Author: Anthony M. Orbison

Electric vehicles are becoming more common on American roads, and Detroit’s Big Three is having a bit of a rough time with the transition from making and marketing gas guzzlers to helping consumers adopt the plug.Last quarter, Ford’s EV division lost $1.1 billion in EBIT, and has recently announced a paradigm shift in its EV strategy that includes hybrid-electric vehicles in the mix. Don’t miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet’s free daily newsletterRival Stellantis isn’t doing much better. Dodge dealers are worried that it won’t be able to convince buyers to buy EVs. Jeep’s best-selling plug-in hybrid is the subject of a huge recall, and it is…

WHAT WE’RE READING: Blockspace Media A recent Blockspace article deeply resonated with me as someone who’s lived in Asia and the West. It examined how Asia-based Bitcoiners are mostly profit maximalists, not philosophically driven Bitcoin maxis.This rang true from my experience. When I meet Asian Bitcoiners, money and profit seem to be the primary motivators. Contrast that to Westerners, who often cite the cypherpunk, privacy, and political ideals behind Bitcoin.Of course, this is a broad generalization. Many exceptions exist across both continents, but the general lens is that each side’s views on Bitcoin differ substantially.Cultural and economic differences likely drive…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Hurricane Milton could trigger insurance losses of up to $60bn if it stays on its current path, with analysts warning the US’s 2024 hurricane season will “dent” insurers’ profitability.The National Hurricane Center forecasts the storm, which is heading towards Florida, will make landfall south of the city of Tampa as “an extremely dangerous major hurricane” on Wednesday night. It is currently a category 3 storm, with winds of up to 120mph. The NHC warned of “life-threatening” gusts, tornadoes and storm surges of…

(Reuters) – A dozen of the largest multilateral development banks could collectively lend a further half-trillion dollars before facing rating downgrades, Fitch said in a Wednesday report, following a review of its criteria for rating supranational institutions. The multilateral lenders in Fitch’s report “could collectively lend nearly an additional $480 billion” before a cash shortage would lead to downgrades, all else being equal, the rating agency said. MDBs are international banks chartered by multiple countries to develop economies in lower- and middle-income countries. Still, Fitch said it sees the multilaterals continuing to operate well within the thresholds of their ratings, meaning…

CAUTION: SPOILERS AHEAD.Some say we live in the golden age of documentaries – certainly they are being created at a volume far higher than at any point in history, but for every “My Octopus Teacher,” a genuinely inspiring and unusual human story, there’s the opposite: cynical trash like “Money Electric.” Let’s start by acknowledging that “Money Electric” upped its own stakes, mounting a week-long hype cycle with the promise of a big reveal – that the world would at last know the identity of Bitcoin’s anonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto.Maybe let’s also put aside the historical baggage there. Sure, many journalists have died…

In 2022, PropertyGuru, Southeast Asia’s leading property technology company, made its public debut on the New York Stock Exchange through a merger with a SPAC, amid high expectations. Fast forward to early 2024. The company’s shares had lost about 60% of their value at one point, prompting a buyout by private equity firm EQT at a valuation of $1.1 billion—below the $1.6 billion valuation when the startup listed just two years ago. PropertyGuru exemplifies the formidable challenges that Southeast Asia’s unicorns face when they step into the global financial markets. International investors don’t always appreciate local success, but Southeast Asian…

When a cruise line has to miss a stop, skip a stop, or otherwise change its itinerary, it owes passengers very little. It has to refund any port fees and taxes as well as any cruise-line booked excursions. It does not have to compensate passengers for excursions, beach-club passes, or anything else not booked through the cruise line. In addition, according to your cruise contract, the cruise line does not owe you any added compensation.Related: Royal Caribbean quietly raises a key on-board feeThe contract isn’t written that way to be mean or to ensure that a cruise line faces no consequences for missing…

In what is certainly a positive development for the country’s digital asset approach, Taiwan is set to launch Bitcoin custody trials through local banks in 2025. Indeed, the country’s Financial Supervisory Commission is planning the collection of applications for institutional interest. Moreover, these applications will seek to trial cryptocurrency custody services in Q1 of next year.Taiwan’s local regulators are poised to see a surge in institutional crypto adoption through the trials. Additionally, the project has reportedly already seen three private banks in the country express interest in taking part in the trials. Therefore, the pilot project is expecting to have…

The Dow jumped more than 400 points on Wednesday after the release of minutes from the Fed’s Sept. 17-18 meeting showed how officials agreed to a half-point rate cut. Despite being divided on the economic outlook and uncertain about how aggressive to be, the Fed settled on a 50-basis-point reduction—the first in over four years.Investors are now focused on this week’s upcoming inflation report, which is expected to provide further insight into the economy’s direction.In the late afternoon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 410 points, or 1.08%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq and S&P 500 were 0.5% and 0.7%, respectively. Oil…

By Jaiveer Shekhawat and Echo Wang (Reuters) -Partners Group-backed KinderCare Learning Companies notched a market valuation of about $3.1 billion after its shares opened 12.5% above its initial public offering price on its NYSE debut on Wednesday. KinderCare’s shares opened at $27, after the firm had priced its offering at $24 apiece to raise $576 million. The demand for childcare services in the United States is rising due to firms implementing return-to-office protocols following the pandemic and an increased participation rate of women in the workforce. “All the growth opportunities we’ve been delivering over the last few years is what…