Noticias

IMAGINE a television which, as in the old days, has only a handful of channels to choose from instead of hundreds, as a typical cable set-up might offer today. In a decade or so TVs will once again have only a few channels, but each will run miles deep, with content that can be viewed on demand. Netflix might be one such offering; Amazon another. Both firms are spending billions of dollars making and buying TV shows and films to sell directly to viewers to watch when they like, and on devices other than the box in the corner of the room. And other rich tech firms may join them.

It is this vision that is now driving the direction of television and media. Broadcasters are willing to pay more to show live sporting events, and to invest more in producing TV shows, to make their networks the must-see choice for viewers. This trend has spurred the largest-ever merger of a telecommunications company with a media firm. AT&T, America’s wireless and pay-TV giant, announced on October 22nd an offer for Time Warner, the owner of HBO, CNN and Warner Brothers studio, worth $109bn. In doing so AT&T is betting that a few vertically integrated platforms will…Continue reading

IN 2007 financial dangers, piled up like so much tinder, ignited at last and caused a swathe of destruction across the global economy. The blaze also engulfed governments, which faced intense public pressure to prevent such calamities from recurring. Much has happened on the regulatory front since then. Few believe, however, that the problem of financial instability has been solved. To regulators’ frustration, in a world of global financial flows, efforts to safeguard one country often endanger others.

This bothersome tendency has become harder to ignore as cross-border capital flows have swollen. Annual gross financial flows in rich countries soared from roughly 5% of GDP in 1980 to around 25% of GDP on the eve of the financial crisis. This worldwide torrent of money has its benefits. Investors can more easily diversify their portfolios. Investors in slow-growing rich countries gain access to higher-yielding investments in poorer, capital-starved economies, and those poorer economies gain access to desperately needed capital relatively cheaply.

Yet there are costs as well. Emerging economies with less sophisticated financial markets and…Continue reading

TRADITION suggests that Wall Street should favour the Republican Party. America’s conservatives usually back low taxes, free trade and a reduction in regulation. But the 2016 election seems to be an exception. A Bank of America Merrill Lynch poll of fund managers in October found that a Republican victory was seen as one of the biggest risks facing financial markets, along with the disintegration of the EU.

A study* by Justin Wolfers of the University of Michigan and Eric Zitzewitz of Dartmouth College found that in the wake of the first debate, there was a six-percentage-point rise in the probability of a Hillary Clinton victory on betting markets. In reaction, stockmarkets rose, and gold and Treasury bonds (two assets that benefit when investors become risk-averse) fell. “Financial markets expect a generally healthier domestic and international economy under a President Clinton than under a President Trump,” the authors concluded.

What makes this election different for investors is the nature of the Republican candidate—Donald Trump is a long way from the party’s mainstream. A Trump victory would throw up all kinds of uncertainty…Continue reading

JUST outside Stanford University’s campus sits the headquarters of Symphony, one of the myriad tech companies that sprout like weeds in Silicon Valley. After a lunch break exercising in a nearby park, a dozen fit-looking employees, still in workout clothes, help themselves from buckets of fruit, energy bars and the food of the day (Indian), before plopping themselves in front of monitors in an airy room bathed in natural light. For the sought-after engineers making up most of the company’s 200-strong workforce, this sort of environment is the norm. Work is supposed to be healthy and relaxed—a far cry from the terrors of a New York bank with its incessant pressure to sell and complex internal politics, not to mention often unappetising, pricey food.

Across the continent, in a newly opened tower within the World Trade Centre, Kensho, a three-year-old company, has a similar feel. Like Symphony but a bit smaller, it is stuffed with talented engineers. In a New York approximation of the West Coast, it boasts “vertical gardens”—rectangular patches of vegetation like framed paintings—and a pool table.

Symphony is a messaging platform,…Continue reading

Las primas del negocio tradicional se dispararon un 31%, hasta los 1.861,3 millones de euros. Leer

El banco británico tuvo que destinar 600 millones de libras (672 millones de euros) para hacer frente a indemnizaciones por venta indebida de seguros de protección de pagos. Leer

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THOSE of us who fly regularly have grown thoroughly accustomed to the usual interactions with flight attendants. Yet because most cabin crew are so courteous and professional, few of us probably have a good sense of how they would like us to behave so that they can go about their jobs as efficiently and pleasantly as possible. Do they, for example, get annoyed when they have to respond to the hellos of each arriving passenger, or do they feel snubbed if someone doesn’t greet them? Does it bother them when absolutely no one is watching as they perform the safety announcements? How about those who stretch in the aisles?

Business Insider interviewed more than 60 flight attendants to compile a list of the behaviours that annoy. There are 21 common complaints, it seems. They can be broken into three categories.

The first might be described as the kind of behaviour that would be an affront to anyone with a modicum of decency. This includes passengers hogging the overhead bins. This is equivalent to putting a…Continue reading

Durante los meses de verano se han creado 226.500 puestos de trabajo

La operadora obtiene un beneficio de 2.225 millones hasta septiembre y mejora su resultado un 38,5% en el tercer trimestre