Half of retailers plan a digital makeover as e-commerce sales boom amid COVID-19 pandemic
By Natasha Dailey January 29, 2021 Woman online shopping. Tashdique Mehtaj Ahmed/Getty Tashdique Mehtaj Ahmed/Getty Images 48% of retailers are planning a digital transformation in 2021 as a result of the pandemic, BDO said. Their focus will be e-commerce, including social and mobile shopping. 44% of consumers say they will continue online shopping post-pandemic, ESET […]
Apple Takes Top Spot in Phone Market With Record Shipments
Wednesday, January 27, 2021 09:17 PM By Bloomberg News Huawei falls out of the top 5, according to market researchers In shadow of 5G iPhone, Samsung also sees double-digit decline (Bloomberg) — Record iPhone shipments pushed Apple Inc. to the No. 1 position in the global smartphone market as Samsung Electronics Co.and Huawei Technologies Co. lost significant ground, market research […]
The 1920s Roared After a Pandemic, and the 2020s Will Try
Tuesday, January 26, 2021 01:00 AM By Peter Coy (Bloomberg Businessweek) — The day was cold and windy. Standing outside the Capitol, the just-sworn-in president called for “a new unity of spirit and purpose” to bind together a nation that had been wracked by a pandemic and high unemployment. His predecessor wasn’t on stage. The inauguration […]
World’s Economic Recovery Delayed by Slow Vaccine Rollouts
By Enda Curran IMF set to update outlook after World Bank trims estimate Federal Reserve and global leaders set to address the outlook (Bloomberg) — The world economy is facing a tougher start to 2021 than expected as coronavirus infections surge and it takes time to roll out vaccinations. While global growth is still on course to rebound […]
German Business Mood Darkens as Virus Lockdowns Delay Recovery
By Carolynn Look Ifo business climate index declines to 90.1 in Jan.; est. 91.5 Gauges of current conditions and expectations deteriorated (Bloomberg) — German companies’ optimism in an economic recovery is being tested as extended lockdowns at home and abroad curb activity. A gauge of sentiment over current conditions fell in January, dragging the Ifo Institute’s […]
Waymo’s Self-Driving Future Looks Real Now That the Hype Is Fading
(Bloomberg Businessweek) — Last October, Waymo announced that anybody who hailed one of its rides in the suburbs southeast of Phoenix would be picked up by a truly driverless vehicle—no human sitting behind the wheel. It was a major milestone for Alphabet Inc.’s self-driving-car unit, the culmination of more than a decade of work begun as part of Google’s […]
Lagarde Signals New Recession Even as ECB Holds Stimulus Steady
(Bloomberg) — European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde signaled that the euro-zoneeconomy is headed for a double-dip recession, while insisting that the current level of monetary stimulus is enough for now. The ECB chief said output probably shrank at the end of 2020, and “a decline in the fourth quarter will travel into the first quarter.” Economists are increasingly […]
U.S. Housing Starts Rose to Fastest Pace Since 2006 in December
(Bloomberg) — U.S. home construction starts rose for a fourth-straight month in December to the best pace since late 2006 as builders responded to the robust demand for single-family housing. Residential starts climbed by 5.8% to a 1.67 million annualized rate, according to government data released Thursday. That topped all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of […]
Top fund manager of 2020 warns more than half the S&P 500 is at risk from technological upheaval
As 2020 comes to a close, it’s hard to find a more successful fund manager than Cathie Wood, the chief executive and chief investment officer of ARK Invest. ARK’s flagship fund, the ARK Innovation ETF ARKK, -2.32%, has jumped 154% this year, trouncing the 43% rise for the Nasdaq Composite COMP, -0.87%, and other ARK funds including the ARK Genomic Revolution […]
Jamie Dimon says JPMorgan Chase should absolutely be ‘scared s—less’ about fintech threat
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has watched while a new breed of fintech players, led by PayPal, Square and tech giants around the world have exponentially grown users and market value. His message to the management team of his $3.4 trillion banking goliath: Be frightened. “Absolutely, we should be scared s—less about that,” Dimon said Friday in a conference call with […]