6 Most Important Things in Business Today

By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Mar 13, 3:29PM EDT · Published Aug 16, 5:06AM EDT

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Trade negotiations between the United States and China may happen later this month. According to Reuters:

China said on Thursday it will hold a fresh round of trade talks with the United States in Washington later this month, offering a glimmer of hope for progress in resolving a conflict that has set world markets on edge.

A Chinese delegation led by Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen will meet with U.S. representatives led by Under Secretary of Treasury for International Affairs David Malpass, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on its website.

Uber’s revenue surged. According to The Wall Street Journal:

A year after joining Uber Technologies Inc., Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi is showing signs he can maintain the ride-hailing firm’s rapid pace of revenue growth while reining in some of its substantial losses.

The San Francisco-based company’s second-quarter revenue rose 63% from the prior year to $2.8 billion, while gross bookings, a measure of the overall demand for its ride and delivery services, jumped 41% to about $12 billion, according to a financial statement released by Uber.

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As it battles for market share, T-Mobile US Inc. (NASDAQ: TMUS) has set new content distribution deals. According to The Wall Street Journal:

T-Mobile US Inc. said it would give customers free music and perks from Pandora Media Inc. P -0.12% and Live Nation Entertainment Inc., the latest in a string of sweeteners from carriers battling for customers without resorting to discounting.

The No. 3 wireless company in terms of subscribers said Wednesday it will give one year of Pandora Plus service to existing customers who sign up this month through its T-Mobile Tuesdays app. Subscribers were also promised special seating and other perks at events run by concert promoter Live Nation, an arrangement similar to the carrier’s existing partnership with Major League Baseball.

Coffee won’t come with cancer warnings in California. According to The New York Times:

In every cup of coffee, there is a chemical linked to cancer.

That undisputed fact led a Los Angeles judge to rule this spring that coffee companies must provide cancer warnings to coffee drinkers. The ruling cast a shadow on a daily and often essential rite for more than 100 million Americans.

But now, the State of California has intervened, telling coffee drinkers not to worry. An agency has proposed a rule declaring that not only does coffee pose no significant risk of cancer, it may actually have health benefits.

The measure will be the subject of a public hearing on Thursday in Sacramento. If the proposal goes into effect, it is expected to nullify the court ruling about coffee warnings.

Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) might buy a chain of movie theaters. According to Bloomberg:

Amazon.com Inc. is in the running to acquire Landmark Theatres, a move that would vault the e-commerce giant into the brick-and-mortar cinema industry, according to people familiar with the situation.

The company is vying with other suitors to acquire the business from Wagner/Cuban Cos., which is backed by billionaire Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. The chain’s owners have been working with investment banker Stephens Inc. on a possible sale, the people said. No final decisions have been made, and talks could still fall apart.

U.S. shale will be a major contributor to the world’s oil supply. According to CNBC:

A sustained upswing in U.S. shale growth is likely to offset global production problems over the coming months, energy analysts told CNBC on Wednesday.

The mood music in the energy market has been heavily influenced by a flurry of demand-side developments of late, with investors continuing to monitor an escalating trade war between the U.S. and China, the financial crisis in Turkey and a resurgent U.S. dollar.

Yet, industry analysts point out the U.S. shale boom is perhaps the most notable supply consideration not currently receiving the attention it deserves.

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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.