Business

Apple Falls on Lower Wall Street on Unrest in China

28Nov

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Apple Falls on Lower Wall Street on Unrest in China

The American technology group Apple was under pressure on the stock exchanges in New York on Monday. The company relies heavily on China to produce its devices, and investors are concerned about the social unrest arising in that country over the strict corona measures. In major Chinese cities, people took to the streets to protest President Xi Jinping's zero-covid policy. Apple lost 1.4 percent. According to the Bloomberg news agency, the unrest at Apple's largest iPhone production site in China may result in a production slump of 6 million devices. However, a lot depends on how quickly Foxconn, the Taiwanese company that operates the factory, can get people back on the assembly line after the violent protests against the corona measures. Electric car manufacturer Tesla, which h...

The European Commission Wants to Intervene in the Event of High Gas Prices

17Nov

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Business, Europe, News

The European Commission Wants to Intervene in the Event of High Gas Prices

The European Commission is proposing to EU countries to introduce a “correction mechanism” for gas prices to temporarily apply a maximum price during periods of “exceptionally high prices” on the European gas market. The ceiling for the European wholesale price should be predefined concerning the cost of liquefied gas (LNG) on the world market and adjusted monthly. The correction mechanism is activated if the gas price on the leading Amsterdam gas market exceeds the maximum and is automatically deactivated as soon as possible, the committee writes in a plan submitted to the EU ambassadors. She argues that the temporary mechanism should prevent suppliers from selling their gas elsewhere, which would jeopardize supplies in the EU. EU leaders have asked the executive board of th...

OPEC Sees More Uncertainties in Oil Market

14Nov

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Business, News

OPEC Sees More Uncertainties in Oil Market

Oil cartel OPEC sees increasing uncertainty in the global oil market and is again adjusting its forecast for oil demand downwards. The organization points to, among other things, high inflation, corona restrictions in China, recession concerns and interest rate hikes by central banks, which could affect oil demand. Oil demand is now expected to increase by 2.55 million barrels per day this year. That is 100,000 less per day than previously thought. It is the fifth time since April that OPEC has lowered its forecast for oil demand for this year. Expectations for next year were also lowered. "The global economy entered a period of significant uncertainty and increasing challenges in the fourth quarter of 2022," OPEC said in its monthly report. As a result, the oil cartel is wor...

Eurozone Economy is Still Growing, But at a Slower Pace

31Oct

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Business, Europe, News

Eurozone Economy is Still Growing, But at a Slower Pace

The economy in the eurozone continued to grow in the third quarter, reports the European statistical office Eurostat. However, growth is less strong than in the second quarter, when the economy was still progressing strongly due to the reopening of the economy after the corona restrictions. Meanwhile, high inflation and interest rate hikes to limit this depreciation also affect economic growth. The eurozone economy was 2.1 percent larger in the third quarter than a year earlier. Across the European Union, the economy had grown 2.4 percent. However, in both areas, growth compared to the second quarter was 0.2 percent. Portugal had the strongest annual growth at 4.9 percent of the countries that already provided data. The economy in Latvia has already contracted. Major economie...

Taiwanese Chip Maker TSMC Wants to Expand in Japan

19Oct

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Business, Japan, News, Technology

Taiwanese Chip Maker TSMC Wants to Expand in Japan

The Taiwanese chip manufacturer TSMC wants to expand in Japan. With this, the company wants to reduce geopolitical risks in the chip sector, the American business newspaper Wall Street Journal writes based on insiders. Taiwan is de facto independent but is seen by China as a renegade province. In recent years, the Asian superpower has made it increasingly clear that Taiwan must become part of “the motherland” again. Recently, China held a major military exercise around Taiwan. That happened after a visit by American politician Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan. TSMC makes the majority of the chips and does this on behalf of tech companies. The company is already building a factory in Japan and is considering more factories. TSMC is also working on a plant in the US state of Arizona. ...

SWIFT Further Expands Digital Coin Experiment

5Oct

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Business, News, Technology

SWIFT Further Expands Digital Coin Experiment

After eight months of experimentation, SWIFT presents its plans for its digital coin network. The intention is to require more efficient and fewer connections between banks in the future. SWIFT is the messaging system between banks for, among other things, money transfers between players. For the past eight months, it has been experimenting with different technologies and currencies with the central banks of France and Germany and some major financial players. Naturally, this concerns CBDCs, central bank digital currency. According to Reuters, that first test will continue with more advanced testing in the coming year. The setup is partly similar to how cryptocurrencies work, with different parties connecting to a central hub. Today this happens among financial institutions with...

US Research: Bitcoin is Not Getting Greener, on the Contrary

4Oct

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Business, News, Technology

US Research: Bitcoin is Not Getting Greener, on the Contrary

Bitcoin is sometimes called the new digital gold, but digital oil would be a better term to describe its environmental impact, according to a study in Scientific Reports. According to that research, Bitcoin's ecological footprint has increased significantly since 2016. Unfortunately, the coin sometimes creates more damage than it is worth. Bitcoin's climate damage averaged 35 percent of its market value between 2016 and 2021. That is a lot more than that of gold (4 percent). On the other hand, it is closer to that of gasoline from oil (41 percent), electricity from natural gas (46 percent) or beef (33 percent). The damage to the environment and climate is so great that it sometimes exceeds the currency's value. "We find several cases between 2016-2021 where Bitcoin is more da...

US Stock Market Watchdog Fines Kim Kardashian for Promoting Crypto Currency

3Oct

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Business, News, US

US Stock Market Watchdog Fines Kim Kardashian for Promoting Crypto Currency

The US stock market regulator SEC fined reality star Kim Kardashian more than 1 million dollars. This is because Kardashian would have advertised a crypto coin without knowing that she was being paid for it. That is against US regulations. According to the SEC, Kardashian used social media to promote EMAX crypto coins. For this, Kardashian was paid more than $250,000 by EthereumMax, the coin provider. Kardashian must now repay the amount and interest and a $1 million fine. It also agrees to stop advertising cryptocurrencies for three years. The SEC has been warning for some time against celebrities touting cryptocurrencies. Boxer Floyd Mayweather, among others, was fined in 2018 for the same reason as Kardashian. According to the SEC, cryptocurrencies fall under the sto...

Brent Oil Price Drops Below $90 A Barrel

19Sep

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Business, News

Brent Oil Price Drops Below $90 A Barrel

The price for a barrel of Brent oil fell by 2 percent on Monday to below $ 90 a barrel. Traders appear to be anticipating a further tightening of monetary policy, with a high probability of an economic slowdown. The US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England will make an interest rate decision this week. On the other hand, the US dollar is close to an all-time high, making dollar-priced commodities more expensive. Fears of a recession in Europe are mounting - the Bundesbank also estimates the chance of at least two-quarters of negative economic growth in Germany to be very high. That should lead to less demand for crude oil. On the supply side, crude oil exports have returned to normal in Basra (Iraq).

Shell: Energy Consumption Down, More Renewable Sources Quickly

14Sep

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Business, Europe

Shell: Energy Consumption Down, More Renewable Sources Quickly

Shell "supports the need for temporary emergency policies and other measures to alleviate the energy crisis in Europe and elsewhere and to protect households and businesses," the company said in a statement. The oil and gas group also calls for "coordinated measures to reduce energy consumption in the coming months" and to encourage "the faster adoption of renewable energy sources", such as wind or solar energy. In doing so, the group is responding to measures announced by the European Commission against high energy prices. This also includes a so-called windfall tax that Brussels intends to impose on large energy companies. Excess profits from the high energy prices will be skimmed off and paid out to citizens and companies, which is the intention. However, the shell did not co...