Month: November 2023

The Kings Mountain hiking trail, known as Cardio Hill, overlooks a lake-sized rainwater-filled pit, but the rugged terrain about 30 miles west of Charlotte is now some of the hottest real estate prized possessions of the United States.Beneath that land is a mine that has been stagnant since the 1980s and is believed to contain one of the country's largest deposits of lithium, a critical ingredient in the batteries needed to power electric vehicles.Albemarle Corporation, the world's largest lithium producer, is seeking to revive the mine and capitalize on the Biden administration's push to develop a domestic electric vehicle industry.…

These are tough times for the world's top oil producers: prices are lower, the health of the global economy is uncertain and, even as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries tries to cut production, supplies from other producers, particularly United States, they are growing.It's no surprise that the group postponed their year-end reunion. Initially scheduled for last weekend in Vienna, the meeting is now scheduled for Thursday, barring another postponement. The agenda – whether and to what extent production should be cut further – is likely to be unpalatable to many of the 23 members.The price of Brent crude,…

The Biden administration has been trying to revive the domestic supply chain for electric vehicles so that cleaner cars can be made in the United States. But the experience of a Texas company, whose plans to help make an all-American electric vehicle were upended by China, highlights what is at stake as the administration finalizes rules governing the industry.Huntsman Corporation broke ground two years ago on a $50 million plant in Texas to make ethylene carbonate, a chemical used in electric vehicle batteries. It would have been the only site in North America that would manufacture the product, with the…

Presidents seeking a second term have often found that public perception of the economy is a critical issue. It was a blessing to Ronald Reagan; helped remove Jimmy Carter and George HW Bush from the White House.Now, as President Biden looks toward a re-election campaign, there are warning signs on that front: With overall consumer confidence on the decline despite strong economic data, even Democrats who supported Biden in 2020 say they are not impressed with the economy.In a recent New York Times/Siena College poll of voters in six battleground states, 62 percent of those voters think the economy is…

When Yellow abruptly closed operations in the summer and filed for bankruptcy, few thought a buyer would emerge and attempt to revive the long-troubled transportation giant.Now, a prominent trucking executive has drawn up a last-minute plan to bail Yellow out of bankruptcy, a proposal that seeks not only to rehire many of the company's employees but also to work with their union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. , to create a healthy society. business.The plan is based on getting the Treasury Department to allow Yellow to postpone repayment of a $700 million bailout loan it gave the company in 2020.…

Shein, the ultra-fast fashion retailer founded in China more than a decade ago, has confidentially filed for an initial public offering in the United States, according to a person familiar with the deal plans, who was not authorized to speak publicly about it. .Some companies temporarily keep their IPO paperwork under seal so they can prepare for the offering out of the public eye.Investors had largely expected Shein to make the move this year, after the historically secretive company began addressing a series of criticisms from consumers and politicians in an apparent attempt to change perceptions about its business and…

If you're planning a three-year round-the-world cruise, purchasing a boat is probably a good first step.For months, Cruises about life at sea has been signing up travelers, taking their money and marketing this unusual offer, which it announced in March.Its website, which promoted the cruise since Monday, described the ship, the MV Lara, and promised visits to the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids of Giza, Machu Picchu and the Taj Mahal.However, potential passengers might pause before booking when they see that the voyage was already supposed to sail on November 1. And they may be even more alarmed to…

Losing fearAt first, 9/11 seemed like the worst thing that could happen, but it turned out to be just the beginning.“There were a lot of difficult moments,” Woroniecka said. “Obviously, in 2008, the Barneys bankruptcy — that was 25 percent of our wholesale revenue. Covid was a big one.”It wasn't just Covid, either: just before the pandemic, she and Borthwick, who had photographed all of Zero's collections and worked on her brownstone, split after more than three decades together. Then, before long, Ms. Cornejo moved, contracted Covid, and then contracted breast cancer. (They detected it in time and now he…

Suspicious videos that began circulating in Taiwan this month appeared to show the country's leader announcing cryptocurrency investments.President Tsai Ing-wen, who has repeatedly risked Beijing's wrath by asserting her island's autonomy, appeared to claim in the clips that the government helped develop investment software for digital currencies, using a common term in China but rarely used in Taiwan. Her mouth appeared blurry and her voice unfamiliar, leading Taiwan's Criminal Investigation Bureau to consider the video to be almost certainly a deepfake (an artificially generated parody) and potentially created by Chinese agents.For years, China has battered the Taiwanese information ecosystem with…