Markets
Philadelphia is the first United States city to ban cashless stores
As I mentioned here a few months ago, two no-cash restaurants recently opened outlets on my block. However, they can exclude people without a bank account or those who can't or don't want to load funds onto a prepaid debit card, which often charge fees. [Full Article...]
Norway's $1 trillion wealth fund turns its back on oil and gas
After more than a year of deliberation, the government on Friday approved excluding 134 companies classified as exploration and production companies by FTSE Russell, including Anadarko Petroleum Corp., Chesapeake Energy Corp., Cnooc Ltd. "More and more institutional investors are reviewing their exposure to the oil and gas sector, especially for longer-cycle exploration projects like deepwater or ... [Full Article...]
Elizabeth Warren: ‘It’s Time to Break Up’ Amazon, Facebook and Google
They've bulldozed competition, used our private information for profit, and tilted the playing field against everyone else. Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren is proposing to break up the largest technology companies , including Amazon .com Inc., Alphabet Inc.'s Google and Facebook Inc., calling them anti-competitive behemoths that are crowding out competition. [Full Article...]
Canada trade deficit hits record, adding to reasons for BoC rate caution
This marked the fifth consecutive monthly decline in total exports since hitting a high last July. Exports were down 3.8 per cent to $46.3 billion in December. Nevertheless, the increase in imports, especially of interest-sensitive categories (motor vehicles and parts) is somewhat positive, given the otherwise dampened consumer spending outlook. [Full Article...]
Airbnb goes deeper into hotel business with HotelTonight purchase
Terms weren't revealed. HotelTonight co-founder and CEO Sam Shank will lead Airbnb's boutique-hotel category. Airbnb, meanwhile, has designs on becoming what Conde Nast calls "the Amazon of Travel", and has experimented in recent years with a mixed bag of offerings like " Experiences " (again, ugh), Airbnb-branded apartment complexes , and luxury listings . [Full Article...]
Family Dollar plans to close almost 400 stores this year
Bankruptcy Court judge in DE allowed the sale of the company's assets to a liquidation company. The cooler and freezer sections in hundreds of stores will expand, about 200 Family Dollars will become Dollar Tree. "The final number of actual stores closures will be affected by ongoing lease negotiations". "The FY 2019 Family Dollar real estate initiatives include 1,000 store renovations, 200 ... [Full Article...]
Woman reads fine print, wins $10,000 in hidden contest
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Lucky teacher Donelan Andrews won a top secret prize of 10,000 USA dollars (£7,600) when she read the small print of an insurance policy. The document then pointed to an email address and said the first person who replied would win the prize. [Full Article...]
High Stakes: Pentagon Reviewing Elon Musk's Security Clearance Over Weed Stunt
Things were going fine till during the livestream Musk took a puff of marijuana. According to Bloomberg , the toke could potentially cost him his access to top-secret government information. The SpaceX CEO has refiled a questionnaire for national security positions that requires applicants to disclose any use of illegal drugs during the previous seven years, a U.S. [Full Article...]