Pandemic-related manufacturing shutdowns catch up with Tesla

Tesla produced 258,580 vehicles in the second quarter of 2022, the automaker announced on Saturday. While that’s a 25 percent year-on-year increase from the number of cars it made during Q2 2021, it’s also fewer vehicles than the company produced at th…

日銀総裁が緩和堅持表明、「世界的インフレの影響それほど受けず」

６月２９日、日銀の黒田東彦総裁は、日本経済は世界的なインフレ傾向の影響をそれほど受けていないとして、緩和的な金融政策を維持すると述べた。国際決済銀行（ＢＩＳ）が２９日、スイス・バーゼルで２６日に開催されたセミナーの録画を公表した。写真は都内で２０１９年１２月撮影（２０２１年　ロイター／Kim Kyung-H…

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick gets to keep his board seat

Bobby Kotick will get to keep his seat on Activision Blizzard’s board of directors despite catching flak over the alleged role he played in creating the company’s toxic workplace culture. At the video game developers’ annual meeting of stockholders, investors voted on several proposals, as well as who gets to be on the company’s board of directors over the next year. A total of 533,703,580 shareholders have voted to keep Kotick on the board, while on 62,597,199 have voted against it. As GameInformer notes, that means he gets to keep his seat until the next meeting in 2023. 

Activision Blizzard employees walked out of their jobs last year and called for Kotick’s resignation after The Wall Street Journal reported that the CEO knew about the worst instances of abuse in the company and even protected the employees accused of harassment. If you’ll recall, California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing sued the publisher in July 2021 for allegedly fostering a “frat boy” culture. The California agency investigated the company over the course of two years and found that women working for Activision Blizzard were paid less than their male counterparts and were subjected to constant sexual harassment. 

More recently, the New York City Employees’ Retirement System sued Kotick, calling him unfit to negotiate the company’s pending sale to Microsoft due to his “personal responsibility and liability for Activision’s broken workplace.” NYC’s retirement system represents the city’s police, teachers and firefighters and owns Activision Blizzard stock. The company named a new chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer in April to help the company have a more inclusive workplace. In response, a group of employees aiming to protect workers from discrimination formed a committee to outline a list of demands for Kotick and the new chief diversity officer. 

While majority of the shareholders have chosen to keep Kotick on the board, they also approved a plan to release an annual public report detailing how Activision handles any sexual harassment and gender discrimination dispute. The report must also detail how the company is preventing these incidents from happening and what it’s doing to reduce the length of time it takes to resolve them. 

Netflix lays off 300 more employees

Netflix has laid off around 300 people in its latest round of job cuts. Most of the layoffs were in the US, according to Variety, and a number of departments were affected.

“Today we sadly let go of around 300 employees,” a Netflix spokesperson told the publication. “While we continue to invest significantly in the business, we made these adjustments so that our costs are growing in line with our slower revenue growth. We are so grateful for everything they have done for Netflix and are working hard to support them through this difficult transition.”

This is Netflix’s second round of layoffs due to slowing revenue growth. It laid off 150 employees, along with many part-time workers and contractors, back in May. The company has around 11,000 employees around the globe. 

Netflix also let go 10 or so staffers from its marketing department and in-house news site, Tudum, in April. Those particular layoffs were due to a reorganization of Netflix’s marketing team. Those were said to be normal business decisions and were not directly connected to cost reductions.

The latest layoffs follow a steep drop in Netflix’s share price, which has fallen by around 70 percent since the beginning of the year. In the first quarter of 2022, the company’s subscriber count dropped for the first time. It fell by 200,000, in large part because Netflix pulled out of Russia and lost 700,000 subscribers there. In its latest earnings report, Netflix said it expects to lose as many as 2 million subscribers in the current quarter too.

Along with cost cutting, Netflix is looking at more ways of generating revenue. These include ad-supported plans and extra fees for those who share their accounts with people living in other households.

The company is hiring on other fronts and still plans to invest heavily in content, though. It has earmarked around $17 billion for that purpose this year. News of the layoffs comes the week after Netflix announced a reality competition series based on its all-conquering drama, Squid Game. The winner will take away $4.56 million.

Update 6/23 4:30PM ET: Clarifying some details about the layoffs in April.

You can pay for your Lyft ride with cash now

Ridesharing isn’t typically viable in the US if you want to pay with cash, but that won’t be a problem now that Lyft has introduced an option to pay for rides using cash. Visit 35,000-plus stores like Walmart, ACE Cash Express and Kroger and you can present a barcode or ID number to turn physical money into a balance accessible through the Lyft app or website. You’ll have to scan approved identification after requesting your first ride.

You’ll need to add at least $30 whenever you contribute to the balance. Your transportation options will also be limited if you go cash-only. You have to attach a credit card or another payment option to your account if you want to hire a bike or scooter.

Lyft pitches the feature as a way to democratize rideshare services. About 7.1 million US households either had no bank accounts or only limited access to conventional financial services as of 2019, according to FDIC data, and that frequently affected communities of color. The cash option lets those unbanked people request on-demand rides without paying for cabs. We’d add that this could help if you’re uncomfortable with linking payment cards to transportation services like this.

The move might give Lyft an edge in the country. Its rival Uber lets American riders use a balance to pay for trips, but they currently have to load funds using payment cards, PayPal and Venmo. For now, Lyft is your only major choice if you’d rather pay with paper.

コラム：世界の流れに逆行する日銀のマイナス金利とＹＣＣ、円売りの潮…

［東京　２０日］ – 日銀は今回も現状の金融政策を維持した。世界ではいよいよスイス中銀まで利上げを開始しており、間もなく先進国の中では、日銀だけがマイナス金利を維持する中銀になるだろう。日銀は先物市場の機能を壊してまで１０年国債金利の上昇を強引に抑えようとしている。そもそも日銀は財務省に比べてマーケ…

日銀に29兆円の含み損も、市場の圧力でカーブコントロール放棄なら

日本銀行は市場の圧力に屈してイールドカーブコントロール（ＹＣＣ）を放棄することになれば、保有する国債で巨額の損失に直面するだろう。ヘッジファンドが日本国債をショートにするなど、圧力は増している。 物価上昇を目指す取り組みによって日銀は526兆円の国債を保有するに至った。これは発行残高のほぼ半分で日本…

楽天経済圏、第2章　ポイントに続く武器、楽天キャッシュとは一体何か？

楽天の最大の強さは楽天経済圏だ。そしてその経済圏を支えるエンジンであり、潤滑油でもあるのが、年間5300億円も発行している楽天ポイントである。しかし、この度そこに新たな武器が加わる。オンライン電子マネーの「楽天キャッシュ」だ。 楽天の最大の強さは楽天経済圏だ。そしてその経済圏を支えるエンジンであり、潤…

PayPal will let users split the cost of purchases over up to 24 months

PayPal is expanding its buy now, pay later options with a longer-term payment plan. The company has enabled users to cover the cost of a purchase over a few interest-free payments and it also offers credit cards. Pay Monthly, which is issued by WebBank, is another option for folks in the US.

It’s valid for purchases between $199 and $10,000. The cost will be split across monthly payments of between six and 24 months. If you select the Pay Monthly option at checkout, you’ll then need to complete an application. Should that be approved, you’ll be able to select from three payment options with different time frames. APR is calculated on a risk basis and will be between zero and 29.99 percent. The first payment is due a month after purchase.

You can set up automatic payments from your debit card or bank account. Alternatively, users can manage payments through PayPal’s app and website. As with the company’s other buy now, pay later options, there are no late fees. PayPal says millions of retailers will support Pay Monthly — including Samsonite, Fossil and Advance Auto — and that purchases will be eligible for PayPal Purchase Protection.

With its latest option, PayPal is getting out ahead of Apple Pay Later, which will be rolled out as part of iOS 16 later this year. That’s aligned more with PayPal’s Pay in 4 option, in that users will make four equal payments over six weeks, with no interest or late fees. However, purchases are said to be capped at $1,000.

Such moves by the likes of PayPal, Apple and Square are indicative of a broader trend of major tech companies moving deeper into lending, a finance sector that was primarily the domain of banks. However, there are risks to using now, pay later services, especially if consumers fall behind on payments.