Category: Markets

Tesla certainly has some work to do. And that’s because the registration for Tesla Inc. vehicles in California, certainly their largest market, fell 24% in April from one year ago. This is according to data from HIS Markit.

Of course, Tesla says that this information is misleading because the deliveries vary so much from month-to-month. Sales of electric vehicles throughout the United States remain at less than 1% of total vehicle sales. In December of 2016 and January of 2017, many were getting excited as Tesla’s Chief Executive Elon Musk started working on a strategy to diversify production of other items such as storage batteries, electric commercial trucks, rooftop solar panels and more. However, Tesla shares started to fall in June with concerns that the company’s current models were having weak sales.

HIS analyst Stephanie Brinkley did caution that just looking at a single month doesn’t show the full picture. As she said, “If Tesla had an issue with its production for the month, that could explain.” However she did say that, “They haven’t changed much on the exterior or much on the package. I can certainly understand where Model S sales may be softening a little bit because it’s an older product. That could be contributing to the issue.”

Learn more about Tesla and the ups and downs they are having here.

Next time that you enter the Rite Aid Corp. drugstore chain,  you just might find that it’s no longer a Rite Aid. That’s because Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. said on Tuesday that they will be acquiring Rite Aid for $9.4 billion. The goal for Walgreens is to increase their footprint in the United States by half. They also hope to be able to negotiate for low drug prices.

Walgreens hopes that the transaction will close in the second half o 2016.

Analysts believe that the deal will increase Walgreens’ presence in the Pacific Northwest and make it in a better position to take on CVS Health Corp.

Walgreens currently has 13,200 stores, 60% of which are in the US. They generated $76.4 billion in sales during the year that ended on August 31, 2014.

Agiliance®, Inc., the Big Data Risk Company™ and a provider of integrated solutions for Operational and Security Risk programs has recently announced that they received four Stevie Awards during the 2014 American Business Awards competition. They received the Gold Award for being the Most Innovative Tech Company of the Year (with up to 100 employees). They also received three other honors for its product called RiskVision™. They were named as the Gold Award winner for Best Governance, Risk, and Compliance Software Solution. They also received the Bronze Award for Best Software Security Solution and for Best Big Data Software Solution.

As Torsten George, the VP of worldwide marketing and products for Agiliance, said,

“In 2014, Agiliance has received more than two dozen industry accolades. These Gold and Bronze Stevie Awards are especially gratifying for the company, its employees, and our partners. The American Business Awards is the nation’s premier business competition – it can’t get any bigger. In 2014, Agiliance has received more than two dozen industry accolades. These Gold and Bronze Stevie Awards are especially gratifying for the company, its employees, and our partners.”

Certainly, when Obama talks, others listen. And this is definitely true when he talks about $14 billion. Obama pledged to invest more than this amount in Africa while speaking at a meeting of African leaders recently. His remarks came during the US-Africa Business Forum. Speakers and attendees included former president Bill Clinton, Wal-Mart president and chief executive Doug McMillon, MasterCard president and chief executive Ajay Banga and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim.

Officials want to strengthen financial and trade ties between African countries and the US. As Obama said in his speech, “We want to do business with these folks.”

In a fascinating ruling, a Florida jury has just awarded the widow of a chain smoker who died of lung cancer 18 years ago more than $23 billion against RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company. These are punitive damages and represent the largest award given in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by a single plaintiff.

Cynthia Robinson sued RJ Reynolds in 2008 saying that the company conspired to conceal the health dangers of their product. Her husband died of lung cancer in 1996 at the age of 36, having smoked one to three packs a day for more than 20 years.

The jury awarded $7.3 million to the widow and the couple’s child and $9.6 million to another son of Johnson’s. They then awarded $23.6 billion in punitive damages.

Of course, J. Jeffery Raborn, vp and assistant general counsel for RJ Reynolds, said that they plan to challenge “this runaway verdict.”

Clearly, gold has dropped a great deal recently, and one mine owner has felt this personally. The owner of a mine in Canada’s Yukon gold belt is selling his property for $2 million in bitcoin. The minor hasn’t made his name known, but he is selling the property on BitPremier, a bitcoin marketplace for “luxury items and opportunities”.

The mine in Dawson City can product as much as 4000 ounces of gold a year. This is worth $5.9 million at the current market rate. The sale also includes $1 million worth of equipment.

As the ad says,

“A well-respected, fully compliant and profitable company, any new buyer could recoup their initial investment in as little as two mining seasons.”

See the full story here.