Author: Press Room

Gig workers are regularly kicked off on-demand apps, hindering their ability to earn money, in what seems like an unending cycle caused by the prevalence of fraud on the platforms and the nature of the relationship between gig companies and workers. Recently, a Massachusetts-based driver suspected of fraud had his account deactivated by Uber Technologies Inc. UBER, then reactivated after MarketWatch contacted the company and asked questions about his case. MarketWatch’s story about that driver prompted more than 30 other workers, most of them gig workers, to share their complaints. Because 26 of them said they worked for Uber, MarketWatch…

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A pump jack operates in the Permian Basin near Midland, Texas U.S. August 23, 2018. REUTERS/Nick Oxford (This April 18 story has been corrected to fix the title to director, not CEO, in paragraph 4) By Mrinalika Roy (Reuters) – Companies with a focus on the oil-rich Permian basin are likely to be at the center of the next wave of consolidation in the U.S. energy sector as favorable oil prices prompt cash-rich drillers to tap into the largest source of shale oil. Top producers have built a war chest to fund acquisitions after reaping windfall…

LONDON (Reuters) – As the need for climate action intensifies, governments and industries are exploring how to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. The U.S. government has offered $3.5 billion in grants to companies that will capture and permanently store the gas using a process known as Direct Air Capture (DAC). Here’s how the cutting-edge technology works, along with it potential and limitations. HOW DOES IT WORK? DAC technology uses chemical reactions to remove carbon dioxide from the air, which can then be stored in underground caverns or used in products or applications such as making concrete or aviation…

By Akash Sriram and Hyunjoo Jin (Reuters) – Tesla (NASDAQ:) Inc boss Elon Musk on Wednesday doubled down on the price war he started at the end of last year, saying the electric vehicle (EV) maker would prioritize sales growth ahead of profit in a weak economy. The company posted its lowest quarterly gross margin in two years, missing market estimates, and did not disclose another key margin metric to investors as it slashed prices aggressively in markets including the United States and China to spur demand and fend off rising competition. Shares in the Austin, Texas-based automaker were down…

Famed American Economist Paul Samuelson years ago joked, “Economists have predicted nine of the last five recessions,” and forecasting today remains as fraught with peril as ever. After all, calculations from Bloomberg have shown a 50% or greater chance of recession over the ensuing 12 months since last August, yet real GDP growth for Q4 2022 came in at an impressive 2.6%, the Atlanta Fed’s current estimate for Q1 2023 growth is 2.5% and the latest projections from the Federal Reserve call for GDP to grow 0.4% this year and 1.2% in 2024. To be sure, the Bloomberg recession estimate…

Mastercard’s stock (NYSE: MA) has gained approximately 7% YTD as compared to the 8% rise in the S&P500 index over the same period. Further, at its current price of $373 per share, it is trading 13% below its fair value of $427 – Trefis’ estimate for Mastercard’s valuation. The company, a leading global payments solutions provider, outperformed the consensus estimates in the fourth quarter of 2022. It reported net revenues of $5.82 billion – up 12% y-o-y. The growth was driven by a 31% jump in the cross-border volume, followed by an 8% increase in the gross dollar volume and…

Although there are now dozens of electric vehicles (EVs) on the U.S. market, only a handful qualify for $7,500 tax breaks from the IRS. In an effort to boost American-made products, the Biden Administration insisted that the tax credits go to buyers of vehicles mostly made in the U.S. Some vehicles only qualify for a portion of the credit if major parts were sourced overseas. I’m not going to argue the politics of that decision, so here’s the short list of qualifying vehicles when you go shopping: Cadillac Lyriq Chevrolet Blazer Chevrolet Bolt & Bolt EUV Chevrolet Equinox Chevrolet Silverado…

Facebook users have until August to claim their share of a $725 million class-action settlement of a lawsuit alleging privacy violations by the social media company, a new website reveals.The lawsuit was prompted in 2018 after Facebook disclosed that the information of 87 million users was improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica.People who had an active U.S. Facebook account between May 2007 and December 2022 have until Aug. 25 to enter a claim. Individual settlement payments haven’t yet been established because payouts depend on how many users submit claims and how long each user maintained a Facebook account.Cambridge Analytica was a…

Shares in electric vehicle maker Tesla dropped more than 4% after the company reported first-quarter earnings after the bell. Here are the results.Earnings per share: 85 cents adj. vs 85 cents expected, according to the average analyst estimate compiled by RefinitivRevenue: $23.33 billion vs $23.21 billion expected, according to Refinitiv estimatesNet income came in at $2.51 billion, down 24% from last year, while GAAP earnings came in at 73 cents, down 23% from the year-ago quarter.Tesla specified in a shareholder deck that “underutilization of new factories” stressed margins, along with higher raw material, commodity, logistics and warranty costs, and lower revenue from…

Editor’s Note: A version of this story appeared in CNN Business’ Nightcap newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free, here. A settlement is, by definition, a negotiation — both parties get to walk away from the feud with at least some of what they wanted. That remains true in the case of Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems, which averted a trial with an 11th-hour deal Tuesday. But the losses are hardly evenly split. The key players in the case are off the hook, legally. But Fox’s “win,” if you can call it that, has more…