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Amazon and Apple to headline Q2 earnings this week 2023-07-30 - When Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc. report quarterly results on Thursday, we’ll get a look at two big companies, with big expectations, trying to do smaller things — or at least less exciting things, or things that might be more inconveniencing to customers — to stay bigger. For Apple AAPL, +1.35% , D.A. Davidson analyst Tom Forte said, the focus will be on the iPhone, as always, as well as demand abroad and a new VR headset, as its stock hovers near record highs and its market value holds above $3 trillion. And he said that Amazon AMZN, +3.09% , meanwhile, could face questions about the impact of cost cuts on e-commerce growth, and what AI could do to boost slower growth in its cloud business. The results from those companies, which are big enough to make or break a single quarter’s worth for the S&P 500 Index SPX, +0.99% , will follow those from the other tech giants like Microsoft Corp. MSFT, +2.31% and Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. META, +4.42% . And they’ll arrive as Wall Street starts to get a tad more realistic about AI: Microsoft shares fell after management said the expansion of its AI capabilities would be “gradual” — and gradually more expensive. D.A. Davidson analyst Tom Forte, in a research note this month, said Amazon, like other big tech companies, was taking more steps to control its costs. That might help margins, he said. But he said he’d be watching for any impact to e-commerce sales growth, following thousands of layoffs and pulling back on its expansion of Amazon Fresh. Amazon began tacking on servicing fees onto some Amazon Fresh delivery orders this year. And Forte noted what he said were other tweaks to service: Charging for a home pickup of a defective smoke alarm that used to be free, and incentives to wait longer during Prime Day. “In our view, Amazon is playing a ‘game of chicken’ and banking on other e-commerce companies not to offer a superior service, instead of its historical approach of working backwards with a customer-obsessed approach,” D.A. Davidson analyst Tom Forte said in a research note. He added later: “We believe there is something to be said about the experience of having an Amazon-branded delivery vehicle show up at your house EVERY day. Having one show up once a week or twice is not the same.” At Apple, Forte said in a separate note, the iPhone, whose sales were still solid, had turned into more of a consumer staple than a discretionary buy. He also said he’d be looking for more detail about the upcoming iPhone 15 — likely to be modestly fancier than previous iPhones — the recovery in China and growth in India. Apple last month also unveiled its Vision Pro VR headset — for $3,499. Forte said he had his doubts. “We believe Apple will have to overcome a number of structural challenges to achieve mass adoption for its AR/VR headset,” he said. This week in earnings Apple and Amazon will report as more companies than normal report quarterly profit ahead of estimates, according to a FactSet report on Friday. For the week ahead, 170 S&P 500 companies report results, with four from the Dow, the repot said. Results from Uber Technologies Inc. UBER, +3.28% and DoorDash Inc. DASH, +4.20% will offer an update on the gig economy and how far app-based deliveries can go, while results from Kraft Heinz Inc. KHC, -0.11% will offer an update on food prices and how much they might ease from the highs seen in recent months. With the “Barbie” movie lifting rival Mattel Inc. MAT, -2.40% , results from Hasbro Inc HAS, -0.29% during the week will offer a glance at the rest of the toy industry, where demand hasn’t exactly been great, and what entertainment options Hasbro has up its sleeve to keep apace with its archrival. Drug maker Pfizer Inc. PFE, -0.36% reports, as does video-game maker Electronic Arts Inc. EA, +0.25% . Starbucks Corp. SBUX, +0.47% reports as well. The call to put on your calendar “Barbie,” the Hollywood strike and Warner Bros. Discovery: Mattel has said it wants to turn “Barbie” into a content franchise. Now we’ll hear what Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. WBD, +4.07% , the media conglomerate that produced the film, thinks about the film’s results and its prospects, as studios increasingly pump out sequels or offshoots of well-known, established character universes like “Star Wars,” Marvel and DC. The company — which reports oversees Warner Bros. CNN, TNT and the streaming service Max — reports quarterly results on Thursday. But even as “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” carry the parts of the entertainment industry that are still functioning through the Hollywood strike, Wall Street will likely be focused on contingency plans, and any sense of whether more viewers are turning to streaming with productions on pause. The number to watch Payments and crypto volumes: Results this week from trading app Robinhood Markets Inc. HOOD, +4.09% and crypto exchange Coinbase Global Inc. COIN, +2.23% , along with PayPal Holdings Inc. PYPL, +2.71% and Block SQ, +3.42% , will land at the intersection of rebounding markets and job-market concerns. UBS analysts predicted solid growth and cost control for Block, and “steady” e-commerce trends for PayPal. But BofA analysts said PayPal’s search for a new chief executive, following the announcement of Dan Schulman’s retirement at the end of the year, would become more important, adding that “we think investors should rightfully expect the CEO search to conclude in the near-term.” While Bitcoin’s rebound helped Coinbase, the company and others in the industry face the prospect of tougher regulations. Robinhood and PayPal report on Wednesday. Coinbase and Block report on Thursday.
Carlos Santana Talks Cannabis Legalization: 'They Did It Almost Like... For Greed' - TPCO Holding Corp Ordinary Shares - Class A (Restricted Voting) (OTC:GRAMF) 2023-07-30 - Carlos Santana, legendary musician and spiritual luminary, has fostered a profound relationship with cannabis, a bond that was sowed during his childhood in Mexico and has flourished over time. "I was around it since I was a child," Santana reminisces, "But I never really entered the room with it until 1963 or 1964, right before the birth of a consciousness revolution…the era of The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, The Grateful Dead..." The 'Muscle Of Imagination' Santana's relationship with cannabis transcends personal use, serving as a conduit for his spiritual and creative exploration. He perceives cannabis as more than a substance; it's a catalyst. "Cannabis stimulates a muscle. It is called imagination. It helps you see clearly what others don't see, which is... I call it Future Pull," Santana elucidates. He attributes the ability to "manifest" one's desires to his mother's teachings: "You see it and you go after it. It is waiting for you. Next thing you know, you've got it in your hand. Whether it's a house, a car, or, you know, your queen, whatever it is. And then another way of saying this is that we are manifesters, you manifest good or bad, right or wrong." Following The Light: The Birth Of Mirayo In 2019, Santana decided to merge his personal journey with cannabis and his spiritual exploration by introducing a cannabis brand in collaboration with The Parent Company GRAMF, named Mirayo. Troy Datcher, CEO and chairman of TPCO, explains that "Carlos and the Mirayo brand empower people to discover their harmony, spirituality, and creativity." Mirayo, a term marrying "my" and "ray" in Spanish, serves as an outgrowth of Santana's spiritual journey, beckoning consumers to "follow their light." "Marijuana is a plant that has been around for a long time. It's a plant that has a lot to offer. It's not just for getting high. It's for medicine. It's for many things," the artist asserts. Mirayo by Carlos Santana - COURTESY Santana's philosophy around consciousness and awakening to commonality is deeply intertwined with his music. Drawing inspiration from other musical legends like The Doors, The Beatles and Louis Armstrong, he says, "their music has resonance, vibration, frequency... you feel unity, harmony, and totality." He envisions his brand, Mirayo, contributing to this collective consciousness and commonality awakening. What's more, he likens this unity to the sense of connection he experienced at Woodstock. "When I played in Abraxas, I basically was doing my best not to think. I learned this from Miles Davis — a lot. The best music is the one that plays you," he shares, suggesting the bond between musicians and their audience is akin to the bond that cannabis can foster. Santana's ultimate goal with Mirayo is to share his spiritual journey, guiding others to find their own light and reach a higher level of consciousness. He believes that the essence of the cannabis experience lies in this communal spirit. "It's about tapping into that divine energy within all of us," he says. "It's about letting that inner light shine and guiding others to find their own light." However, creating Mirayo was not devoid of challenges. Santana regards these obstacles as integral to the journey. He identifies himself as a "beam of light," embodying love and positivity. "The only thing that was given to me is that I'm a beam of light, the constant reminder of God," he declares. Datcher seeks to confirm this: "Carlos brings a unique perspective and a deep understanding of the cannabis experience. He's not just endorsing a product; he's sharing a part of his life journey." Mirayo's Present And Future Earlier this month, Mirayo unveiled a new line of solventless hash rosin gummies, each containing 10mg of THC and made with all-natural ingredients. The gummies, shaped like the “Sacred Heart” – an iconic figure found on Santana's hats and merchandise – come in flavors such as Guava, Prickly Pear, and Raspberry. Santana explains that they were crafted to promote well-being and facilitate sleep, "feel fearless and stress-less." Yet, he proceeds to warn, "If you're stuck with being mean, grumpy and angry, I wouldn't recommend these gummies because you're not going to have a good time. It's like you're dressed in jeans and like a hippie, and you go to a place where they wear tuxedos and black ties; it ain't going to work… So every frequency needs to be honored and respected for what it is." In his view, cannabis should be taken "like sacrament. You take it in a sacred way, not in a profane way. If you take it in a profane way, you're going to have profane manifestations. If you take it in a sacred way, you're going to have sacred manifestations." Mirayo Gummies by Carlos Santana - COURTESY As he reflects on the brand's success, Santana anticipates a bright future for Mirayo. "The future is very bright," he proclaims. "We plan to introduce new products that align with our core values of harmony, spirituality and creativity. And who knows? Maybe we'll even bring a little bit of Woodstock magic to people's lives." Ancient Practices And Modern Legalization Santana's perspective on cannabis embraces its historical use in ancient practices for healing and consciousness expansion. However, he acknowledges the complex motivations behind recent legalization movements. "They do it because of the money," Santana states bluntly. "They didn't do it for consciousness. They did it almost like... for greed." Despite this cynicism, the musician recognizes the societal benefits that have emerged from legalization, such as tax revenue for infrastructure and schools — despite the underlying motivations. "We live in a society where the number one God is money, and the number two God is time. But time doesn't exist, and God is not money. God is love. And so when you realize that, you realize that money and time are just two concepts that humans created to sacrifice humans. They're not real," he explicates. Nonetheless, when asked if it matters why things are done (as long as they result in a net positive for society) Santana clearly responds, "It does not matter to me. I'm in a place to watch the world." In this sense, he underlines the importance of freeing oneself from negative indoctrination. "My God is love, whether I smoke weed or I don't smoke weed," he voices. Carlos Santana - JAY BLAKESBERG But Santana is also mindful of the potential risks associated with the misuse of any substance and warns of the negative consequences that can manifest from harmful intentions. "If you choose paths that are negative and hurtful, then you're going to get cancer, you're going to hurt your body and hurt other people. Hurt people, hurt people." His words highlight the impact of our intentions and mindset on our actions, including cannabis use, and their potential to shape our physical reality. Self-Discovery And Self-Deception According to Santana, the dichotomy between self-deception and self-discovery is crucial to understand how to enhance the human experience. "Self-discovery is spirit. Self-deception is greed and stupid values." He emphasizes the necessity of viewing the world from a broader perspective, free from human constructs of time and sacrifice. "When you learn to surrender (...) to your heart, you are able to receive brilliant wisdom," he shares. The journey of Carlos Santana with cannabis, spirituality and music weaves into the narrative of his brand, Mirayo. This journey, marked by trials and triumphs, is always guided by his inner light. "It's not about the destination, but the journey. And the journey is always more interesting when you're following your own light," Santana passionately concludes. Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website or some of my other work here. This article was originally published on Forbes and appears here with permission. The Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference, the place where deals get done, is returning to Chicago this Sept 27-28 for its 17th edition. Get your tickets today before prices increase and secure a spot at the epicenter of cannabis investment and branding.
Happy Birthday Ethereum! As The Crypto Celebrates 8th Anniversary Of Launch, Binance's Changpeng Zhao Rues A 'Miss Of A Lifetime' 2023-07-30 - Ethereum ETH/USD, a decentralized, open-source blockchain with smart functionality, was conceived in 2013, and the network went live on July 30, 2015. As the blockchain, whose native token is Ether celebrates its launch anniversary, Changpeng Zhao, founder and CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, shared on Twitter a missed opportunity involving the second-largest crypto by market capitalization. What Happened: On Sunday, Zhao shared on Twitter a picture of himself with Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin and the team behind the crypto. The picture was apparently taken on May 2, 2015, shortly ahead of Ethereum’s launch. The photo was shot in Zhao's Tokyo apartment when Buterin visited him, Zhao said. “@vitalikButerin stayed in my apartment in Tokyo during this trip. He was already working on and talking about ETH non-stop,” the Binance founder wrote. “And I still missed (didn't buy) ETH. A miss of a lifetime,” Zhao said. Zhao, however, chose to see the brighter side of the missed opportunity. “But then again, if I had bought ETH then, I might not have had the need or drive to start Binance. Who knows?” he reflected. “Life gives you not too many, but multiple chances. Work hard, don’t miss the 2nd chances,” he said. See Also: How To Buy Ethereum (ETH) Why It's Important: Ethereum, co-founded by Buterin along with five others, traded mostly under $1 in its founding year. Assuming a person had picked up $1000 worth of Ether at $1 in 2015, they would have had 1,000 Ether tokens. The same would be worth 1.88 million, a 187,666% gain. Ethereum is still trading way off its all-time high of $4,891.70 reached in mid-Nov. 2021, with macro uncertainties, general risk aversion, regulatory overhang and crypto industry scandals serving as drags. The Ethereum Merge that was completed in mid-September 2022 moved the blockchain from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake, and it is expected to give the blockchain network a big push forward. The upgrade has lowered energy consumption by 99.95%, according to data provided by Ethereum.org. At last check, Ethereum traded at $1,878.38, down 0.04%, according to Benzinga Pro data. Read Next: Analyst Predicts Ethereum Could Explode By Up To 1,556% In An AI-Powered Economy — Here’s How Photo: Shutterstock
US Shows Support To Taiwan With $345 Million In Arms Amid China's Protests 2023-07-30 - The U.S. will provide Taiwan with $345 million in defense equipment, services, and training, utilizing the same fast-track authority used to speed up the supply of arms to Ukraine. What Happened: The Biden administration reaffirmed its commitment to Taiwan's self-defense, agreeing to send "critical defensive stockpiles, multi-domain awareness, anti-armor, and air-defense capabilities," Bloomberg reported, citing Lieutenant Colonel Martin Meiners, a Defense Department spokesperson. "We are committed to helping them get the capability they need to defend themselves," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said during a visit to Brisbane, Australia, on Saturday. "So this is no change from what we've done in the past." In response, officials in Beijing accused the U.S. of exacerbating tensions between the world's two largest economies due to its support for the self-governing island. Also Read: US Sends Warships Through Taiwan Strait In First Transit Since Pelosi Visit "China is firmly opposed to U.S.'s military ties with and arms sales to Taiwan," Chinese Embassy Spokesperson Liu Pengyu said in a statement, according to Bloomberg. Liu called for the U.S. to "stop creating new factors that could lead to tensions in the Taiwan Strait." Congress has authorized Biden to use as much as $1 billion in U.S. inventory for the island democracy in the National Defense Authorization Act for the current year. Because Congress didn't appropriate funds to replace the equipment, the Pentagon will have to seek that money later, according to Bloomberg. In a statement on Saturday, Taiwan's Defense Ministry expressed gratitude to the U.S. for its unwavering commitment to the island's security. However, the statement did not provide additional details or address the matter of assistance. "Taiwan and U.S. will continue close cooperation on security topics to maintain the peaceful and stable status-quo across the strait," it read. Now Read: China Flies Dozens Of Fighter Jets Near Taiwan In Response To Tsai Ing-wen's U.S. Visit Photo: Shutterstock
Republican Congressman George Santos Faces Charges in 'Nigerian Prince' Crypto Scam 2023-07-30 - A GOP lawmaker is facing an indictment for his purported involvement in a deceptive crypto scheme known as the "Nigerian Prince" fraud. What Happened: George Santos, a U.S. representative from New York, has been charged for allegedly perpetrating a scheme that resembles the classic "Nigerian Prince" email fraud, the New York Times reported. According to the newspaper, Santos and two associates approached a wealthy investor with a proposal to help a Polish citizen unfreeze funds to purchase crypto assets. The investor grew skeptical right away, as the identity of the Polish investor was kept secret, and the plan involved the investor creating a limited liability company to access the frozen funds, which seemed illogical, the Times reported. The group did not directly request money from the affluent investor. Also Read: Bitcoin Thief Who Stole Nearly $5 Million And Was Photographed In Cash-Filled Bathtub Gets 4 Years In Prison The investor, who preferred to remain anonymous, told the Times that his encounter with Santos and his associates left him questioning their motives. The nature of the interaction led the investor to even suspect that Santos and his associates could have been targets of a con themselves. The situation reportedly escalated when the investor was asked to sign a nondisclosure agreement. When he expressed concerns and requested modifications, the outlet reported that all communication between him and Santos came to an abrupt halt. The charges brought against Santos are nothing short of serious, encompassing 13 felonies. Among them are allegations of misleading representation of his earnings, embezzlement of campaign funds and unemployment fraud. Maintaining his innocence, Santos pleaded not guilty. However, the consequences could be dire if he is convicted of the charges, with a potential prison sentence of up to 20 years. Now Read: Man Gets Prison Time After Feds Discover $3.4B In Stolen Bitcoin Hidden Inside Cheetos Popcorn Tin Photo: Shutterstock
'Shark Tank's' Kevin O'Leary Says Rising Rates Are Killing Regional Banks: 'We've Started To See The Cracks' - First Republic Bank (OTC:FRCB), SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (ARCA:KRE) 2023-07-30 - The Federal Reserve hiked the fed funds rate by 25 basis points to a 22-year high of 5.25%-5.50% last week. In response, “Shark Tank's” Kevin O'Leary warned of serious repercussions arising out of the central bank's aggressive rate hikes. What Happened: The Fed's hawkish stance will break down regional banks, which support about 60% of the economy, said Kevin O'Leary in an interview with CNBC Street Signs Asia on Thursday. The rapid rise in the cost of capital is “killing them on their real estate loans,” he said. “You keep squeezing the toothpaste tube, you keep rolling it up, you keep raising rates, and you know things are going to break, you just don't know when and where,” O'Leary said. Unlike the market, which has priced in a pause and potentially a pivot, the entrepreneur expects the Fed to hand down more rate hikes. "Terminal rate, where the Fed stops, could be 6.25, could be 6.50. So you've really got to think about this if you think about the long-term and the short-term effect,” he said. “We've started to see the cracks, the Titanic has not [sunk],” he added. See Also: Best Inflation Stocks Why It's Important: The regional banking crisis, which led to the collapse of a handful of small- to mid-size banks, has been seen as an outcome of the Fed's relentless rate hikes. The banks invested in long-dated Treasury securities and, as the yield curve inverted, the value of the investments eroded. The banks were left with no option but to raise capital to shore up liquidity, in turn leading to bank runs. Silicon Valley Bank, First Republic Bank FRCB and Silvergate were among the collapsed banks that were placed under Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) conservatorship. The futures market is currently pricing in an 80% probability of a Fed pause at the September meeting. Given that Fed Chair Jerome Powell has signaled that future rates could depend on incoming data, inflation could be the key variable that could sway the central bank. The SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF KRE, an exchange-traded fund tracking performances of regional banking stocks, ended Friday’s session up 1.44% at $48.72, according to Benzinga Pro data. The index is down about 15% so far this year. Read Next: Fed Raises Interest Rates To 5.5%, The Highest Since Early 2001 Photo: Shutterstock
Trump's Former Ally And Presidential Candidate Says It's Time To Move On From Him: 'Otherwise, We Will Have A General Election … Dealing With Lawsuits' 2023-07-30 - Donald Trump is caught in a maelstrom of lawsuits and investigations that will likely impede his campaign for the upcoming presidential election. Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who was once Trump's staunchest ally and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said in an interview on Sunday that it could be time to move on from her ex-boss. What Happened: Instead of working on all the issues Americans want to talk about, “what we don't need to be talking about is what Trump has to do to defend himself,” said Haley in an interview on CBS' “Face The Nation.” While Trump may have been “the right president at the right time” and “his policies were good,” Haley said she doesn’t think “he's the right president at the right time going forward.” “I think we've got to move forward,” she said. "Otherwise, we will have a general election that’s doing nothing but dealing with lawsuits." Haley noted that Trump’s first court case is on the day of the Iowa caucuses and that there would be another in May when the GOP presidential candidate would most likely be decided. “We can’t have a general election where we are handing it over to Kamala Harris because we’re dealing with indictments and court cases and legal issues of President Trump,” Haley said. See Also: Donald Trump’s Niece Weighs In On The ‘Political Cult’ That Is ‘Scary’: ‘Problem Is … Ability To Absorb Hypocrisy And Cognitive Dissonance And Never Feel Challenged’ Why It's Important: Trump, who is the frontrunner in the Republican presidential primary, is facing two indictments and many more potential lawsuits. In the classified document case, special counsel Jack Smith’s team has charged Trump with 37 felonies and his aide Walt Nauda with six felonies. The former president pleaded not guilty at an arraignment in Miami. A revised indictment released by Smith last week added three new felony charges against Trump and two new felony charges against Nauta. A third defendant was added as part of the superseding indictment for destroying security camera footage after investigators had sought to take possession of it. The case will come up for trial on May 20, 2024, in Fort Pierce, Florida. Trump was also indicted by a Manhattan grand jury in a hush money case for falsifying business records over payment made to adult movie star Stormy Daniels. A trial is scheduled for March 25, 2024. Other potential legal challenges Trump may face involve election interference in Georgia and the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot. Read Next: How To Invest In Startups Photo: Shutterstock
Brittney Griner Takes A Break From Upcoming WNBA Games To Focus On Mental Health After Russian Detention 2023-07-30 - WNBA superstar Brittney Griner will not travel with her team, the Phoenix Mercury, on its upcoming two-game road trip in order to take the time to focus on her mental health, the team announced on Saturday. “The Mercury fully support Brittney and we will continue to work together on a timeline for her return,” the team said in a statement, per AP. The two-time Olympic Gold Medalist who had been playing for seven years on a Russian basketball team, spent nearly 300 days in custody following her detention in February 2022 for having a small amount of cannabis oil in her suitcase when entering Moscow. Griner was released in December in a prisoner swap for international arms dealer Viktor Bout. Support from fans is pouring in for Griner, as people say they're praying for her as she deals with her mental health. "Take care of yourself BG. ♥️ I wish the Mercury had extended this same grace to @SkyDigg4 last year," one fan wrote. Traveling Has Not Been Easy Either Griner’s travel since her return to the team has, at times, been fraught with controversy over whether she and her team should travel by chartered planes as do their male NBA counterparts. In early June, Griner and her teammates were confronted by what the WNBA called a “provocateur” at the Dallas airport. Before the season started, the league had discussed Griner’s security concerns when the All-Star center traveled for road games. The thought, at the time, was that Griner's highly publicized case compromised her and others’ safety.
A key test for EV sales and the adoption curve is coming 2023-07-30 - In this article F GM Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Electric Chevrolet Silverado shown at the New York Auto Show, April, 2022. Scott Mlyn | CNBC With unsold electric vehicles backing up on the lots of rivals' dealers, General Motors' electric-vehicle rollout strategy for the fall is shaping up to be a key moment for Detroit when it comes reading an uncertain EV adoption curve. GM , so far, is acting as if it can withstand a current shakeout in the EV world, says analyst Brian Downey, executive editor of Autotrader, a division of auto-data company Cox Automotive. EV inventories were 92,000 as of June 26, up 350% from mid-2022, as models from automakers newer to the EV market like Kia, Porsche, Jaguar and Hyundai saw sales fall short of expectations and sales of Ford 's Mustang Mach E dropped. But GM reiterated in its earnings this week that it will double production of EVs in the second half of the year, to 100,000 units – including the long-awaited introduction of an electric Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck and EV versions of Chevy's Equinox crossover and Blazer compact sport-utility vehicle. The company says it will reach 400,000 cumulative units of EV production by early 2024 and that its EV business will reach profitability by 2025. "It's the popcorn moment," said Dan Ives, analyst at Wedbush Securities. "They have dozens of EV models over the next two to three years. These first models, coming from the 313 area code, will lay the groundwork. It's really the next six to 12 months on which they'll be judged." Investors liked much of this week's news from GM, because the company raised its 2023 profit guidance for the second time this year, saying its automotive division's free cash flow will be $7 billion to $9 billion, up from $5.5 billion to $7.5 billion. Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas speculated that the company's decision to trim capital spending, which accounted for most of the changed cash-flow forecast, might simply reflect conservatism heading into labor talks with the United Auto Workers union. Shares dropped 4% after the company's earnings beat Wall Street forecasts, and the stock finished the week down, though GM shareholders have still picked up a double-digit gain on paper year-to-date. Loading chart... GM CEO Mary Barra told analysts on the earnings call that the reduction in capital spending was not related to a call on market demand. "There was no market-driven slowdown," she said. Wall Street analysts, though, remain unconvinced about near-term EV adoption rates. "We would continue to advise investors to keep their expectations well managed with respect to the speed of the ramp and the ultimate size and profitability of GM's electric vehicle business. We express this sentiment not just for GM, but for all legacy auto manufacturers," wrote Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jones in a note to clients after the GM earnings. There is a core EV issue in the numbers: GM sold about 36,000 electric vehicles in the first half of 2023, according to Cox Automotive. With production set to zoom higher, the new models had better sell. watch now Among analysts who believe the stock is due for a bigger drop, expected EV sales disappointment is among the factors. Deutsche Bank analyst Colin Langan, whose $32 price target represents between a 15%-20% drop from this week's GM share price, said in a note to investors that among the biggest risks to his sell rating is "the successful launch of key EV products such as the Cadillac Lyriq, GMC Hummer EV, Chevy Silverado / GMC Sierra EV, Chevy Equinox EV, and Chevy Blazer EV." CFRA Research analyst Garrett Nelson said in a note to clients after earnings this week, "We believe the near term earnings drag from GM's EV transition will be significant, and have doubts about its production ramp-up and ultimate demand for its EV models amid growing signs of EV market oversaturation." Consumers may be more important to watch than investors right now. The models coming out this summer and fall include electric versions of GM's top-selling vehicle, the Silverado, and its No. 3 model, the Equinox crossover (No. 2 is the GMC Sierra, which is basically another iteration of the Silverado). There will also be an EV version of the Chevy Blazer midsize SUV. Preliminary pricing for the Equinox calls for it to start around $30,000 before a $7,500 federal tax credit. The Blazer's final pricing will be announced by the first week of August, company spokesman Chad Lyons said, and its rollout will begin with its lower and middle-priced trim levels this summer. With gasoline engines, those Blazers start at a suggested retail price around $35,000 for the base level and $42,800 for the RS, well below the company's second quarter average U.S. selling price of $52,248. The Silverado, like many EVs, is an example of bringing more expensive models to market first, but GM expects to deliver more basic models next year, Lyons said. GM CEO Mary Barra told analysts after its earnings that she is "very confident with where we are in the pricing for the Silverado EV." The Cadillac Lyriq EV sedan, priced from $58,590 and competing with more expensive products from Jaguar and Audi, came out last year, Cadillac spokeswoman Katie Minter said. GM will also be rolling out the Cadillac Celestiq, a $300,000 model that will be custom designed for each customer. The Cadillac all-electric 2023 Lyriq is displayed during a media day of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan, September 14, 2022.. Rebecca Cook | Reuters Paul Jacobson, GM's chief financial officer, cited "pent up demand" for the new Lyriq in a call with analysts after earnings, and also cited the Chevy Bolt, which the company had planned to discontinue only a few months ago but has now decided to bring back. "We can't build enough Bolts right now," Jacobson said. "People are hanging in there with orders," Jacobson told analysts asking about EV pricing strategy. "I think with some of the challenges identified as we ramp production, we see a lot of consistent strong demand for the products that we're producing." The moves will help cement GM's place as the EV industry's value choice as the business shakes out, according to Ives, who says he has driven all of the new models and is enthusiastic about the lineup's ability to make GM relevant to younger demographics that look to imports first. "This is not your grandfather's GM," he said. "Sweet design, massive tech upgrades, great battery life, no range anxieties. People will pull up to the valet parking in them. It's not something you would consider before.'' According to Downey, the goal is to lure customers who have not been attracted to EVs for the sake of technology alone. As EV market leader Tesla has done by cutting prices this year, GM is moving to give EV options to the larger market of consumers who simply want trouble-free cars at attractive prices, he said. 'Hard part' of auto industry EV rollout is just beginning As the industry wide EV rollout reaches a critical juncture, "GM is positioned well for the hard part," Downey said. "Tesla people are not car buyers. They're tech buyers. The next group of cars will meet people where they are. The next generation doesn't care how cars are powered. They want them to be easy," he said. The need for more options in the EV market has been highlighted by inventory backups for many kinds of EVs during the second quarter, which largely spared GM, Downey said. (Tesla, which sells direct to consumers, is not included in Cox data tracing dealer inventories). Cox's data shows a 21% year-to-date decline in unit sales through June, for example, for Ford's Mach-E; and a growth stall for Hyundai's Ioniq 5 crossover, as well as a slow start for its Ioniq 6 sedan. The Hyundais have been hurt by high prices and the fact that they are ineligible for federal tax credits because they aren't made in the U.S., Downey said. Barra expressed confidence across the EV portfolio. "We're seeing with Lyriq, we're seeing with the Hummer truck and SUV ... the Bolt ... these vehicles are getting to the dealers' lots. And if they're not already sold, they've got a list of people who are waiting for them," she said. "For the rare customer who decides they're not going to wait for the vehicle, there are several more waiting in line." But GM's EV plans come as Ford announced it is slowing down its plans to expand EV production to a 600,000 annual rate. The Mustang Mach-E sold 14,000 units and the F-150 Lightning truck sold 8,757 in the first half of the year, according to Cox. The F-150 EV's sales are about 2.3% of total F-series unit sales as reported by Goodcarbadcar.net. Ford sent slightly different messaging to investors last week, saying that while it is losing billions to accelerate its EV manufacturing, it will also be ramping production of hybrids, including a hybrid F-150. Downey says surveys show about half of car buyers would consider going electric. But the market so far is only about 6% electric, he said, as customers wait for the product they want, even as total EV sales rose 47% and brands like Volkswagen, Genesis, Rivian, BMW – and Chevy – all saw sales double. "This will be the first year U.S. EV sales reach 1 million," Downey said. "That's a lot of 'em." For GM and Ford, the ultimate question is whether, when breaking apart that one million EV unit sales figure, they can sell all the electric cars and trucks they are currently gearing up to produce. For GM, the answer to that will come into focus beginning this fall.
The fight over a bill targeting credit card fees pits payment companies against retailers 2023-07-30 - Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. credit cards are arranged for a photograph in Tiskilwa, Illinois, U.S. A bipartisan push in Washington to clamp down on credit card fees is pitting retailers against network payment processors — and both sides are working hard to gain the attention of consumers. The Credit Card Competition Act was reintroduced last month in both the House and the Senate, after not being brought up for a vote in either chamber during the previous Congress. The measure aims to bolster competition for credit card processing networks by requiring big banks to allow at least one network that isn't Visa or Mastercard to be used for their cards. This would give merchants who pay interchange fees a choice they otherwise rarely get. Amazon , Best Buy , Kroger , Shopify , Target and Walmart are among the list of nearly 2,000 retailers, platforms and small businesses urging lawmakers to pass the bill. Retailers in support of the legislation argue credit card processing costs are hurting consumers by driving up the cost of business, and, in turn, the price shoppers pay at checkout. On the other side of the fight, major credit card processing networks like Visa , Mastercard , Discover and Capital One say the bill will actually hurt consumers by diminishing popular credit card rewards programs and lessening fraud protections. Bipartisan support for the bill has surged since it was introduced last year. As of now, there is no vote scheduled on the measure in either chamber of Congress, but there are indications a vote could come by year-end. Doug Kantor, a member of the Merchants Payments Coalition executive committee, remains "optimistic" that the Credit Card Competition Act could end up as an amendment attached to a larger piece of legislation at some point. "It's time to inject real competition into the credit card network market, which is dominated by the Visa-Mastercard duopoly," Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said in a statement to CNBC. He's a sponsor of the bill and one of its most outspoken advocates. Visa and Mastercard account for 80% of all credit card volume, according to data from the Nilson Report, a publication tracking the global payment industry. Durbin says the legislation would "help reduce swipe fees and hold down costs for Main Street merchants and their customers." Swipe fees are often built into the price consumers pay for goods and services and have more than doubled in the past decade, hitting a record $160.7 billion in 2022, according to the Nilson Report. On average, U.S. credit card swipe fees account for 2.24% of a transaction, according to the Merchants Payments Coalition. That's why some businesses add a surcharge to bills for customers paying with debit or credit cards to encourage cash transactions. The new legislation would require banks with assets over $100 billion to provide customers with a choice of at least two different payment networks to process credit card transactions. The bill also stipulates that Visa and Mastercard can only account for one of the choices as a way to prevent the two largest networks from being the only options offered to merchants. "Interchange fees are effectively attacks on commerce," said Shopify president Harley Finkelstein. "We began to notice that these fees kept climbing and climbing and climbing, and we felt that something was up." The e-commerce platform known for helping businesses create their own custom digital stores, operates in 175 countries worldwide. ""Relative to every other country Shopify operates in, interchange fees are the highest in America," Finkelstein said. Larger platforms and retailers like Amazon, Shopify and Walmart, as well as payment processors like Capital One, Discover and Visa, are funding efforts to pass or block this bill. In total, 26 organizations have mentioned the Credit Card Competition Act by name in their 2023 first-quarter lobbying reports, which were filed before the legislation was reintroduced last month, according to data from Open Secrets, a nonprofit group tracking campaign finance and lobbying data. The Electronic Payments Coalition, a group representing big banks, credit unions, community banks and payment card networks said the legislation "would add billions of dollars to the bottom lines of mega-retailers every year while eliminating almost all the funding that goes towards popular credit cards rewards programs, weakening cybersecurity protections, and reducing access to credit," in a June 9 post on its website.
John Cena slept in his car and ate free pizza as he racked up job rejections in LA: 'Every avenue of fitness failed' 2023-07-30 - Fame and fortune weren't exactly in the cards for actor and WWE superstar John Cena early on. The 46-year-old millionaire moved from West Newbury, Massachusetts, to Los Angeles, California, in 1999, equipped with an exercise physiology degree. Finding a job in the field, however, proved harder than he'd thought, Cena told comedian Kevin Hart on Peacock talk show "Hart to Heart." "I didn't move out to LA to pursue entertainment," he told Hart. "[I] came out here to apply my degree and really failed. ... I couldn't get any validation for that piece of paper that I paid for. That four-year certificate from Springfield College saying, 'We think you know what you're talking about.'" After "every avenue of fitness failed," and a last-ditch effort to become a highway patrol officer fell through, Cena was met with homelessness, sleeping in the back of his 1991 Lincoln Continental and living off free pizza from a local shop. "They had a deal where, if you could eat their whole pizza, you got it for free," Cena said, chuckling. "I used to eat there every night, a whole pizza, so I didn't have to pay, because I didn't have the money to pay the guy." The situation was "uncomfortable," he added, but it helped him find out who he was. Cena had the option to move back home with his parents, but chose to hang on. "I'm very fortunate for my story because it was my choice to have hard times," he said. "My father always said, 'You're my son. I love you. You're always welcome back home.' If I could get to West Newbury, Massachusetts, I would be fed. I would have a roof over my head. I would be able to regroup." "I chose to stay out," he continued — and his perseverance paid off. The next year, Cena enrolled in the Ultimate Pro Wrestling school, Ultimate University, and made his WWE debut shortly after, winning over 15 world championships. He remains one of the highest-paid professional wrestlers in WWE history. It's a job Cena didn't even know was possible. "I did not know that wrestling was even a career option," he said. "I watched it as a young man, kind of fell out of it as an adolescent, a teenager, because it's like, 'Oh, you've gotta study hard and maybe play sports and go get a real job or whatever.'" Cena is also well-known for his acting in films like the Fast & Furious franchise, and for his philanthropy: He earned a Guinness World Record last year for the most wishes granted through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Though his road was bumpy, Cena says he feels lucky, and he appreciates the journey, even the hard parts. "My whole existence is an accident," he said. "My whole existence is based on a series of fortunate events." Disclosure: Peacock and CNBC are owned by the same parent company, NBCUniversal. DON'T MISS: Want to be smarter and more successful with your money, work & life? Sign up for our new newsletter! Take your business to the next level: Register for CNBC's free Small Business Playbook virtual event on August 2 at 1 p.m. ET to learn from premier experts and entrepreneurs how you can beat inflation, hire top talent and get access to capital.
Rent the Runway CEO started her company as a Harvard graduate student—now it's worth $120 million 2023-07-30 - Rent the Runway co-founder and CEO Jennifer Hyman came up with the idea for her clothing rental company, fittingly, in a closet. It was 2008, and Hyman — then a Harvard University MBA student — was on Thanksgiving break. Her sister revealed she was in credit card debt after buying a $2,000 dress at Bergdorf Goodman, Hyman recounted at a recent Stanford Graduate School of Business event. Her sister bought a dress she couldn't afford for a simple reason, she told Hyman: She'd already been photographed in all her other garments, rendering them obsolete for new events. "Whenever you walk into a store and buy something, knowing that you're going to wear it once, twice, three times, then push it to the back of your closet, you're renting it," Hyman said at the Stanford event. "We're already primed to rent clothes [from fast fashion]. [That] gave me confidence that the market already exists." A year later, Hyman and her classmate Jennifer Fleiss launched Rent the Runway. The company garnered accolades over the ensuing years, helping spur the development of today's clothing rental industry. It now has a market capitalization of roughly $120 million. A few days after the company went public in October 2021, Hyman's 5.1% ownership stake was worth about $38 million, Forbes estimated. Rent the Runway's cost per share has fallen significantly since then — currently less than $2, down from its $21 initial public offering price. Still, the company announced a record high number of 145,200 active subscribers in a June earnings report. It's outpacing younger competitors in terms of revenue: $296.4 million from February 2022 through January 2023 and nearing profitability, compared with just under $130 million for URBN's Nuuly over the same period. None of that would be possible if Hyman hadn't learned to convince people that her ideas had value, she said at the Stanford event. That hinged on one key strategy, she added: Her diplomatic approach to collaboration. Hyman recounted a story from Rent the Runway's early days, when she and Fleiss cold-called designer Diane von Furstenberg. They landed a meeting, but von Furstenberg scoffed at their idea, Hyman said. Rather than getting defensive, the co-founders decided to hear von Furstenberg out, said Hyman. The designer's biggest critique of their "closet in the cloud" idea was that the fashion industry was already struggling to market clothing to young people, and rentals would cannibalize its consumer base, Hyman recalled. Once von Furstenberg finished speaking, the co-founders offered their counterpoint: Rent the Runway could actually help fashion labels, by attracting customers who wouldn't normally be able to afford their clothes. It was an effective argument, and von Furstenberg was struck by the co-founders' openness and ability to engage in dialogue, said Hyman. Von Furstenberg eventually partnered with the brand and introduced the co-founders to other fashion labels and publicists, Hyman added. "Whenever you make someone else into the expert, that builds a relationship right away," Hyman said. "We needed desperately at the beginning of the business to build trust so that anyone would actually trust us to take their currencies and inventories, and not cannibalize their companies." DON'T MISS: Want to be smarter and more successful with your money, work & life? Sign up for our new newsletter! Take your business to the next level: Register for CNBC's free Small Business Playbook virtual event on August 2 at 1 p.m. ET to learn from premier experts and entrepreneurs how you can beat inflation, hire top talent and get access to capital.
House lawmakers scrutinize pandemic-era small business tax break expert calls 'fraught with fraud' 2023-07-30 - Scrutiny of a pandemic-era tax credit intensified this week as lawmakers, the IRS and tax professionals sought solutions for the wave of small businesses that wrongly claimed the tax break. The employee retention credit, or ERC, was enacted in 2020 to support small businesses affected by shutdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic and is worth thousands of dollars per employee. There's still time for eligible businesses to amend returns and claim credits, which has sparked a cottage industry of firms, known as "ERC mills," pushing the credit to businesses that may or may not qualify. "While it was a great opportunity and much-needed lifeline to small businesses, it is fraught with fraud," said Roger Harris, president of accounting and tax firm Padgett Advisors, speaking at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing Thursday. More from Personal Finance: IRS halts most unannounced visits to taxpayers IRS weighs guidance for employee retention tax credit How to know if your business qualifies for the employee retention tax credit "Any time this amount of money is being handed out through the tax system, the bad actors show up, and they have shown up in large numbers," he said. As of July 26, the IRS said, it had roughly 506,000 unprocessed Form 941-X amended payroll tax returns. As the IRS works through its backlog of unprocessed amended returns, it's unclear how many small businesses may have wrongly claimed the credit. But a future audit "could ruin them," according to Harris. The IRS has received more than 2.5 million ERC claims since the beginning of the program, but processing has slowed due to the "complexity of the amended returns," according to the agency.
Reddit throughout the years: Its rise to prominence, recent revolts and IPO plans 2023-07-30 - Reddit, home to cute cat pictures, investment advice, niche hobby discussions, celebrity interviews, edgy memes, wholesome memes and everything in between, has been facilitating discussions on the internet since 2005. The site has about 57 million daily active users who post and consume news, memes, questions and even stock tips that can roil markets. The company filed for an initial public offering at the end of 2021. As it prepares to go public, it's looking to turn a profit for the first time. The company is charging for access to its application programming interface, or API. The price hikes have led some beloved third-party Reddit apps such as Apollo to shut down, instigating an uproar among the website's community of volunteer moderators, who often rely on third-party apps to run the site's 100,000+ discussion communities, called subreddits. Despite extensive protests in which thousands of moderators took their communities private, the API pricing changes took effect July 1 as planned. Under pressure from Reddit admins, nearly all communities have reopened. But tensions remain high, and some say that if Reddit doesn't rebuild trust, its most passionate users will go elsewhere. "Reddit is nothing without those communities. They need us far more than we need them," said David DeWald, a moderator of the r/Arcade1up subreddit and a community manager for the telecommunications company Ciena. The rise of Reddit When Reddit co-founders Alexis Ohanian and Steve Huffman were in their senior year at the University of Virginia, startup accelerator Y Combinator was just getting off the ground. The two had met founder Paul Graham at a talk, and he suggested that the recent graduates build what he called "the front page of the Internet." Ohanian and Huffman jumped at the chance. Y Combinator invested just $12,000 in 2005, and Reddit officially became a part of its first batch of companies. "For the first probably like month, month and a half, a good number of the folks posting were just me and Steve under usernames that we just invented from like objects in the room, just random stuff just so that it would look like there was some activity," Ohanian said. Reddit founders Alexis Ohanian (L) and Steve Huffman (R) Reddit But real user activity picked up, and just 16 months after its founding, Reddit was acquired for $10 million by Condé Nast. By 2010, co-founders Ohanian and Huffman were no longer involved in day-to-day operations, but traffic was booming. In 2011, Reddit was spun out as an independent company, operating as a subsidiary of Condé Nast's owner, Advance Publications. "I think it was fashionable back then to want to just grow and Facebook had proven out so well that if you focus on growth and then have a critical mass of users, you could make money," Ohanian said. On the one hand, Reddit's niche communities were ideal places for target advertising, but the company's permissive attitude toward questionable content also posed a problem. "Reddit is kind of a perfect environment for advertising because the communities can get so specific and so passionate about whatever it is that they're discussing," said Debra Aho Williamson, principal analyst at Insider Intelligence. "But Reddit has had challenges over the years with hate speech and other things that are maybe not brand-friendly." Ohanian rejoined Reddit as executive chairman in 2014 and Huffman rejoined as CEO the next year. This time around, Ohanian said, he wanted to reign in some of the site's more toxic subcultures. In 2015, a new anti-harassment policy led to the banning of some hateful communities, but certainly not all. Then, in the wake of George Floyd's murder in 2020, Ohanian resigned from the company's board, urging Reddit to replace him with a Black candidate, which the company honored. "I hoped that Reddit would finally get a hate policy so that we could ban those thousands of hate communities that were up, which happened, you know, a few weeks after I resigned," Ohanian said. Reddit ultimately banned about 2,000 subreddits, including r/The_Donald, r/ChapoTrapHouse and r/gendercritical. With the world stuck inside during the Covid-19 pandemic, engagement shot up. In the beginning of 2021, Reddit made headlines when users in the subreddit r/wallstreetbets organized a short squeeze on GameStop, the struggling video game retailer. Subsequent so-called "meme stocks" such as AMC kept Reddit in the news for months. Advertising was booming when the company filed for an IPO at the end of the year. API pricing changes Now, Reddit wants to turn a profit. With companies such as OpenAI and Google scraping the internet to train large language models, Reddit wants them to pay for its data. Huffman announced in April that Reddit would start charging for access to its API, the gateway through which companies can download all of Reddit's user-generated content. But it's not just tech giants who use Reddit's API. Many popular third-party mobile apps and moderator tools also rely on API access, which was previously free. These third-party apps are largely just alternatives to Reddit's official mobile app, which didn't even exist until 2016. But when developers learned about the new pricing structure at the end of May, many realized they couldn't afford it. "Most companies, whenever they have significant API changes, you know, they give anywhere from like three to sometimes like 15 months for developers to acclimate to these big changes," said Dac Croach, a moderator of the r/Gaming subreddit, now the third-largest community on the site. "And with Reddit kind of coming out of the gate and saying, you know, you have 30 days to figure this out […] I mean, that is an impossible task for many of those third-party developers." The developer of Apollo said it would cost him over $20 million per year to operate given the new pricing structure. Apollo shut down, along with other popular third-party apps such as rif is fun, Reddplanet and Sync, a blow to their loyal users who said they have sleeker user interfaces and more features than the official Reddit app. Jakub Porzycki | Getty Images
1 in 4 U.S. homebuyers want to move to a different city—here's the No. 1 place they're looking 2023-07-30 - With mortgage rates at 20-year highs, more people are looking to relocate from high-cost coastal cities to places in the South and Southwest, with Las Vegas as the top destination. Nearly 26% of property search queries on online real estate brokerage Redfin.com are for cities where potential homebuyers don't live, based on data for the three months ending June 2023. That's the highest percentage since 2017, when Redfin first started tracking migration data. Homeownership costs seem to be driving the trend, as the majority of homebuyers are from cities with some of the highest home prices in the country, such as New York or Los Angeles. Based on an analysis of 100 metro areas, the following 10 cities had the highest net inflow of property searches on Redfin's website. Net inflow is the number of people looking to move into a city minus the number of people looking to leave. Las Vegas: 5,700 Phoenix: 5,300 Tampa, Florida: 5,000 Orlando, Florida: 4,900 Sacramento, California: 4,800 North Port-Sarasota, Florida: 4,700 Cape Coral, Florida: 4,100 Dallas: 4,100 Miami: 3,700 Houston: 3,600 For all cities on this list, the largest number of potential out-of-town homebuyers are from either Los Angeles, Seattle, New York or Chicago, according to the study. This makes sense, as those are some of the cities where the most homebuyers seemingly want to leave. Here are the 10 metros with the largest net outflow of property searches, which measures the number of search queries interested in leaving a metro area minus the number of search queries about moving to that same city. San Francisco: 28,100 New York City: 24,200 Los Angeles: 20,900 Washington, D.C.: 15,700 Chicago: 4,900 Boston: 4,400 Seattle: 3,900 Hartford, Connecticut: 3,500 Denver: 2,300 Detroit: 2,300 The search patterns suggest homebuyers are looking to leave large coastal hubs for cities in low-tax states that have considerably cheaper home prices. For instance, most out-of-town buyers looking for properties in Las Vegas are from Los Angeles. The median cost of a home in Las Vegas is $412,500 as of June, nearly half the $975,000 median cost for homes in Los Angeles, according to Redfin's data. For the purposes of the study, a person browsing Redfin counts as a migrant if they've viewed 10 properties in another city over the three months ending June 2023. The net inflow and outflow rankings were compiled based on the total number of migrants. DON'T MISS: Want to be smarter and more successful with your money, work & life? Sign up for our new newsletter! Take your business to the next level: Register for CNBC's free Small Business Playbook virtual event on August 2 at 1 p.m. ET to learn from premier experts and entrepreneurs how you can beat inflation, hire top talent and get access to capital.
Centuries-old companies in Japan on the secrets of business longevity 2023-07-30 - Centuries-old companies in Japan on the secrets of business longevity There are old hotels, and then there's Hōshi, in central Japan, which first opened its doors more than 1,300 years ago. Japan boasts tens of thousands of companies at least one century old, including sake-maker Sudo Honke, which has been turning out rice wine since 1141, and is currently run by a 55th generation descendant of the founder. Correspondent Lucy Craft reports on how, in a country that venerates its elders, old companies are on the rise.
Turning Spain's desert into Europe's orchard 2023-07-30 - Turning Spain's desert into Europe's orchard In southern Spain, one of the driest parts of Europe, a healthy crop of high-tech greenhouses has sprouted from the desert. Correspondent Seth Doane looks at how innovative approaches to agriculture – from organic farming and using desalinated seawater, to breeding pollinators and predators of insect pests – have turned this arid land into a source of abundance.
How one casket company is disrupting the funeral industry 2023-07-30 - How one casket company is disrupting the funeral industry In the United States two manufacturers control 85% of casket production, with the average casket costing more than $2,000, sold exclusively to funeral homes. Titan Caskets is looking to disrupt the industry by selling its products more cheaply, directly to consumers. Correspondent Luke Burbank looks at how thousands are now finding their loved ones' final resting places on the internet. (This story was originally broadcast April 16, 2023.)
Towns for sale 2023-07-30 - Towns for sale In recent years dozens of towns across the country, from abandoned mining settlements to desert enclaves, have been listed for sale. Correspondent Christina Ruffini reports on opportunities for someone in the market to own a town of their very own, from a 40-acre village in Maine, to a sprawling Rocky Mountain ghost town.
Online scams: 3 rules to prevent being conned 2023-07-30 - Online scams: 3 rules to prevent being conned Correspondent David Pogue talks with cybersecurity expert Mike Driscoll about ways to make yourself safer from online and phone scammers; and with Kitboga, an improv artist who has found a new way to fight con artists, by hilariously wasting their time.