Its The Economy, Stupid - Economic & Business News From Around The World

www.nbcnews.com

Inflation ticks upward to 3.7% for August 2023: Here's how it could affect interest rates

Last month was the second time the year-on-year inflation measure has ticked upward since July after 12 consecutive months of decline.
www.nbcnews.com www.nbcnews.com

"Gasoline prices rose 10.6% compared to July and fuel oil prices jumped 9.1%, according to the federal government. That drove up transportation costs. Both commodities cost less than they did a year ago, however."

Better roll out some of those fuel subsidies.
 
news.sky.com

European Central Bank increases interest rate for 10th time in a row - hitting a record high

The Bank's deposit rate has been increased by 0.25 percentage points to 4%. Commentators believe rates have probably now reached a peak - but are likely to remain at the current level for months.
news.sky.com news.sky.com

"For example, many in the eastern bloc are still suffering from inflation rates running into double digits.

At the same time, members such as Belgium and Spain are seeing the pace of price growth running at levels nearer 1%."

Wait till it extends into Turkey and Ukraine.
 
www.bbc.com

Lego axes plan to make bricks from recycled bottles

The toy giant finds that the new crude oil-free material did not cut carbon emissions.
www.bbc.com

"But on Monday, it said it had found that using the new material didn't reduce carbon emissions. Lego said it remains 'fully committed' to making bricks from sustainable materials."

Just like those eco-bags...
 
www.theglobeandmail.com

Opinion: However the Israel-Hamas war ends, there is one big winner: the defence sector

In the wake of the Israel-Hamas war, defence stocks have soared, adding US$23-billion in market value to the sector
www.theglobeandmail.com www.theglobeandmail.com

"Among the most active earlier this week: Lockheed Martin, which makes the F-35 Lightning II fighter jets used by the Israel military, as well as Sikorsky and Black Hawk helicopters; Northrup Grumman which makes submarines and combat vehicles; Raytheon, General Dynamics and Boeing. Together, shares of these and similar companies in the sector rose by an average of 6.5 per cent. Northrop Grumman led the pack, surging more than 11 per cent."

6.5 percent in one week...
 
www.nbcnews.com

Rite Aid bankruptcy means pharmacies will keep dwindling

The third-largest U.S. drugstore chain filed for bankruptcy protection because of a mix of high debts, weak sales, growing competition and an impending lawsuit.
www.nbcnews.com www.nbcnews.com

"All that debt made it harder for Rite Aid to invest in its stores or to expand and branch out into new businesses the way its rivals did. CVS now has more than 1,000 clinics in its stores, and it bought a pharmacy benefits manager and a health insurer over the years. Walgreens and CVS both expanded into some types of primary care, as well.

But Saunders said all three have neglected their stores as they have prioritized the health care parts of their businesses over the retail parts.

'They are not good retailers. None of them,' he said. 'They just haven't really evolved and changed with the times at all.'"

Sounds more like a death sentence.
 
Fwiffo said:
LinkedIn lays off 668 people, about 3% of global workforce

20,000 global workforce for what is really a glorified job board.
Click to expand...

Totally.

63bebfd44575803644ee2ddb_LinkedIn%20Revenue.jpg
 
www.bbc.com

US economy grows at fastest pace in nearly two years

Higher wages seen in a tight jobs market have helped power consumer spending and the economy in the US.
www.bbc.com

"The economy expanded at an annual rate of 4.9% in the July to September period, according to the government's first estimate.
Analysts expected that the economy would grow by 4.5% in the third quarter of this year. But a strong jobs market meant that consumers were able to ask for bigger pay packets and keep spending on concerts, movies or holidays over the summer.

Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of economic activity in the US, was the main driver behind the rise. The latest figure is a big spike from the 2.1% growth seen in the three months to July."

Another rate increase is coming.
 
www.theglobeandmail.com

Pfizer looks beyond COVID as Paxlovid charge sparks swing to quarterly loss

Pfizer posts a loss of 42 cents per share for the third quarter. It had reported a profit of $1.51 per share in the year-ago quarter
www.theglobeandmail.com www.theglobeandmail.com

"As announced earlier this month, the company recorded a $5.6 billion one-time charge to account for the U.S. government returning millions of doses of its antiviral treatment Paxlovid, as well as inventory of its vaccine Comirnaty.

A drop in the use of vaccines and products as the pandemic receded has fuelled a 40% drop in Pfizer’s shares this year and could remain a drag going forward, analysts have said. The stock fell about 2% in early trading."

What happens when you're a one trick pony.
 
www.bbc.com

WeWork: Shares plunge after reports say firm is filing for bankruptcy

The firm was once seen as the future of the office, but it has been plagued by problems in recent years.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com

"But the company kept operating, as executives sold off ancillary businesses, cut jobs and cancelled or modified hundreds of leases, trying to stem the firm's losses before it ran out of money. WeWork finally listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021 with a much lower valuation. The Japanese conglomerate SoftBank has pumped tens of billions of dollars into WeWork as it continued to lose money."

I'm going to say opening a space this year on the Wall Street equivalent of Canada was mental when all other offices are struggling with vacancy rates and filling their leased space with white collar workers.
 
www.nbcnews.com

Federal Reserve keeps interest rates unchanged for now

The U.S. central bank held interest rates steady for the second straight month as it waits to see if inflation decreases further.
www.nbcnews.com www.nbcnews.com

"Prices for most items haven't come down over that time, but the slower increases have been a relief to some consumers. Wages have been rising faster than inflation lately, which makes it easier for people to afford goods and services."

We don't need a halt in increases. We need deflation...or more money to spend on more expensive goods and services.
 
news.sky.com

Supermarket chain ditches self-checkouts and goes back to staffed tills

Booths says moving back to fully staffed tills is a way to maintain its "warm northern welcome". Sometimes called the "Waitrose of the North", the chain will scrap self-checkouts in all but two of its stores.
news.sky.com news.sky.com

That's weird. The first time I came across self checkout was living in London years ago (at the same time I also discovered chip cards).
 
www.bbc.com

Why businesses are pulling billions in profits from China

Foreign businesses are pulling money out of China at a faster rate than they have been putting it in.
www.bbc.com

"The withdrawal of profits does not necessarily indicate that companies are unhappy with China, but rather that their investments here have matured."

Meanwhile if a Chinese person tries to transfer money out of the country........
 
www.nbcnews.com

OpenAI employees threaten to quit en masse after former CEO Sam Altman joins Microsoft

Hundred of employees signed a letter calling on the board to step down or risk seeing mass resignations if Altman and former President Greg Brockman were not reinstated.
www.nbcnews.com www.nbcnews.com

"'We are unable to work for or with people that lack competence, judgement and care for our mission and employees. We, the undersigned, may choose to resign from OpenAI and join the newly announced Microsoft subsidiary run by Sam Altman and Greg Brockman.'

As of late Monday morning, more than 700 names appeared on the letter, though NBC News has not confirmed all had chosen to sign it. Many of them had published identical posts on X reading 'OpenAI is nothing without its people.'

OpenAI currently has about 770 employees, the spokesperson said."

So 70 people understand that the board doesn't answer to the employees..
 
CEO of world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange pleads guilty to money laundering violations

"Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, admitted to engaging in anti-money laundering, unlicensed money transmitting and sanctions violations.

US officials described this as the biggest-ever corporate resolution that includes criminal charges for an executive.

Following a years-long investigation, authorities allege Binance allowed bad actors to freely transact on the platform, enabling everything from child sex abuse and narcotics to terrorist financing for ISIS, Al Qaeda and Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades."

We decided to let these exchanges....really crypto is a commodity....start up without the usual sanctions screening, anti-money laundering, etc. measures that are applied on proper financial institutions?
 
www.bbc.com

Nelson Mandela and how young South Africans view his legacy

A decade after Nelson Mandela's death, young South Africans are increasingly re-evaluating his legacy.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com

"Adamant not to label him a 'sell-out', as some critics have done over the years, Mr Lonzi does say that Mr Mandela compromised too much during negotiations with the white-minority government.

The white-minority population has retained most of the wealth they acquired during apartheid.

Mr Lonzi says because of this he feels the economy is heavily weighed against Gen Z, especially black people."

If only Mandela did it like that other 90 something year old guy did in Rhodesia....
 
www.bbc.com

Argentina peso: Milei begins 'shock therapy' by devaluing currency

The South American nation's new government is trying to tackle its worst crisis in decades.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com

"Mr Caputo said the exchange rate would be cut to 800 pesos to the US dollar, from roughly 391 pesos."

Stop hording your useless money.

"Mr Milei has already cut nine government ministries, which Mr Caputo said would reduce 34% of public sector jobs.

Speaking about the cuts to government spending for infrastructure projects, Mr Caputo said: 'The reality is that there is no money to pay for more public works that, as all Argentines know, often end up in the pockets of politicians or businessmen on duty' "

Especially if your money disappeared by 50% overnight.
 
Fwiffo said:
www.bbc.com

Argentina peso: Milei begins 'shock therapy' by devaluing currency

The South American nation's new government is trying to tackle its worst crisis in decades.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com

"Mr Caputo said the exchange rate would be cut to 800 pesos to the US dollar, from roughly 391 pesos."

Stop hording your useless money.

"Mr Milei has already cut nine government ministries, which Mr Caputo said would reduce 34% of public sector jobs.

Speaking about the cuts to government spending for infrastructure projects, Mr Caputo said: 'The reality is that there is no money to pay for more public works that, as all Argentines know, often end up in the pockets of politicians or businessmen on duty' "

Especially if your money disappeared by 50% overnight.
Click to expand...

Argentina's currency management requires an advanced degree in rocket science to be understood, unfortunately.
Basically, you have the "official", which is fixed, and the parallel, black market rate ("blue dollar").
The official rate was at ~300 with the previous government, and was pushed up to ~400 right before Dec 10th. Now the new government pushed it to 800.
However, the "blue" rate has been north of 1000 for a while. So the hike is not a surprise really. The official rate is catching up to what the real economy is already pricing in terms of devaluation of the peso. sad but true.
 
www.bbc.com

Etsy: Online marketplace lays off 11% of staff to cut costs

CEO Josh Silverman tells staff the cuts are needed as sales have been "essentially flat" for two years.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com

"Chief executive Josh Silverman told staff the cuts were needed as sales had been 'essentially flat' for two years."

People aren't locked in their homes ordering online stuff to be shipped to them anymore?!
 
belinmad said:
Argentina's currency management requires an advanced degree in rocket science to be understood, unfortunately.
Basically, you have the "official", which is fixed, and the parallel, black market rate ("blue dollar").
The official rate was at ~300 with the previous government, and was pushed up to ~400 right before Dec 10th. Now the new government pushed it to 800.
However, the "blue" rate has been north of 1000 for a while. So the hike is not a surprise really. The official rate is catching up to what the real economy is already pricing in terms of devaluation of the peso. sad but true.
Click to expand...

I remember in the first company I worked at they had operations in Argentina and the executive in charge of international operations told us in the London office that one day he woke up and half his Argentina business disappeared due to currency issues.

They eventually divested.
 
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