Detroit Free Press (May 17)
“As car buyers rush to get in front of tariffs — which are widely expected to boost sticker prices — the flood of demand has been pushing new vehicle prices ever higher, with the trend unlikely to stop any time soon.” The average new vehicle sales price “in April surged 2.5% to $48,699 compared with March. Prices rose 1.1% compared with April 2024,” making it “the strongest April sales since 2021.”
Tags: $48, 2.5%, 2021, 699 Rose, April, Boost, Car buyers, Demand, Flood, Higher, New vehicle, Prices, Rush, Sticker prices, Strongest April, Surged, Tariffs
WARC (November 26)
Global advertising spend looks set to exceed “$1 trillion for the first time this year.” It is on course to grow 10.7% this year to a total of $1.08trn, with online media leading the charge – the strongest growth rate in six years and the largest absolute rise on record if the post-Covid recovery of 2021 (+27.9% year-on-year) is disregarded.”
Tags: $1 trillion, 10.7%, 2021, Advertising spend, First time, Global, Growth rate, Largest, Online media, Post-Covid, Record, Rise
Investment Week (August 22)
“BlackRock’s support for shareholder proposals on environmental and social issues has plummeted to a new low, now representing less than one-tenth of the backing these proposals received in 2021…. The firm only supported 4% (20 out of 593) of proposals put forward by shareholders on climate and natural capital and company impacts on people.” This marked a significant decline from “the 47% high in 2021, at the height of the ESG investing boom.”
Tags: 2021, BlackRock, Climate, Company impacts, ESG, Investing boom, Natural capital, Plummeted, Shareholder proposals, Support
Financial Times (May 10)
“The UK economy has exited last year’s technical recession with faster than expected growth of 0.6 per cent for the first quarter.” This beat the BoE forecast and marked the fastest quarter-on-quarter growth since 2021. Growth was “driven by a 0.7 per cent increase in services output, suggesting stronger consumer activity as inflation fell. Manufacturing output grew 1.4 per cent, driven by car production which has grown for six consecutive quarters.”
Tags: 0.6%, 2021, BOE, Car production, Consumer activity, Economy, Expected, Fastest, Forecast, Growth, Inflation, Manufacturing, Q1, Services, Technical recession, UK
BBC (January 28)
“Debt-ridden Chinese property giant Evergrande has been ordered to liquidate by a court in Hong Kong.” Evergrande initially “sent shockwaves through global financial markets” when it defaulted in 2021. Since then, it has remained “the poster child of China’s real estate crisis with over $325bn (£256bn) of liabilities.” The most recent court decision does not necessarily mean “Evergrande will go bust and collapse,” but it is expected “to send ripples through China’s financial markets at a time when authorities are trying to curb a stock market sell-off.”
Tags: 2021, China, Collapse, Court, Crisis, Debt-ridden, Defaulted, Evergrande, Financial markets, Hong Kong, Liabilities, Liquidate, Real estate, Ripples, Shockwaves
Washington Post (January 9)
“After rebounding sharply in 2021 from the depths of the pandemic, the global economy grew by 3 percent in 2022, dipped to a 2.6 percent rate last year and is expected to post a tepid 2.4 percent this year” according to the World Bank. “Those rates lag the 3.1 percent average for the decade of the 2010s.”
Tags: 2.4%, 2.6%, 2010s, 2021, 2022, 3.1%, 3%, Global economy, Lag, Pandemic, Rebounding, Tepid, World Bank
Time (October 12)
Of the Antarctica’s “162 ice shelves, 68 show significant shrinking between 1997 and 2021, while 29 grew, 62 didn’t change and three lost mass but not in a way scientists can say shows a significant trend” according to a new study. “All told, Antarctic ice shelves lost about 8.3 trillion tons (7.5 trillion metric tons) of ice in the 25-year period….That amounts to around 330 billion tons (300 billion metric tons) a year.”
Tags: 1997, 2021, Antarctica, Ice shelves, Mass, Scientists, Significant shrinking, Trend
Investment Week (May 18)
“Interest in ESG investing has waned among UK investors, with less than half now prioritising ESG investments over maximising returns.” A recent survey by Charles Schwab UK “found that since 2021, the number of investors who consider ESG when making new investments has fallen from 44% to 38%” while those placing sustainable investing over returns fell from 55% to 47%.
Tags: 2021, ESG investing, ESG investments, Interest, Investors, Returns, Schwab, Sustainable Returns, UK investors, Waned
The Guardian (January 1)
In 2004, “people shifted their attention, on average, every three minutes or so (including to interact with colleagues). When restricted to just computer activity, it was about 30 seconds quicker.” Eight years later, “the average time spent on any screen before switching was down to 74 seconds.” In 2021, that dropped to “just 47 seconds.”
Tags: 2004, 2021, 3 minutes, 47 seconds, 74 seconds, Attention, Colleagues, Computer, Interact, Restricted, Screen, Switching
Wall Street Journal (November 10)
“If Donald Trump announces he’s running for president again, the 2024 election is over.” He is “the Republican Party’s biggest loser” having “flopped in 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022.” Donald Trump “has led Republicans into one political fiasco after another.” Perhaps now that “Mr. Trump has botched the 2022 elections,” Republicans will finally be “sick and tired of losing.”
Tags: 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024, Biggest loser, Botched, Election, Elections, Fiasco, Flopped, Losing, Republicans, Sick and tired, Trump
