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China's BYD launches EV charging system it says works nearly as fast as a fill up
Visitors checked the China-made BYD ATTO 3 at the IAA motor show in Munich in 2023.
Matthias Schrader/Associated Press
China's energy and auto giant BYD has announced an ultra fast EV charging system that it says is nearly as quick as a fill up at the pumps. BYD, China's largest EV maker, said Monday that its flash-chargers can provide a full charge for its latest EVs within five to eight minutes, similar to the amount of time needed to fill a fuel tank. It plans to build more than 4,000 of the new charging stations across China. Charging times and limited ranges have been a major factor constraining the switch from gas and diesel vehicles to EVs, though Chinese drivers have embraced that change, with sales of battery powered and hybrid vehicles jumping 40 percent last year. — ASSOCIATED PRESS
LAYOFFS
Audi to cut 7,500 jobs in Germany to become more efficient
The logo of Audi is photographed at the Paris Auto Show in 2024.
Michel Euler/Associated Press
Volkswagen AG's Audi will cut as many as 7,500 positions in Germany by 2029 as the automaker tries to shore up its flagging profitability. The reductions, which correspond to roughly 14 percent of the brand's German workforce, won't affect factory workers. Audi pledged to invest around $8.7 billion in its German locations during the period. It's also introducing new cars to better compete in the United States and China, where its sales have slumped. 'The pressure to change is at an all-time high, with competition that has dramatically changed,' the brand's chief executive Gernot Döllner said Tuesday in Ingolstadt. Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume is slashing spending across the group to become more competitive. The latest move brings the total number of potential job reductions at Europe's biggest automaker to more than 40,000. Audi's deliveries declined 12 percent last year as it struggled in markets including China. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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GROCERY
Egg prices have dropped, though you may not have noticed
A customer shopped for eggs at a grocery store in Chicago.
Scott Olson/Getty
The wholesale price of eggs has dropped sharply since the beginning of March after soaring for months, but it may take a few weeks for grocery shoppers to see the decline. Wholesale egg prices, which is what retailers pay to procure eggs, have fallen to a national average of just over $4 for a dozen large white eggs, down from a peak of more than $8 at the end of February, according to data from the Agriculture Department released last week. But because eggs typically have a four-week shelf life, it might be the end of March before retail prices start to drop, said Jeremy Horpedahl, an associate professor of economics at University of Central Arkansas. Some stores, he added, may not lower prices until their current inventory sells out. Economists said that the decline in wholesale prices, which are still above long-term averages, was very likely fueled by a combination of factors: bird flu coming under control, weaker consumer demand, ramped-up supply, and producer pricing decisions. The Agriculture Department noted that there had been no significant outbreaks of avian flu in March so far, and economists say any new outbreaks could push up prices again. The virus has forced egg producers to cull tens of millions of hens since late last year. In February, the retail price of eggs rose 10.4 percent from the previous month, continuing a months-long climb, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released last week. — NEW YORK TIMES
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WALL STREET
Nvidia CEO loses stock kingmaker status as touts fall flat
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang spoke about new products as he delivered the keynote address at the GTC AI Conference in San Jose, Calif., on March 18.
JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images
Nvidia Corp. chief executive Jensen Huang is losing his midas touch in the stock market. A year ago, when the euphoria about artificial intelligence was in full force, Huang's name dropping of customers and partners at the chipmaker's GTC conference sparked a rally in a number of the stocks, including Dell Technologies Inc. and Synopsys Inc. But similar mentions in his keynote address on Tuesday were met with shrugs. Take General Motors Co. Minutes after Huang said Nvidia will help the automaker develop self-driving vehicles, GM shares sank to a session low, swept up in the tide of the broader market downdraft. It fell as much as 1.7 percent Tuesday, ending the day down 0.7 percent. The trading shows how the mood has changed as the stock market slides while President Trump's trade war darkens the economic outlook. On top of that, tech stocks have been dragged down by growing doubts about when, if ever, the massive investments in AI spending will deliver the type of revolutionary changes that would justify the equity-price run up. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
INSURANCE
UnitedHealthcare's new CEO reflects on tragedy, challenges in first interview
Flags flew at half mast in front of UnitedHealthcare headquarters in Minnetonka, Minn., on Dec. 4, 2024, after its CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed in New York City.
Jerry Holt/Associated Press
Tim Noel knows his new job as UnitedHealthcare CEO isn't going to be much like his predecessor's role. Noel was promoted to the position previously held by Brian Thompson, who was killed in an early morning shooting in December on his way to a UnitedHealth investor conference in Manhattan. Thompson's death prompted a social media outcry about health insurers denying care, causing Noel to look inward about his job and industry. 'I think everyone did some level of soul-searching over that period of time, I certainly did,' he said in his first media interview since taking on the new role, from the company's headquarters outside Minneapolis. Noel, who previously helmed the company's Medicare health plan business, said he had known Thompson for 15 years, worked for him for 10, and considered him a 'good friend.' 'What definitely does change is, we have to be more out there and more visible about conversations around the role that we play in the health care system and the role health insurers play.' He wants to dispel some of the misunderstandings around how insurers manage health care, saying United's claim approval rates are 98 percent for valid claims. He also said that many of the curbs put on health care spending are actually decided by the employers who are paying for the health plan, rather than by the insurance company. Even so, the threat of violence remains. The company now has security checking cars on the way in. 'We certainly have to be much more conscious of the security elements,' he said. 'It's certainly a new way that we're operating. The answer is not to get really insular.' — BLOOMBERG NEWS
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an hour ago
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Is The Metals Company a Millionaire Maker?
Key Points The Metals Company aims to harvest trillions of metal-rich nodules from the Pacific's Clarion-Clipperton Zone. Regulatory approval from the International Seabed Authority is the biggest hurdle, though a U.S. legal loophole could give it first-mover advantage. With no commercial revenue and ongoing cash burn, this remains a high-risk, high-reward play. 10 stocks we like better than TMC The Metals Company › From electric vehicle (EV) batteries to wind turbines to advanced medical devices, rare-earth metals sit at the center of nearly every major technological shift in the 21st century. The problem? They're concentrated in just a handful of countries, with the lion's share of processing capacity in China. It's a concentration of power that has governments and companies alike scrambling to secure non-Chinese sources before a trade dispute or export ban turns supply chains into choke points. Enter, The Metals Company (NASDAQ: TMC), an early-stage mining company with a plan to scoop billions of tons of metal-rich rocks from the deep Pacific. If it works, these rocks (called "nodules") could feed the clean-energy supply chain for decades, not to mention give the U.S. and allies a rare chance to loosen China's hold on critical minerals. But with the company yet to secure mining permits, and potentially years away from turning a profit, the gap between vision and reality is about as wide as the ocean the company is trying to mine. All things considered, can this metal stock generate $1 million from today's share price? Why deep-sea mining has investors talking First, let's talk opportunity. The Clarion-Clipperton Zone, where The Metals Company plans to operate, contains trillions of potato-sized polymetallic nodules. These small, metal-rich rocks contain nickel, manganese, copper, zinc, cobalt, and other minerals. In other words, they hold the building blocks for EV batteries, renewable power grids, advanced defense systems, and dozens of other uses. The U.S. still imports roughly 80% of rare earths, and more than three-quarters of that comes from China. After leaping into the rare-metal business before most of the rest of the world, Beijing now controls about 70% of global rare-earth mining and nearly 90% of processing. Recent export restrictions on certain rare earths and magnets have only underscored the need for alternative sources. But big hurdles remain TMC's pitch is that deep-sea mining could deliver rare earths at scale without relying on land-based mines. The plan seems simple enough: With vacuum-like machinery, it'll pump nodules to the surface, process them in a seawater slurry, then discharge sediment back to the sea. Locating nodules isn't a problem. The company has mapped and secured exploration rights to two massive swaths of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone. 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Bloomberg
an hour ago
- Bloomberg
Does Apple Risk Falling Behind on AI?
Wall Street Week Apple doesn't want to be left behind on AI as its competitors scale up their investments and poach talent, but its efforts to catch up might already be late. Executing its AI ambitions comes at a time when it reassesses its manufacturing operations in China. (Source: Bloomberg)
