OUTSIDE a squat grey building in Santa Monica, the California sun melts the tar. Inside, in a dark room roughly the size of a small shipping container, two men are exploring the world by means of virtual reality (VR). They squash spiders in an abandoned temple, hit a home run at Yankee Stadium and float […]
Read moreNIKLAS OSTBERG spent much of his youth as a competitive cross-country skier in Sweden. Then he ditched his skis for a less healthy cause. A decade ago he founded a firm that matched online pizza orders to restaurants. It grew into Delivery Hero, a Berlin-based service that last year dispatched nearly 200m takeaway dinners to […]
Read moreTHE European Commission celebrated 25 years of the EU’s internal aviation market in June. The liberalisation of European aviation, which allowed EU carriers to fly between any airport within the bloc, opened the skies to the masses. Greater choice of airlines has cut fares—by as much as 96% between Paris and Milan since 1992, for […]
Read moreJUSTIN WILLIAMS takes off a virtual-reality (VR) headset and wobbles away from a demo area at E3, the world’s largest gaming convention, in Los Angeles. The bottoms of his feet and calves are “on fire,” he says. Mr Williams, a 32-year-old former marine, was playing “Sprint Vector”, a VR running game: players swing hand-held controllers […]
Read moreJULY 4th is a day to celebrate American independence, first and foremost, but also to grill meat and swill beer. For American beer lovers in particular, the pint-glass runneth over in terms of choice. They had 5,000 breweries to pick from this year; 35 years ago there were under 100. Drinkers can enjoy time-honoured traditions, […]
Read moreThe US housing finance system continues to put taxpayers at risk in a market dominated by government-backed agencies, Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell said on Thursday, calling for further reform of an “unsustainable” situation. A decade after doubts about the creditworthiness of mortgage-backed securities helped trigger the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, systemic […]
Read moreL Brands shares fell more than 10 percent Thursday morning after the specialty retailer reported a decline in same-store sales in June. The operator of stores such as Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works said same store sales fell 9 percent last month, worse than the 7 percent decline expected by analysts in a […]
Read moreQatar Airways became the fourth airline in the Middle East to announce it would be exempt from measures banning laptops and other large electronic devices in the cabin on U.S. flights. The airline announced that passengers flying to the U.S. would be exempt from the laptop ban on Thursday. It follows announcements from Emirates, Turkish […]
Read moreRetail could be one of the best contrarian plays out there, as long as investors steer clear of the nation’s department stores. Eaton Vance chief equity investment officer Eddie Perkin is making that call. “You have to be careful with the department stores. They’re struggling, and they’ll continue to struggle under the threat of Amazon […]
Read moreWhat a difference a couple of weeks make. After hitting an all-time high in late June, Tesla shares have collapsed 18 percent, if Thursday’s premarket trading level holds, due to mounting concerns about its sales results, competition and the safety of its cars. The electric car maker’s stock fell 3 percent in Thursday premarket trading, […]
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