Market Watch

In this article ETH.CM=-5.69 (-0.37%) Omar Marques | LightRocket | Getty Images Not six months ago, ether led a recovery in cryptocurrency prices ahead of a big tech upgrade that would make something called “staking” available to crypto investors. Most people have hardly wrapped their heads around the concept, but now, the price of ether is falling amid mounting fears that the Securities and Exchange Commission could crack down on it. On Thursday, Kraken, one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world, closed its staking program in a $30 million settlement with the SEC, which said the company failed to register the offer and sale of its crypto staking-as-a-service program. The night before, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong warned his Twitter followers that the securities regulator may want more broadly to end staking for U.S. retail customers . “This should put everyone on notice in this marketplace,” SEC Chair Gary Gensler told CNBC’s “ Squawk Box ” Friday morning. “Whether you call it lend, earn, yield, whether you offer an annual percentage yield – that doesn’t matter. If someone is taking [customer] tokens and transferring to their platform, the platform controls it.” Staking has widely been seen as a […]

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The business of searching the internet , dominated for over 20 years by Google, was on the cusp of disruption, with various announcements that chatbots based on artificial intelligence are to be incorporated into search engines. Microsoft unveiled a version of Bing with the technology that powers ChatGPT, made by OpenAI, a startup, in which Microsoft is a big investor. Finding itself on the back foot, Google launched Bard, its rival to ChatGPT. However, the company’s share price fell sharply when Bard gave the wrong answer to a question on space telescopes in a video promoting its abilities. Game over? It was a mixed week for Microsoft , which received another blow to its planned takeover of Activision Blizzard , a maker of video games. Britain’s competition regulator said the deal would be bad for consumers, and may not approve it. America’s Federal Trade Commission is already suing to block the acquisition. Some of the companies in the embattled Adani Group reported a rise in profits. That prompted a rally in their share prices after a two-week rout sparked by a short-seller’s claim that the stock was being artificially inflated (Adani denies the allegation). Adani’s controlling shareholders attempted to […]

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(Verity Snaps Photography/Shutterstock.com) About a dozen owners of small stores and restaurants told Evanston city officials that an ordinance forcing them to take cash in their businesses would not only be extremely expensive, but would also make their employees and customers less safe. The measure, proposed by Ald. Devon Reid (8th), was the topic of a Zoom session with merchants and the city’s economic development team on Thursday. Reid said the ordinance is needed because there are several thousand “unbanked” people in Evanston, who, for a variety of reasons, do not have bank accounts, debit cards, or credit cards. The alder said the unbanked are disproportionately minorities, and said his must-take-cash plan is a way of “keeping American currency as something folks can use in our city.” However, the business owners said it should be up to small merchants whether to accept cash, or require debit/credit card payment only. Julie Matthei, of Hewn Bakery, said her business stopped taking cash during the height of the COVID pandemic, as a health and safety measure, and has kept that policy because it is safer and more efficient. If taking cash was mandated, Matthei said it would cost $20,000 in labor costs […]

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((Source: P-TAP)) COLUMBUS, Ga. (WTVM) – Whether you’re a die-hard football fan or know little to nothing about the game, many people watch the Super Bowl just for the ads. More than 100 million people will tune into Super Bowl 57 for the football and a much-anticipated lineup of commercials on Sunday. One of those ads was filmed in the Chattahoochee Valley. Perfect Touch Automotive Playground – also known as PTAP – has had Super Bowl ads in the past, like this one from 2020. The owner, Jason Gamache, says they are excited for you to see their latest one. “This year is a little different there’s two special people from our community that we’re focusing on, and we think that people will enjoy it, you know, whether it’ll top, you know, saluting our soldiers, I’m not sure, but you know it’s a little different, so we’re trying something different this year,” Jason Gamache says. Without letting the cat out of the bag, Jason says the new ad will be about two people who have a passion and a dream. He says this commercial is all about keeping it young at heart. “But it’s also a way for us […]

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Tesla is preparing to expand its insurance business internationally – starting with insurance products in the United Kingdom. The automaker originally introduced its own insurance product in California, but it didn’t utilize real-time driving data or Tesla’s safety score, which had been the original goal. Before expanding its insurance product to other markets, Tesla wanted to build up its safety score system, which utilizes driving data collected in real time from Tesla vehicles to determine if you are a “good driver” based on things like the number of “Forward Collision Warnings” you get, the amount of hard braking you do, aggressive turning, unsafe following distance, and if you get forced Autopilot disengagements. In October 2021, Tesla finally launched its new insurance product based on the safety score in Texas. The automaker says that it expects those deemed “average” drivers based on their safety score should save 20% to 40% on their premium compared to competitors, and those with the safest scores could save between 30% to 60%. In a review of some quotes comparing the existing premiums for Tesla drivers, it was hit or miss on whether Tesla’s product was cheaper or not. There seems to be a bigger […]

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Michael M. Santiago / Staff via Getty Images Peeyush Nahar, Goldman Sachs’ global head of consumer business, is leaving the bank and will take on an advisory role, Bloomberg reported Friday . Nahar, formerly Uber’s vice president of technology, was hired to lead Marcus in June 2021 — months after the consumer bank’s previous chief, Omer Ismail, and head of large partnerships, David Stark, left Goldman to join Walmart ’s nascent fintech startup. As it stands, Nahar’s departure comes a little more than a month after another executive, Swati Bhatia , who was listed as the head of Marcus and co-CEO of GreenSky, said she would retire from Goldman and serve as an advisory director. Access now➔ Fotolia Goldman launched a reorganization in October , splitting Marcus into two groups. The platform’s consumer-focused operations were placed under Goldman’s asset- and wealth-management unit, while a subset of Marcus’ business that deals with corporate clients went to Platform Solutions. That segment, which also includes Apple Card and home-improvement lender GreenSky, has lost roughly $4 billion since the start of 2020. Goldman executives have debated whether to publicly announce a 2025 target time frame for Platform Solutions to break even, people familiar […]

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Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly speaks at the annual Commercial Space Transportation conference on Feb. 9, 2023. Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly speaks at the annual Commercial Space Transportation conference on Feb. 9, 2023. Michael Sheetz | CNBC Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, who flew to space four times over a 15-year career as an astronaut, praised the growth of the space industry and gave a rallying cry for intensified competition. “Some of the advancements are truly stunning; this has been a great success,” Kelly said, speaking at a luncheon during the Commercial Space Transportation conference in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. Kelly noted that the cost of sending satellites, people and cargo to orbit is currently “a fraction” of what it was when he flew on NASA’s space shuttle. He added that — while the industry’s growth is encouraging — companies building rockets need “to step up to the plate” and bring more “new launch vehicles to market faster and embrace renewed competition, not stifle it.” “We need more launch vehicles to continue to reduce the costs associated with getting a payload to orbit,” Kelly said. A Falcon Heavy rocket launches the USSF-67 mission on January 15, 2023 from NASA’s Kennedy Space […]

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Having a strong cash flow is imperative for any business to stay afloat. Without readily accessible cash, employees and vendors can’t be paid and the business will eventually collapse. Learning to track and ensure a dependable and balanced flow of incoming cash to meet expenses is Business 101. It’s not necessarily a simple task—some signs of cash-flow problems are obvious, but others aren’t. Still, it’s essential for a company’s owner and financial leaders to know and quickly address the signs that indicate they may be in danger of running out of ready cash. Here, 14 Forbes Finance Council members share some clear (and subtle) signs and give advice on how to right the ship. Members pictured from left to right. Photos courtesy of the individual members. 1. Your Fixed Costs Are Rapidly Increasing One of the obvious flags is when you see that fixed costs are increasing at a pace that is significantly higher than revenue. For example, in the last few years, we have seen tech companies aggressively increasing their workforces before reaching product-market fit. My advice is to optimize the usage of fractional services and the many resources offered by accelerator programs, including office space and expertise. […]

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Efforts Kicked Off Today with Briefings from Turkish and U.S. Ambassadors, AmCham Türkiye and USAID EU Expansion of Merger Control Regime Threatens Harm to Governments, Consumers, and Businesses WASHINGTON D.C. – The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation today launched private-public coordination efforts to help the areas impacted by the earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria. This includes a corporate aid tracker currently showing pledges from the U.S. business community totaling more than $33.1 million. “At the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, we want to ensure we are focusing the private sector on the right problems to develop high-impact solutions to help survivors," said Marc DeCourcey, Senior Vice President, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. “We know that at this phase, cash donations are most helpful to on-the-ground humanitarian efforts, mitigating the unintended consequence of sending unsolicited in-kind goods. This situation is highly dynamic and needs will evolve. We are committed to sharing ongoing information and resources that support the business community’s important role in this response.” To support the earthquake response efforts, the Chamber’s Foundation and U.S.-Türkiye Business Council today united the business community, U.S. and Turkish Ambassadors, USAID, American Chamber of Commerce in Türkiye (AmCham Türkiye), and international non-government organizations […]

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File Graphic(MGN ONLINE) HEWITT, Texas ( KWTX ) – The owner of a Hewitt day care whose license was revoked by a state regulatory agency earlier this month is suing the agency, claiming her business was shut down without just cause. Shelia Brown, owner of Aspiring Future Leaders Academy, is suing the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Her lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Waco’s 74th State District Court, seeks an injunction to block the revocation of her license and asks that her business at 119 N. Hewitt Drive be allowed to continue operating. According to a letter from the agency filed with the lawsuit, the day care poses “an immediate threat to children based on the operation’s abuse/neglect finding, the number and pattern of deficiencies and the operation’s failure to improve compliance and reduce risk to children despite the plan of action and probation.” The HHS issued a permitting license for the day care, which cared for about 75 children, in January 2018, placed it on probation for violations in July 2022 and revoked its license on Feb. 6, according to the lawsuit. The suit asks 74th State District Judge Gary Coley Jr. to issue an injunction that would […]

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