03/19/2024

News

Tesla offers lower-priced versions of its Model S and X vehicles after cutting production

The lowest priced Model S will now cost $85,000 with software limiting the range of the battery to 310 miles per full charge, while the Model X will start at $88,000 with a range of 270 miles. The “extended range,” “performance” and “performance with ludicrous mode” versions will range from $93,000 to $137,000.

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Tesla to stop selling the lowest-priced versions of its Model S and X vehicles on Monday, Elon Musk tweets

Tesla will stop selling the lowest-priced versions of its Model S sedans and Model X SUVs from Monday, the automaker’s CEO Elon Musk wrote in a tweet late on Wednesday. The Model S and X are Tesla’s second and third major lines of electric vehicles, and are higher-priced lines compared to its newest Model 3. […]

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How government policies and taxpayer money have helped Elon Musk and Tesla

Elon Musk’s companies have propelled his net worth to almost $20 billion. But how have government policies and taxpayer money boosted his businesses? From subsidies at the national and state level, to federal tax credits for consumers buying electric cars and solar panels, to fuel efficiency standards that help bring millions in revenue for Tesla […]

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Small business optimism surges to highest level ever, topping previous record under Reagan

U.S. small business optimism surged to a record in August as the tax cuts and deregulation efforts of President Donald Trump and the Republican-led Congress led to more sales, hiring and investment, according to a survey by the National Federation of Independent Business. The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index jumped to 108.8 last month, the […]

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Southern California home sales crash, a warning sign to the nation

Southern California home sales hit the brakes in June, falling to the lowest reading for the month in four years. Sales of both new and existing houses and condominiums dropped 11.8 percent year over year, as prices shot up to a record high, according to CoreLogic. The report covers Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, […]

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America’s Top States for Business 2018

We score all 50 states on more than 60 measures of competitiveness, developed with input from a broad and diverse array of business and policy experts, official government sources, the CNBC Global CFO Council, YPO and the states themselves. States receive points based on their rankings in each metric. Then we separate those metrics into […]

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Job openings surge to a record 6.3 million, Labor Department says

Job openings in the U.S. surged to a record 6.3 million, according to the most recent count from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number of new positions surged by 645,000 as of the end of January, a new high for the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. The metric gets close attention from Federal […]

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Billionaire Richard Branson: A.I. is going to eliminate jobs and free cash handouts will be necessary

Billionaire serial entrepreneur Richard Branson says cash handouts will eventually be required to keep people from becoming homeless in the US. “I think with the coming on of AI and other things there is certainly a danger of income inequality,” Branson tells CNN’s Christine Romans in a piece published Thursday. The inequality will be caused […]

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Even as California embraces electric vehicles, pickup trucks still rule its roads

California, easily the biggest market in the United States for electric-vehicle sales, is still very much in love with the pickup truck. In fact, data from the California New Car Dealers Association shows the Ford F-Series pickup outsold all pure electric vehicles combined in 2017. Californians bought 53,549 electric vehicles last year compared with 55,249 […]

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CalPERS’s sees 5.8 percent return with new allocation; below 7 percent goal

The reduced expectation, disclosed late Monday in documents from the largest U.S. public pension fund, is based on a lower-risk, lower-return asset allocation adopted by CalPERS in September and announced in December. . . Pension analysts are skeptical that funds can keep generating higher returns in the long run. Most funds are cash negative, meaning they are now paying out more money to retirees than they collect from current workers and employers.

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Apple seeks to expand manufacturing in Arizona

Apple has requested to make finished products in its facility in Mesa, Arizona, according to the document, first reported by Business Insider. Right now, it has permissions to make consumer electronics components there, the filing said.

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The new OPEC: Who will supply the lithium needed to run the future’s electric cars?

“Lithium is a pretty abundant element naturally,” Jamie Speirs, a fellow in energy analysis and policy at Imperial College London, told CNBC via telephone. But, though worldwide production of the metal is increasing year on year, he detailed that “the current supply chain will not match up with lithium demand by, say, 2040.” . . . “China has a stranglehold on lithium production,” Speirs said. “Well organised and professionally run mining companies” make this enterprise profitable, he added.

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Ontario stops buying renewable energy

The Government of Ontario has announced it is to “immediately suspend” the second phase of its Large Renewable Procurement (LRP II) process and its Energy-from-Waste Standard Offer Program. . . “This decision will both maintain system reliability and save up to $3.8 billion in electricity system costs relative to the 2013 LTEP forecast. The typical residential electricity consumer would save an average of approximately $2.45 per month on their electricity bill, relative to previous forecasts.”

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Commentary: The economy’s growth level is ‘unacceptable’

Business Roundtable today released its third quarter 2016 CEO Economic Outlook Survey, and the results continue to underwhelm. Over the next six months, CEOs report lower expectations for sales, roughly unchanged plans for hiring, and nearly flat plans for capital spending.

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US Trade Deficit Widens as Exports Fall

The Commerce Department said on Friday the trade gap rose 2.7 percent to $43.4 billion. November’s trade deficit was revised down to $42.2 billion from the previously reported $42.4 billion.

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