Hong Kong stocks fall as huge protests hit financial center - CNN

The Hang Seng index ended the day 1.7% lower. Leading the sell-off were property companies like Wharf Real Estate Investment, which fell 5.4%, and New World Development, which declined 4.2%.

"We're going to see a hit on the markets because the ramifications of the bill are so significant," said Richard Harris, chief executive officer of Port Shelter Investment Management.

The bill, which would enable China to extradite people from Hong Kong, was due to be debated by lawmakers in a Legislative Council session on Wednesday.

But that meeting was postponed after protesters hit the streets around the legislature, which shares prime waterfront real estate with many large banks and financial services companies.

Critics say the bill will leave anyone in Hong Kong vulnerable to extradition by Chinese authorities for political reasons or business offenses, undermining the city's legal system.

Hong Kong has long been home to foreign companies that want easy access to China and other growth markets in Asia.

The former British colony was returned to China in 1997, when Beijing agreed to guarantee its semiautonomous legal system for the next 50 years. Harris said growing uncertainty over its legal status is prompting companies to rethink their presence in the city.

"People loved Hong Kong because it was China, but it wasn't China. If Hong Kong is going to become more like China, of course they're going to be looking elsewhere," including Singapore, he said.

Analysts also say Hong Kong's market may have been due for a correction. The Hang Seng index is up 5.7% this year.

Francis Lun, chief economist of GE Oriental Financial Group, predicted that the market reaction to the protests will be similar to when the city was paralyzed by pro-democracy demonstrations in 2014.

Lun said that investors were "rattled a bit, but the stock market didn't crash."

"The economy will keep on humming along, and as far as the political scene is concerned, China has control of everything. What can you do? Everyone will protest, but it will remain the same," Lun added.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/12/investing/hang-seng-hong-kong-stocks-protesters/index.html

2019-06-12 10:13:00Z
52780313234077

Move Over Tony Stark, Elon Musk Admits To James Bond Villain Side Project - CleanTechnica

Boats

Published on June 12th, 2019 | by Kyle Field

June 12th, 2019 by Kyle Field 

---

He may or may not have been digging around in his pocket to find his bowtie, but even without it, Elon Musk’s jacket started looking a bit more like a Tuxedo jacket when a shareholder from the audience dropped the last question of the day. The shareholder in question asked if Tesla had any plans to make an aquatic car and Musk started giggling as if he had been waiting for this exact question all day.

“It’s funny you should mention that,” Musk said as laughter erupted in the room. Many of the enthusiasts in the room already knew that he had actually gone out and purchased the original Lotus submarine from the iconic James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me. Musk shocked even the most die hard of fans when he continued.

“We do actually have a design for a submarine car,” he said. Musk has a way of taking otherwise incredulous topics and tying them down to the real world and grounding them in a hefty dose of sound logic.

He admitted that the idea started with the vehicle in the James Bond film and grew from there. “If you make it a bit bigger, then you can actually have a submarine car.” Lotus’ are tiny cars, so that’s sound logic, especially when taking into account the extra gear a real, working submarine needs to stay waterproof as it navigates the depths of the seven seas.

“I think the market for this will be small,” he admitted amidst a healthy chorus of laughter. “Small but enthusiastic.” As if the world expects anything else from the man who builds companies on this exact type of thing.

He raised millions for The Boring Company by selling limited edition hats and a contraption that looks like a blend of Star Wars and a backyard BBQ gone wrong called the Not A Flamethrower. Despite the name, the device looked and functioned suspiciously like the thing that it is so obviously not named after.

“But we actually do have a design for a submarine car,” he confirmed. “It would be a bit of a distraction, I think. Maybe we will make one as a show car at some point.” Thank God he wasn’t totally serious about adding Tesla’s first watercraft to the lineup. Let’s get into the millions of vehicles per year territory before we take on any extraneous side projects thank you very much. Now that’s an ending to a public meeting that you’re not going to get at any other listed companies. Thanks Elon.

If you are in the market for a Tesla, find someone locally that you know (like in real life) and use their referral code. If you don’t know anyone with a Tesla, go find someone at your local Supercharger and try not to be a creep and ask them for their referral code (they won’t mind). If that doesn’t work, ask a co-worker or a distant relative, post on Facebook or Twitter or just hit up Google. If all that fails and it’s an odd numbered day and not too sunny out, you can use my Tesla referral link to get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging, I guess. Here is my referral code: http://ts.la/kyle623

 
 

Tags: BBQ, Elon Musk, James Bond, lotus, Not A Flamethrower, Star Wars, Tesla, Tesla Annual Shareholders Meeting, The Boring Company, The Computer History Museum, The Spy Who Loved Me

About the Author

Kyle Field I'm a tech geek passionately in search of actionable ways to reduce the negative impact my life has on the planet, save money and reduce stress. Live intentionally, make conscious decisions, love more, act responsibly, play. The more you know, the less you need. TSLA investor.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://cleantechnica.com/2019/06/12/move-over-tony-stark-elon-musk-admits-to-james-bond-villain-side-project/

2019-06-12 04:52:04Z
52780312980160

'Peak car' worries are mounting and used-car sales are a potential 'red flag' - Business Insider

Flickr, CC / Hugo90

• A shift to used-vehicle sales in the US is the latest data point that suggests 'peak car' may have already happened in the United States.
• Shareholder returns for GM and Ford have been weak as a slew of concerns continue to build around the legacy automakers.
• Watch GM and Ford trade live.

---

Debt-strapped millennials. Ride-sharing apps. Self-driving technology. The list continues to grow as evidence of "peak car" mounts.

Now it's time to add a shift to used-car sales to the list, according to a recent report from CFRA Research. Rising prices for new vehicles over the past few years have accelerated the change in consumer behavior. 

The trend is particularly pronounced among the highest-quality borrowers, whose take-up rates for used-car financing rose from a year ago, according to the report. The percentagee of "prime" credit consumers financing used cars hit a record high of 62% in the first quarter of 2019.

"In our view, the fact that the most qualified consumers are increasingly gravitating toward used vehicles is a potential red flag for automakers who continue to push the limits of consumer affordability," wrote Garett Nelson, the author of the report.

Fears that the US auto market has already seen "peak car" sales have been a growing source of worry for the industry. New car sales at General Motors fell for the third year in a row in 2018 — to 2.95 million vehicles, a drop of nearly 50,000 from 2017. Ford sales have also declined over the past three years, coming in at 2.48 million in 2018, down 9,000 from the previous year.

And that's not all. Sales of ultra-luxury cars have been hit particularly hard as demand for Aston Martin, Lamborghini, and Rolls Royce vehicles has fallen sharply, according to the USA Today, citing the data-analytics firm Thinknum.

"In our view, the peak in auto sales is clear," said Bank of America's Michelle Meyer and Anna Zhou in a client meeting. Other analyst support that view.

"U.S. light vehicle sales are currently on track to come in just below 17 million units in 2019, which would mark the first time since 2014 that new vehicle sales have come in below 17 million," concluded the MarketScope report. 

The rise of electric vehicles presents a looming threat to legacy automakers, forcing them to invest huge amounts of capital just to keep pace. Millennials have also held off on major purchases, such as homes and cars, due to constraints from the growth of student debt.

In addition, the rise of ride-hailing giants, Uber and Lyft, have caused consumers to question their need for personally-owned vehicles. And advances in self-driving technology, which some analysts say are only years away, may further accelerate these trends.

Concerns about the rapidly-evolving industry have dented the returns of the leading US automakers. GM shares are flat compared to five years ago while Ford is down over 40%. In addition, over 38,000 jobs have been shed in the US through 2019 alone.

"The industry is right now staring down the barrel of what we think is going to be a significant downturn," Bank of America's John Murphy told a conference last week. 

Get the latest Ford stock price here.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.businessinsider.com/peak-car-worries-used-car-sales-red-flag-2019-6

2019-06-11 15:25:57Z
52780312788445

Amazon’s Restaurants delivery service is shutting down - The Verge

Amazon will wind down its Amazon Restaurants delivery service in the US at the end of this month, reports GeekWire. Combined with its closure in London last year, this means that Amazon’s Uber Eats rival will officially be no more. “As of June 24th, we will discontinue the Amazon Restaurants business in the US,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement to GeekWire.

Amazon Restaurants initially launched in Seattle back in 2015, before expanding to as many as 20 cities in the US and internationally to London. In its statement, Amazon said that the “small number of employees affected by this decision have already found new roles at Amazon, and others will be provided personalized support to find a new role within, or outside of, the company.” The company also confirmed it’s shuttering its workplace lunch delivery service, Daily Dish, on June 14th.

The news of the closure of Amazon Restaurants will be good news for Uber, which GeekWire notes listed Amazon’s service as a competitor to its own Uber Eats service during its IPO. Uber Eats has grown massively since it was launched in 2015, and the company is currently testing integrating it into its main ride-hailing app.

Amazon isn’t withdrawing from the food delivery market entirely. It still sells nonperishable food from its main online store, and it also delivers groceries from Whole Foods in certain locations in the US. It also runs its AmazonFresh service, which costs an extra $14.99 per month on top of Prime. Amazon has tested making grocery deliveries directly to the trunks of Fresh customers’ cars. But its takeout delivery ambitions now appear to be focused outside of the Amazon brand after it recently invested in Deliveroo amid reports that its attempt to buy the delivery company had fallen through.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/11/18661240/amazon-restaurants-discontinued-usa-uber-eats-deliveroo-food-delivery

2019-06-11 14:44:28Z
CAIiEGaYL4GRS5ps0nmhhcJvk_0qFwgEKg4IACoGCAow3O8nMMqOBjCt2ugF

Exclusive: US state attorneys general plan lawsuit to stop Sprint and T-Mobile merger - One America News Network

A smartphones with Sprint logo are seen in front of a screen projection of T-mobile logo, in this picture illustration taken April 30, 2018. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

June 11, 2019

By Diane Bartz and David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – At least 10 state attorneys general plan to jointly file a lawsuit as soon as Tuesday to stop the $26 billion merger of Sprint and T-Mobile, a deal that would reduce the number of nationwide wireless carriers to three from four, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

New York state’s attorney general is leading the lawsuit, one source said. New York’s attorney general’s office has announced a press conference for this afternoon.

The lawsuit is to be filed in New York, according to one source.

T-Mobile, whose parent company is Deutsche Telekom AG, and Sprint, which is controlled by Japan’s SoftBank Group Ltd, did not immediately comment. A spokeswoman for the New York attorney general declined to comment.

Sprint Chief Executive Marcelo Claure and his counterpart at T-Mobile, John Legere, met with the Justice Department on Monday, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The companies have offered to sell prepaid brand Boost Mobile, to reduce the combined company’s market share in the prepaid wireless business. They have also indicated that they were considering divesting wireless spectrum.

The deal has won the backing of a majority of the Federal Communications Commission. The U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust division staff has recommended that the agency block the deal, but no final decision has been made.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz, David Shepardson, Karen Freifeld)

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.oann.com/exclusive-u-s-state-ags-prepare-lawsuit-to-stop-sprint-and-t-mobile-merger/

2019-06-11 14:37:30Z
52780312741884

Apple can make US-bound iPhones outside of China if necessary - Engadget

Sponsored Links

Zhang Peng/LightRocket via Getty Images

If the trade war between the US and China spirals out of control and leads to Chinese retaliation against American tech production, is Apple hosed? Not necessarily. Senior Foxconn exec Young Liu told investors that his manufacturing company has "enough capacity" to make US-bound iPhones outside of China if necessary. About a quarter of that capacity is elsewhere, Liu said, including growing Indian production. While Apple hasn't made any moves on that front, Foxconn can shift its lines elsewhere if things go south.

China reportedly met with tech companies in recent days, telling them not to comply with US orders that would dramatically affect their Chinese manufacturing plans. It allegedly threatened serious consequences, although it didn't outline what those were.

The safety net could be vital for Apple, not to mention for millions of people who could suddenly be cut off from future iPhones. However, this doesn't guarantee that Apple or other companies would be safe. Even if Apple can keep relying on Foxconn outside of China, some of its individual component suppliers are still located in the region -- there could be trouble if any of those partners are cut off. And even a quick transition could still choke production at a critical moment if it happens anywhere near the release of new iPhones. While Apple might avoid the worst, its situation could still be far from ideal.

Source: Bloomberg

In this article: apple, business, donald trump, foxconn, gear, hon hai, iphone, manufacturing, mobile, politics, production, smartphone, trade war, trump

All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.engadget.com/2019/06/11/apple-can-make-us-iphones-outside-of-china/

2019-06-11 13:22:47Z
52780312398903

Trump says Fed is keeping interest rates 'way too high' - MarketWatch

President Donald Trump on Tuesday complained on Twitter that the Federal Reserve was keeping interest rates "way too high," allowing "the Euro and other currencies" to be devalued versus the dollar. "The Fed interest rate way too high, added to ridiculous quantitative tightening. They don't have a clue," he wrote. Trump highlighted a Bloomberg story that tourists are flocking to Europe this summer.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-says-fed-is-keeping-interest-rates-way-too-high-2019-06-11

2019-06-11 13:13:00Z
52780311750635