LIFE insurance is among the oldest financial products. The Amicable Society, founded in London in 1706, charged members a set contribution and paid out annually to widows and children of those who had died in the previous 12 months. Today it is a vast industry: life and health insurers employ over 800,000 people in America […]
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UBER’s fleet of autonomous vehicles has been parked up since one of its self-driving cars struck and killed a woman in Tempe, Arizona in March. That death highlighted once again the industry’s rush to develop self-driving cars. Waymo, a sister company of Google, plans to launch a robotaxi service in Arizona this year. General Motors […]
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MOBSTERS, gangsters and bent cops have all been tried under America’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations (RICO) Act. Might consultants be next? McKinsey, a management consultancy, is being sued under the law by Jay Alix, the founder of AlixPartners, a competitor in the field of bankruptcy advice. Mr Alix alleges that McKinsey knowingly misled courts […]
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IN A recent video Jeremy Sciarappa, a YouTuber, flips the lid off a red box in his living room to reveal a silver machine the size of a shoebox, whining noisily. The contraption is an Antminer S9, sold by Bitmain, a Chinese firm. Its job is to help validate transactions conducted in bitcoin, the world’s […]
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SHOULD Europeans worry that China Three Gorges (CTG), a state-owned firm, wants to buy EDP, a utility that is Portugal’s biggest company? It is three years since one local banker, Fernando Ulrich, called Portugal “a Chinese aircraft-carrier in Europe”—back then, Chinese buyers were already snapping up stakes in “strategic” local companies as quickly as the […]
Read moreTo the naked eye, corporate profits are in a state of bliss. To history, the perspective is quite a bit different. Investors have been puzzling over the strange earnings-stocks disconnect this year. With profits at a seven-and-half year high in the first quarter, it would be logical to assume that Wall Street would be roaring […]
Read moreCurrency, United States Finance
The final results of Iraq’s first post-Islamic State (ISIS) election, held last weekend, have revealed a shock win for controversial anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Now in a position to potentially determine much of the country’s future, the Shia leader, who has railed against both U.S. and Iranian influence, could dramatically change the landscape for major […]
Read moreSilicon Valley venture capitalist Joe Lonsdale has just raised a $640 million fund and plans to spend a good chunk of that in health care. Lonsdale, who co-founded software company Palantir and backed virtual reality company Oculus, now sees health as the market where start-ups can have the biggest impact addressing some of society’s most […]
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Interest rates have been surging recently, with the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury note yield hitting levels not seen in nearly seven years. Certain stocks have track records of strong returns when rates rise. The yield broke above 3.1 percent on Wednesday for the first time since 2011. Investors have been selling Treasurys (prices move inversely […]
Read moreGoogle on Tuesday announced YouTube Music, YouTube Music Premium, and YouTube Premium on Thursday — a dramatic change to its current music and video offerings. Here’s basically what’s happening: It’s getting rid of YouTube Red and splitting that into new services. YouTube Red, if you’re unfamiliar, was a $9.99 monthly plan that offered an ad-free […]
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