6 Most Important Things in the Business World Today

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By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Published
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6 Most Important Things in the Business World Today

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Crude oil dropped below $45 a barrel for the first time since late 2016, which raises the possibility that countries that produce crude could begin to have financial problems again. The production of oil from shale in the United States has been a contributor. Also, OPEC nations may not be adhering to production limits set by the cartel earlier this year, leading to more oversupply.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B) has bought a stake in large Canadian mortgage company Home Capital Group.

An exclusive report from Reuters says private equity firm Sycamore Partners may buy huge office supply company Staples Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS). According to the news agency:

The acquisition would come a year after a U.S. federal judge thwarted a merger between Staples and peer Office Depot Inc. on antitrust grounds.

It would represent a bet by Sycamore that Staples could more quickly shift its business model from serving consumers to catering to companies if it were to go private.

Sycamore is in the process of finalizing a debt financing package for its bid for Staples after it prevailed over another private equity firm, Cerberus Capital Management, three sources said.

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Gasoline prices dropped below $2 for an average gallon of regular in South Carolina and Oklahoma. They are at $2 in Alabama and Mississippi. As crude prices fall, the likelihood more states will join the list has risen rapidly.

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ: AAL) will stop using uniform supplier Twin Hill. Crews on the company’s planes have complained the uniforms cause allergic reactions.

According to DLS Reports, T-Mobile US Inc. (NASDAQ: TMUS) is in merger talks with Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S). The deal would take the third and fourth largest wireless companies in the United States and make them large enough to compete with leaders AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ).

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Photo of Douglas A. McIntyre
About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.

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