Market Watch

Exxon Mobil ( XOM ) stock broke out Friday after Russia announced it would cut its oil output by 500,000 barrels a day next month, sending crude prices higher. On Friday, a statement from Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said the country plans to cut March production by 500,000 barrels per day in response to the European Union’s ban on seaborne imports and price caps on oil products from Russia. Energy stocks moved higher as oil prices advanced on the news, with Exxon Mobil stock retaking a buy point. U.S. crude futures briefly jumped around 3% to above $80 per barrel, before settling to about a 1.5% increase Friday. U.S. oil prices are now up almost 9% on the week — setting the stage for oil’s strongest advance since early October. Brent crude futures also advanced more than 2% to around $87 per barrel. Oil prices also received a boost from China inflation data showed consumer prices rising in January, a sign that the country’s reopening economy is gaining strength. In addition, on Monday, top world oil exporter Saudi Arabia raised its crude prices for Asian markets for the first time in six months. The International Energy Agency’s […]

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Love is in the air getty The dating industry has been transformed in recent years, with a multitude of apps, platforms and matchmaking agencies offering a variety of ways to find romance and a growing presence of female founders. In the run-up to Valentine’s Day, here are three female-run matchmaking businesses. Executive matchmaking Barbie Adler took her experience as a successful executive recruiter, helping executive talent find jobs at Fortune 500 companies, and applied the same methodology to launch executive matchmaking firm Selective Search , which works with some of the top athletes, celebrities and business executives across North America. Her mother was a family and relationship psychiatrist, and from a young age, she always had a strong interest in romance and interpersonal relationships. “After college, I enjoyed a successful career in executive search, but my real desire was to use those skills in a more personal realm that could potentially be more meaningful, helping people find love,” she says. In 2000, although online dating was becoming more mainstream and losing its early stigma, Adler spotted a gap in the dating market for a high-end solution for people who’d built a quality life but hadn’t found the right person […]

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The Tampa Bay community is home to a large variety of business sectors, from tourism and hospitality to a growing presence of advanced technology sectors, including cybersecurity and manufacturing. While each day brings important choices, there are certain moments or “inflection points” that can have a profound impact on the long-term success of your company and the legacy you leave. It is important that business owners thoroughly understand these inflection points to best prepare for any circumstances they may face. What are those inflection points for your business? Drawing on client insights and perspectives, we have identified a few key moments in time. While a company is growing, there are several considerations: hiring the right talent, expanding your operations and accessing additional capital. Home to a large variety of fast-growing businesses, talent acquisition is one of the most pressing challenges facing Tampa businesses as they look to expand. When growing your workforce, you’ll want to provide comprehensive benefits to help attract and retain the best talent. This includes traditional offerings such as retirement savings and health savings accounts. Forward-looking companies are taking an integrated approach to help support employees’ broader needs, including financial wellness, saving and investing. According to […]

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News Corp said Thursday that it would cut 5% of its workforce, or 1,250 jobs, after the media conglomerate fell short of quarterly Wall Street estimates for profit and revenue, hurt by declines across its businesses, including news. The company also said it incurred $6 million in one-time costs associated with its plans to merge with Fox Corp , which Rupert Murdoch , News Corp executive chairman and Fox co-chairman, scrapped in January. A slump in advertising spending by businesses hit by rising inflation and higher interest rates has dented one of the major sources of revenue for companies such as News Corp (NWS) , which publishes the Wall Street Journal. “A surge in interest rates and acute inflation had a tangible impact on all of our businesses,” Chief Executive Robert Thomson said in a statement. Shares of the company were down nearly 3% in extended trading Thursday. To combat the slowdown, Thomson said there were a number of initiatives underway, including the job cuts. The layoffs will be made across all businesses and result in annual savings of at least $130 million. The company said that in the third quarter it expects to see one-time costs related to […]

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How to tell a compelling digital transformation story that boosts your share price getty Digital startup companies achieve extraordinary valuations in part by knowing how to tell a compelling story, crafting an exciting vision of their future that sends investors and analysts scrambling to jump on board. Established companies embarked on their own digital journeys can capture some of that same magic by learning how to tell their transformation stories in more powerful ways. Step 1: Establish a shared language for digital transformation A major key to success is having a shared, common language for thinking and talking about digital transformation. Such a language can help people across your enterprise view digital transformation in a more strategic and comprehensive way, instead of fixating on individual technologies and tactical implementation issues. Also, a shared language can help people in different roles and silos collaborate more effectively when planning and executing your digital transformation effort. We recommend a digital transformation language built around five key imperatives: Experiences . Using digital technology to create better experiences for customers, employees, and other key stakeholders. Insights . Using digital technology to generate new, actionable insights and activities that create business value and improve competitiveness, […]

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Europe is quickening its step in a bid to catch up in the global race towards a digital future. Hartley Milner reports on the swathe of actions that could see the region take the lead in the transition while boosting trade opportunities at home and across international markets. The Path to the Digital Decade is a programme of ambitious targets and support initiatives devised by the European Union to make sure every member state is ready for the “challenges of an evolving and inter-connected world” by 2030. How the EU aims to get there is set out as a ‘digital compass’, each of its four points indicating a core strategy – promotion of digital skills, rollout of secure and sustainable digital infrastructures, the digital transformation of businesses and digitalisation of the public sector. The Union pledges to work towards these objectives without compromise on “transparency, security or fundamental digital rights and principles”. Additionally, each country will have to come up with a strategic roadmap of its own, showing how it will go about achieving the transition, including measures backed up by regulation and investment. “The Digital Decade is about making digital technology work for people and businesses,” said Margrethe […]

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Located north of the City of Pittsburgh, the Greater Cranberry region is experiencing a boom in development. Major housing projects are currently in the works, and leasing activity is picking up as employers look to secure space in an area where more and more of their employees are choosing to live. The Pittsburgh Business Times is bringing together a panel of real estate insiders and experts to provide their insights and perspectives on the future of this region at an in-person breakfast scheduled for Feb. 16 at the Pittsburgh Marriott North in Cranberry Woods. Moderated by Business Times Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Beahm, Corridors of Opportunity: Greater Cranberry will give attendees the chance to hear local experts talk about Cranberry and surrounding areas, a part of the region that is becoming more and more of a draw for homebuyers and developers alike. Panelists will include: Gregg Broujos, senior vice president of leasing, The Buncher Co. Nick Francic, managing director, JLL Dan Santoro, township manager, Cranberry Township Tracy Vitale, superintendent of schools, Seneca Valley School District For more details about the event or to register to attend, go to our Corridors of Opportunity: Greater Cranberry event webpage. Below, each panelist answered a […]

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Authors: Novia Xu and Nadya Daulay, CSIS The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is the manifestation of the European Union’s (EU) ambitions to lead in global climate policy and the reduction of carbon leakage. Though the design of CBAM is acclaimed as fully compliant with international trade regulations, concerns over its impacts persist, especially for developing countries like Indonesia. Indonesia provides an interesting example as bilateral trade between Indonesia and the EU has increased by approximately 15 per cent in the last decade, with a widening trade balance surplus for Indonesia. The ongoing negotiation for the Indonesia–EU Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IEU–CEPA) would also be Indonesia’s most comprehensive and ambitious one-on-one Free Trade Agreement. CBAM works as a mechanism to balance the carbon price paid for EU products covered by the EU Emissions Trading System and the price paid for imported commodities. Businesses that import certain products into the EU are required to buy CBAM certificates to cover the difference between the carbon price paid in the country of production and the price of carbon applied under the EU Emissions Trading System. The EU expects climate laggards that interact with the EU market will adopt stricter climate policies and […]

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Amendments to Alberta’s Business Corporations Act (ABCA), which came into force on May 31, 2022 (the ABCA Amendments), introduceda new ability for an Alberta corporation to include a corporate opportunity waiver in its articles or unanimous shareholder agreement, making Alberta the first jurisdiction in Canada to permit such waivers. The introduction of a corporate opportunity waiver is expected to, among other things, minimize litigation risk and improve deal-making speed for private equity and venture capital investors that are active in Alberta. The ABCA Amendments were summarized in the Osler Update titled " A bid to attract business: amendments to Alberta’s Business Corporations Act (osler.com) , published on June 16, 2022. This Osler Update expands on the corporate opportunity waiver with a focus on how this amendment could affect private equity and venture capital investors in Alberta and also how private equity and venture capital funds may think about corporate opportunity waivers in other Canadian jurisdictions. The corporate opportunity doctrine is a manifestation of the duty of loyalty, which has long been recognized by common law and enshrined in most corporate acts in Canada. The corporate opportunity doctrine precludes directors and officers from personally benefitting from, or usurping to another […]

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Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s government will table its first budget at the end of February. Article content As Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s government prepares to table its first budget at the end of this month, it faces a fundamental choice. Due largely to a record high windfall in resource revenues, the province will run a projected $12.3-billion surplus this fiscal year, with additional surpluses expected over the next two years. But Alberta’s history is quite clear. Spending these surpluses, as past governments have often done, will only lead the province back into deficits when resource revenues decline, as they inevitably will do. Instead of wasting this extraordinary opportunity and setting itself up for hard times down the road by spending these temporary revenue windfalls, the government should use the surpluses to improve Alberta’s finances and economy for the long-term. Article content A new essay series published by the Fraser Institute outlines three policy options for Alberta’s surpluses. Each avoids spending increases while establishing a path for Alberta’s improved long-term prosperity. Option one: University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe recommends the government consider using the surpluses to eliminate the province’s debt. Why? Because the interest rate the government pays to […]

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