Alibaba Rakes In 38 Billion Singles
It’s the 11th year for the single biggest 11-11 singles day singled out to take place in a single day, though no discrimination against non singles intended. Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) has surpassed the $38 billion mark in sales during its iconic Singles Day, which may not be as impressive as marking $1 billion in sales in a single minute when the day officially kicked off. $30 billion is equivalent to about 80% of Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) sales for the entire quarter. The only bad news is that the growth rate of this year over last year is lower than the growth rate for last year over the year before. Conclusion: Everyone head to your bomb shelters. However, there is a mitigating factor here, in that China’s economy has been growing at its slowest pace since the depths of the 2008 recession. From another perspective, sales volume rising makes sense in the context of the gargantuan money-printing operations taking place within the world’s most powerful central banks.
SEE: Premium Cannabis Brand We Grow BC to Merge with Westleaf
Boeing Says Regulators Should Allow 737 MAX Back In the Air by January 2020
Boeing (NYSE:BA) could be making a risky move by predicting that regulators will allow its 737 MAX line back in the air by the beginning of 2020. On the one hand, if Boeing is bold enough to predict the moves of regulators, it is probably fairly certain that its predictions will play out as it expects. On the other hand, if there is an unexpected problem or delay currently overlooked, or regulators change their minds for unforeseen reasons, Boeing shares could get hit hard and reverse the gains it has made in the premarket on release of the news. Boeing has made predictions before as to when it expects the 737 MAX to be back making commercial flights, but this is the first time that the company has mentioned what it believes to be the intention of the regulators in charge. Despite the expected return by January, other airlines including American (NASDAQ:AAL) and Southwest (NYSE:LUV) plan to keep their line of 737 MAXes grounded until March. Boeing will have to also get approval for training changes for pilots given the new software installed to correct the safety system that caused the two fatal crashes that led to the grounding of the fleet.
Total Colorado Marijuana Sales Break $1B For 2019, New Monthly Records Set
Is demand finally catching up to supply in the state that kicked off the legal recreational marijuana industry? Total cannabis sales for 2019 so far in Colorado have broken through the $1B mark according to state statistics as new monthly sales records have been set every month since May. Still, pot stocks are at record lows generally as reflected in the Alternative Harvest ETF (NYSEARCA:MJ), indicating that either the market got way ahead of itself since Colorado legalized in 2014, or that pot stocks are undervalued. Supply though isn’t slowing down even as equity valuations fall back to Earth, indicating that supply and demand have quite a long dance yet before they find long term balance . The grow lights market for one is expected to reach $5 billion within the next two years, while Colorado-based companies like Agron continue to ride the growing wave supplying commercial growers with the needed equipment.
Hong Kong Violence Gets Serious, May Be Turning Point to Chinese Invasion
The violence in Hong Kong is starting to get serious, with live rounds being fired at protesters, one from point blank range that left a protester critically wounded laying in a pool of blood. Another man who was expressing his displeasure with protesters was doused in flammable liquid and set on fire after getting in a fight over being Chinese versus being a Hong Konger. Chief Executive Carrie Lam, who had earlier expressed her desire to quit but inability to do so at China’s behest, is sharpening her tone against the rioters. “The violence has far exceeded the call for democracy and the demonstrators are now the people’s enemy,” said Lam in a television address. She continued, “If there’s still any wishful thinking that by escalating violence, the Hong Kong … government will yield to pressure…I’m making this statement clear and loud here: that will not happen.” Speculation is mounting as to when Beijing will respond by augmenting Hong Kong law enforcement with the mainland Chinese army, though doing so would almost certainly exacerbate the trade dispute between the United States and China.
Discrimination Police On the Hunt Against Apple For Credit Discrepancies
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) cofounder Steve Wozniak has revealed that the company he founded offered him 10 times the credit limit as his wife even though she has a higher credit score and the two of them share all accounts and finances. Another tech entrepreneur David Hansson wrote that Apple Card offered him twenty times the credit limit as his wife. Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) also appears to be in hot water over this as the bank administers the card. Apple responded that credit limits are determined by an algorithm. This either proves that there is no discrimination and that there is an actual economic reason for this, or that sexism has somehow penetrated inorganic non-sentient mathematical formulae somehow. It is virtually assured that most will assume the latter in an attempt to get Apple and Goldman to pay something to the victims of the perceived algorithm-instigated sexist injustice.
