There are a host of new and growing options at auto dealers when it comes to hybrids and electric cars, but if you've been following the headlines lately, the decisions made by major automakers reflect the market's tilt toward more hybrids than electric cars. Ford just announced that it is delaying its electric vehicle pickup and in the short term is focusing more on its hybrid lineup in North America.“The electric car euphoria is dead,” with the idea of “consumer choice” making a comeback among car companies from Ford to General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin,…
Author: ricardofrancois
Was this a change in the nature of the market last week, or is it still the same old bull? The late air pocket in indicators on Thursday makes the question at least worth asking. The setback in the S&P 500 ended an unusually long streak without a decline of at least 2%, dating back to last October. It was also the first time during the same period that the index failed to rebound from its 20-day moving average, a short-term tactical guardrail typically observed by the strongest rallies. .SPX 6M Mountain S&P 500, 6 Months The S&P rebounded 1.1%…
As the auto industry grappled with BYD's meteoric rise, Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi stormed the market — undercutting Tesla and pledging to become a global player. Even when Apple this year canceled development of a self-driving electric car, Xiaomi founder and CEO Lei Jun vowed that making the car would not just be his last legacy project, but a product that would transform the company into one of the top five automakers. in the world during the next two decades. Xiaomi's Hong Kong-listed shares last week rose to a two-year high after the company introduced its SU7 electric sedan at…
Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up for the Commodities myFT Digest – delivered straight to your inbox.Traders are wondering how high oil prices will go after prices rose above $90 a barrel this week for the first time since October.Brent crude, the international benchmark, surpassed $91 a barrel on Friday, bringing its gains for the year to 18 percent. The US West Texas Intermediate Index was even stronger, rising by 21 percent.The upward moves in the past two weeks, after a month in a narrow range, were partly driven by fears of a widening conflict in the Middle East,…
In 1980, I reported on “public drunkenness” in Sacramento. Most of them, a few hundred, were living in failed hotels. But some slept “in the weeds.”I walked along the wooded banks of the rivers that meet in the capital and found a few dozen spots where men were lying on simple cardboard or newspaper mats. There were no tents or camps.The word “homeless” was rarely used at that time. It did not appear in my article for the Sacramento Bee.By 1982, amid the recession, newcomers who had lost their jobs began to appear in the weeds. In 1985, after three…
New York – When processing your taxes, it can sometimes be difficult to know whether to itemize or choose the standard deduction.According to tax professionals, itemizing generally only makes sense if your itemized deductions add up to more than the current standard deduction of $13,850 for a single filer and $27,700 for a married couple.Here's what you should know:Standard deduction versus itemizationFor the vast majority of tax filers, the standard deduction is the way to go. “In general, taxpayers whose total itemized deductions are less than the standard deduction (based on their filing status) will benefit from taking the standard…
Dear Liz: I am the sole owner of the apartment. I'm getting ready to fulfill my dream of traveling the world. I will be gone indefinitely. Therefore, I am thinking of renting my apartment. I know I will get a write-off for unit repairs, cleaning supplies, etc. What about a storage unit where I will need to store my stuff from my unit. Can I write off a storage unit?Answer: Congratulations on your next adventure! You'll have enough excitement without defending yourself in an IRS audit, so avoid deducting personal expenses like a storage unit.The IRS says you can deduct…
Every Friday morning for more than five years, Benny Wasserman, a retired aerospace engineer and Albert Einstein lookalike, would put on his Detroit Tigers baseball uniform and go to the batting cages at Home Run Park near Knott's Berry Farm.In January 2023, he emailed me to tell me that he had set a goal for himself: to have 90 mph fastballs on April 2, 2024, his 90th birthday. “I call it 90 in 90,” Wasserman wrote, adding that he had been dealing with prostate cancer and pulmonary fibrosis, but was undeterred.At the first opportunity, she drove to Cerritos to meet…
Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up for the Work & Careers myFT Digest – delivered straight to your inbox.Sue Gray was back in the news last weekend.In fact, the former civil servant has rarely been out of the news since she unexpectedly resigned to become chief of staff to Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer last year. This time, the Mail on Sunday devoted almost an entire page to the woman it described as “a real-life party version of CJ Craig,” the fictional White House chief of staff in the TV series The West Wing. This was a small beer…
Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages held in Gaza since the October 7 attacks carried out by Hamas militants hold signs and wave Israeli flags during a demonstration in Tel Aviv, on April 6, 2024.Jacques Guise | AFP | Getty ImagesIsrael said on Saturday that its special forces had recovered the body of a hostage who was killed while being held in Gaza, while the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) that dominates the Palestinian enclave said it would participate in a new round of ceasefire talks in Cairo.After nearly six months of war, Israel has faced protests at home demanding an…