Category: Business

Crypto’s Big Break? Potential Bitcoin ETF Approval Could Create New Era of Investment Opportunities

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

By Creshonda Smith | Wealth of Geeks undefined

The first US bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), “BITO,” began trading in October of 2021, attracting more than $1 billion in assets in the first few days. It’s one of the most heavily traded ETFs in market history.

Cryptocurrencies have been making waves in the financial world. ETFs have long appealed to investors for their diversification benefits, low costs, and stock-like trading convenience.

The possible introduction of a Bitcoin ETF holds significant implications for the market. It increases accessibility, enabling investors to gain exposure to Bitcoin without the complexities of directly holding the cryptocurrency. This milestone could attract traditional investors who value the regulatory oversight offered by ETF structures. Continue reading

Airbnb profit jumps to $650 million in 2Q, as bookings increase and rental rates hold steady

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

FILE – The login page for Airbnb’s iPhone app is seen in front of a computer displaying Airbnb’s website on May 8, 2021, in Washington. Airbnb reports earnings on Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

By DAVID KOENIG AP Business Writer

Airbnb said Thursday its second-quarter profit jumped more than 70% over last summer, to $650 million, as revenue rose on strong bookings for summer-vacation rentals.

The San Francisco company said bookings grew 11% over the same period last year. Still, they were a bit lighter than analysts expected.

The shares fell about 1% after three hours of late trading.

Airbnb has been battling complaints that high cleaning fees have pushed prices closer to, or even above, hotels for short rentals. It changed its site to display cleaning fees upfront, when consumers are price-shopping.

Prices, however, remain stubbornly high. Airbnb had forecast that average rates customers pay per night would fall slightly in the second quarter compared with last year. Instead, the average nightly rate rose 1% to $166. Continue reading

Europe’s economy grows a bit after months of stagnation. But rate hikes are weighing on businesses

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Read time : 5 mins

Level : Intermediate

FILE – Gas prices are displayed at a gas station in Frankfurt, Germany, on July 28, 2023. The European economy grew modestly in the most recent quarter, breaking out of a months of stagnation or contraction as higher interest rates designed to fight inflation make it more expensive for households and businesses to borrow, invest and spend. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)

By DAVID McHUGH AP Business Writer

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Europe’s economy has grown modestly after months of stagnation, but higher interest rates designed to fight inflation are casting a shadow as they make it more expensive for households and businesses to borrow, invest and spend.

The 20 countries that use the euro currency and their 346 million people saw 0.3% growth in the April-to-June period, compared with the first three months of the year, the EU statistics agency Eurostat reported Monday.

That’s an improvement over zero growth in the first quarter and a slight decline in fourth quarter of last year — but not by much. Plus, one-time factors and an outsized bump from Ireland made things look better than they really were.

The eurozone got a boost by 0.5% growth in France and 0.4% in Spain, where lower inflation has helped lift consumer spending power.

Yet the French figure was increased by the delivery of one very large manufactured item — a cruise ship. That statistical quirk flattered French growth but does little to disguise weak demand for goods in the eurozone’s second-largest economy. Continue reading

Solar panels on water canals seem like a no-brainer. So why aren’t they widespread?

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

This artist’s rendering provided by Solar AquaGrid, shows a wide-span solar canal canopy being piloted in California’s Central Valley. Solar AquaGrid and partners are preparing to break ground in the fall of 2023 on the first solar-covered-canal project in the United States. Solar panels are installed over canals in sunny, water-scarce regions where they make electricity and reduce evaporation. (Solar AquaGrid via AP)

By BRITTANY PETERSON and SIBI ARASU Associated Press

Back in 2015, California’s dry earth was crunching under a fourth year of drought. Then-Governor Jerry Brown ordered an unprecedented 25% reduction in home water use. Farmers, who use the most water, volunteered too to avoid deeper, mandatory cuts.

Brown also set a goal for the state to get half its energy from renewable sources, with climate change bearing down.

Yet when Jordan Harris and Robin Raj went knocking on doors with an idea that addresses both water loss and climate pollution — installing solar panels over irrigation canals — they couldn’t get anyone to commit.

Fast forward eight years. With devastating heat, record-breaking wildfire, looming crisis on the Colorado River, a growing commitment to fighting climate change, and a little bit of movement-building, their company Solar AquaGrid and partners are preparing to break ground on the first solar-covered canal project in the United States.

“All of these coming together at this moment,” Harris said. “Is there a more pressing issue that we could apply our time to?”

The idea is simple: install solar panels over canals in sunny, water-scarce regions where they reduce evaporation and make electricity. Continue reading

Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and other tech firms agree to AI safeguards set by the White House

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

President Joe Biden arrives to speaks about artificial intelligence in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Friday, July 21, 2023, in Washington, as from left, Adam Selipsky, CEO of Amazon Web Services; Greg Brockman, President of OpenAI; Nick Clegg, President of Meta; Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Inflection AI; Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic; and Kent Walker, President of Google watch. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

By MATT O’BRIEN and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said Friday that new commitments by Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and other companies that are leading the development of artificial intelligence technology to meet a set of AI safeguards brokered by his White House are an important step toward managing the “enormous” promise and risks posed by the technology.

Biden announced that his administration has secured voluntary commitments from seven U.S. companies meant to ensure that their AI products are safe before they release them. Some of the commitments call for third-party oversight of the workings of the next generation of AI systems, though they don’t detail who will audit the technology or hold the companies accountable.

“We must be clear eyed and vigilant about the threats emerging technologies can pose,” Biden said, adding that the companies have a “fundamental obligation” to ensure their products are safe. Continue reading

Hollywood plunges into all-out war on the heels of pandemic and a streaming revolution

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

Striking writers and actors chant as they walk a picket line, Friday July 14, 2023, at NBC Universal Studios in New York. The picketing comes a day after the main actors’ union voted to join screenwriters in a double-barreled strike for the first time in more than six decades. The dispute immediately shut down production across the entertainment industry after talks for a new contract with studios and streaming services broke down. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — To get a sense of just how much animosity is flying around Hollywood these days, watch how Ron Perlman responded to a report that the studios aimed to prolong a strike long enough for writers to lose their homes.

Perlman, the hulking, gravel-voiced actor of “Hellboy,” leaned into the camera in a since-deleted Instagram live video to vent his anger. “Listen to me, mother-(expletive),” Perlman said. “There’s a lot of ways to lose your house.”

Three years after the pandemic brought Hollywood to a standstill, the film and TV industry has again ground to a halt. This time, though, the industry is engaged in a bitter battle over how streaming — after advancing rapidly during the pandemic — has upended the economics of entertainment. Continue reading

No more free coffee on your birthday? Companies rein in customer rewards programs — here’s why

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Read time : 4 mins

Level : Intermediate

File – The Dunkin’ logo is seen on a storefront, Friday, Oct. 14, 2022, in Boston. Reward programs have long been a way for brands to build loyalty and incentivize spending. But now some companies are becoming a bit more stingy, and customers are taking notice. Last fall, for example, many balked at Dunkin’s decision to stop offering a free drink on their birthday and instead give them triple loyalty points on their purchase. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS AP Business Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Reward programs, including birthday freebies and discounts, have long been a way for brands to build loyalty and incentivize spending. But now some companies are becoming a bit more stingy — and customers are taking notice.

Last fall, for example, many balked at Dunkin’s decision to stop offering a free drink on their birthday and instead give them triple loyalty points on their purchase. On June 1, Sephora started requiring a $25 minimum purchase for online customers looking to claim a free gift and 250 loyalty points during their birthday month. And Red Robin added a dine-in only and $4.99 minimum purchase requirement for customers to get their free birthday burger.

Changes to birthday rewards or redemption requirements aren’t new. Starbucks, which gives its rewards members a free drink or food item for their birthdays, progressively limited the timeframe for redeeming that gift over the years — from 30 days, to one week, to four days and, finally, to just the date of your birthday in 2018. Continue reading

‘Clone’ or competitor? Users and lawyers compare Twitter and Threads

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

FILE – This photo, taken in New York on July 5, 2023, show the logo for Meta’s new app Threads, right, and that of Twitter. In a cease-and-desist letter earlier this week, Twitter threatened legal action against Instagram parent company Meta over the new text-based app, Threads. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

By MATT O’BRIEN and WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS The Associated Press

Just how similar is Instagram’s chatty new app, Threads, to Twitter?

In a cease-and-desist letter earlier this week, Twitter threatened legal action against Instagram parent company Meta over the new text-based app Threads, which it called a “copycat.”

Threads has drawn tens of millions of users since launching as the latest rival to Elon Musk’s social media platform.

Threads creators pushed back on the accusations, and legal experts note that much is still unknown. For now, “it’s sort of a big question mark,” Jacob Noti-Victor, an associate professor at Yeshiva University’s Cardozo Law School who specializes in intellectual property, told The Associated Press. Continue reading

Want a climate-friendly flight? It’s going to take a while and cost you more

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Read time : 2 mins

Level : Advanced

FILE – A man walks down the steps of the Boeing 777X airplane during the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, north of Paris, France, Monday, June 19, 2023. Airlines are facing increasing pressure to cut their climate-changing emissions. That made sustainable aviation fuel a hot topic this week at the Paris Air Show, a major industry event. Sustainable fuel made from food waste or plant material is aviation’s best hope for reducing emissions in the next couple of decades. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly, File)

By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer

When it comes to flying, going green may cost you more. And it’s going to take a while for the strategy to take off.

Sustainability was a hot topic this week at the Paris Air Show, the world’s largest event for the aviation industry, which faces increasing pressure to reduce the climate-changing greenhouse gases that aircraft spew.

Even the massive orders at the show got a emissions-reduction spin: Airlines and manufacturers said the new planes will be more fuel-efficient than the ones they replace.

But most of those planes will burn conventional, kerosene-based jet fuel. Startups are working feverishly on electric-powered aircraft, but they won’t catch on as quickly as electric vehicles. Continue reading

UN steps up criticism of IMF and World Bank, the other pillars of the post-World War II global order

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

FILE – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks to reporters in the Treaty Room before a meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the State Department, April 27, 2023, in Washington. From the ashes of World War II, three institutions were created as linchpins of a new global order. Now, in an unusual move the top official in one, Guterres, is pressing for major changes in the other two. Guterres says the International Monetary Fund has benefited rich countries instead of poor ones. And he describes the IMF and World Bank’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic as a “glaring failure” that left dozens of countries deeply indebted. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — From the ashes of World War II, three institutions were created as linchpins of a new global order. Now, in an unusual move, the top official in one — the secretary-general of the United Nations — is pressing for major changes in the other two.

Antonio Guterres says the International Monetary Fund has benefited rich countries instead of poor ones. And he describes the IMF and World Bank ‘s response to the COVID-19 pandemic as a “glaring failure” that left dozens of countries deeply indebted.

Guterres’ criticism, in a recent paper, isn’t the first time he’s called for overhauling global financial institutions. But it is his most in-depth analysis of their problems, cast in light of their response to the pandemic, which he called a “stress test” for the organizations.

His comments were issued ahead of meetings called by French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Thursday and Friday to address reforms of the multilateral development banks and other issues. Continue reading