Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 19 November 2024

[Bulls n Bears]

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Major International Business Headlines Brief:::  19 November 2024 

 


 


 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

 


 

ü  Spirit Airlines files for bankruptcy protection

ü  How robotaxis are trying to win passengers' trust

ü  Roblox to ban young children from messaging others

ü  A bullet train for power': China's ultra-high-voltage electricity grid

ü  MTN MoMo and EcoCash Simplify Cross-Border Remittances Between South
Africa and Zimbabwe

ü  Associated Press to cut 8% of staff through layoffs and buyouts

ü  Nomura expects Fed to pause rate-cut cycle in December

ü  Wall St mixed as investors await Nvidia earnings; Tesla jumps

ü  US labor market still boosting inflation, San Francisco Fed economists
say

ü  Trump's social media group in talks to buy Bakkt, FT reports

 


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Spirit Airlines files for bankruptcy protection

US budget carrier Spirit Airlines has filed for bankruptcy protection after
a long run of financial losses and a series of failed merger attempts.

 

On Monday, the Florida-based airline said it had arranged an agreement to
restructure its debt and raise money during a bankruptcy process that is
expected to last until early 2025.

 

During that time, Spirit's operations will continue as normal and passengers
will be unaffected, it said.

 

Spirit, which has not recorded a full-year profit since the start of the
Covid-19 pandemic, is the first US airline to file for bankruptcy in more
than a decade. American Airlines declared bankruptcy in 2011 to cut labour
costs during a period of high fuel prices.

 

In a statement, Spirit said the bankruptcy process - known as Chapter 11 -
will not impact employee pay or payments to aircraft leasing companies.

 

The company will be de-listed from the New York Stock Exchange in the "near
term" and stock shares will be cancelled, with no value, as part of its
restructuring, Spirit said.

 

Despite strong demand, the no-frills airline posted losses of approximately
$360m (£285m) in the first half of this year.

 

Competition in the budget travel market has been rising and Spirit has also
been forced to ground aircraft as a result of mechanical issues with some
engines, which drove up operating costs.

 

Earlier this year, Spirit's highly anticipated $3.8bn ($3bn) merger with
another US carrier, JetBlue, collapsed. A Massachusetts judge blocked the
deal, arguing that a merger would reduce competition in the market.

 

Another attempt to merge, with Frontier Airlines in 2022, fell apart after
Spirit was outbid by JetBlue.

 

Originally a long-haul trucking company founded in 1964, which pivoted to
aviation in the early 1980s, the firm rebranded as Spirit in 1992. It is
considered a pioneer in budget flying, forgoing many amenities that are
standard on other airlines in order to keep ticket prices low.-BBC

 

 

 

 

How robotaxis are trying to win passengers' trust

Autonomous vehicles are already clocking up millions of miles on public
roads, but they face an uphill battle to convince people to climb in to
enjoy the ride.

 

A few weeks ago, I took a tour of San Francisco in one of Waymo's
self-driving cars. As we drove around the city, one thing that struck me was
how comfortable people had become with not seeing a driver. Not only were
there multiple driverless vehicles on any given street at any given time,
but tourists no longer had their mouths agape as one drove by. The
technology has become a familiar sight.

 

Inside the vehicle itself, there were signs of how Waymo is trying to
inspire a similar feeling among their passengers. The all-electric car
offers a warm welcome to passengers by name and plays music as they climb
inside. A screen positioned in front of the rear seats offers those along
for the ride the option of seeing a follow-along map of the route, as well
as settings for temperature and music. Another screen beside the steering
wheel shows images of what's around the vehicle. As we drive, I can see
people sitting inside buses alongside us, dogs crossing the street ahead and
children skipping along the sidewalk.

 

Waymo wants you to see what the vehicle can – it wants you to trust it.

 

It is part of a wider trend within the autonomous ride-hailing industry. The
technology allowing these self-driving vehicles weave their way through busy
city traffic is being used out there in a handful of cities around the
world. What Waymo and its competitors need to do is to convince passengers
to climb inside them.

 

 

There is something very important about being able to know where the car is
going, that the car sees what you're seeing – Megan Neese

Yet, research seems to suggest that the public in the US and the UK are
reticent about riding in self-driving vehicles, with safety being among the
most common concerns. A lot of it comes down to the trust people are willing
to place in the technology and the companies that build the vehicles. But
also there seems to be a higher bar when it comes to attitudes on the safety
of autonomous vehicles compared to conventional cars.

 

For Waymo, the solution is to instill confidence in the robotic systems
driving the vehicle.

 

"There is something very important about being able to know where the car is
going, that the car sees what you're seeing," says Megan Neese, Waymo's head
of product and customer research, from beside me during our tour of San
Francisco. The company plans to keep the seats forward-facing with a
steering wheel in its next generation car, she says. It's a familiar set-up
in traditional taxis and that ability to see where the car is going helps
people trust the car, she says.

 

Getty Images Waymo’s cars have a typical car layout and feature a screen
beside the steering wheel that displays what the car can see around it
(Credit: Getty Images)Getty Images

Waymo’s cars have a typical car layout and feature a screen beside the
steering wheel that displays what the car can see around it (Credit: Getty
Images)

 

Waymo, which is owned by Google's parent company Alphabet, began offering
robotaxi services in the US without a safety driver on board in 2020. It now
provides 150,000 paid rides a week across San Francisco and Los Angeles in
California, and Phoenix in Arizona.

 

In the grand scheme of ride-sharing, it is still small scale – Uber claims
to facilitate around 200 million trips every week worldwide – but the market
is growing.

 

It is also highly competitive. Ensuring passengers are at ease and
comfortable is likely to be where much of the battle will be fought.

 

Amazon-backed Zoox, which plans to enter the market in 2025, is taking a
different approach to gaining consumer trust. It aims to let passengers lose
themselves in the ride by not seeing what's ahead or what the autonomous
driver can see. 

 

 

Weeks after my Waymo ride-along, Zoox invited me to try their test vehicle
at their Foster City headquarters outside of San Francisco on a prescribed
course between two office buildings. Needless to say, it was a very
different experience than riding Waymo in the wild, across a densely urban
environment.

 

 

Zoox's offering is a purpose-built vehicle that is bi-directional, with no
forward-facing or rear-facing windows. There is also no steering wheel, no
pedals and no display screens to show the vehicle's surroundings. Instead,
four seats face each other, bay seating-style. On either side there are
sliding doors featuring large windows. A small screen next to each passenger
allows them to personalise temperature controls and select music while a
wireless charging pad sits on a flat divider between the seats. The vegan
leather seats are dark green and the ceiling has twinkling lights set into
it. It felt like a Disneyland ride.

 

Martine Paris Zoox have opted for a less conventional vehicle design with
sliding doors on both sides and bay seating inside (Credit: Martine
Paris)Martine Paris

Zoox have opted for a less conventional vehicle design with sliding doors on
both sides and bay seating inside (Credit: Martine Paris)

To help gain consumer trust, Zoox has also begun publicly revealing details
of its Fusion Center, where human operators can take control of a vehicle
remotely to get it out of a situation where the computer cannot. During
testing, the company says its vehicles received remote guidance for 1% of
the total driving time. 

 

 

Waymo previously did not talk publicly about its teleoperations centre, but
earlier this year revealed it too has humans on hand to dial in to provide
assistance. But rather than using remote drivers, Waymo's Fleet Response
team answers questions from the autonomous vehicle about the choices it
should make in ambiguous situations.

 

 

By comparison, General Motors-owned Cruise lost its permit to operate in
California and had to pause operations after one of its vehicles dragged a
pedestrian for 20ft (6m) after they were thrown into its path in October
2023. Since the incident, the company has been keen to highlight the layers
of human support it uses with its vehicles. These include a team of fleet
monitors, remote assistance and on-the-ground personnel to provide in-person
assistance. Cruise says that prior to its operational pause last year, its
vehicles connected to the remote assistance teams 3% of the time they were
driving autonomously in urban environments, but that intervention wasn't
necessary on all those occasions. The company says remote assistance
provided "on-road support" for 0.6% of total autonomous driving time.

 

Cruise's chief executive and co-founders resigned a few months after the
accident, while 900 other employees were laid off. The company has since
resumed testing with safety drivers behind the wheel in Phoenix, Arizona and
Dallas, Texas. It has also struck a multiyear deal to bring its cars onto
the Uber platform.-BBC

 

 

 

 

Roblox to ban young children from messaging others

Roblox has announced it will block under-13s from messaging others on the
online gaming platform as part of new efforts to safeguard children.

 

Child users will not be able to send direct messages within games by default
unless a verified parent or guardian gives them permission.

 

Parents will also be able to view and manage their child's account,
including seeing their list of online friends, and setting daily limits on
their play time.

 

Roblox is the most popular gaming platform for eight to 12 year olds in the
UK, according to Ofcom research, but it has been urged to make its
experiences safer for children.

 

 

The company said it would begin rolling out the changes from Monday, and
they will be fully implemented by the end of March 2025.

 

It means young children will still be able to access public conversations
seen by everyone in games - so they can still talk to their friends - but
cannot have private conversations without parental consent.

 

Matt Kaufman, Roblox's chief safety officer, said the game is played by 88
million people each day, and over 10% of its total employees - equating to
thousands of people - work on the platform's safety features.

 

"As our platform has grown in scale, we have always recognised that our
approach to safety must evolve with it," he said.

 

Besides banning children from sending direct messages (DMs) across the
platform, it will give parents more ways to easily see and manage their
child's activity.

 

Roblox Two screengrabs from smartphones show how Roblox's parental controls
dashboard will appear to users. The left screengrab shows a child's screen
time, friends and a list of settings the parent user can manage. The
screenshot on the right gives them options to control the maturity of the
content their child views.Roblox

The platform says parents will be able to more easily manage controls such
as what content their child sees and when they can send direct messages

 

Parents and guardians must verify their identity and age with a form of
government-issued ID or a credit card in order to access parental
permissions for their child, via their own linked account.

 

But Mr Kaufman acknowledged identity verification is a challenge being faced
by a lot of tech companies, and called on parents to make sure a child has
the correct age on their account.

 

"Our goal is to keep all users safe, no matter what age they are," he said.

 

"We encourage parents to be working with their kids to create accounts and
hopefully ensure that their kids are using their accurate age when they sign
up."

 

Richard Collard, associate head of policy for child safety online at UK
children's charity the NSPCC, called the changes “a positive step in the
right direction".

 

But he said they need to be supported by effective ways of checking and
verifying user age in order to "translate into safer experiences for
children".

 

"Roblox must make this a priority to robustly tackle the harm taking place
on their site and protect young children," he added.

 

Maturity guidlines

Roblox also announced it planned to simplify descriptions for content on the
platform.

 

It is replacing age recommendations for certain games and experiences to
"content labels" that simply outline the nature of the game.

 

It said this meant parents could make decisions based on the maturity of
their child, rather than their age.

 

These range from "minimal", potentially including occasional mild violence
or fear, to "restricted" - potentially containing more mature content such
as strong violence, language or lots of realistic blood.

 

By default, Roblox users under the age of nine will only be able to access
"minimal" or "mild" experiences - but parents can allow them to play
"moderate" games by giving consent.

 

But users cannot access "restricted" games until they are at least
17-years-old and have used the platform's tools to verify their age.

 

It follows an announcement in November that Roblox would be barring
under-13s from "social hangouts", where players can communicate with each
other using text or voice messages, from Monday.

 

It also told developers that from 3 December, Roblox game creators would
need to specify whether their games are suitable for children and block
games for under-13s that do not provide this information.

 

The changes come as platforms accessed and used by children in the UK
prepare to meet new rules around illegal and harmful material on their
platforms under the Online Safety Act.

 

Ofcom, the UK watchdog enforcing the law, has warned that companies will
face punishments if they fail to keep children safe on their platforms.

 

It will publish its codes of practice for companies to abide by in
December.-BBC

 

 

 

 

A bullet train for power': China's ultra-high-voltage electricity grid

China produces more clean energy than any other country. Now it's rolling
out an ultra-high-voltage grid to match – will its strategy of going big pay
off?

 

In a sleepy village on the fringes of Shanghai, China's megacity of 25
million people, a hulking green building surrounded by a labyrinth of
electric wires and poles stands in contrast with the landscape around it.
Surrounding this beast, not far from the coastline of Hangzhou Bay, the vast
funnel-shaped inlet of the East China Sea, are an array of vegetable plots,
winding country paths and a tranquil canal.

 

This oddly out-of-place building is the Fengxian Converter Station, a hub
for receiving electricity that has travelled some 1,900km (1,200 miles)
before it is routed to power Shanghai's homes, offices and factories. At the
other end of the transmission line lies the Xiangjiaba Hydropower Station in
south-west China, which harnesses the energy of the mighty Jinsha River, the
upper stretches of the Yangtze River.

 

The Xiangjiaba-Shanghai transmission link, which went into service in 2010,
is one of China's first ultra-high-voltage (UHV) projects – a technology
designed to deliver electricity over long distances. It spearheaded an era
that would see the country build a vast network of UHV infrastructure,
dubbed the "bullet trains for power", to send electricity generated from
hydro and coal in remote regions to populous cities. 

 

China now considers these huge power cables key to its rapid buildout of
wind and solar power bases, which are concentrated in several far-flung
regions. Countries such as the UK, India and Brazil have adopted similar
strategies.

 

Although using UHV isn't the only way to transmit renewable energy, its
application in China – home to the world's largest national power system –
can provide valuable lessons in a global quest for solutions to fast-track
the energy transition.

 

The 'bullet train for power'

In a nutshell, UHV transmission lines work to the principle that the higher
the voltage is, the lower the electric currents are for the same amount of
power transmitted. Lower currents lead to less heat loss as power moves
through cables, enabling it to travel long distances with greater
efficiency.

 

Getty Images Many countries are adopting UHV infrastructure, but China leads
the way in terms of lines installed (Credit: Getty Images)Getty Images

Many countries are adopting UHV infrastructure, but China leads the way in
terms of lines installed (Credit: Getty Images)

The Chinese call them the "Shinkansen for power", using the Japanese name
for bullet trains, a symbol of speed and efficiency.

 

For Guo Liang, an engineer at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the fastest
way to supply electricity is to wire it to its users rather than
transporting raw materials to power plants that are closer to them.

 

Electricity travels nearly as fast as light and is expensive to store. "As
soon as it is generated, it needs to be sent out. That's why we need such a
network, the Shinkansen for power, to ensure its transmission" to those who
use it, Guo said during a talk show on China Central Television.

 

Different countries have different thresholds for what is considered a UHV
line. China defines those sending direct currents (DC) at voltage levels of
800 kilovolts (kV) or above and alternating currents (AC) at 1,000 kV or
above as UHV links. DC systems can carry more power with less loss than AC,
and are used to cover greater distances, but they are more expensive to
build. In comparison, AC lines can be connected to the local grids enroute,
so they are more flexible. But their lengths typically do not exceed 1,500km
(930 miles), so as to be cost-effective. China has a mix of them.

 

Although China now regards the technology as a key part of its wind and
solar plan, it didn't set out to build them for renewables. China's State
Grid, one of the country's two grid operators, proposed the technology to
the government in 2004 to connect the country's hydro and coal power
stations with the economic hubs that gobbled electricity hundreds of miles
away.

 

"Most of China's natural resources are situated in the north, north-west and
south-west, while the highest electricity demand and population are
concentrated on the southern and eastern coast," says Deng Simeng, a
Shanghai-based renewables analyst at Norwegian consultancy Rystad Energy.

 

In the early 2000s, China was experiencing regular power shortages. Even
though three-quarters of the country's freight traffic was devoted to
transporting raw materials, especially coal, resources weren't arriving fast
enough. At that point, the central government was also seeking ways to
develop its vast western regions by tapping into its resources.

 

Getty Images UHV infrastructure can be very expensive to construct and
maintain (Credit: Getty Images)Getty Images

UHV infrastructure can be very expensive to construct and maintain (Credit:
Getty Images)

Liu Zhenya, the then head of China's State Grid and dubbed by the Chinese
media as the "father of UHV power lines", envisioned a future where a mega
grid would end the country's blackouts – by transmitting electricity
nationwide – and make China a global leader in transmission technologies.
But his idea was met with staunch opposition. In the years to come, his
opponents, which included officials and prominent scholars, repeatedly
highlighted to the government their concerns, such as the reliability of the
technology and its impacts on the environment.

 

"[Liu's] proposal was really bold and a novel concept at the time, and
gained traction amongst Chinese policy makers," says Fiona Quimbre, a
Cambridge-based analyst focusing on China at RAND, a global research
organisation. The State Grid, a major state-owned company, managed to align
itself "really well with other government priorities", including a plan to
foster domestic supply chains, she says.

 

In 2006, developing UHV made into Beijing's five-year plan, a sign that it
had become a national strategy. China began constructing its first project
in the same year, a 640km (400-mile) AC link connecting its coal heartland
of Shanxi in the north to the central province of Hubei, via a stop in the
middle. It went into operation in early 2009.

 

More ambitious projects quickly followed. The Xiangjiaba-Shanghai line,
completed in 2010, was the longest and most powerful transmission system
worldwide at the time. With 3,939 pylons carrying cables over gorges, rivers
and rolling fields across eight provincial-level regions, the DC link sends
Jinsha River's hydropower directly to Shanghai at a maximum capacity of 6.4
gigawatts, meeting up to 40% of the city's power demand.

 

As of April 2024, China had put into operation 38 UHV lines, which deliver
not only hydro and coal power, but also wind and solar power, according to
China Power Equipment Management Net, an industry website. Among them, 18
were AC lines and the rest DC lines.

 

Delivering renewables

UHV technology was not invented by China, but Beijing has made these
projects "business as usual", says Ismael Arciniegas Rueda, a Washington
DC-based economist at RAND who specialises in energy and transmission
infrastructure.  

 

"China has taken [UHV] to the next level and pushed the envelope" in a way
it has with many technologies associated with energy transition, Arciniegas
says.

 

He describes China as "the only game in town" when it comes to the number of
miles built of this technology. Other countries, such as India and Brazil,
also have some of the longest UHV lines in the world, but they do not use
them at quite the same scale or operate at the same level of voltages.

 

Getty Images In terms of total mileage, China has by far the most UHV lines
of any country (Credit: Getty Images)Getty Images

In terms of total mileage, China has by far the most UHV lines of any
country (Credit: Getty Images)

According to China Energy News, the combined length of the UHV transmission
lines operating in China had reached 48,000km (30,000 miles) by the end of
2020, more than enough to wrap around the Earth by the equator.

 

As China has accelerated its renewable energy deployment, the mission for
UHV lines has changed. In 2022, the country's National Energy Administration
said desert-based wind and solar bases should plan transmission lines to
bring out their electricity to towns and cities on the other side of the
country. In 2023, construction started on the first such dedicated line,
linking the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in the north-west with the
southern province of Hunan.

 

The technology acts as a key component in China's proposal to build a global
power grid, known as the Global Energy Interconnection. The idea – announced
by China's president Xi Jinping at a United Nations summit in 2015 – is to
link up national grids over the next three decades. The aim is to enable
"large-scale development, transmission and utilisation of clean energy
around the globe", according to a presentation in 2019 by Liu Zhenya, who
chaired the Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation
Organization, a non-governmental organisation set up to promote the concept.

 

To some researchers, UHV brings obvious benefits. "Of all existing
technologies, UHV is the only one that can send wind and solar power from
far-flung areas to load centres (places with high electricity consumption),"
says Fang Lurui, an assistant professor of power-system planning at Xi'an
Jiaotong-Liverpool University in Suzhou, China.

 

Lauri Myllyvirta, co-founder of Finland-based Centre for Research on Energy
and Clean Air (CREA), agrees that the distances between energy production
sites and cities is a challenge in such a large country. But the technology
comes with energy benefits, too.

 

"China is so large – when the Sun has set in eastern China, it is still
shining in western China," says Myllyvirta. "And when a low-pressure zone is
generating high winds in one part of China, another part of China will be
part of a completely different weather system at the same time."

 

Therefore, UHV transmission lines can even out the variations in solar and
wind generation by zipping electricity from a place that has favourable
weather conditions to another that doesn't, he says.

 

Challenges for UHV

However, the share of wind and solar power carried by China's UHV lines is
still low.

 

One of the reasons is related to their high cost. In China, the investments
for UHV lines come from two grid operators, and the financial undertaking
has been enormous. No official figure of a total investment has been
released. But Huaxia Energy, a Chinese industry website, reported in August
2023 that the country had spent 1.6 trillion yuan (£173bn/$222bn) on UHV
lines, which included 33 already in operation and 38 more under
construction. The Xiangjiaba-Shanghai line, for example, cost 23 billion
yuan (£2.5bn/$3.2bn), according to official figures.

 

Such vast inputs mean the grids must ensure those lines' annual operating
hours in order to recover their investments. "Therefore, if there isn't
enough wind and solar power when a line is expected to operate, it will send
coal power instead," says Shen Xinyi, a researcher at CREA.

 

Because wind and solar power is intermittent, UHV lines still rely heavily
on coal or gas-fired power to ensure that their transmission is stable, Shen
notes.

 

In 2022, 56.2% of the electricity transmitted by UHV lines in China came
from renewable sources, beating the government's target of "no less than
50%". But most of this was hydropower – which China classes as renewable and
clean – a government report showed. While hydropower does not rely on fossil
fuels, it has other environmental drawbacks, such as harming river health
and releasing methane. The portion for wind and solar carried on the UHV
lines is much lower, averaging 27.25%, according to an analysis of the
report by Chinese thinktank Lingdian Energy.

 

Getty Images After construction, UHV lines require careful maintenance
(Credit: Getty Images)Getty Images

After construction, UHV lines require careful maintenance (Credit: Getty
Images)

The power shortages that struck China's Sichuan two years ago and this
summer have exposed another weakness: the "rigid" management of UHV lines in
China, according to Shen.

 

Even though Sichuan is the country's hydro hub, most of its newly built
hydropower stations, such as the world's second largest hydropower plant,
Baihetan, were designed to have their electricity exported to eastern and
central regions via UHV lines. Even when there was not enough electricity to
go around locally, Sichuan – home to several emerging manufacturing
industries, such as lithium batteries – could not use its own hydropower
because the UHV lines were not connected to the local grid, Shen explains.

 

Yu Aiqun, a research analyst with Global Energy Monitor, a US-based NGO
points out that it may be more cost-effective for cities and towns to
generate power locally than to import them long distance because of how
expensive it is to build a UHV line.

 

Moreover, Chinese coastal provinces are planning to build nuclear and
offshore wind power plants on a large scale, which means they may not need
to import electricity in the future, Yu adds. Researchers at the Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory in the US have projected that the deployment of
offshore wind power would reduce Chinese coastal regions' reliance on
imported electricity and shift the country's transmission networks.

 

The global picture

China isn't the only country that has resorted to the UHV technology.
Brazil, the largest country in South America, has two 800kV DC lines in
operation, both built by China's State Grid. They send hydropower from the
Amazon Basin in the north to populous south-eastern regions including Sao
Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The State Grid is building another UHV line in
Brazil.

 

In India, the government has initiated the Green Energy Corridor scheme
since 2015, which includes dedicated transmission lines for renewable energy
in states rich in those resources, such as Andhra Pradesh in the south and
Gujarat in the west, according to Uttamarani Pati, a Bangalore-based
renewables analyst at Rystad Energy. UHV lines operate at a voltage level of
765kV in India.

 

Cross-continental high-voltage projects – which run at voltage levels lower
than those of UHV – are also on the drawing board in various parts of the
world. In Europe, several undersea cables are being developed to bring solar
and wind power from North Africa. They include Xlinks, a 4,000km
(2,500-mile) link to hook Morrocco to the UK, and the project "GREGY" that
connects Egypt to Greece, covering roughly 950km (600 miles). In the Asia
Pacific region, a mega project called the Sun Cable has been proposed to
export solar power from northern Australia to Singapore, which is 4,300km
(2,700 miles) away, via Indonesia.

 

Moving electricity across borders – or across states in the US – faces other
challenges in spite of the evolving technology, warns Arciniegas of RAND.
The biggest hurdles are regulatory issues, he says. "You'll need a lot of
paperwork, permits, etc, to make [this] happen and not everyone wants to
have a transmission line next to their house."  

 

Cost is another roadblock, especially in the US. Not only all stakeholders
involved in a long-distance transmission line must greenlight the project,
relevant regional transmission organisations also will have to agree to
share the cost, according to Wang Xuan, an advisor on clean energy
strategies at Regulatory Assistance Project, a global non-governmental
organisation. "That is why UHV hasn't taken off in the US," she says.

 

Mega grids also mean higher risks of mass blackouts if one part of it fails,
like the widespread power outage that struck parts of Canada and the US in
2003, which was largely caused by a failure in the alarm system at an
Ohio-based electric utility that affected the whole network. "The bigger
they get, the more safeguards you will need to prevent something like that
happening," Arciniegas says.

 

Ultimately, the solution to a renewable future won't rely on one
transmission technology, but a mix of solutions, as many researchers
believe. One alternative at the other end of the spectrum are microgrids,
which see localised energy generation, storage and usage. They are gaining
popularity in some developing countries because they are nimble and
cost-effective.

 

"I do think that the distributed-level developments and individuals putting
in place solar panels and community-owned wind, etc, are part of the
solution," says Antony Froggatt, a London-based consultant on climate change
and energy. "Because it's not just about local generation for security
supply, it's also about education," he says. "Having these high-voltage
lines from a different part of the world misses that opportunity about
engaging people."

 

For Arciniegas, however, UHV transmission can be part of a portfolio of
options countries need to consider, but it is a key one.

 

"What the grid provides is like a backbone, so you need to be connected to
the grid somehow. But if the grid fails, then it would be nice to have an
alternative," he says.

 

--BBC

 

 

 

 

MTN MoMo and EcoCash Simplify Cross-Border Remittances Between South Africa
and Zimbabwe

MTN MoMo and EcoCash have partnered to enable direct, secure cash transfers
between South Africa and Zimbabwe, enhancing financial inclusion and
simplifying cross-border remittance processes.

 

 

Multiple reports have confirmed that MTN MoMo and EcoCash have partnered to
enable direct cash transfers between South Africa and Zimbabwe. This
collaboration reportedly aims to simplify remittance processes for users of
these leading mobile money services, fostering greater financial inclusion
and cross-border convenience.

 

As the mobile money platforms of choice in their respective countries, MTN
MoMo and EcoCash have long been recognized for their role in empowering
communities with accessible financial solutions.

 

This new integration seems to reflect their commitment to enhancing user
experiences by removing barriers to secure and efficient international
transactions.-techafrica

 

 

 

Associated Press to cut 8% of staff through layoffs and buyouts

The Associated Press announced on Monday that it plans to reduce its
workforce by 8% through a combination of voluntary buyouts and layoffs.

 

In an internal email obtained by the Guardian, AP’s president, Daisy
Veerasingham, informed staff that adapting to industry challenges requires
“making some difficult changes so we can invest more fully in our future”.

 

“We all know this is a time of transformation in the media sector,” the
email said. “Our customers – both who they are and what they need from us –
are changing rapidly.

 

“This is why we’ve focused on delivering a digital-first news report. We now
need to accelerate on this path.”

 

The email continued: “As we modernize our products and operations, we will
eliminate some positions across the organization.”

 

 

Veerasingham said that the changes will affect about 8% of the company’s
workforce. Fewer than half of those changes should affect the news division,
Veerasingham said.

 

The not-for-profit news agency said that it would offer a voluntary
separation plan to a small number of eligible staff, based on their
departments, roles and length of employment – in addition to eliminating
certain positions throughout the organization.

 

Copies of the Sun newspaper

Sun and Daily Mail publishers cut jobs in US digital operations

Read more

According to the Wrap, the AP is approaching 121 eligible employees with
buyout offers.

 

“I know this is difficult news, and there will be a period of uncertainty as
we work through these changes,” the email sent to AP employees reads. “We
are communicating about these actions now because transparency is a core
value of this organization. The AP leadership team is committed to
supporting our affected colleagues and working quickly and thoroughly to
limit uncertainty as much as possible.”

 

Veerasingham added: “Evolving as an organization is not easy but it is
necessary.”

 

The email said that employees who are losing their jobs because of the staff
reductions would be notified over the next few weeks.

 

In a statement on Monday, the AP told the New York Times that the cuts were
part of a plan to meet “the evolving needs of our customers”. That statement
also said: “This is about ensuring AP’s important role as the only truly
independent news organization at scale during a period of transformation in
the media industry.”-thegard

 

 

 

 

Nomura expects Fed to pause rate-cut cycle in December

(Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve is no longer expected to cut interest
rates at its December policy meeting, Nomura has said, making it the first
global brokerage to signal a pause in the central bank's rate-cutting cycle
in the wake of Donald Trump's election win.

Nomura now expects the Fed to deliver only two 25-basis-point (bp) rate
reductions at its March and June meetings in 2025, leaving the brokerage's
Fed funds rate projection unchanged at 4.125% through next year.

 

 

The Fed's benchmark overnight interest rate is currently in the 4.50%-4.75%
range. It has cut rates by 75 bps in 2024.

Other global brokerages, including Goldman Sachs and J.P.Morgan, anticipate
a 25-bp cut from the central bank next month.

Nomura expects the Fed to halt its tightening cycle next month after recent
hawkish remarks from policymakers amid ongoing economic growth and the
likelihood of further elevated inflation, adding to the central bank's
indication that it is not in a hurry to lower rates.

 

 

This follows the Fed's increasing hesitancy to cut rates as a major
political shift is underway after Trump's presidential victory.

Wall Street is trying to reconcile what it sees as further inflationary
pressures in the coming year as the President-elect pushes for tax cuts,
higher tariffs and a crackdown on immigration.

"We currently expect tariffs will drive realized inflation higher by the
summer, and risks are skewed towards an earlier and more prolonged pause,"
Nomura said in a note dated Friday.

Last week, data showed that U.S. consumer prices rose 2.6% in the 12 months
through October, above the Fed's 2% goal but in-line with economists'
expectations.

Traders now see a 34.7% chance of the central bank pausing rate cuts in
December, according to CME Group's FedWatch Tool.

Nomura expects a long pause in U.S. rate cuts until March 2026 after the
potential reduction in June.

 

 

 

Wall St mixed as investors await Nvidia earnings; Tesla jumps

(Reuters) - The Nasdaq and S&P 500 rebounded on Monday, recovering some
losses as investors anticipate quarterly earnings from AI leader Nvidia
(NVDA.O), opens new tab, and Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab jumped on the
prospect of favorable policy changes from the incoming Trump administration.

Nvidia reports third-quarter earnings on Wednesday when investors will
assess demand for chips and the sustainability of the AI euphoria that drove
much of the market's rally this year.

 

The chip designer, which powered 20% of the S&P 500's return over the past
year, is expected to drive nearly 25% of its EPS growth in the third
quarter, according to BofA Global Research. Nvidia's shares were down 1.5%
after a report said its new AI chips were overheating in servers.

"While Nvidia is the last of the Magnificent Seven to report, you’ve seen a
nice broadening in earnings and attention," said Carol Schleif, chief
investment officer at BMO Family Office. "It'll be noteworthy, but it
doesn’t feel like there's the same level of impetus around it as there was a
quarter or two ago."

 

Chart represents the percentage by which Nvidia has exceeded or not met
analysts' expectations for quarterly revenue. Nvidia has outdone estimates
for eight consecutive quarters.

Energy (.SPNY), opens new tab stocks led the S&P, popping 1.02%, with
consumer discretionary (.SPLRCD), opens new tab also rising as Tesla jumped
4.9% following a Bloomberg report that members of President-elect Donald
Trump's transition team were seeking to ease U.S. rules for self-driving
cars.

CVS Health's (CVS.N), opens new tab shares gained 5.8% after the health
insurer said it would add four new members to its board in an agreement with
Glenview Capital Management. Yet healthcare (.SPXHC), opens new tab stocks
slipped 0.17%.

"I think a lot of specific sectors could be pretty volatile until we get
more verbiage out of Trump's new picks later this month," Schleif said.

Stock indexes have shed some of the sharp gains that followed Trump's
decisive victory, but Wall Street remains fairly well-placed as 2024 winds
down.

Rising expectations that the Federal Reserve will slow the pace of policy
easing and uncertainty over the impact of Trump's cabinet appointments led
to the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab and the Nasdaq (.IXIC), opens new tab
logging their worst weekly losses in more than two months last week.

 

As of 2 p.m. EST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), opens new tab
fell 110.90 points, or 0.26%, to 43,334.09, the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new
tab gained 17.65 points, or 0.30%, to 5,888.19 and the Nasdaq Composite
(.IXIC), opens new tab gained 94.14 points, or 0.50%, to 18,774.09.

With the key holiday shopping season set to commence, results from major
retailers including Walmart (WMT.N), opens new tab, Lowe's Companies
(LOW.N), opens new tab and Target (TGT.N), opens new tab will be closely
watched this week to gauge the strength of the U.S. consumer.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.83-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, and
by a 1.03-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 26 new 52-week highs and 13 new lows while the Nasdaq
Composite recorded 58 new highs and 231 new lows.

 

 

 

 

US labor market still boosting inflation, San Francisco Fed economists say

(Reuters) - A tight U.S. labor market is still adding to inflationary
pressures, though less so than it did in 2022 and 2023, according to
research published on Monday by the San Francisco Federal Reserve.

"Declines in excess demand pushed inflation down almost three-quarters of a
percentage point over the past two years," San Francisco Fed economists
Regis Barnichon and Adam Hale Shapiro wrote in the regional Fed bank's
latest Economic Letter. "However, elevated demand continued to contribute
0.3 to 0.4 percentage point to inflation as of September 2024."

 

 

The finding, based on an analysis of the relationship between inflation and
labor market heat as measured by the ratio of job openings to job seekers,
could help inform Fed policymakers as they weigh how much further and at
what pace to reduce short-term borrowing costs.

The U.S. central bank began lowering its policy rate in September in
response to a slowdown in inflation and cooling of the job market. After a
second rate cut earlier this month, the rate now sits in the 4.50%-4.75%
range. U.S. central bankers believe that level is high enough to keep the
brakes on the economy, but there is broad internal disagreement over how
restrictive the rate is, and therefore about when and how much to cut it
further.

 

 

Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who has followed the sharp decline in the
job-openings to job-seeker ratio closely, has said he believes labor demand
is now in rough balance with supply and that the job market is no longer a
source of significant inflationary pressures.

The San Francisco Fed research suggests the job market continues to be a
source of inflation, which Powell estimates was 2.3% in October by the Fed's
targeted measure, and 2.8% by a measure stripping out food and energy that
the Fed uses to gauge underlying inflationary pressures.

The U.S. central bank aims for 2% inflation.

 

 

 

Trump's social media group in talks to buy Bakkt, FT reports

(Reuters) - Donald Trump's social media company is in advanced talks to buy
crypto trading firm Bakkt (BKKT.N), opens new tab, the Financial Times
reported, opens new tab on Monday, citing two people with knowledge of the
talks.

 

Trump Media and Technology Group (DJT.O), opens new tab, which operates
Truth Social, is close to an all-stock acquisition of Bakkt, the report
said.

 

Shares of Bakkt, backed by NYSE-owner Intercontinental Exchange (ICE.N),
opens new tab, soared nearly 66% in late afternoon trading, before being
halted for volatility.

 

 

 

Trump Media, Bakkt and Intercontinental Exchange did not immediately respond
to Reuters' requests for comment.

A deal would help consolidate Trump's involvement with an industry that he
championed in the run-up to the U.S. presidential election.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 


 


 Invest Wisely!

Bulls n Bears 

 

Cellphone:         +263 71 944 1674 | +27 79 993 5557 

Email:                <mailto:bulls at bullszimbabwe.com>
bulls at bullszimbabwe.com

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www.facebook.com/BullsBearsZimbabwe



 

 

 


 

INVESTORS DIARY 2024

 


Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 


Companies under Cautionary

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


CBZH

GetBucks

EcoCash

 


Padenga

Econet

RTG

 


Fidelity

TSL

FMHL

 


 

 

 

 


 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

 


 

 


DISCLAIMER: This report has been prepared by Bulls ‘n Bears, a division of
Faith Capital (Pvt) Ltd for general information purposes only and does not
constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or
subscribe for any securities. The information contained in this report has
been compiled from s believed to be reliable, but no representation or
warranty is made or guarantee given as to its accuracy or completeness. All
opinions expressed and recommendations made are subject to change without
notice. Securities or financial instruments mentioned herein may not be
suitable for all investors. Securities of emerging and mid-size growth
companies typically involve a higher degree of risk and more volatility than
the securities of more established companies. Neither Faith Capital nor any
other member of Bulls ‘n Bears nor any other person, accepts any liability
whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this report or its
contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith. Recipients of this
report shall be solely responsible for making their own independent
investigation into the business, financial condition and future prospects of
any companies referred to in this report. Other  Indices quoted herein are
for guideline purposes only and d from third parties.

 


 

 


 (c) 2024 Web:  <http://www.bullszimbabwe.com> www.bullszimbabwe.com Email:
<mailto:bulls at bullszimbabwe.com> bulls at bullszimbabwe.com Tel: +27 79 993
5557 | +263 71 944 1674

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

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