Bloomberg Australian retail sales limped through June, saved only by a blast of winter weather that forced shoppers to stock up on warmer clothing and compounded by mid-year discounts. A more realistic reading of the month came in the food section, which showed even alcohol sales actually fell in June. While households got a rate cut in May, adding ...
Read More »Wal-Mart in talks to acquire Amazon rival Jet.com
Bloomberg Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is in talks to buy Jet.com Inc., the e-commerce startup that began a year ago billing itself as a challenger to Amazon.com Inc., according to people familiar with the matter. The discussions may ultimately result in a strategic investment rather than an acquisition, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because ...
Read More »Feds OKs private firm’s lunar flight plan
Bloomberg The federal government for the first time has given permission to a private Florida company to fly a spaceship beyond Earth’s orbit and land on the moon. The Federal Aviation Administration gave clearance to Moon Express to land a washing machine-sized vehicle on the moon that would take hops across the lunar surface using engine firings instead of ...
Read More »Southwest Air CEO decries ‘no-confidence’ as union ploy
Bloomberg Southwest Airlines Co. Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly pushed back against calls for his ouster by four labor groups, saying the personal attack against him is part of a negotiating ploy. “I’m not going anywhere and neither is Mike Van de Ven,†the company’s chief operating officer, Kelly said in a video posted for Southwest employees. “We have ...
Read More »Home tax threatens foreign tech talent in Vancouver
Bloomberg Vancouver’s technology industry is in danger of becoming collateral damage in British Columbia’s push to rein in spiraling home prices. The surprise decision last week to impose a 15 percent levy on overseas property investors may make it even harder for Vancouver to attract foreign talent and reach its goal of becoming a Canadian version of Silicon Valley. ...
Read More »Million-dollar suburbs soar in wake of Aussie housing boom
Bloomberg The number of Australian suburbs where homes command a median A$1 million ($762,000) price has surged in the wake of a four-year long housing boom driven by declining interest rates and demand from investors. Suburbs nationwide where the median value is at least A$1 million jumped 29 percent to 613 in the year ended June, and more than ...
Read More »Mumbai home price recovery is 2 years away
Bloomberg Home prices in Mumbai may take a couple of years to resume gains amid a glut of unsold properties, according to Indiabulls Asset Management Co., an investor in residential projects. Mumbai’s property sales have been sluggish as prices in India’s most expensive market continue to hover near a record reached in December 2014, crimping affordability and denting demand. ...
Read More »Minmetals land pays $515mn for Hong Kong Kowloon site
Bloomberg Minmetals Land Ltd., a Chinese developer, outbid Hong Kong giants Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd. and Sino Land Co. with an HK$4 billion ($515 million) offer for land in the territory’s Kowloon district. The price works out to about HK$7,058 per square foot of saleable area, according to calculations by Bloomberg News based on figures released by the ...
Read More »Digital marketing top of the agenda for hoteliers
Dubai / Emirates Business From a survey of UAE hoteliers, organisers of The Hotel Show Dubai discovered that a strong digital marketing strategy is at the top of the agenda. Undertaken by dmg events to identify which topic would be of the most interest to UAE hospitality industry professionals in an external training course, the results of the survey ...
Read More »mCarbon picks Dubai as its Mideast hub
Dubai / Emirates Business mCarbon, India’ leading mobile technology service provider, is the largest supplier of airtime advance and credit in the world and has established itself as a clear leader in the space. The company has chosen Dubai as its Middle Eastern headquarters. With 8 million transactions a day, the product touches almost 400 million subscriptions every month. ...
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