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Businesses are scrambling for tips right now because they don't want to raise wages in case of a recession 2023-07-26 - If you've felt like tipping is more prevalent, you're not alone: It became a norm during the pandemic. According to the WSJ, businesses saw how tipping changed post-2020, and started to rely on it. Firms don't want to raise wages because they're worried about a recession, so you pay workers instead. Get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in business, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley — delivered daily. Loading Something is loading. Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy It's become a meme: Someone staring you in the eyes as they turn around a screen for you to choose a tip on. It speaks to the ubiquity of tipping in the US, as consumers find themselves presented with tipping screens just about everywhere — even at a self check-out. Some say that tipping has gotten "out of control," according to a May Bankrate survey, with 41% of respondents saying that they "believe businesses should pay employees better rather than relying so much on tips." That might be in part because today's tipping culture, which extends well beyond restaurant servers or delivery drivers, was formed during the pandemic, according to a new Wall Street Journal article. In 2020, as in-person industries suddenly turned service workers into essential workers, people began tipping more — and on things they might not have tipped on previously. With those tipping norms upended, businesses began to rely on that flow of tips, Scheherezade Rehman, an economist and professor of international finance at George Washington University, told the Wall Street Journal. And now, businesses are trying to avoid making the larger wages those tips have augmented their responsibility, as the economy cools. Jonathan Morduch — a professor of public policy and economics at New York University — told the Wall Street Journal that as businesses prepare for a potential recession, "they don't want to lock into higher wages." Making pay reliant on the whims of tippers means businesses can stay flexible, and they don't have to take on the potential risks of actually increasing their costs. As Insider's Andy Kiersz and Jacob Zinkula reported, the rise of tipping everywhere may be pegged to workers getting more expensive. Wages have been on the rise, and with workers feeling the burn of inflation and plenty of job openings, it's still costly to compete for new employees. "Businesses are being squeezed and hoping that their customers will, in effect, be willing to pay more on a voluntary basis," Laurence Kotlikoff, an economics professor at Boston University, previously told Insider. Currently, some service workers are subject to what's called the tipped minimum wage. That wage is $2.13, far below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, and means that paychecks are primarily driven by the tips workers receive, rather than an hourly rate. "Businesses are happy to let workers earn more from tips, especially when there's no pressure to raise the tipped minimum," Morduch told the Wall Street Journal. But making workers' pay essentially contingent on customers' generosity — some of whom might be in a similar work situation, or also feeling the sting of increased costs — likely isn't a viable long-term strategy. The Fed doesn't think businesses' fears of a recession will come true. Customers are getting fed up with offloaded costs, and, even in a slightly cooling labor market, there's plenty of jobs to be had. Those ones might just actually pay more. Are you tired of tipping, or relying on tips? Contact this reporter at jkaplan@insider.com.
Meta’s Reality Labs has now lost more than $21 billion since the beginning of last year 2023-07-26 - Shares of Meta were up about 5% after it reported an 11% pop in revenue as advertising rebounded and the company issued an uplifting sales forecast for the third quarter. It shows that Meta is still very much an ad company with a big cost center. The unit recorded $276 million in second-quarter sales, down from the $339 million in revenue it brought during the first quarter. Analysts polled by StreetAccount were projecting Reality Labs to record $421 million in sales off $3.5 billion in operating losses. Meta reported second-quarter earnings on Wednesday and said that its Reality Labs unit, which develops virtual reality and augmented reality technologies needed to power the metaverse, logged a $3.7 billion operating loss. Last year, Meta's Reality Labs unit lost a total of $13.7 billion while bringing in $2.16 billion in revenue, which is driven in part by the company's sales of Quest-branded VR headsets. Reality Labs lost $3.99 billion during the first quarter. That puts its total losses at about $21.3 billion since the beginning of last year. Meta said in its earnings report that it expects operating losses in its Reality Labs unit "to increase meaningfully year-over-year due to our ongoing product development efforts in augmented reality/virtual reality and investments to further scale our ecosystem." In June, Meta announced a VR subscription service dubbed Meta Quest+, which costs $7.99 a month and is compatible with the company's Quest 2, Quest Pro and upcoming Quest 3 headsets. The subscription service lets people access two new VR games each month, and they will be able to play those games as long as they have active subscriptions. Also in June, Zuckerberg revealed details about the Quest 3 headset just days before Apple announced its Vision Pro VR and AR headset that will cost a whopping $3,499 when it is released in 2024. The Quest 3 will be sold at a price starting at $499 and is 40% thinner than the Quest 2 and will contain a next-generation Qualcomm chipset, the company said. Watch: Snapchat+, a subscription-based revenue stream, has hit 4 million subscribers
Prosecutors want Sam Bankman-Fried sent to jail after witness-tampering allegations 2023-07-26 - New York CNN — A federal judge issued a gag order on former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, restricting his ability to speak publicly about his case, after US prosecutors asked a federal judge to jail him over allegations of witness-tampering. Prosecutors accused Bankman-Fried of leaking his former girlfriend and business partner’s personal writings to the New York Times. They said last week that Bankman-Fried, 31, had attempted to discredit their star witness, Caroline Ellison, who is expected to testify against him at his trial in October. In a hearing before US District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan on Wednesday, Assistant US Attorney Danielle Sassoon cited multiple instances of the FTX founder actively communicating with the media and alleges he was a source for multiple stories – part of an “ongoing campaign with the press that has now crossed a line,” she said. Sassoon cited the “defendant’s history of obstruction in the form of setting auto deletion” in communications related to FTX and the use of a VPN to subvert monitoring. The prosecution “placed too much trust in the defendant” and now believes it is “not possible to design a set of adequate release conditions” to ensure the safety of the community. Bankman-Fried’s lead attorney, Mark Cohen, suggested the defense hadn’t been given sufficient lead time from prosecutors regarding the request to jail him, saying the defense found out about the change “one minute before court.” Cohen also noted the unusually large volume of discovery documents – 32 million pages so far, he said. “This is a complex case involving complex financial transactions,” making it “almost impossible to work with our client if he were remanded,” he said. Judge Kaplan said he would issue a temporary gag order while giving both sides time to prepare more formal presentations before ruling on the government’s proposal for detention. “I am aware pretty fully about the document issues and the need for access by the defendant. I am certainly very mindful of his First Amendment rights. I am very mindful of the government’s interest in this issue, which I take very seriously,” Kaplan said. “Mr. Bankman-Fried, you better take it seriously too.” The prosecution said it would submit its argument by Friday, and the defense would make its case by August 1. For now, Bankman-Fried remains out of jail. At a previous bail hearing, Kaplan alluded to the possibility of revoking Bankman-Fried’s bail deal and forcing him to await trial in jail. But he has also extended leniency on Bankman-Fried’s use of electronic devices, citing the complexity of his case. Cohen reiterated Bankman-Fried’s constitutional right to speak to the press and said that he didn’t violate the terms of his bail. “The government is pretending it never speaks to the media about this case,” he said. Lawyers for Bankman-Fried previously said that they would comply with a gag order but requested that it apply equally to all parties, including “the government and all potential witnesses in this case.” Wednesday’s hearing marks yet another pre-trial stumble for Bankman-Fried, who was released on a $250 million bond following his arrest in December. He is preparing for trial under house arrest at his parents’ Palo Alto, California, home. In February, Judge Kaplan tightened restrictions on Bankman-Fried’s bail after prosecutors flagged a direct message Bankman-Fried sent to a former FTX employee, raising concerns about potential witness-tampering. Since his arrest, Bankman-Fried has ignored the standard legal advice of remaining silent in the run-up to trial, frequently speaking to the media and blogging about his experience. His lawyers have pushed back on prosecutors’ allegations of witness-tampering. Citing a “toxic” media environment that has been “almost uniformly” negative, Bankman-Fried “has a right to counter that public narrative by making fair comment in the media,” his lawyers wrote. Bankman-Fried’s lawyers say that the New York Times article had been “in process for months” and that the reporter already had other sources. In the article, the Times quotes from private diary entries that Ellison wrote in Google Docs. The documents reportedly detailed her “unhappy and overwhelmed” emotional state as CEO of Alameda Research, FTX’s crypto hedge fund. The writings also reportedly expressed her doubts about her ability to make decisions and effectively run the business. Ellison, who is 28, pleaded guilty in December to multiple counts of conspiracy and fraud for her role in a scheme that led to the collapse of FTX. Bankman-Fried, the founder of both Alameda and FTX, has pleaded not guilty to eight federal counts of fraud and conspiracy. A trial date has been set for October 2.
Dish Network partners with Amazon to offer wireless services 2023-07-26 - July 26 (Reuters) - Dish Network (DISH.O) said on Wednesday its unit Boost Infinite had partnered with Amazon.com (AMZN.O) to sell postpaid wireless plans through the e-commerce platform in the United States. The Boost Infinite Unlimited SIM kit will be available to Amazon Prime subscribers at $25 a month for unlimited talk, text and data services. Dish and Amazon did not disclose their financial arrangement. Shares of Dish were down 4%, while those of AT&T (T.N) and Verizon Communications (VZ.N) were marginally up after the announcement of the partnership, which analysts suspect could potentially pressure telecom prices in the United States. "US wireless is pretty fully penetrated and (so) the most obvious way for Dish-Amazon to accelerate additions is to cut price which I believe is an inevitability," said Jeff Wlodarczak, analyst with Pivotal Research. For Amazon, the deal could draw more customers to its Prime service at a time growth in key markets including the United States has plateaued. "With its bulk buying power, Amazon can undercut pricing and potentially draw millions or tens of millions of consumers away from their current mobile plans and deliver customers at scale to a single carrier," said Michael Ashley Schulman, chief investment officer at Running Point Capital. For Dish, which has been facing tough competition from larger carriers, the deal will help expand its wireless infrastructure. Reporting by Medha Singh and Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Chinese Stocks Set to Rise After ADRs Jump on Stimulus Hopes 2023-07-25 - (Bloomberg) -- Chinese stocks are set to advance Tuesday after US-listed shares of mainland companies recorded their biggest one-day gain since early February, spurred by vows from Beijing of further support for the nation’s struggling economy. Most Read from Bloomberg The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index climbed 4.3% Monday, with big-cap technology names including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Baidu Inc. rising 5% or more. KE Holdings Inc., a housing transactions platform operator, jumped nearly 7%, the most since January. Future contracts on Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index rallied about 3%, while FTSE China A50 futures gained 1.5%. While stopping short of announcing any broad-scale stimulus measures, the ruling Communist Party’s top decision-making body promised “counter-cyclical” policy, according to a readout published Monday. It also signaled more support for the country’s troubled housing market, amid a slew of data indicating that China’s post-Covid recovery has lost momentum. READ: China Holds Off on Major Stimulus as It Signals Property Easing The Politburo meeting earlier “was more dovish than expected, promising housing easing, local debt resolution, and a boost to capital markets,” wrote Morgan Stanley economists led by Robin Xing in a note to clients. This could be a “defining moment,” akin to October 2018, they added. “We thus expect further relaxation of home purchase restrictions in Tier-1 cities, to release pent-up demand and stabilize market expectations.” The Wall Street bank now expects a meaningful growth rebound in the fourth quarter, keeping full-year economic expansion at the government’s target of 5%. Story continues Meaningful Rebound The Nasdaq Golden Dragon gauge’s move showcases a more positive response to the Politburo meeting from US investors, who have been selling Chinese stocks this year. Market watchers in Asia were less sanguine in their immediate response to the readout on Monday, saying policy signals fell short of expectations. READ: China Angst Drives Boom in Funds Excluding Asia’s Biggest Market Analysts have said that Chinese stocks are prone to sharp rebounds as they trade at depressed valuations. The MSCI China Index is at about 10 times its forward one-year earnings, a multiple that is one standard deviation below its five-year average level. The rally in Chinese ADRs came after a 2.1% drop in the Hang Seng Index on Monday, led by declines in property builders, after analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. turned bearish on Country Garden Holdings Co. due to liquidity concerns. The 24-member Politburo left out the slogan of “housing is for living, not for speculation” in the readout, a sign to market watchers that authorities may be considering easing restrictions on the industry. “The markets are set to respond” to the latest news out of the meeting even without detailed measures being announced, said Hao Hong, chief economist at Grow Investment Group. “Removal of the ‘housing isn’t for speculation’ slogan is significant,” he added, “but investors need to know how this can be followed through in policy.” ‘Equilibrium Level’ The onshore Chinese yuan finished Monday at 7.1874 per dollar, little changed from last week’s close. The offshore yuan erased earlier losses of as much as 0.4%. The politburo statement mentioned keeping the renminbi exchange rate “mostly stable at the equilibrium level” for the first time since the second quarter of 2021, potentially signaling Beijing’s unease with its rapid depreciation in recent months, according to Citigroup Inc. economists led by Xiangrong Yu. The Chinese currency has so far this year ranked among the worst performers in emerging markets. “While this policy course correction is long overdue, it is more likely to improve corporate and consumer confidence than any traditional stimulus, because it is designed to address concerns that President Xi Jinping is no longer supportive of entrepreneurs,” said Andy Rothman, an investment strategist at Matthews Asia. Xi will follow up with concrete actions, according to Rothman, who urged investors to be patient as there’s likely to be more evidence of a gradual, consumer-led economic recovery in the coming quarters. --With assistance from George Lei. (Updates prices, adds mention of Asia response Monday in the sixth paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek ©2023 Bloomberg L.P.
The problem with X? Meta, Microsoft, hundreds more own trademarks to new Twitter name 2023-07-25 - FILE PHOTO: The problem with X? Meta, Microsoft, hundreds more own trademarks to new Twitter name By Blake Brittain (Reuters) - Billionaire Elon Musk's decision to rebrand Twitter as X could be complicated legally: companies including Meta and Microsoft already have intellectual property rights to the same letter. X is so widely used and cited in trademarks that it is a candidate for legal challenges - and the company formerly known as Twitter could face its own issues defending its X brand in the future. "There's a 100% chance that Twitter is going to get sued over this by somebody," said trademark attorney Josh Gerben, who said he counted nearly 900 active U.S. trademark registrations that already cover the letter X in a wide range of industries. Musk renamed social media network Twitter as X on Monday and unveiled a new logo for the social media platform, a stylized black-and-white version of the letter. Owners of trademarks - which protect things like brand names, logos and slogans that identify sources of goods - can claim infringement if other branding would cause consumer confusion. Remedies range from monetary damages to blocking use. Microsoft since 2003 has owned an X trademark related to communications about its Xbox video-game system. Meta Platforms - whose Threads platform is a new Twitter rival - owns a federal trademark registered in 2019 covering a blue-and-white letter "X" for fields including software and social media. Meta and Microsoft likely would not sue unless they feel threatened that Twitter's X encroaches on brand equity they built in the letter, Gerben said. The three companies did not respond to requests for comment. Meta itself drew intellectual property challenges when it changed its name from Facebook. It faces trademark lawsuits filed last year by investment firm Metacapital and virtual-reality company MetaX, and settled another over its new infinity-symbol logo. And if Musk succeeds in changing the name, others still could claim 'X' for themselves. "Given the difficulty in protecting a single letter, especially one as popular commercially as 'X', Twitter's protection is likely to be confined to very similar graphics to their X logo," said Douglas Masters, a trademark attorney at law firm Loeb & Loeb. Story continues "The logo does not have much distinctive about it, so the protection will be very narrow." Insider reported earlier that Meta had an X trademark, and lawyer Ed Timberlake tweeted that Microsoft had one as well. (Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington; Additional reporting by Sheila Dang; Editing by Peter Henderson and Sonali Paul)
Hong Kong stocks gain 4% as China vows support for ailing property market 2023-07-25 - The view from the observation deck at Shanghai Tower in Shanghai, China, on Sunday, April 9, 2023. China's economic recovery is picking up steam after Covid restrictions were abruptly dropped and the property market stabilizes, although the rebound is still fairly patchy and policymakers have no intention yet of scaling back monetary support. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images Hong Kong stocks saw a strong rebound and the Hang Seng index climbed over 4% on Tuesday after China's Politburo pledged to "adjust and optimize policies in a timely manner" for its ailing property sector. The Hang Seng Tech index also surged over 6%, led by Chinese electric vehicle makers. Beijing's top decision making body also vowed to "elevate stable employment to a strategic goal," along with other pledges to boost consumption and tackle debt risks. This comes after disappointing economic data last week prompted renewed calls for policy support to bolster growth. Mainland Chinese stocks were also all higher, with the Shanghai Composite up 2.13% to close at 3,231.52, its highest one day gain since February. Meanwhile, the Shenzhen Component rose 2.55% and ended at 11,021.29, the highest one day gain since October 2022. Other Asian markets were also mostly up. South Korea's Kospi traded up 0.3% and closed at 2,636.46, while the Kosdaq was 1.08% higher and ended at 939.96, resuming its climb after snapping nine straight days of gains on Monday. South Korea saw a 0.9% year-on-year growth in its second quarter gross domestic product, according to advance estimates on Tuesday. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 extended its gains from Monday, rising 0.46% and finishing at 7,339.7. However, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell marginally to end at 32,682.51, while the Topix rose 0.18% to close at 2,285.38 and extend its winning streak to four days.
Biden admin crackdown on water heaters would go into effect in 2029 as it targets more home appliances 2023-07-25 - The Biden administration's newest crackdown on home appliances, specifically water heaters, would take effect in 2029 if its regulatory proposal is enacted as it continues to implement its aggressive energy efficiency campaign. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday acknowledged the president was going after home appliances. The newest target is water heaters. A Department of Energy (DOE) proposal released late Friday said new regulations would ultimately "accelerate deployment" of electric heat pump water heaters, claiming it would save Americans billions of dollars and reduce carbon emissions. BIDEN ADMIN MOVING FORWARD WITH LIGHT BULB BANS IN COMING WEEKS "If it is enacted, it would not take into effect until 2029. So, let's not forget that," Jean-Pierre said. "If and when it is enacted, it's going to help save consumers about $11 billion a year." If finalized, the proposed standards would force less energy efficient, but cheaper, water heaters off the market. Under the rule, the federal government would require higher efficiency for heaters using heat pump technology or, in the case of gas-fired water heaters, to achieve efficiency gains through condensing technology. Non-condensing gas-fired water heaters, though, are far cheaper and smaller, meaning they come with lower installation costs and are more accessible to Americans of all income levels. In addition to water heaters, in recent months, the DOE has proposed new standards for a variety of home appliances, including gas stoves, clothes washers, refrigerators and air conditioners. The Biden administration is moving forward with new rules that could impact more appliances, including consumer furnaces, pool pumps, battery chargers, ceiling fans and dehumidifiers. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The Biden administration boasted in December that it had taken 110 actions on energy efficiency rules in 2022 alone as part of its climate agenda. Fox News' Thomas Catenacci contributed to this report.
Elon Musk Quietly Embeds Dogecoin Symbol In Twitter Bio, Triggers 8% Rally In DOGE Market Price 2023-07-25 - Elon Musk’s recent actions are once again fueling excitement in the world of cryptocurrency, specifically for Dogecoin DOGE/USD. What Happened: In a seemingly subtle yet significant move, Musk on Monday revamped Twitter's logo from the blue bird to the X symbol. But that wasn’t the only change Musk made. He also updated his Twitter bio to prominently display the Dogecoin symbol, further solidifying his support for the meme-inspired digital currency. Elon Musk adds Dogecoin symbol to his bio. This strategic move didn’t go unnoticed by the crypto community, as speculation grew about the potential integration of Dogecoin into the Twitter platform. It is worth noting that Musk has a history of publicly supporting DOGE, often causing significant price fluctuations with his tweets. See More: A Stay At The Floating Palace From James Bond's ‘Octopussy’ Why It Matters: The introduction of the new bio had an immediate impact on Dogecoin’s price, resulting in a surge of over 8%. Additionally, the trading volume for Dogecoin experienced a staggering increase of 450.19% within a mere 24 hours, according to data from Coinmarketcap. After acquiring Twitter for $44 billion, Musk merged it into X Corp., a privately-held corporation. X Holdings Corp. is the parent of X Corp., and no publicly-traded corporation owns 10% or more of either entity’s stock. In October 2022, just ahead of the purchase, Musk said buying the social media platform was an “accelerant to creating ‘X,’ the everything app.” Price Action: At the time of writing, DOGE was trading at $0.076, up 7.99% in the last 24 hours, according to Benzinga Pro. Read Next: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin See Uptick Ahead Of Fed Policy Meet: Analyst Sees Big Sell-Off For Altcoins, But Says This Crypto Could Be Exception Join Benzinga’s Future of Crypto in NYC on Nov. 14, 2023, to stay updated on trends like AI, regulations, SEC actions & institutional adoption in the crypto space. Secure early bird discounted tickets now!
EU agriculture ministers meet to discuss vital Ukraine grain exports after Russia nixed deal 2023-07-25 - BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union agriculture ministers met Tuesday to discuss ways of moving grain vital to global food security out of Ukraine after Russia halted a deal that allowed the exports. At the same time, they want to protect prices for farmers in countries bordering the war-ravaged nation. Germany’s agriculture minister, Cem Ozdemir, warned that the ministers must seek to balance those two issues without eroding the EU’s support for Ukraine in the war sparked by last year’s invasion. If cracks open up in EU unity, “the only one who is happy is Vladimir Putin,” he said. The ministers met in Brussels for the first time since Russia pulled the plug last week on the wartime deal that allowed grain to flow from Ukraine to countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, where hunger is a growing threat and high food prices have pushed more people into poverty. The deal provided guarantees that ships would not be attacked when entering and leaving Ukrainian ports, while a separate agreement facilitated the movement of Russian food and fertilizer. Finland’s agriculture minister, Sari Essayah, said Russia’s ending of the grain deal is “a very serious problem, not only in the EU markets, but it would have some consequences for the food for security all over.” She said ministers “must make sure that the Ukrainian grain can reach the global markets via EU territory.” Poland’s agriculture minister Robert Telus was set to tell the EU meeting that his country, along with Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, are extending their ban on Ukrainian grain imports, but will still allow food to move through their countries to parts of the world. Lithuania’s agriculture minister, Kęstutis Navickas, suggested that export procedures for grain could be shifted from the Ukraine-Polish border to Lithuanian ports as a way of preventing grain from getting stuck in Poland and causing a supply glut that pushes down prices for local farmers. Germany’s Ozdemir appeared to support the plan, saying grain from Ukraine could be transported in sealed containers to ports in the Baltics. “I’m sure the friends from the Baltics would be happy to help and then transport to where it’s needed in the Global South,” Ozdemir said. Over the past several days, Russia has targeted Ukrainian critical grain export infrastructure since it vowed retribution for an attack that damaged a crucial bridge between Russia and the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula. Russian officials blamed that strike on Ukrainian drone boats. Ukraine also is seeking to continue exporting grain by sea. It sent a letter to the United Nations International Maritime Organization establishing its own temporary shipping corridor, saying it would “provide guarantees of compensation for damage.” But Russia warned it would assume ships traversing parts of the Black Sea to be carrying weapons to Ukraine. In a seeming tit-for-tat move, Ukraine said vessels heading to Russian Black Sea ports would be considered “carrying military cargo with all the associated risks.”
Stock market today: Asian markets follow Wall St up after Chinese promise to support economy 2023-07-25 - BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets followed Wall Street higher Tuesday after China’s ruling Communist Party promised to shore up its sagging economy ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting traders hope will announce this interest rate cycle’s final increase. Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Sydney advanced. Tokyo declined. Oil prices rose. The Chinese ruling party on Monday promised measures to boost sluggish economic growth by supporting real estate sales and other struggling sectors but gave no details and didn’t mention possible stimulus spending. Any stimulus is “unlikely to be significant” while Beijing takes a “gradual and targeted approach,” said Andrew McCaffery of Fidelity International in a report The Shanghai Composite Index rose 2% to 3,226.95 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong surged 3.2% to 19,268.04. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo shed 0.3% to 32,598.91 while the Kospi in Seoul advanced less than 0.1% to 2,629.26. Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 gained 0.4% to 7,335.40. India’s Sensex opened up less than 0.1% at 66,403.69. New Zealand declined while Southeast Asian markets advanced. On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 index rose 0.4% on Monday ahead of this week’s Federal Reserve meeting. The S&P 500 rose to 4,554.64. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.5% at 35,411.24 and the Nasdaq composite added 0.2% to 14,058.87. Traders expect the Fed on Wednesday to announce another increase in its benchmark lending rate, to a 22-year high. But they hope that will be this year’s final increase after inflation that was near multi-decade highs declined. Markets hope the Fed can pull off the challenging feat of a “soft landing,” or extinguishing inflation without tipping the U.S. economy into recession. Traders had expected at least a brief recession to begin this quarter. But they pushed back the timing and scale of the expected slump after U.S. hiring and consumer spending stayed unexpectedly strong. Roughly 30% of companies in the S&P 500 are scheduled to tell investors this week how much they earned from April through June. They include tech giants Alphabet, Meta Platforms and Microsoft. Those are three of the seven stocks that accounted for the majority of the S&P 500’s gain in the first half of this year. Each has soared at least 37% this year. They will need to deliver strong numbers to justify their big rallies. The market’s top stocks have become so big and their movements so influential over the market that Nasdaq rebalanced its Nasdaq 100 index before trading began Monday, to lessen the impact some stocks have on the overall index. A report on Monday suggested U.S. service industries are growing but more slowly than forecast. The preliminary report from S&P Global also suggested U.S. manufacturing isn’t doing as badly as feared. Overall, growth in business activity during July appears to be at its slowest in five months. In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude rose 20 cents to $78.94 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.67 on Monday to $78.74. Brent crude, the price basis for international oil trading, advanced 15 cents to $82.63 per barrel in London. It gained $1.67 the previous session to $82.74. The dollar was little-changed at 141.45 yen. The euro advanced to $1.1075 from $1.1071.
Proposal before Maine lawmakers would jumpstart offshore wind projects 2023-07-25 - AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine is poised to launch an offshore wind program that would meet clean energy goals and produce enough power for about 900,000 homes from floating wind turbines in the Gulf of Maine. The goal calls for requests for proposals to be issued for 3,000 megawatts of electricity from offshore wind turbines by 2040. That’s enough electricity to power about half of Maine’s electricity load. The bill was revised after a veto by Democratic Gov. Janet Mills to ensure non-union companies can get into the business, setting a path to approval by the Maine Senate and House on Tuesday. Approval would put Maine on a path to catch up with other states that already have offshore wind projects. The catch, however, is that the wind turbines would be farther offshore than those projects, and would involve floating turbines. It also includes incentives aimed at ensuring wind power developers steer clear of lucrative lobster fishing grounds. The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Mark Lawrence, D-York, said he believes the compromise bill has necessary “guardrails in place to make sure this is done right and truly benefits Mainers.” The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management already approved projects that are now under construction off Massachusetts and off New York and Rhode Island, and it gave the green light earlier this month for New Jersey’s first offshore wind to begin construction. Next month, it will hold an auction for leases in the Gulf of Mexico. In Maine, the timeline calls for the federal lease sales to be completed next year and for the state to release request for proposals to operate the offshore wind turbines in early 2026. The Gulf of Maine is considered a prize when it comes to consistent, powerful winds, but the water is too deep for traditional wind turbines that are anchored to the ocean floor. Maine officials hope companies will license technology from the University of Maine, which has been pioneering precast floating turbines that can be built on land and towed to sea. “This is the bill that will jumpstart the offshore wind industry in Maine, said Jack Shapiro, climate and clean energy director for the Natural Resources Council of Maine. More than a decade ago, the state was poised to host a $120 million wind project led by Norwegian company Statoil, but Statoil backed out after the state reopened bidding to provide an opportunity to the University of Maine. The U.S. could need roughly 2,000 of the most powerful turbines to meet its goals to ramp up offshore wind. Doing so would dramatically cut its use of fossil fuels, protect the atmosphere and reduce climate change. ___ Follow David Sharp on Twitter @David_Sharp_AP
Unilever quarterly sales beat estimates, boost shares 2023-07-25 - [1/2] Dove soaps boxes are seen in this illustration taken on January 17, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Summary Companies Underlying sales, price, volume growth beat forecasts Past peak cost inflation -finance chief Focus is on volume growth -finance chief Shares up 5% LONDON, July 25 (Reuters) - Unilever (ULVR.L) on Tuesday beat underlying sales growth forecasts after again raising prices to offset higher costs, boosting shares in the maker of Dove soap and Ben & Jerry's ice cream. The British company reported a 7.9% rise in underlying second-quarter sales, beating analysts' average forecast of 6.4%, a company-provided consensus showed. The company said it expects underlying sales growth for the full year to be above 5%, ahead of its multi-year range, with underlying price growth continuing to moderate through the year. "My early immersion in the business has confirmed my belief in Unilever's strong fundamentals," new CEO Hein Schumacher said in a statement. These are Schumacher's first Unilever results, having taken over from Alan Jope earlier this month. Underlying price growth for the second quarter was 8.2% while underlying volumes fell by 0.3%, beating analysts' expectations of 7.7% and a drop of 1.2%, respectively. Shares in Unilever following the results were up 5% at 4,221 pence as of 0851 GMT. "What the market's taking positively today is that you haven't seen a sharp decline in volumes despite them pushing through pricing," said Richard Saldanha, a fund manager at Unilever investor Aviva. Unilever said it expects net material inflation for 2023 to be around 2 billion euros of which 400 million is anticipated in the second half. In February it had forecast net material inflation for the first half at around 1.5 billion euros, saying it would continue to raise prices in the first half of the year and ease up on those hikes in the second half. "We're past peak inflation now, but there will continue to be a high level of pricing growth within our reported numbers," finance chief Graeme Pitkethly said on a call with journalists on Tuesday. "The majority of pricing you'll see is carry forward pricing as we roll through the quarters." "Where we're really shifting the business in terms of focus is towards volume growth," he said, adding it "remains quite volatile and uncertain but we're definitely trending in the right direction." "It's a nice positive surprise because margins have come in at 17.1%," said Jochen Kurz, fund manager at German Unilever investor Kahler & Kurz Capital, referring to the company's first-half underlying operating margin. "But if you look beyond that, the old CEO Alan said he expected margin expansion in 2023 and 2024 - we haven't seen that so far, we have basically seen a flat operating margin." "Unilever could do much better," Kurz added. MARKET SHARE SQUEEZE Top U.S. and European investors told Reuters this month that they are flagging their concerns about high prices to consumer goods companies, with Janus Henderson going so far as to cut some stakes it holds and shorting food makers it believes are at risk of losing customers. Unilever said the percentage of its "business winning market share" had reduced to 41%. The metric assesses what percentage of the company's revenue is coming from areas in which it is gaining market share on a rolling 12-month basis. "Bears will focus on the 41% competitiveness, 2nd lowest number ever disclosed - the third quarter of 2018 was 40%," Bernstein analyst Bruno Monteyne said. "The company previously claimed that its leadership in taking up prices was causing some temporary market share losses, but that was 6 quarters ago." "To be losing market share nearly 60% of the time (on Unilever’s numbers – our data historically tracked worse than their published numbers), is a very bad performance, and rightly new CEO Hein Schumacher’s top priority." The consumer goods industry has struggled with soaring costs for about two years, as everything from sunflower oil and shipping to packaging and grain has become more expensive. The higher costs began during the pandemic and took a turn for the worse after Russia invaded Ukraine, sending energy costs to record highs last year. Rivals P&G (PG.N) and Nestle (NESN.S) are set to report earnings results this week. Reporting by Richa Naidu; editing by Jason Neely Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Adidas and Puma bet on 'terrace' sneaker trend in tough market 2023-07-25 - [1/3] Adidas sneakers are displayed for sale at the Galeries Lafayette department store on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris, France, April 11, 2019. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier Summary Companies Adidas and Puma push vintage soccer trainers Trend could lend the German brands advantage over Nike U.S. performance in focus at upcoming results LONDON, July 25 (Reuters) - The trend for low-rise rubber-soled "terrace" sneakers could give Adidas (ADSGn.DE) and Puma (PUMG.DE) an advantage over Nike (NKE.N) this summer, but may not offset weakening U.S. and Chinese demand. German sportswear giants Adidas and Puma have trawled their archives to re-release old styles in new colours, driving renewed interest in the shoes from the 1970s and 1980s named after the standing section at soccer stadiums. The number of searches for "Adidas Samba", one of the brand's main terrace styles, has surged worldwide over the past year and hit a peak in mid-June, Google Trends data shows. Puma is likely to benefit less from the trend than Adidas because its terrace range doesn't have as much name recognition, said Adam Cochrane, analyst at Deutsche Bank. But it's certainly an area where the brand can compete. "If there's a loser from this it's Nike, which doesn't have the track record from the 80s so you don't have the historic shoes to fall back on and the back catalogue to revisit," he said. Nike is more known for chunky basketball shoes, like the hugely successful Jordan range. Still, while terrace shoe sales are growing, they're a small fraction of the overall business. Investors will be pushing Puma and Adidas on broader strategies to navigate weak consumer demand at second-quarter results on July 26 and Aug. 3 respectively. "We believe the U.S. market is now (following on from China) at the heart of the worries for investors in Adidas and Puma," said Robert Schramm-Fuchs, portfolio manager at Janus Henderson, which holds shares in Adidas. Nike last month reported its slowest sales growth in four quarters in North America, its biggest market, highlighting a weaker than expected U.S. consumer. Weak GDP figures from China last week also raised alarm about the world's second-biggest economy. Adidas, however, has got a big boost from selling some of its stock of discontinued Yeezy shoes. On Monday it slashed its expected 2023 operating loss to 450 million euros from 700 million euros, citing unexpectedly strong Yeezy sales. Adidas, led by ex-Puma CEO Bjorn Gulden since the start of the year, said in May it would donate proceeds from Yeezy stock sales to non-governmental organisations including the Anti-Defamation League but has not yet said what share of the proceeds will go to NGOs. Puma, whose shares have lagged Nike and Adidas over the past year, should update investors on strategy as the brand aims to up its game in performance sportswear after what some saw as an over-emphasis on lifestyle. Sportswear has the potential to grow further with a "casualisation" of fashion and consumers' increased focus on health and fitness, said Edouard Aubin, analyst at Morgan Stanley. "However, the cost to compete for sportswear brands is very high, and barriers to entry are low, making retailers quite vulnerable to 'boom and bust' cycles as trends change," said Aubin. ($1 = 0.9028 euros) Reporting by Helen Reid in London and Linda Pasquini in Gdansk; Editing by Susan Fenton Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Cryptoverse: Ripple effect as explosive XRP leads market charge 2023-07-25 - July 25 - XRP has become the unlikely white knight of crypto, thwarting its regulatory foes and dragging the market out of the doldrums. The price of XRP popped 78% after a U.S. judge ruled on July 13 that issuer Ripple Labs' sales of the token on public exchanges didn't violate securities law, and it's still up about 47%. Its market cap has ballooned to $36 billion from $25 billion and its crypto market share to 3.5% from 2% before the ruling, according to CoinMarketCap. Ripple's landmark victory has galvanized the wider market for altcoins - cryptocurrencies excluding bitcoin - as much of the regulatory scrutiny on the sector focuses on whether some tokens should be classed as more tightly-regulated securities. "It's a big milestone for the altcoins sector, it is fair to assume that if XRP is not a security, barely any other digital asset can be considered that way," said Matteo Greco, analyst at fintech and blockchain investment firm Fineqia International. Indeed, the altcoin market cap has jumped to $665.2 billion from $636.38 billion before the ruling, according to CoinGecko, while a Cryptoquant index of the prices of the coins targeted as potential securities by the SEC has jumped 11%. "For the first time, it seems like we have rules of the road for how to evaluate these tokens," said Ben Weiss, CEO of crypto ATM network CoinFlip. The cheer spread throughout cryptoland, with bitcoin - which is generally considered a commodity rather than a security - touching a 13-month high after the ruling though it has since dropped back down below $30,000. The market cap of XRP, the token issued by Ripple, increased by more than 60% after a U.S. judge ruled in its favour. XRP VS STABLECOINS It's certainly not all smooth sailing for Ripple, or altcoins more generally, though. The SEC is likely to appeal the ruling, according to some legal experts, while trading volumes for the crypto space in general are still low compared to a year ago. The lawsuit, combined with the rise of competitors such as stablecoins also hurt the token's use in practical applications like payment settlements and remittances. Ripple Labs said last week that its pursuit of sound crypto regulation in the U.S. was far from concluded. In the meantime, it said it would continue to invest in jurisdictions that have embraced clear regulatory frameworks. The company was relisted by several crypto exchanges in the wake of its legal win, and some institutional investors are taking note; a Coinshares survey of 51 digital asset managers managing $900 billion in assets found 10% of investors are investing in altcoins, versus 5% last month, with some reducing positions in ethereum and bitcoin in favor of smaller altcoins like XRP and polkadot. "Legal clarity on the token itself opens the door again to Ripple's long-stated use cases as a settlement layer," said Joseph Edwards, head of research at Enigma Securities. He pointed to the massive growth of U.S. dollar stablecoins since 2020 as a factor for eroding XRP's usage in settlements and remittances, as those tokens became favored for use in cross-border payments. "A lot depends on how much dry powder Ripple Labs has to deploy to new business development initiatives," said Edwards. Reporting by Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Pravin Char Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.
Nestle, Danone hikes may put them on France's inflation radar 2023-07-25 - [1/2] A Swiss national flag flies beside a flag of the canton of Bern in front of the logo of Nestle at a plant in Konolfingen, Switzerland September 28, 2020. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann//File Photo LONDON, July 25 (Reuters) - Nestle (NESN.S) and Danone (DANO.PA) are among firms whose product prices in France have risen by more than 10% this year, data shows, potentially putting them under pressure to renegotiate with French retailers. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on June 9 he had secured a pledge from 75 food companies to cut prices. Food industry lobby group ANIA set the following conditions for consumer companies to agree to the price cuts: that they had raised prices by over 10% during the last round of negotiations; and that their input costs fell by over 20% since March 1. It is not clear how many companies met those criteria, or which ones. Whereas in most countries retailers and food producers adjust the price of products frequently, France has set by law a three-month time window where such negotiations can take place, between Dec. 1 and March 1 every year. Prices are then blocked for a full year, unless one-to-one deals include review clauses. The French prices of products made by Nestle, the world's biggest food company, and Danone have increased by substantially more than 10% since the start of this year versus last year, according to NielsenIQ data analyzed for Reuters by Bernstein. French shoppers have paid more than 20% more for Nestle products each month since January versus last year, the data showed, and price increases peaked at 36.6% in May. Nestle, whose brands include Maggi stock cubes and Kit Kat chocolate bars, declined to comment. Similarly, stores sold products made by Activia yogurt owner Danone for between 11.2% and 16.7% more than last year in the first six months of the year. Danone did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The NielsenIQ data shows the final prices retailers charge shoppers, and does not necessarily only reflect the prices food companies ask for from stores. Reuters Graphics Reuters Graphics Both companies report earnings results this week. Le Maire's office did not respond to a request for comment. "The effects of price controls are likely to be negative in the longer term," Jack Martin, a portfolio manager at shareholder Oberon Investments, said. "The inference is that companies are price gouging or taking advantage of the consumer when the reality is they are probably just passing on input costs largely out of their control, you would hope that as these ease pricing reflects this," he added. Top U.S. and European investors have been flagging their concerns about high prices to consumer goods companies, with Janus Henderson going so far as to cut some stakes it holds and shorting food makers it believes are at risk of losing customers. Consumers had not "really weakened yet" despite the downtrading, "but now, savings are starting to dissipate," said Gaurav Gooptu, a managing director in BNP Paribas' investment banking team. Reporting by Richa Naidu. Additional reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide. Editing by Matt Scuffham and Sharon Singleton Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Sensing end of Fed hikes, some investors return to dividend stocks 2023-07-25 - NEW YORK, July 25 (Reuters) - Some investors are giving the shares of dividend-rich companies a second look as expectations grow that the Federal Reserve is nearing the end of a rate-hiking cycle that has lifted bond yields to their highest level in nearly two decades. The Fed’s most aggressive rate increases in a generation have pushed short-term Treasury yields above 5%, their highest level since 2007, widening the options for income-seeking investors after a decade marked by historically low rates. That has helped pressure many of the market’s popular dividend-paying stocks, which investors had turned to when rates were far lower. With markets betting the Fed is unlikely to raise rates much further, some investors say the shares of dividend payers are starting to look appealing again, as they look for opportunities for income if Treasury yields head lower. "The 5% you're getting from Treasuries looks to be transitory and that will take some pressure off of these sectors competing for yield," said Jurrien Timmer, director of global macro at Fidelity Investments. "The dividend-paying value side of the market is a pretty compelling place to go to maintain that return." A nascent resurgence of interest in dividend-paying stocks can be seen in inflows to the $11.7 billion ProShares S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL.Z), which brought in $33 million in net inflows over the two weeks that ended July 19, its largest two-week gain since January, according to Lipper data. The fund, which tracks companies that have increased dividends annually for the past 25 years, is up around 7.5% this year, compared with a nearly 19% gain for the S&P 500. Meanwhile, 44% of global fund managers polled by BoFA Global Research said they now expect high-dividend stocks to outperform those that pay low dividends, a nine percentage-point increase from the previous month. Timmer is increasingly focusing on financial and energy stocks, betting both sectors will benefit from what he expects to be an economic soft landing that skirts a painful recession. Overall, S&P 500 companies have been less generous to investors this year, a trend driven in part by lower oil prices forcing energy companies to cut back on payouts, according to Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst, product management, for S&P Dow Jones Indices. Companies have increased their payouts by an average of 9.1% so far in 2023, compared with 11.8% in the same time last year, while 14 companies have either suspended or lowered their dividends since the start of the year, up from four a year ago, the firm’s data showed. Nevertheless, investors are seeking out dividend-paying stocks as a source of total return this year in anticipation that bond yields may falter while stocks continue to gain, Silverblatt said. “If you are going into dividend paying stocks now, you are taking that risk because you think there's a high probability that the market goes up," he said. Another reason for dividend payers’ appeal is a broadening of the market’s rally from the cluster of huge tech and growth stocks that led gains for most of the year into other areas. The S&P 500 energy and financials sectors are up 5.7% and 5.6% this month, respectively, compared with a 2.5% gain for the broader index. "If that belief in a recession fades a little bit there’s more air cover to broaden the market out to some of these dividend payers that hadn't really participated in the rally until a few weeks ago," said Cliff Corso, chief investment officer at Advisors Asset Management. "We see that trend continuing as the Fed gets close to its ultimate stopping point." Corso is searching for dividend-paying companies in cyclical sectors such as financials, where valuations are less expensive. Still, some investors are skeptical an economic soft landing would be particularly beneficial for dividend-payers. Bryant VanCronkhite, a portfolio manager at Allspring Global Investments, is looking for companies that are seeking to grow revenues through acquisitions, which he considers a better use of capital than returning dividends to shareholders. "We're looking for companies that may not have the highest yield, but the capacity to grow yields down the line" due to their larger earnings base, he said. Reporting by David Randall; Editing by Ira Iosebashvili Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
JPMorgan ignored Epstein's 'nymphettes,' US Virgin Islands says 2023-07-25 - NEW YORK, July 25 (Reuters) - The U.S. Virgin Islands unveiled new accusations against JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) over the bank's ties to former client Jeffrey Epstein, including executives discussing how the disgraced late financier surrounded himself with "nymphettes." JPMorgan countered that the U.S. Virgin Islands was also to blame for allowing Epstein's sexual abuse of young women and teenage girls, saying the territory used its powers to enable these crimes. The bank accused the territory of facilitating visas that allowed Epstein to bring victims, and of "looking the other way" whenever Epstein arrived at local airports accompanied by young women and girls. Both sets of accusations were made in dueling Monday night filings in Manhattan federal court. The U.S. Virgin Islands is suing JPMorgan for at least $190 million, saying the bank ignored red flags about Epstein because he was a wealthy and lucrative client from 1998 to 2013. Ahead of a scheduled Oct. 23 trial, the U.S. Virgin Islands wants a judge to declare that JPMorgan participated in Epstein's sex trafficking and obstructed law enforcement. Its filings include many new details about the New York-based bank's alleged conduct, including more than $25 million of payments to Epstein's associate Ghislaine Maxwell, and hundreds of thousands of dollars paid to Epstein's victims. They also quoted a Sept 2012 email from a senior JPMorgan executive to Mary Erdoes, now the bank's asset and wealth management chief, comparing another client's house to Epstein's. "Reminded me of JE's house, except it was more tasteful, and fewer nymphettes," the executive wrote. "More like the Frick [museum]. Art was fabulous." "Wow," Erdoes responded. JPMorgan, in contrast, wants the judge to declare that the U.S. Virgin Islands' should not be able to seek monetary relief, and that the territory's claim the bank obstructed law enforcement be denied. The bank has already faulted the U.S. Virgin Islands for having a cozy relationship with Epstein, where top officials gave him tax breaks and waived sex-offender monitoring requirements in exchange for cash and gifts. Epstein had owned two private islands within the territory, and allegedly bought the second to keep people from spying on his sexual abuses on the first. The U.S. Virgin Islands has already received more than $105 million from Epstein's estate, and reached a settlement with billionaire Leon Black, a former Epstein friend. JPMorgan agreed last month to pay $290 million to settle a separate lawsuit by dozens of Epstein accusers. Epstein died by suicide in August 2019 in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial for sex trafficking. The case is U.S. Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 22-10904. Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York and Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Stephen Coates Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
The problem with X? Meta, Microsoft, hundreds more own trademarks to new Twitter name 2023-07-25 - July 24 (Reuters) - Billionaire Elon Musk's decision to rebrand Twitter as X could be complicated legally: companies including Meta (META.O) and Microsoft (MSFT.O) already have intellectual property rights to the same letter. X is so widely used and cited in trademarks that it is a candidate for legal challenges - and the company formerly known as Twitter could face its own issues defending its X brand in the future. "There's a 100% chance that Twitter is going to get sued over this by somebody," said trademark attorney Josh Gerben, who said he counted nearly 900 active U.S. trademark registrations that already cover the letter X in a wide range of industries. Musk renamed social media network Twitter as X on Monday and unveiled a new logo for the social media platform, a stylized black-and-white version of the letter. Owners of trademarks - which protect things like brand names, logos and slogans that identify sources of goods - can claim infringement if other branding would cause consumer confusion. Remedies range from monetary damages to blocking use. Microsoft since 2003 has owned an X trademark related to communications about its Xbox video-game system. Meta Platforms - whose Threads platform is a new Twitter rival - owns a federal trademark registered in 2019 covering a blue-and-white letter "X" for fields including software and social media. Meta and Microsoft likely would not sue unless they feel threatened that Twitter's X encroaches on brand equity they built in the letter, Gerben said. The three companies did not respond to requests for comment. Meta itself drew intellectual property challenges when it changed its name from Facebook. It faces trademark lawsuits filed last year by investment firm Metacapital and virtual-reality company MetaX, and settled another over its new infinity-symbol logo. And if Musk succeeds in changing the name, others still could claim 'X' for themselves. "Given the difficulty in protecting a single letter, especially one as popular commercially as 'X', Twitter's protection is likely to be confined to very similar graphics to their X logo," said Douglas Masters, a trademark attorney at law firm Loeb & Loeb. "The logo does not have much distinctive about it, so the protection will be very narrow." Insider reported earlier that Meta had an X trademark, and lawyer Ed Timberlake tweeted that Microsoft had one as well. Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington; Additional reporting by Sheila Dang; Editing by Peter Henderson and Sonali Paul Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Stocks of Chinese developers jump after Beijing signals support for property sector 2023-07-25 - Shares of Chinese developers jumped early Tuesday after China’s top leadership pledged more policy support and adjustments to property policy, hinting at easing measures targeted at the struggling property sector. Property developers’ shares advanced in both the Hong Kong and mainland markets. The Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index rose 10%, outperforming the benchmark Hang Seng Index HSI, +4.10% , which was up 2.8%. Country Garden Holdings 2007, +18.25% climbed 14% and Longfor Group Holdings 960, +25.58% advanced 21% in Hong Kong. China Vanke 2202, +12.51% added 6% and Poly Developments & Holdings Group 600048, +8.72% jumped 8% in mainland trading. China’s Politburo, the country’s top decision-making body, held a meeting Monday acknowledging that the economy faces new challenges such as weak domestic demand, some struggling enterprises, risks in several key areas and a complicated external environment. The meeting came after data showed China’s economic growth slowed to 0.8% in the second quarter compared with the prior quarter. Home sales and home prices have fallen in recent months after a brief uptick at the beginning of 2023, another challenge facing the world’s second-largest economy. Officials also said Beijing will adjust property policies promptly as supply-demand dynamics have changed, hinting at easing measures to rescue the struggling property sector, which accounts for one-third of China’s economy by some estimates. In 13 major cities including Shanghai, Beijing and Hangzhou, the number of listings for existing homes rose 25% in May from last December, with listings surging 82% in Shanghai and 72% in Wuhan, according to data collected by E-house China Research and Development Institution. “The supportive stance has marginally exceeded our conservative expectation” with top-level acknowledgment on substantial changes in property demand and supply dynamics, Citi analysts said in a note. However, some analysts believe it will take time and more efforts to shore up the sector. “There is no quick fix for the property sector,” said Nomura economist Lu Ting. He doesn’t expect Beijing to introduce a mass stimulus program like in previous cycles to stimulate the housing sector.