The “homebody economy” – investing in your digital back yard September 23, 2020 | City Talk It is clear that UK shares are unloved. No likes, no shares, no new friend requests. The level of gloom surrounding this market is remarkable even amongst UK based investors, who, you might think, should feel more comfortable investing here. This is not just pandemic queasiness. Although the UK economy is service-led to some extent, [...]
Musk says $25,000 Tesla ‘three years away’ as investors wipe off $50bn September 23, 2020 Tesla boss Elon Musk said last night that he expects a cheaper, fully autonomous Tesla model to be available “about three years from now”. However investor reaction to the company’s highly anticipated Battery Day was muted, leading Tesla’s market valuation to fall by around $50bn. “This has always been our dream to make an affordable [...]
Tiktok proposes social media coalition as MPs grill app over online harms September 22, 2020 Tiktok has proposed social media firms form a global coalition to better combat harmful and offensive content on their platforms, as MPs grilled the app’s European policy boss on its track record. Tiktok said in a statement ahead of the parliamentary hearing that it had sent letters to nine firms — Facebook, Instagram, Google, Youtube, [...]
Government’s satellite startup Oneweb to restart launches in December September 21, 2020 Oneweb is to restart satellite launches in December, after being rescued from bankruptcy by the UK government earlier this year. The launches will be carried out with Arianespace, with plans for the satellites to be ready for commercial services next year. Its first launch in December will be one of sixteen under an amended agreement [...]
Microsoft buys Elder Scrolls and Fallout maker for $7.5bn September 21, 2020 Microsoft has bought Zenimax Media, the owner of game developer Bethesda, for $7.5bn. It is hoped the deal will help Microsoft boost its Xbox gaming capabilities, with two new consoles to hit the shelves in November. Zenimax is the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, which has created developed hits including The Elder Scrolls, Wolfenstein, and [...]
G4S boasts ‘resilient’ results following hostile takeover rejection September 21, 2020 Global security giant G4S today announced “resilient” results for the first eight months of 2020, as it shrugged off its rejection of a £3bn hostile takeover bid by rival firm Gardaworld last week. In a trading update, FTSE 250-listed G4S today said the group’s underlying earnings for the eight months to 31 August were ahead [...]
Trump says US firms must have total control of Tiktok September 21, 2020 US President Donald Trump has said he won’t approve the deal between Tiktok owner Bytedance and US partners Oracle and Walmart if the Chinese tech firm maintains any control. “If we find that they don’t have total control, then we’re not going to approve the deal… We will be watching it very closely,” Trump told Fox [...]
Twitter apologises over racial bias in image algorithm September 21, 2020 Twitter has issued an apology after users highlighted how its image-cropping algorithms would favour showing white or lighter faces over Black ones. When images are attached to a tweet, Twitter will crop the preview of the image so that it takes up less space on a user’s timeline. Users who noticed the feature’s bias on [...]
Big Tech’s market might in five charts September 21, 2020 | City Talk The largest US technology stocks – Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook and Google (Alphabet) – known as the “FAMAGs”, tumbled sharply at the beginning of this month, after supercharging the US stock market from the depths of the Covid-pandemic in March. These “superstar” firms have largely benefitted from the economic fallout of the crisis, as more people [...]
London venture capital firm Kindred Capital closes second £81m fund September 21, 2020 London venture capital firm Kindred Capital has closed its second fund for seed-stage startups at £81m. Kindred has invested in the likes of self-driving car startup Five, software firm Paddle and will-writing startup Farewill. It backed a total of 29 companies using its first fund, which closed at £80m in 2018. Partner Leila Zegna said [...]