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    Hoda Kotb announces she is leaving NBC’s ‘TODAY’ show

    Anchor Hoda Kotb announced she will be leaving NBC’s TODAY show early next year, in a letter to staff on Thursday.
    Kotb first joined NBC News in 1998 as a correspondent for “Dateline” before leading the fourth hour of TODAY in 2007.
    The veteran journalist said she will not be leaving NBC, though she did not specify in what role she will stay.

    Hoda Kotb on the set of the TODAY Show on Friday, April 12, 2024,
    Nathan Congleton | Nbcuniversal | Getty Images

    Hoda Kotb will be leaving her role as a co-anchor on NBC’s “TODAY” show early next year, she announced in a letter to staff on Thursday.
    “As I write this, my heart is all over the map,” she wrote. “I know I’m making the right decision, but it’s a painful one. And you all are the reason why. They say two things can be right at the same time, and I’m feeling that so deeply right now. I love you and it’s time for me to leave the show.”

    Kotb first joined NBC News in 1998 as a correspondent, regularly appearing on “Dateline.” In 2007, she became the inaugural host of the fourth hour of “TODAY,” later joined by Kathie Lee Gifford and then Jenna Bush Hager. She also became the co-anchor of the show’s 7:00 a.m. ET hour with Savannah Guthrie in 2018. They were the first all-women pair to anchor the news program.
    In the letter, the veteran journalist thanked the “TODAY” staff and wrote that her 60th birthday celebration on the show in August was a sign that she was ready for her next chapter.
    Kotb said she will be staying within NBCUniversal, though she did not specify in what capacity.
    “Happily and gratefully, I plan to remain a part of the NBC family, the longest work relationship I’ve been lucky enough to hold close to my heart,” she wrote. “I’ll be around. How could I not? Family is family and you all will always be a part of mine.”
    Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC and NBC, which broadcasts TODAY. More

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    Google backs a startup that aims to bring mixed reality to any car windshield or plane cockpit

    Distance Technologies, a Helsinki-based mixed-reality startup, raised 10 million euros ($11.1 million) of funding in a round led by GV, the venture capital arm of Alphabet.
    The company says its technology can turn any transparent surface into an augmented-reality display, meaning that the user can view 3D digital objects overlayed on top of the panel they’re viewing.
    Distance says its system is capable of “infinite” pixel depth, allowing it to create a life-size field of view in any setting — whether behind the wheel of a car or flying an F-18 fighter jet.

    Distance Technologies develops a product that it says can turn any transparent surface into an augmented-reality display.
    Distance Technologies

    Distance Technologies, a Finnish startup that aims to bring mixed-reality technology to any car windshield or plane cockpit, has raised 10 million euros ($11.1 million) of funding from GV, the venture capital arm of Alphabet and other investors.
    Distance raised the cash injection in a seed round led by GV, with existing investors FOV Ventures and Maki.vc also stumping up more cash for the startup, the company told CNBC on Thursday.

    Helsinki-headquartered Distance develops technology that it says can turn any transparent surface into an augmented-reality display, enabling the user to see 3D digital objects overlayed on top of the panel they’re viewing.
    This avoids the need for any clunky hardware, like a mixed reality headset or augmented reality glasses, both of which require a user to pull an actual device over their eyes to immerse themselves in the experience.
    “One of the great barriers for mixed-reality is that, as long as you need to put something on your head, it will never be effortless or elegant as a solution,” Urho Konttori, CEO and co-founder of Distance, told CNBC in an interview earlier this week. Konttori was formerly chief technology officer of Varjo, another Helsinki-based mixed-reality firm.
    Distance is primarily focused on selling into the auto, aerospace and defense markets.

    The way Distance works is by using tracking technology to identify where you are looking and then compute the correct light field to match the exact positions of your eyes, according to Konttori.

    Distance’s solution adds a set of optics layers on top of most liquid crystal displays (LCDs), which allow its tech to beam an image onto the places where your eyes are focusing.
    Using this technique, Distance can separate the light fields into your left and right eyes, while also creating an additional optical layer underneath that creates a high brightness.
    Distance says its system is capable of “infinite” pixel depth, meaning it can create a life-size field of view in any setting — whether behind the wheel of a car or flying an F-18 fighter jet.
    GV, which was formerly known as Google Ventures and counts the internet search giant’s holding company Alphabet as its sole limited partner, told CNBC that it was attracted to invest in Distance due to the “potential to build the next-generation of user interfaces.”
    “We are particularly excited about how some of the nearer-term pathways to bring this to market in automotive and aerospace allow the potential for users to get their hands on this technology,” Roni Hiranand, principal at GV, told CNBC.
    Commercializing mixed reality isn’t an easy feat. For one, mixed-reality devices are still expensive. Apple’s Vision Pro and Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 devices both start at $3,500 — and they’re not cheap to make, either. A new AR glasses concept device Meta unveiled Wednesday reportedly cost the firm $10,000 per unit to make, according to The Verge.
    Meta was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.

    Augmented reality heads-up displays, or HUDs, aren’t a new phenomenon in the automotive industry. Companies have been working to add AR features to cars for several years, with tech giant Huawei among the early movers to pioneer the tech in China.
    A slew of other display technology firms are developing their own AR HUDs for cars, including First International Computer, Spectralics, Envisics, Futurus, CY Vision, Raythink, Denso, Bosch, Continental, and Panasonic.
    According to Distance Technologies Chief Marketing Officer Jussi Mäkinen, the company’s system can cover the entire surface of any transparent surface, not just a specific corner or the bottom half of a display — a limitation that most automotive AR HUDs are facing today.
    “The main difference here is that we are driven by the software,” Mäkinen told CNBC.
    The company previously showcased a proof-of-concept version of its technology at the Augmented World Expo USA 2024 mixed-reality industry trade show in June.
    For now, Distance has had to use simple optics and normal LCD displays to demonstrate its technology to prospective partners and investors. Going forward, Konttori said he’s getting ready to push a “very expensive” button: advancing Distance’s optics technology into what he calls the next generation early next year.
    “I would say that we have been in the research cycle now,” Distance’s CEO said. “Now, we are switching into the product cycle. And the key thing to do is work with somebody who will become your customer … one or two to work very closely with, and then a finalized product specification.” More

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    China’s Xi and top leaders call for halting real estate decline, responding to public concerns

    China aims to stop the property slump, top leaders said Thursday in a readout of a high-level meeting published by state media.
    While the meeting did not provide many details, it is significant for a country where policy directives are increasingly determined at the very top.
    Stocks in mainland China and Hong Kong extended gains after the news to close sharply higher.

    Builders step up construction in Yuexi County, Anqing city, Anhui province, China, on Sept 25, 2024.
    Cfoto | Future Publishing | Getty Images

    BEIJING — China aims to stop the property slump, top leaders said Thursday in a readout of a high-level meeting published by state media.
    Authorities “must work to halt the real estate market decline and spur a stable recovery,” the readout said in Chinese, translated by CNBC. It also called for “responding to concerns of the masses.”

    Chinese President Xi Jinping led Thursday’s meeting of the Politburo, the second-highest circle of power in the ruling Chinese Communist Party, state media said.
    The readout said leaders called for strengthening fiscal and monetary policy support, and touched on a swath of issues from employment to the aging population. It did not specify the timeframe or scale of any measures.
    “I take the messages from this meeting as a positive step,” Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, said in an email to CNBC. “It takes time to formulate a comprehensive fiscal package to address the economic challenges, [and] the meeting took one step in that direction.”
    Stocks in mainland China and Hong Kong extended gains after the news to close sharply higher on Thursday. An index of Chinese property stocks in Hong Kong surged by nearly 12%.

    Real estate once accounted for more than a quarter of China’s economy. The sector has slumped since Beijing’s crackdown in 2020 on developers’ high levels of debt. But the decline has also cut into local government revenue and household wealth.

    China’s broader economic growth has slowed, raising concerns about whether it can reach the full-year GDP target of around 5% without additional stimulus. Just days after the U.S. cut interest rates, the People’s Bank of China on Tuesday announced a slew of planned interest rate cuts and real estate support. Stocks rose, but analysts cautioned the economy still needed fiscal support.
    Official data shows real estate’s decline has moderated slightly in recent months. The value of new homes sold fell by 23.6% for the year through August, slightly better than the 24.3% drop year-to-date as of July.
    Average home prices fell by 6.8% in August from the prior month on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to Goldman Sachs. That was a modest improvement from a 7.6% decline in July.
    “Bottom-out stabilization in the housing market will be a prerequisite for households to take action and break the ‘wait-and-see’ cycle,” Yue Su, principal economist China, at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said in a note. “This suggests that the policy priority is not to boost housing prices to create a wealth effect, but to encourage households to make purchases. This real estate policy is aiming at reducing its drag on the economy.”

    Thursday’s meeting called for limiting growth in housing supply, increasing loans for whitelisted projects and reducing the interest on existing mortgages. The People’s Bank of China on Tuesday said forthcoming cuts should lower the mortgage payment burden by 150 billion yuan ($21.37 billion) a year.
    While Thursday’s meeting did not provide many details, it is significant for a country where policy directives are increasingly determined at the very top.
    The high-level meeting reflects the setting of an “overall policy,” as there previously wasn’t a single meeting to sum up the measures, Bank of China’s chief researcher Zong Liang said in Mandarin, translated by CNBC.
    He noted how the meeting follows the market’s positive response to the policy announcements earlier in the week. Zong expects Beijing to increase support, noting a shift from focus on stability to taking action.

    Tempering growth expectations

    The meeting readout said China would “work hard to complete” the country’s full-year economic targets.
    That’s less aggressive than the Politburo meeting in July, when the readout said China would work to achieve those goals “at all costs,” according to Bruce Pang, chief economist and head of research for Greater China at JLL.
    That shows policymakers are looking for middle ground between short-term growth and longer-term efforts to address structural issues, he said.

    Goldman Sachs and other firms have trimmed their growth forecasts in the last few weeks.
    The change in tone about the economic targets signals “the government may tolerate growth below 5%,” the EIU’s Su said. “We estimate real economic growth to be around 4.7% in 2024, before slowing down to 4.5% (a moderate upward revision to our previous forecast).”
    “The Politburo meetings on economic deployment usually take place in April, July, and October,” she said.
    “The fact that this meeting was held earlier, along with the emphasis on stabilizing growth, reflects policymakers’ concerns about the current economic growth trend.”
    Initial analyst reactions to Thursday’s meeting readout were varied.
    HSBC said “the tide has turned; be prepared for more proactive initiatives.” Capital Economics, on the other hand, said Beijing’s hint at stimulus did not make it clear whether it would include large-scale fiscal support.
    S&P Global Ratings analysts said in a report earlier this year that fiscal stimulus is losing its effectiveness in China and is more of a strategy to buy time for longer-term goals.
    Senior officials in the summer told reporters that the economy needed to endure necessary “pain” as it transitioned to one of higher-quality growth with a bigger high-tech industry.
    — CNBC’s Sonia Heng contributed to this report. More

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    Why the Federal Reserve is split on the future of interest rates

    A single dissent on the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate committee garnered plenty of attention last week. Understandably so. It marked the first time since 2005 that a Fed governor had opposed a rate decision. Michelle Bowman’s disagreement highlighted concerns that a half-percentage-point cut might be excessive for an economy yet to vanquish inflation. Nevertheless, her 11 other voting colleagues all supported the cut—an indication of near-total unanimity on where the Fed should set rates today. More

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    A Wall Street state of mind has captured America

    At what time and place should you meet a stranger in New York if you cannot communicate with them beforehand? This hypothetical puzzle was first posed by Thomas Schelling, a game theorist, in 1960, as a method of explaining “focal points”—the solution people default to when co-ordinating if they are unable to converse. The most common answer, according to students he quizzed, was noon at “the information booth in Grand Central Station”. More

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    Is the world sleepwalking into another gas crisis?

    Gastech, a recent gas-industry jamboree in Houston, was full of enthusiasm. Amid a blizzard of deals by energy ministers and fossil-fuel giants, delegates cheered: their product is set for a starring role in the green transition. Yet there was uncertainty, too. Opprobrium was heaped on President Joe Biden, who has paused permits for American export terminals of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Insiders also worry that the global lng market, which became vital to Europe and Asia after the war in Ukraine began, could soon face its first true test. With demand rising and supply failing to come on stream, a new scramble for gas could be in the offing. More

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    How lower American interest rates will boost Africa

    Egypt is gearing up to return to international debt markets for the first time in three years. Last week Ahmed Kouchouk, the country’s finance minister, is reported to have told investors that his government is hoping to raise around $3bn in external debt over the coming months. Much of this borrowing will take the form of so-called Eurobonds, one of the world’s worst-named financial instruments. More

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    France’s biggest lender says there are ‘too many’ European banks as UniCredit moves on Commerzbank

    BNP Paribas Chief Financial Officer Lars Machenil on Thursday voiced his support for greater integration in Europe’s banking sector.
    His comments come as Italy’s UniCredit ups the ante on its apparent takeover attempt of Germany’s Commerzbank, while Spain’s BBVA continues to actively pursue its domestic rival, Banco Sabadell.
    “If I would ask you, how many banks are there in Europe, your right answer would be too many,” Machenil said.

    A sign on the exterior of a BNP Paribas SA bank branch in Paris, France, on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024.
    Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    France’s BNP Paribas on Thursday said there are simply too many European lenders for the region to be able to compete with rivals from the U.S. and Asia, calling for the creation of more homegrown heavyweight banking champions.
    Speaking to CNBC’s Charlotte Reed at the Bank of America Financials CEO Conference, BNP Paribas Chief Financial Officer Lars Machenil voiced his support for greater integration in Europe’s banking sector.

    His comments come as Italy’s UniCredit ups the ante on its apparent takeover attempt of Germany’s Commerzbank, while Spain’s BBVA continues to actively pursue its domestic rival, Banco Sabadell.
    “If I would ask you, how many banks are there in Europe, your right answer would be too many,” Machenil said.
    “If we are very fragmented in activity, therefore the competition is not the same thing as what you might see in other regions. So … you basically should get that consolidation and get that going,” he added.

    Milan-based UniCredit has ratcheted up the pressure on Frankfurt-based Commerzbank in recent weeks as it seeks to become the biggest investor in Germany’s second-largest lender with a 21% stake.
    UniCredit, which took a 9% stake in Commerzbank earlier this month, appears to have caught German authorities off guard with the potential multibillion-euro merger.

    German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who has previously called for greater integration in Europe’s banking sector, is firmly opposed to the apparent takeover attempt. Scholz has reportedly described UniCredit’s move as an “unfriendly” and “hostile” attack.
    Germany’s position on UniCredit’s swoop has prompted some to accuse Berlin of favoring European banking integration only on its own terms.

    Domestic consolidation

    BNP Paribas’s Machenil said that while domestic consolidation would help to stabilize uncertainty in Europe’s banking environment, cross-border integration was “still a bit further away,” citing differing systems and products.
    Asked whether this meant he believed cross-border banking mergers in Europe appeared to something of a farfetched reality, Machenil replied: “It’s two different things.”
    “I think the ones which are in a nation, economically, they make sense, and they should, economically, happen,” he continued. “When you look at really cross border. So, a bank that is based in one country only and based in another country only, that economically doesn’t make sense because there are no synergies.”
    Earlier in the year, Spanish bank BBVA shocked markets when it launched an all-share takeover offer for domestic rival Banco Sabadell.
    The head of Banco Sabadell said earlier this month that it is highly unlikely BBVA will succeed with its multi-billion-euro hostile bid, Reuters reported. And yet, BBVA CEO Onur Genç told CNBC on Wednesday that the takeover was “moving according to plan.”
    Spanish authorities, which have the power to block any merger or acquisition of a bank, have voiced their opposition to BBVA’s hostile takeover bid, citing potentially harmful effects on the county’s financial system. More