Business Highlights: Facebook cuts jobs; Crypto slumps – mySA

Facebook parent Meta is laying off 13% of its employees as it contends with faltering revenue and broader tech industry woes. The move that comes just a week after widespread layoffs at Twitter under its new owner, billionaire Elon Musk. Meta, like other social media companies, enjoyed a financial boost during the pandemic lockdown era because more people stayed home and scrolled on their phones and computers. But as the lockdowns ended and people started going outside again, revenue growth began to falter. An economic slowdown and a grim outlook for online advertising have contributed to Meta’s woes.

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US plan to tap businesses for green finance meets resistance

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (AP) — U.S. climate envoy John Kerry unveiled a plan at the COP27 climate summit to make it easier for private corporations to send cash to the developing world in exchange for looking green at home. Kerry’s plan comes after failure to get Congress or the American public to spend billions of dollars more a year in climate financial aid. The plan to finance developing nations’ transition to clean energy involves selling “high quality” carbon credits to companies trying to make their carbon emissions “net zero.” However, the idea faced stiff resistance from environmental groups and climate experts, who said it would give polluters a license to keep polluting.

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Cryptocurrencies slump again amid fallout from FTX sale

NEW YORK (AP) — Bitcoin slumped to a two-year low and other digital assets sold off Wednesday following the sudden collapse of crypto exchange FTX Trading. A day earlier, FTX agreed to sell itself to Binance after experiencing the cryptocurrency equivalent of a bank run. Customers fled the exchange after becoming concerned about whether FTX had sufficient capital. Bitcoin traded around $17,645, and overnight fell to its lowest level since December 2020. Just a year ago, bitcoin hit an all-time high of $68,990. Ethereum, the second most actively traded digital currency, fell 10%. Crypto exchange Coinbase and the online trading platform Robinhood also fell in early trading.

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Musk seeks to reassure advertisers on Twitter after chaos

Elon Musk is seeking to reassure big companies that advertise on Twitter that his chaotic takeover of the social media platform won’t harm their brands. He acknowledged that some “dumb things” might happen on his way to creating a better, safer user experience. The latest erratic move on the minds of major advertisers was Musk’s decision to abolish a new “official” label on high-profile Twitter accounts just hours after introducing it. Twitter began adding the gray labels to some prominent accounts, including brands like Coca-Cola, Nike and Apple. A few hours later, the labels started disappearing.

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Elon Musk sells $3.95 billion worth of Tesla stock

Twitter’s new owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has sold nearly $4 billion worth of Tesla shares, according to regulatory filings. Musk, who bought Twitter for $44 billion, sold 19.5 million shares of the electric car company from Nov. 4 to Nov. 8, according to Tuesday’s filings. He sold $7 billion of his Tesla stock in August as he worked to finance the Twitter purchase he was trying to get out of at the time.

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Adidas’ breakup with Ye drives lower earnings outlook

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Adidas has lowered its earnings forecast for the full year to account for losses from ending its partnership with the rapper formerly known as Kanye West over his antisemitic remarks. The German shoe and sportswear maker had previously said ending the partnership with Ye’s Yeezy brand would cost it 250 million euros. As a result, on Wednesday it lowered its sales outlook for the year, halving net profit from continuing operations to 250 million euros instead of 500 million euros. The company had already cut its full-year earnings forecasts five days before it announced it was splitting with Ye. The company’s chief financial officer says the profitability of the Yeezy shoe collaboration with Ye had been “overstated.”

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Defying inflation worries, US casinos have best quarter

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Gamblers are shrugging off inflation concerns and losing money at casinos at a record pace. Figures released Wednesday show the U.S. commercial casino industry had its best quarter ever, winning over $15 billion from gamblers in the third quarter of this year. The American Gaming Association says the gambling halls are on track to have their best year ever in 2022. Out of 33 states in which gambling was operational a year ago, 16 reported quarterly highs in overall gambling revenue, including five of the six largest markets: Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, New York and Pennsylvania.

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More big donors supporting – and discussing – mental health

Wealthy donors publicly gave more to mental health last year than in any other year over the past decade: According to a Chronicle of Philanthropy tally of publicized donations of $1 million or more, 15 donors gave 16 such gifts totaling nearly $767 million in 2021. Raising money for mental-health programs has become more important as more Americans are experiencing increased anxiety, depression, and other mental-health disorders. Nearly 20% of U.S. adults, 50 million people, experienced some form of mental illness in 2019, according to a recent report by Mental Health America, and suicidal ideation, thinking seriously about ending one’s own life, is on the rise.

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Canada FM warns businesses against deepening China ties

TORONTO (AP) — Canada’s foreign minister says China is an increasingly disruptive, global power and is warning businesses against deepening their ties, saying it carries “geopolitical risks.” Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly made the remarks at the University of Toronto ahead of her government introducing a Indo-Pacific strategy next month. The remarks represent a pivot for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals, who have generally tried to avoid inflaming tensions with Beijing. China previously embraced Trudeau in part because of his father, former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, who in 1970 became one of the first Western leaders to establish diplomatic relations with Communist China.

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Potential railroad strike delayed until early December

OMAHA, Nebraska (AP) — The possibility of an economically devastating railroad strike has been pushed back into early December to allow time for engineers and conductors to vote on their agreements with the freight railroads and give more opportunity for the industry to renegotiate with two unions that rejected their deals last month. Previously, a Nov. 19 strike deadline hung over the talks, but the union that represents track maintenance workers agreed Wednesday to delay any action until next month. But all 12 rail unions must approve their deals to avoid a strike and so far only seven have ratified the agreements that provide 24% raises and $5,000 in bonuses. Rail workers remain concerned about the lack of paid sick time and the demanding schedules in the industry.

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The S&P 500 fell 79.54 points, or 2.1%, to 3,748.57. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 646.89 points, or 2%, to 32,513.94. The Nasdaq fell 263.02 points, or 2.5%, to 10,353.17. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 48.53 points, or 2.7%, to 1,760.40.

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