco
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( David Goldman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

It also wants answers about how Ticketmaster plans to improve in the future. Swift’s Eras tour kicks off March 17 and will have 52 concerts in multiple stadiums across the United States over five months. In its letter to Rapino, the committee also said it wants information about the fees Ticketmaster charges customers. Rapino and Live Nation have caught the ire of Congress before. Senator Amy Klobuchar criticized Ticketmaster in an open letter Rapino in the days following the ticket snafu, saying she has “serious concerns” about the company’s operations.

☆ More than two dozen Taylor Swift fans sue Ticketmaster
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

More than two dozen Taylor Swift fans are suing Ticketmaster parent Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. for “unlawful conduct” in the pop star’s chaotic tour sale, claiming the ticketing giant violated antitrust laws, among others. The lawsuit, filed in a California court on Friday, alleges Ticketmaster and its parent company were anti-competitive, imposing higher prices on fans in the presale, sale and resale market. The lawsuit also claimed that since Ticketmaster has agreements with the large stadiums in the tour, Swift “has no choice” but to work with Ticketmaster due to the size of her fan base. It also alleges that Ticketmaster profits off the resale of tickets in the secondary market by adding a service fee to its fan-to-fan exchange. Pre-sale tickets for “The Eras Tour” frustrated Swift fans across the country in a debacle that stayed in the headlines for weeks.

☆ Rail strike threat recedes as Congress prepares to impose unpopular contract on unions
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The White House estimated that as many as 765,000 workers could temporarily be out of work within two weeks if the rail workers went on strike. Biden and Democrats had been unwilling to block a strike in September when negotiations were nearing a previous strike deadline. Unions upsetThe move is sure to anger union rank-and-file who had rejected labor deals that their leaders reached earlier this fall. Biden, while saying he sympathized with the unions’ demand for sick time, said Congress should stick to the tentative agreements negotiated in September. “Some in Congress want to modify the deal to either improve it for labor or for management,” said Biden’s statement.

☆ China Covid-19 Cases Hit Record High, Forcing Fresh Control Measures
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Raffaele Huang | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

SINGAPORE—China’s new Covid-19 cases hit a record high, testing the government’s push to contain the virus with more-targeted virus controls and avoid damaging the economy. Almost 30,000 locally transmitted infections were recorded for Wednesday, surpassing the previous record in April, when Shanghai’s two-month lockdown severely hurt China’s economy and snarled global supply chains. Economists say the risk that China’s “zero-Covid” policy will again force officials to impose sweeping measures is one of the main threats to world growth.

The holiday shopping season is in full effect as Thanksgiving week begins, and retailers are nervous. Data from the research group Factset show inventory levels among retailers including Walmart, Target, Amazon and Best Buy remain significantly above pre-pandemic levels. But those sales events are also coming at a time of a slowing economy and the ongoing weight of inflation, retail executives say. Despite the mixed economic signals, the U.S. Census Bureau reported unexpectedly strong retail sales for October. The National Retail Federation said earlier this month that it expects annual holiday sales growth to hit between 6% and 8%.

☆ Here's the six-word outlook for stocks in 2023: going to hell in a handbasket
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Linette Lopez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

We knew that the stock market had formed a bubble and that it was going to pop as interest rates went up. That, in turn, pushed the stock market off a cliff so steep that we still cannot see the bottom. This all goes back to the Fed's move to keep interest rates at 0% after the 2008 financial crisis. Since interest rates were so low, companies that didn't make money could just borrow to keep the lights on. In 2018, Wall Street got a preview of how ugly this bubble would look once it popped in earnest.

☆ Ticketmaster apologizes to Taylor Swift and her fans for ticketing debacle
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Frank Pallotta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN Business —Ticketmaster apologized to Taylor Swift and her fans late Friday night after a ticketing debacle this week that made it difficult for consumers to buy tickets to the pop star’s new tour. “We want to apologize to Taylor and all of her fans — especially those who had a terrible experience trying to purchase tickets,” the ticketing site said in the blog post. “Once we get through that, if there are any next steps, updates will be shared accordingly,” it wrote. The mea culpa comes after Swift spoke out earlier on Friday about how the situation was “excruciating” for her to watch as it unfolded into chaos. Customers complained on social media about Ticketmaster not loading, saying the platform didn’t allow them to access tickets, even if they had a pre-sale code for verified fans.

☆ Nike is about to face its biggest test as sneakerheads pounce on the new 'Lost and Found' Jordan 1, and the brand tries to rebuild trust with fans
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Matthew Kish | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Nike will release the Air Jordan 1 Chicago "Lost and Found" on November 19. The Air Jordan 1 Chicago "Lost and Found," which will be released November 19, is the latest and biggest test of Nike's work to make drops more fair. "We continue to see Exclusive Access serve as a defining marketing mechanism to connect with consumers," Donahoe said. This weekend's launch of the Air Jordan 1 Chicago "Lost and Found" comes with the latest iteration of Exclusive Access. The company said customers who had lost 20 previous raffles for Jordan 1s on its SNKRS app were eligible for Exclusive Access.

☆ U.S. import prices fall further in October
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Import prices fell 0.2% last month after decreasing 1.1% in September, the Labor Department said on Wednesday. In the 12 months through October, import prices increased 4.2%, the smallest rise since February 2021, after climbing 6.0% in September. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast import prices, which exclude tariffs, falling 0.4% month-on-month. Falling import prices also pointed to an easing of snarled global supply chains, which was reflected in weak readings in underlying consumer and producer goods prices in October. These so-called core import prices fell 0.4% in September.

☆ Tropical Storm Nicole snarls travel in Florida, Orlando airport to suspend flights
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Leslie Josephs | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

This GOES-East GoeColor satellite image taken at 2:36 p.m. EST and provided by NOAA shows Tropical Storm Nicole approaching toward the northwestern Bahamas and Florida's Atlantic coastline on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022. Tropical Storm Nicole snarled Florida travel on Wednesday, prompting at least one airport to suspend operations as forecasters warned of "hurricane conditions" for the state's east coast. Orlando International Airport said it would suspend operations from 4 p.m. Miramar, Florida-based Spirit Airlines , said it would waive change fees and fare differences for Fort Lauderdale and Miami flights through Nov. 14 and Orlando flights through Nov. 16. Other airlines including JetBlue , which has a large operation in Fort Lauderdale, and Southwest , American and Delta, also waived fees for travelers affected by the storm.

☆ EXCLUSIVE Argentina set to permit wheat export delays amid drought - sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Maximilian Heath | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A government source with direct knowledge of the matter said that measures to permit wheat shipment delays were "probable". Reuters GraphicsThe country's producers have already formally declared overseas sales of 2022/23 wheat of 8.9 million tonnes, official data shows. Argentina's domestic wheat consumption from the 2021/22 harvest totaled 7.6 million tonnes. Some 2 million tonnes of wheat were left unsold from 2021/22. There is an existing export cap of 10 million tonnes for the 2022/23 season's wheat harvest.

☆ Southwest Airlines Expects Strong Demand, Raises Concerns About Jet Shortages
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Alison Sider | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Airline executives say that the robust bookings they saw over the summer have continued into the fall. Southwest Airlines said strong travel demand continues to bolster profit, but cautioned that delays in deliveries of Boeing jets are likely to continue into 2024. Southwest is the latest in a series of airlines to flag snarled aircraft deliveries as a limiting factor as they race to keep up with appetite for travel that shows little signs of easing.

☆ Here's how the $360 billion electric car battery market will impact the future of EVs — and how affordable they are for car-buyers.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

There's also money to be made: The EV battery market could hit $360 billion by 2030, according to McKinsey. At Insider, we've looked at white-hot EV battery technologies that give automakers the EV performance they need at the price their customers want. It just led a $400 million investment into the little-known EV battery startup that could make it work. Giants like Tesla, GM, and Ford are going to be desperate for EV materials in the next decade. The soon-to-be $339 billion battery industry is on a hiring tear to power the shift to electric cars.

☆ Compass is in a precarious position. It's worth a fraction of its IPO valuation, it's never turned a profit, and employees say the former centerpiece of the business — its vaunted tech tools for agent
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Daniel Geiger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

Reffkin (left) and Compass cofounder Ori Allon. Tech had been central to Compass' original missionFor years, Compass executives, including Reffkin, credited the company's tech with its meteoric rise in the residential-real-estate business. Though Compass' tech team still has 700 people, many more than any rival brokerage, the September layoffs seemed to initiate what insiders expect to be continuing cuts to the unit. "Robert is like Steve Jobs but without the insight," the veteran engineer who left Compass earlier this year said. Reffkin (left) and Allon ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange.

☆ Costco Not Ready to Cut Prices as Shipping, Commodities Costs Fall
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-06 | by ( Jennifer Williams-Alvarez | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

Richard Galanti, Costco Wholesale CFO Photo: Costco Wholesale Corp.“It takes time for changes to come through,” Mr. Galanti said. A company’s freight costs vary depending on whether they are fixed by contract for a period of time or based on spot-market rates that can change more quickly. The length of contracts as well as the company’s ability to renegotiate the terms of its agreements also affect the retailer’s freight costs, he said. These cost pressures will persist, as wages don’t tend to come down once they have gone up, Mr. Galanti said. Price increases have also hit food court items such as individual sodas and whole pizzas because of rising costs, Mr. Galanti said earlier this year.

☆ Russian Borders Swamped as Putin’s Draft Order Sparks Exodus
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Drew Hinshaw | Kate Vtorygina | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

DARIALI, Georgia—On a narrow road high in the Caucasus Mountains, thousands of cars packed with young men have waited three days to inch through a six-mile traffic jam to the Russian frontier, their passengers running low on food and water. North of the Arctic Circle, a sleepy Norwegian border post has been swamped with five times its normal traffic, as potential Russian conscripts trek hundreds of miles to one of the last remaining entry points into Europe. Tens of thousands more cars wait snarled up at border posts along the Mongolian steppe.

☆ Trump lashed out at George Stephanopoulos in profanity-laced tirade after 2016 interview, new book says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN Busniess —Donald Trump berated ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos, descending into a profanity-laced tirade after the journalist asked him in a 2016 interview about Russia, according to a forthcoming book set for release next week. Haberman’s book is set to be released on Tuesday, but CNN obtained an excerpt detailing the incident between Stephanopoulos and Trump. The ABC News producer, John Santucci, asked what specific part of the interview Trump was referring to. Trump, Haberman wrote, mentioned Russia and Stephanopoulos chuckled and said, “I know, my team says I didn’t ask you enough about it.”That set Trump off. Eighteen f–king follow-ups—how many different ways do I have to say I don’t know the guy?” Trump said, according to Haberman.

☆ Wall Street is completely delusional about the pain that's about to hit the stock market
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( Linette Lopez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Despite this clear warning, Wall Street is still delusionally optimistic about how the stock market will perform in 2023. According to Bloomberg, Wall Street analysts expect S&P 500 companies' earnings per share to hit $229 in 2023 — a steady increase from their initial 2023 estimate of $211 at the start of this year. Pretend it's the end of 2019 — not a terrible time for the stock market and the US economy. Even if corporate profits sink back down to that healthy level, it's still a long way down from where the stock market sits right now. All the visuals you've seen of a screaming-red stock market and sweaty traders doing the sign of the cross — those are just the beginning.

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☆ Freight Labor Unrest Is Going Global and Weighing on Supply Chains
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Paul Berger | Liz Young | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

Newsletter Sign-up The Logistics Report Top news and in-depth analysis on the world of logistics, from supply chain to transport and technology. But this complex movement of goods underpinning the global economy is far more vulnerable than many imagined. The Biden administration narrowly avoided a systemwide freight rail shutdown last week after brokering a last-minute deal between railroads and unions. The Biden administration narrowly avoided a systemwide freight rail shutdown last week after brokering a last-minute deal between railroads and unions. The labor concerns have grown as some of the broader pandemic-driven upheaval in supply chains, including factory closures and vessel backlogs at ports, have eased.

☆ Freight Labor Unrest is Going Global and Weighing on Supply Chains
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Paul Berger | Liz Young | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +7 min

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