Media

6 Most Important Things in Business Today

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: May 30, 2018 4:52 am

Last Updated: March 13, 2020 3:35 pm

Troubles with Italy’s ability to form a government continue to create anxiety in world markets about whether the nation would stay in the European Union. According to Reuters:

Asian stocks extended a global sell-off on Wednesday as Italy’s political crisis rippled across financial markets, toppling the euro to a 10-month low, pushing up borrowing costs for Rome and sending investors into safer assets such as U.S. Treasuries.

A new Nintendo product may need the widespread use of one of its games to produce new sales. According to The Wall Street Journal:

Three new Pokémon videogames coming to Nintendo Co.’s Switch game machine this year could provide important sales fuel as the company looks to avoid the kind of thin slate of releases that doomed its previous game machine.

The $300 Switch, a console-handheld hybrid machine that debuted in March 2017, has sold more than 17 million units through March 2018, according to Nintendo—a surprise hit that marks a resurgence after the company’s previous console, the Wii U, flopped.

The Wii U, sold only 13.56 million units in its five-year lifetime, plagued by a too-thin lineup of games in its first years, analysts said.

Singapore Air has launched one of the longest flights in the world. According to The Wall Street Journal:

Singapore Airlines Ltd. will resume nonstop flights to Newark Liberty International Airport from its home airport in October, using the latest Airbus SE A350 jets.

The Singapore flag carrier, which stopped running the world’s longest commercial flights in 2013, will fly daily to Newark beginning Oct. 18, the company said in a statement. The flight will take up to 18 hours and 45 minutes.

Controversial Gawker.com may have a new owner. According to The Wall Street Journal:

Marketing firm Didit is close to acquiring Gawker.com and if successful intends to relaunch the blog, known for publishing irreverent articles that were sometimes controversial, with a new editorial policy to only post content it considers to be positive.

Advisers liquidating the blog’s former publisher have a deal to sell the website to Didit for $1.13 million, an offer that is subject to higher offers at a potential auction, according to papers filed Tuesday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York. The agreement and terms of an auction must be approved by a judge. Based in Mineola, N.Y., Didit was founded in 1996.

Airline passenger satisfaction has grown. According to CNBC:

Airlines’ social media mentions are usually full of travelers’ frequent frustrations: a downgrade, a missed connection, a refund.

But air travelers are feeling more satisfied with airlines in North America, according to a survey released Wednesday by J.D. Power & Associates.

The survey found passengers’ satisfaction with the region’s airlines rose 6 points from a year earlier to 762 on a 1,000-point scale with the biggest improvements in satisfaction with aircraft, deplaning and baggage claim and the reservation system.

The market cap of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) has fallen behind Microsoft Corp.’s (NASDAQ: MSFT). According to CNBC:

When Google first passed Microsoft in terms of stock market value six years ago, it looked like the companies were headed in opposite directions.

But over the past 12 months, Microsoft has surged 40 percent, more than five times Alphabet’s gain, and has again become the more valuable of the two. As of Tuesday’s close, Microsoft was worth $749 billion and Alphabet’s market capitalization stood at $739 billion.