Setting up the Soundstage Private-equity firm Silver Lake is investing $500 million into the creation of soundstages — venues where film and TV content is created. The funding will help Shadowbox Studios expand its real estate holdings. It’s a production-facility company that maintains facilities in Los Angeles, London, and Atlanta. [...]
Making and Selling Hardware Is … Hard Despite all the buzz surrounding the metaverse and related products like virtual reality headsets, many companies are starting to realize that making hardware for this type of technology is well … hard. Meta (META) for example, is reportedly ditching its plans to release [...]
Soaring Streaming More Americans have been “cutting the cord” in recent years, giving up traditional cable television for streaming platforms. Advertisers have seemed to follow suit. In 2017, the US connected-TV ad market checked in at $2.6 billion. It’s expected to hit $18.9 billion this year. As might be expected, [...]
The Digital Wears Prada Throughout 2022, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) have seen their values plummet. Rising inflation and the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes have cooled investors’ appetites for growth-oriented assets, including digital tokens. That said, there’s some brands that are still interested in the space, citing long-term potential. Last month, [...]
Growling Bear Market On Monday, the economic malaise that’s been causing market volatility received a more formal confirmation. The S&P 500 is now trading down more than 20% from January’s high, entering bear market territory. Along with inflation hovering at a 40-year high, it’s fair to say optimism has been [...]
Market Has Bite As Americans adjusted to spending more time at home during the pandemic, there was a buying spree for pets. Similar bursts of demand were seen in other pockets of the market such as home exercise solutions and streaming services. Now, as people emerge from their COVID-19 hibernations, [...]
Interest-Free Offer Apple (AAPL) has announced it will offer a buy now pay later (BNPL) service to its customers, leaning on its substantial cash reserves to back the loans. Using “Apple Pay Later,” shoppers will be able to pay for their Apple purchases over time, in four interest-free installments. This [...]
Decades of Recycling Recover, a materials-science company, can trace its founding back to 1914. At that time it was a textile factory in a small town in southeastern Spain. The company’s CEO, Alfredo Ferre, notes the use of sustainable materials goes back nearly as far. For 75 years it has [...]
US and Canada iOS Users Amazon (AMZN) has announced shoppers can now experience “Virtual Try-On Shoes,” which will allow them to see how footwear will look on their feet before clicking “buy”. Using their cell phone camera, customers can get a view into their potential new look from different angles. [...]
If you’re wondering how much student debt is weighing on your workforce, consider this: A SoFi at Work Financial Well-Being poll found that roughly half of employees would choose to get their student loans paid off over an extra month of vacation, a big raise or promotion, flexible or remote [...]
