Raphael Stevens

More stories

  • 175 Shares109 Views

    in Business

    Coal investments set to rise 10% this year as nations fret over energy security

    Sustainable Energy

    Sustainable Energy
    TV Shows

    The latest version of the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Investment report said clean energy investment is set to exceed $1.4 trillion this year and account for “almost three-quarters of the growth in overall energy investment.”
    While the agency welcomed this, it pointed to the huge amount of work that lies ahead.
    “We cannot afford to ignore either today’s global energy crisis or the climate crisis, but the good news is that we do not need to choose between them — we can tackle both at the same time,” said the agency’s executive director, Fatih Birol.

    Coal and a wind turbine in Hohenhameln, Germany, on April 11, 2022. A number of major economies have formulated plans to reduce their reliance on Russian hydrocarbons in recent months.
    Mia Bucher | Picture Alliance | Getty Images

    Global energy investment is on course to jump by more than 8% in 2022 and hit $2.4 trillion, with a notable uptick for coal supply chains, but far more money will be required if climate-related goals are to be met, according to the International Energy Agency.
    Published Wednesday, the latest version of the IEA’s World Energy Investment report said clean energy investment is set to exceed $1.4 trillion this year and account for “almost three-quarters of the growth in overall energy investment.”

    While the agency welcomed this, it pointed to the huge amount of work that lies ahead.
    “The annual average growth rate in clean energy investment in the five years after the signature of the Paris Agreement in 2015 was just over 2%,” it said.
    Since 2020, that rate had grown to 12%. The IEA described that as “well short of what is required to hit international climate goals, but nonetheless an important step in the right direction.”
    The IEA’s executive director, Fatih Birol, highlighted the challenges and opportunities the planet faces, given the current situation.

    Read more about energy from CNBC Pro

    “We cannot afford to ignore either today’s global energy crisis or the climate crisis, but the good news is that we do not need to choose between them — we can tackle both at the same time,” he said.

    Birol added that a “massive surge in investment to accelerate clean energy transitions” is “the only lasting solution.”
    “This kind of investment is rising, but we need a much faster increase to ease the pressure on consumers from high fossil fuel prices, make our energy systems more secure, and get the world on track to reach our climate goals.”

    Unevenly distributed spending

    While the investment was welcomed, a statement accompanying the IEA’s report noted that the increase in clean energy spending is unevenly distributed, with advanced economies and China accounting for the majority.
    On top of this, it said some markets are seeing high prices and concerns related to energy security are prompting “higher investment in fossil fuel supplies, most notably on coal.”
    According to the IEA’s report, 2021 saw roughly $105 billion invested what it called the “coal supply chain.” That represented a rise of 10% compared with 2020. It’s forecasting that the industry will likely follow a similar path this year.
    “Global coal supply investment is expected to grow by another 10% in 2022 as tight supply continues to attract new projects,” it said. “At over USD 80 billion, China and India are anticipated to make up the bulk of global coal investment in 2022.”
    The U.S. Energy Information Administration lists a range of emissions from the combustion of coal. These include carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, particulates and nitrogen oxides.
    Greenpeace, for its part, has described coal as “the dirtiest, most polluting way of producing energy.”

    Challenging global environment

    The IEA’s report comes at a time of rising inflation, a sustained surge in oil and gas prices, and geopolitical tensions related to the Russia-Ukraine war.
    Those factors have created a hugely challenging environment for businesses, governments and consumers. The energy sector is no different.
    “Almost half of the additional USD 200 billion in capital investment in 2022 is likely to be eaten up by higher costs, rather than bringing additional energy supply capacity or savings,” the IEA said.
    It added that the costs of solar panels and wind turbines — technologies crucial to the energy transition — are now “up by between 10% and 20% since 2020” after a period of decline.
    People around the world are also feeling the pinch: The total energy bill for consumers in 2022 looks set to exceed $10 trillion for the first time, the IEA’s report said.  

    More from CNBC Climate:

    “High prices are encouraging some countries to step up fossil fuel investment,” the report stated, “as they seek to secure and diversify their sources of supply.”
    A number of major economies have formulated plans to reduce their reliance on Russian hydrocarbons in recent months, which has in turn led to some challenging situations.
    In Europe, for example, reduced flows of Russian gas and the specter of a full supply disruption have prompted some governments to consider a return to coal.
    Germany, Italy, Austria and the Netherlands have all indicated coal-fired plants could be used to compensate for a cut in Russian gas supplies.
    —CNBC’s Sam Meredith contributed to this report More

  • 163 Shares199 Views

    in Business

    China's electric vehicle battery supply chain shows signs of forced labor, report says

    Chinese companies that produce raw materials for electric vehicle batteries show signs of using forced labor, according to a report from The New York Times.
    Xinjiang Nonferrous Metal Industry is a company that produces minerals and metals, including lithium, nickel and copper. It has exported metals to the U.S., Germany, U.K., Japan and India, the Times reported.
    The report was published on the eve of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act taking effect in the United States. The legislation bans goods made with forced labor in Xinjiang from entering the U.S. market.

    Hundreds of Uyghurs are working for a mining conglomerate that produces raw materials for electric vehicles as part of a so-called work transfer program in China, the New York Times reported.
    Shen Longquan | Visual China Group | Getty Images

    Chinese companies that produce raw materials for electric vehicle batteries show indications of using forced labor, according to a report from The New York Times.
    The newspaper reported that mining conglomerate Xinjiang Nonferrous Metal Industry employs hundreds of Uyghurs, an ethnic minority in China, as part of a so-called work transfer program.

    The Times reported China has acknowledged running such a program that moves Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities from the south of Xinjiang to the north to work in industrial jobs.
    The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.
    The U.S. State Department previously noted, citing an independent researcher, that transferred workers are at risk of being subjected to forced labor. It has also previously cited Chinese academic publications that “described labor transfers as a crucial means to fragment Uyghur society and mitigate the ‘negative’ impact of religion.”
    In social media posts translated by the Times, Xinjiang Nonferrous said workers from mostly Muslim minorities were lectured on “eradicating religious extremism” and becoming workers who “embraced their Chinese nationhood.”
    Chinese authorities have repeatedly denied that the country imprisons or enslaves Uyghurs. On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said the claims of forced labor in Xinjiang are a “huge lie made up by anti-China forces to denigrate China.” He said the rights of workers of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang are duly protected.

    Xinjiang Nonferrous Metal Industry produces minerals and metals, including lithium, nickel and copper. It has exported metals to the United States, Germany, U.K., Japan and India, the Times reported. It’s unclear whether these relationships are ongoing, however, the New York Times reported.
    The report was published on the eve of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act taking effect in the United States. The legislation bans goods made with forced labor in Xinjiang from entering the U.S. market.
    The Times reported that thousands of companies could have some link to Xinjiang in their supply chains. If fully enforced, many products, including some needed for electric vehicles, may be stopped at the border.
    Read the full report in the New York Times.

    WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

  • 163 Shares199 Views

    in Business

    Inflation won't come down anytime soon if Tuesday's rally lasts, Jim Cramer warns

    Monday – Friday, 6:00 – 7:00 PM ET

    CNBC’s Jim Cramer said that Tuesday’s market gains need to come down in order for the Federal Reserve to beat inflation as soon as possible.
    “Right now, the best outcome would be for the averages to come down quickly, so [Fed Chair Jay Powell] can get it over with,” the “Mad Money” host said.

    CNBC’s Jim Cramer said that Tuesday’s market gains need to come down in order for the Federal Reserve to beat inflation as soon as possible.
    “Right now, the best outcome would be for the averages to come down quickly, so [Fed Chair Jay Powell] can get it over with,” he said.

    “Powell had better hope this run won’t last, or else those beach house prices, new construction jobs, Lennar homes, processed food stocks and oil prices won’t be going down and staying down anytime soon,” he added, referring to the homebuilder’s warning in its latest earnings call that buyers have pushed back against current housing prices with sales slowing in some markets.
    Stocks rose on Tuesday after the market was closed on Monday due to the Juneteenth holiday. While the rally was a welcome reprieve for investors after last week’s declines, many fear the comeback will be short-lived as recession fears loom over Wall Street.
    Cramer said that while he’s normally in favor of higher stock prices, the Fed needs the market to decline for inflation to also come down. The reason, he said, is that a downturned market will curb spending and keep people in the labor market.

    Stock picks and investing trends from CNBC Pro:

    “In recent years, bountiful gains in the stock market have allowed the winners to spend like crazy,” he said. 
    “If Powell can get this market to go down and stay down, repealing much of those gains, then the rich are less likely to spend aggressively and a lot of people are more likely to remain in the workforce when they might otherwise have retired,” he added.

    WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

  • 163 Shares169 Views

    in Finance

    Stock futures slip after markets claw back some losses from weeks of selling

    U.S. stock index futures fell slightly overnight Tuesday after the major averages jumped in regular trading hours, attempting to claw back some losses following weeks of selling.
    Futures contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 88 points or 0.29%, while S&P 500 futures declined 0.25%. Nasdaq 100 futures dipped 0.27%.

    During regular trading Tuesday, the Dow surged 641 points, or 2.15%. The S&P 500 added 2.45%, turning in its best day since May 4. The jump comes after the benchmark index slumped 5.79% last week in its worst weekly performance since March 2020.
    The Nasdaq Composite advanced 2.51% on Tuesday, following its tenth week of losses in the last 11 weeks.
    Growing fears that the economy will tip into a recession have recently weighed on stocks. The Federal Reserve last week hiked interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point, the central bank’s largest rate increase since 1994.
    The move came as the Fed tries to cool inflation, which has surged to a 40-year high.
    “We don’t see a U.S. or global recession in ’22 or ’23 in our base case, but it’s clear that the risks of a hard landing are rising,” UBS said Tuesday in a note to clients.

    “Even if the economy does slip into a recession, however, it should be a shallow one given the strength of consumer and bank balance sheets,” the firm added.

    Stock picks and investing trends from CNBC Pro:

    Goldman Sachs, meantime, believes a recession is becoming increasingly likely for the U.S. economy, saying that the risks of a recession are “higher and more front-loaded.”
    “The main reasons are that our baseline growth path is now lower and that we are increasingly concerned that the Fed will feel compelled to respond forcefully to high headline inflation and consumer inflation expectations if energy prices rise further, even if activity slows sharply,” the firm said in a note to clients.
    Tuesday’s rally begs the question of whether the action is short-term relief after weeks of selling, or a meaningful change in sentiment. Tuesday’s strength was broad-based. All 11 S&P sectors registered gains on the day, with energy leading the way, climbing 5.8%.
    “Our expectations are that market volatility will likely persist near term until the actions taken by the Federal Reserve thus far…and the actions it takes going forward have had time to work through the system,” Oppenheimer said Tuesday in a note to clients.
    Fed Chair Jerome Powell will appear before Congress on Wednesday, kicking off two days of testimony. On the earnings front, KB Home will post results after the market closes on Wednesday.

    WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

  • 88 Shares129 Views

    in Business

    Cramer's lightning round: I like MP Materials

    Monday – Friday, 6:00 – 7:00 PM ET

    It’s that time again! “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer rings the lightning round bell, which means he’s giving his answers to callers’ stock questions at rapid speed.

    Loading chart…

    American Airlines Group Inc: “Long term, I don’t like the airline. Short term, this stock is too low, given the fact that people are traveling.”

    Loading chart…

    Marathon Oil Corp: “I like Marathon, because I like the oils. … Don’t get greedy. [Buy].”

    Loading chart…

    Loading chart…

    Loading chart…

    Loading chart…

    T Rowe Price Group Inc: “This company is radically undervalued because it happens to be an excellent company, incredibly well-run, with a good yield.”

    WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

  • 225 Shares159 Views

    in Finance

    Beyonce's 'Break My Soul' is a sign the Great Resignation 'has seeped into the zeitgeist,' says labor economist

    Beyonce released a new single, “Break My Soul,” on Monday. The song talks about quitting a job and worker burnout, alluding to the pandemic era’s Great Resignation labor trend.
    The track is a continuation of other mainstream discussions around quitting in the age of Covid-19, such as so-called “Quit-Toks” on social media site TikTok.

    Beyoncé released a new single, “Break My Soul,” on Monday. The song references quitting a job and employee stress, alluding to the recent Great Resignation trend.
    Larry Busacca | PW18 | Getty Images

    The Great Resignation is part of the zeitgeist. If you need proof, just ask Beyonce.
    The superstar singer’s new single, “Break My Soul,” which was released Monday night, taps into the worker malaise that has helped lead to a record number of Americans quitting their jobs. It’s the first song from her seventh studio album, Renaissance, set to drop on July 29.

    Beyonce’s ode to leaving your job is the latest cultural reference to the Great Resignation labor trend that began in spring 2021, around the time the U.S. economy was reopening more broadly after its pandemic-era lull.
    Since then, Americans have used social media site TikTok to quit their jobs publicly, in so-called “Quit-Toks.” In a popular Reddit forum, users have shared stories about quitting and resignation text messages to bosses.
    “It’s been interesting the extent to which the phenomenon has seeped into the zeitgeist,” Nick Bunker, an economist at job site Indeed, said of the Great Resignation.
    Beyonce’s track “is one instance of a broader public awareness or discussion about people quitting their jobs, which is reflective of what’s happening in the labor market and society,” Bunker said.
    More from Personal Finance:How parents are coping with the rising cost of child careTax pros ‘very skeptical’ about expanded IRS voice bots80% of economists see ‘stagflation’ as a long-term risk

    ‘Beyonce wants us to quit our jobs’

    “Break My Soul” ranked No. 1 on the iTunes Top 100 songs chart on Tuesday, according to PopVortex.
    In the song’s first verse, Queen Bey riffs on employee burnout over a driving house beat:
    “And I just quit my job / I’m gonna find new drive / Damn they work me so damn hard / Work by nine / Then off past five / And they work my nerves / That’s why I cannot sleep at night.”
    Shortly after, Beyonce uses a vocal sample from Big Freedia’s 2014 song “Explode” to reiterate that theme:
    “Release ya anger, release ya mind / Release ya job, release the time / Release ya trade, release the stress / Release the love, forget the rest.”

    Many fans called out allusions to the Great Resignation on social media Tuesday. “An hour into the work day and I see why Beyonce told me to quit my job,” one wrote on Twitter. “Beyonce telling me to quit my full time job and become a full time streamer and like … I might … just do it …??” another tweeted.
    Fiverr, which offers services to freelancers, used the song as a launch pad for marketing, tweeting: “Beyonce wants us to quit our jobs and make a living on our own terms. You heard the woman.”

    Burnout, pay continue to fuel the Great Resignation

    Audtakorn Sutarmjam / Eyeem | Eyeem | Getty Images

    More than 47 million people voluntarily left their jobs last year, an all-time record, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
    The torrid pace continued into 2022. More than 4.4 million people quit in March, a monthly record; a similar number did so in April, the latest month for which federal data is available.
    Anthony Klotz, the University College London School of Management associate professor who coined the trend’s nickname when he taught at Texas A&M University, recently cited widespread burnout among workers as one of four pandemic-related factors driving elevated levels of quitting.
    More time at home gave workers an opportunity to reevaluate their priorities and values, and employees are reluctant to give up remote work.

    The overarching story of the last two years is more [one] of workers finding more opportunities and seizing them rather than due to burnout and abandoning work at large.

    Nick Bunker
    economist at Indeed

    “Research shows over and again that people are quitting not because their jobs aren’t well paid enough but because their jobs aren’t meaningful or fulfilling enough,” according to a recent report by Korn Ferry, a global organizational consulting firm.  
    Pay does seem to play a role for many workers — and some economists think it’s a key driver.
    Hourly wages jumped by 6.1% in May relative to a year earlier, the biggest annual increase in at least 25 years, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    The dynamic results from record levels of demand for workers, which has pushed businesses to compete for scarce talent by raising pay, especially in certain industries such as leisure and hospitality (bars, restaurants, hotels) and retail.

    Job openings are near all-time highs; workers have capitalized on that availability to quit their current roles and take new, higher-paying gigs, Bunker said.
    “The overarching story of the last two years is more [one] of workers finding more opportunities and seizing them rather than due to burnout and abandoning work at large,” Bunker said.
    In the past, burned-out workers may not have felt they had the power to quit a job and readily find a new one, he added.  
    Low pay and a lack of opportunity for advancement tied as the primary motivations for workers to leave a job in 2021, followed by feeling disrespected at work, according to Pew Research Center.

    How a cooling job market may affect resignations

    Whatever the reason, the wave of resignations seems to be fueling stress and dissatisfaction among remaining staff members — which may, in turn, contribute to more resignations, especially if labor market conditions remain favorable for workers.
    More than half (52%) of employees who chose to stay after a colleague’s exit reported taking on more work and responsibilities, according to a Society for Human Resource Management survey.
    Nearly a third of them struggle to get necessary work done, 27% feel less loyalty to their organization, 28% feel more lonely or isolated, and 55% wonder if their pay is high enough, according to the survey, published in October.

    Of course, there are indications the job market may cool down this year — and, possibly with it, the Great Resignation trend.
    For one, the Federal Reserve is raising borrowing costs for consumers and businesses in a bid to slow the economy and tame high inflation, which has been eroding the average consumers’ purchasing power despite higher wages. The U.S. central bank is forecasting a slight increase in unemployment as a result of its policy.

    WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

  • 163 Shares169 Views

    in Business

    Why Jim Cramer thinks owning Sweetgreen stock is ‘a recipe for portfolio destruction'

    Monday – Friday, 6:00 – 7:00 PM ET

    CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Tuesday warned investors not to invest in Sweetgreen, saying the stock is unlikely to perform well in an inflationary environment.
    “You’re fighting the [Federal Reserve] and the tape if you try to bottom fish in this one, and that’s a recipe for portfolio destruction,” the “Mad Money” host said.

    CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Tuesday warned investors not to invest in Sweetgreen, saying the stock is unlikely to perform well in an inflationary environment.
    “This is a bear market, not a bull market. …  In a bear market, you do not stick your neck out to pick at hated stocks,” he said.

    “Right now, Wall Street loves earnings, cash flow, dividends. Sweetgreen’s got none of these things. You’re fighting the [Federal Reserve] and the tape if you try to bottom fish in this one, and that’s a recipe for portfolio destruction,” the “Mad Money” host added.
    Cramer didn’t mince words when laying out why he believes the company’s stock is uninvestable. He reminded viewers the company’s pricey salads are unlikely to sell in an inflationary environment. 
    The possibility of a recession or a new Covid-19 variant also makes him wary of the stock, he added.
    “Sweetgreen’s an unprofitable growth story. …. I told you to avoid this stock when it came public. Told you again to avoid it in December, when it was trading at $33. Nothing that’s happened in the last six months has made me change my mind,” Cramer said.
    Shares of Sweetgreen fell 2.3% to $11.86 on Tuesday.

    Sign up now for the CNBC Investing Club to follow Jim Cramer’s every move in the market.
    Disclaimer

    Questions for Cramer?Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC
    Want to take a deep dive into Cramer’s world? Hit him up!Mad Money Twitter – Jim Cramer Twitter – Facebook – Instagram
    Questions, comments, suggestions for the “Mad Money” website? [email protected]

    WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More

  • 213 Shares149 Views

    in Business

    SpaceX ramps up FCC battle over broadband usage the company says poses an existential threat to Starlink

    SpaceX on Tuesday ramped up a battle over broadband regulations with Dish Network and an affiliate of billionaire Michael Dell.
    Elon Musk’s company called for the FCC to address lingering disputes over broadband use that could interfere with its Starlink satellite internet network.
    At the heart of the dispute is use of the 12-gigahertz band, a range of frequency used for broadband communications and the frequency’s ability to support both ground-based and space-based services.

    SpaceX CEO Elon Musk speaking about the Starlink project at MWC hybrid Keynote during the second day of Mobile World Congress on June 29, 2021 in Barcelona, Spain.
    Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images

    WASHINGTON — Elon Musk’s SpaceX on Tuesday ramped up a battle over broadband regulations with Dish Network and an affiliate of billionaire Michael Dell, calling for the FCC to address lingering disputes over broadband use that could interfere with its Starlink satellite internet network.
    At the heart of the dispute is use of the 12-gigahertz band, a range of frequency used for broadband communications, and the frequency’s ability to support both ground-based and space-based services.

    In January 2021, the Federal Communications Commission issued a notice asking for comment on how to best use the 12-gigahertz band. Dish and RS Access, funded by Dell’s investment firm, published studies arguing that ground-based 5G networks could share the frequency with low Earth orbit satellite networks, such as Starlink or OneWeb.
    SpaceX filed its analysis of the Dish and RS Access studies on Tuesday, claiming it needed to correct what it called “some of the most egregious assumptions” in the reports, arguing Starlink users would see interference to the point of causing service outages for customers “74% of the time.”
    Musk’s company called on the FCC “to investigate whether DISH and RS Access filed intentionally misleading reports,” noting that the studies did not match findings from Dish two years earlier that called sharing usage “not viable.”
    A Dish spokesperson told CNBC that the company’s “expert engineers are evaluating SpaceX’s claims in the filing.”
    SpaceX isn’t alone in opposing a potential expansion of 12-gigahertz use. Telecom companies, such as AT&T, tech giants Google and Microsoft, as well as satellite network operators such as Intelsat, OneWeb and SES, all filed comments with the federal agency opposing the change.

    Senior SpaceX representatives told CNBC the company hopes its analysis will persuade the FCC to see that a decision in favor of Dish and RS Access poses what amounts to an existential threat to the company’s Starlink network.
    “Leaving the proceeding open any longer simply cannot be justified for policy or technical reasons. Over the six years the Commission has let this proceeding fester, satellite operators have been forced to spend countless hours of engineering time responding to frivolous arguments by DISH and RS Access,” SpaceX senior director of satellite policy David Goldman wrote in a letter to the FCC on Tuesday.
    SpaceX has launched about 2,700 Starlink satellites into orbit to date, with nearly 500,000 users and its manufacturing line is producing about 30,000 satellite dishes per week.
    The FCC declined CNBC’s request for comment on when it expects to issue a decision on the 12-gigahertz band.

    Spectrum rights

    Dish Networks exhibit at CES 2016 in Las Vegas.
    Justin Solomon | CNBC

    Dish and RS Access lead a coalition of companies that hold terrestrial FCC licenses in the 12-gigahertz band, with the pair of entities representing the two largest holders in that spectrum range. While Dish is most commonly known for providing satellite television services, the company has acquired broad swaths of spectrum.
    For years, Dish has contended that it would make use of its valuable spectrum rights. Recently, with an FCC deadline looming, Dish rolled out its “Project Genesis” network of 5G service, which the company says fulfilled a government requirement to offer service to over 20% of the U.S. population. Whether Dish’s network actually achieves that threshold is a matter of dispute, according to The Verge’s testing of the service.
    “DISH has never lived up to its repeated promises to deploy a new terrestrial network using the exclusive licenses already stored up in its warehouses — the Commission simply cannot gift more spectrum to any operator with this track record of broken promises and stranded consumers,” Goldman wrote in SpaceX’s letter to the FCC.
    Dish did not immediately comment on the Project Genesis network in response to CNBC.
    Dish has faced FCC repercussions over spectrum rights before. In an unrelated ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals on Tuesday, a federal judge upheld an FCC determination that Dish held “de facto control” over two other companies, Bloomberg reported. The arrangement violated spectrum auction rules by acquiring $3.3 billion in bidding credits that were intended for small businesses, according to the report.
    Read SpaceX’s letter to the FCC here.

    WATCH LIVEWATCH IN THE APP More