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Shaquille O’Neal attends the second preseason NBA game between Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks at Etihad Arena on October 8, 2022 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. “If you invest in things, it’s going to change people’s lives, you will definitely get a nice return,” the previous NBA star recalled Bezos sharing in a tech conference in Vegas.
Francois Nel | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal shared an investment principle he heard from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, which he says has inspired his approach ever since.
“I was at a tech conference in Vegas and I heard the great Jeff Bezos say ‘If you invest in things, it’s going to change people’s lives,’ you will definitely get a nice return,” he recalled, speaking CNBC’s Hadley Gamble in Abu Dhabi Sunday.

O’Neal added his own ten cents: “Never think about the monetary aspect … it’s not important to me.”
“It’s basically based off one principle — belief. [Do] you believe in the product? Is it gonna change people’s lives? … That’s what it is about for me,” he added.
Since retiring from his 19-year basketball career in 2011, O’Neal has seen success off the court.
The 50-year-old was an early investor in Google and has since accumulated a diverse portfolio, including investments in Apple, owning 17 Auntie Anne’s, 40 gyms and over a hundred Five Guys restaurants. He also founded his own fast food chain Big Chicken.

Can’t compete with Bezos

Just last week, the NBA Hall-Of-Famer said his investing inspiration had “scared” him away from his plans to make a bid for the ownership of the Phoenix Suns.

“You can’t compete with Jeff Bezos. I was very interested. My group was very interested,” he said.

Bezos is one of multiple billionaires reportedly considering a bid for the Suns, according to ESPN.
The Suns franchise is presently worth $1.8 billion and could sell for at least $2.5 billion, according to a Forbes report.
When asked about what investment projects pique the interest of the basketballer-turned-investor, O’Neal admitted that he gets “a lot of things on [his] desk every day.”
“Everybody wants a piece of you … And most of it we turn down,” he said. 
However, O’Neal added that the decision to inject funds usually goes through when the majority of his investment panel greenlights an idea.
“You go to the panel first. If it goes to the panel and four out of five people like it, we do it,” he said, emphasizing again that he does not let the monetary aspect of things cloud his decisions.

Controversies surrounding NBA in China

Teams playing during the basketball semifinals at Datun Village Basketball Arena in Leping township, Guizhou Province, China, Aug 2, 2022. When asked about the controversies about the NBA being in China, Shaquille O’Neal admitted that it bothers him.
CFOTO | Future Publishing | Getty Images

The dispute between China and the basketball league sparked in 2019, when then Houston Rockets executive Daryl Morey shared an image in support of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong. The post led to games being pulled off air, and Chinese companies withdrawing sponsorship from the league.
“I know in China, they really love basketball,” O’Neal said.
“And I also know for a fact that, despite what’s going on in the world, there’s two things that will always calm people down — sports and music.” More

Fedex nearly failed to get its wheels off the ground. Months after it first began delivering packages overnight in 1973, the first oil shock buffeted the global economy and the young logistics firm looked destined to fail. As the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries once again sent shock waves through the already wobbly world economy with an announcement on October 5th of a sharp cut in output, fuel prices are just one of the firm’s worries. Weak package volumes and persistently high costs caused FedEx to withdraw next year’s profit guidance in September, knocking more than a fifth, or $11bn, off its market value. FedEx has long been regarded as a bellwether for the broader economy. In a sign that this reputation is well-earned, corporate titans everywhere are now warning of profit hits as Wall Street gears up for America’s earnings season, which begins this week. No industry has been spared. On October 6th Shell, a British oil supermajor, said it expected margins in its refining and chemicals businesses to plummet. The next day Samsung, a South Korean electronics giant, cautioned that its operating profits will decline for the first time in three years. Icons of America Inc have made similar noises. Ford has blamed its expected profit squeeze on, among other things, shortages of parts for its cars. Nike is struggling to clear its bursting inventory of unsold sportswear. Even America’s tech behemoths, which are freezing hiring as advertisers tighten digital-marketing budgets and inflation-weary consumers put off buying a new smartphone, are no longer looking invulnerable. All told, forecasts for third-quarter profits for the s&p 500 index of big American firms have so far been revised down by 6.8% since June. That is more than twice as big as the average revision in the past decade. They could tumble further as actual quarterly reports begin to roll in. Expectations for next year are bound to fall. Some of the pain is down to the strong greenback, which makes foreign revenues, accounting for almost a third of the s&p 500’s total, worth less in dollars. A bigger reason is the economic slowdown. If this turns into a recession, as seems likely, bottom-lines will almost certainly suffer more, as they tend to whenever gdp contracts. Since the second world war earnings per share fell by an average of 13% around recessions, calculates Goldman Sachs, a bank.In the past few decades such cyclical dips tended to be short-lived episodes in a long bull-run for corporate profits. Powerful structural forces have been propelling earnings to one record after another, relative to gdp (see chart 1). In the last quarter they were at an all-time high. Some of these long-lived profit motors are winding down. Globalisation, which allowed firms to cut costs and become more efficient, is stalling amid geopolitical tensions. Global trade will only grow by 1% next year, the World Trade Organisation forecast on October 5th. Two days later America tightened its restrictions on the export of technology to China even further. At the same time, relentless consolidation, which has made many industries more concentrated and lucrative, may have run its course: trustbusters are no longer as relaxed as they had been about oligopolies, which anyway have accrued so much market power that it is difficult to see it rising further. More worrying for ceos, other important engines of corporate profits—rock-bottom interest rates, low taxes and stagnant wages—may be going into reverse. After years of receiving a small share of companies’ takings, lenders, governments and labour are demanding more.Historically low rates of interest and tax have contributed one-third of the s&p 500’s profit growth (excluding financial firms) in the past two decades, according to a study by Michael Smolyansky of the Federal Reserve. Both are now rising. Higher interest rates will make it costlier for companies to service their debts, which will eat into the bottom-line. To begin with, this will affect those companies—typically riskier ones—that borrowed at a floating rate. Although floating-rate debt accounts for just 11% of s&p 500 companies’ total borrowing, a slug of the remaining 89% will also need to be refinanced sooner or later—almost certainly at much higher cost. That includes $1trn-plus of investment-grade bonds issued in 2020.Just as financiers become more demanding, so too is the taxman. As appetite for deficit-funded tax cuts wanes, another Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was signed into law by Donald Trump in 2017 and slashed the statutory corporate rate from 35% to 21%, looks unlikely. The Inflation Reduction Act (ira), passed recently under Mr Trump’s Democratic successor, Joe Biden, includes a 15% minimum corporate-tax rate on profits of firms with more than $1bn in pre-tax income. In addition, earlier this year interest-expense deductions became less lenient. Goldman Sachs reckons that the new rules will reduce overall s&p 500 earnings by a modest 1% in 2023, with technology and health-care sectors hit hardest. Still, strained public finances make it likely that taxes will rise in the medium term. Adding insult to injury, the ira introduces a 1% tax on share buy-backs, indicating a political appetite to squeeze firms with nothing better to do with their profits than fork them over to shareholders. Employees, too, are tired of being squeezed. Ever since the 1970s the share of gdp going to workers has declined steadily across the rich world, even as that going to companies in the form of profits has risen. This so-called labour share spiked during the pandemic, when many companies continued to pay workers even as gdp plummeted. It came down but earlier this year remained the highest it had been since the early 2000s. Labour accounts for 40% of costs at big American firms. The actual contribution of wages to costs is far higher: after all, suppliers have to pay their own workers, too, and pass some of those costs up the value chain. Official figures for September, released on October 7th, suggest that the red-hot job market is not cooling fast enough and wages are still going up. Since pay increases are sticky, they can remain a significant drag on margins. According to ubs, a bank, labour-intensive sectors such as retail could see operating profits decline by 2% for every additional one-percentage rise in wages (see chart 2). American chief executives are less squeamish than their European counterparts about countering the combination of rising labour costs and weakening demand with lay-offs. Some are already trimming payrolls: on October 6th General Electric became the latest big firm to do so, saying it would sack 20% of staff at its American wind-turbine business. Yet they may find it harder than in the past to wield the axe. The balance of power between labour and capital is shifting. Union membership, which spent the second half of the 20th century in decline, is enjoying a small but significant revival. A Gallup poll puts public support for organised labour at its highest level since 1965. Many businesses are already feeling the heat. A walkout of 90,000 railroad workers was narrowly averted in September after unions threatened to bring railways to a standstill, which could have done $2bn-worth of damage per day to the economy. Younger workers are discovering a taste for organising—even wage rises this summer has not stopped Starbucks baristas from joining union efforts in growing numbers. ceos trying to keep them, the lenders and the government out of the profit pool have their work cut out. ■ More

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You may qualify for the 0% long-term capital gains rate for 2022 with taxable income of $41,675 or less for single filers and $83,350 or under for married couples filing jointly.
You may be in the 0% tax bracket, even with six figures of joint income with a spouse, depending on taxable income.
You calculate taxable income by subtracting the greater of the standard or itemized deductions from your adjusted gross income.

Luminola | E+ | Getty Images

It’s natural to fixate on portfolio losses, especially with the S&P 500 down more than 20% for the year.
But you may still have gains after years of growth, and the profits could qualify for a 0% tax rate, depending on your earnings.

The thresholds may be higher than you expect — even six figures of joint income for a married couple, financial experts say.

More from FA 100:

Here’s a look at more coverage of CNBC’s FA 100 list of top financial advisory firms for 2022:

Many investors think of two rates for long-term capital gains, 15% and 20%, explained Dale Brown, board chair at Salem Investment Counselors in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, which ranked sixth on CNBC’s 2022 FA 100 list.
But there are actually four rates — 0%, 15%, 20% and 23.8%, with the 3.8% surcharge for higher earners. “I’ve had clients with low six-figure incomes who paid no taxes,” Brown said. 
Here’s how: The rates use “taxable income,” calculated by subtracting the greater of the standard or itemized deductions from your adjusted gross income, which are earnings minus so-called “above-the-line” deductions.
For 2022, you may qualify for the 0% long-term capital gains rate with taxable income of $41,675 or less for single filers and $83,350 or less for married couples filing jointly.

Six-figure earners may qualify for the 0% rate  

While a couple making $100,000 may assume they don’t qualify for the 0% long-term capital gains bracket, Brown said investors need to crunch the numbers.
For example, let’s say a retired couple has $30,000 in tax-exempt interest, $25,000 of regular income and $75,000 in long-term capital gains and dividends. Their gross income is $100,000 since it doesn’t include the tax-exempt interest. 
After subtracting the standard deduction of $27,000, they’re left with $73,000 in taxable income, falling within the 0% long-term capital gains tax bracket for 2022. 

Part of your earnings may be in the 0% bracket 

Even if a couple’s taxable income is above $83,350, part of their earnings may still fall into the 0% long-term capital gains bracket, Brown said.
Let’s say the same retired couple had $30,000 in tax-exempt interest, $25,000 of regular income and $100,000 in long-term capital gains and dividends.

In this case, their gross income is $125,000 and taxable income is $98,000. Since the $27,000 standard deduction exceeds the $25,000 of regular income, the $98,000 is entirely long-term capital gains and dividends.
This means $83,350 is taxed at the 0% rate and the couple owes 15% long-term capital gains taxes on the remaining $14,650.
“That’s the benefit of the 0% bracket,” Brown said.

Consider ‘tax-gain harvesting’ in the 0% bracket

When the stock market is down, many investors focus on tax-loss harvesting, or using losses to offset other profits.
But you may also explore harvesting gains if your assets are still up from previous years, said Cory Robinson, vice president and portfolio manager at Tom Johnson Investment Management in Oklahoma City, which ranked No. 30 on the FA 100 list.
“The benefit is there are zero taxes, whether it’s dividends or capital gains” as long as you’re below the taxable income threshold, he said.

That’s the beauty of taking gains. You can immediately reinvest.

Cory Robinson
Vice president and portfolio manager at Tom Johnson Investment Management

For investors in the 0% bracket, it’s possible there’s a chance to reduce taxes on future profits.
Since taxes are based on the difference between the value upon sale and original purchase price, you can sell the profitable asset and repurchase to increase the purchase price.
“That’s the beauty of taking gains: You can immediately reinvest,” Robinson said, explaining how investors don’t need to worry about the so-called wash sale rule.
Although the wash sale rule blocks harvested losses if you buy a “substantially identical” asset within the 30-day window before or after the sale, the same rule doesn’t apply to gains, he said.

Harvesting gains during lower-earning years

Whether you’re selling assets for income or leveraging a long-term tax strategy, there may be opportunities to harvest gains during lower-earning years, Brown said.
For example, there may be an income gap if you retire but don’t immediately receive Social Security, a pension or withdrawals from pretax retirement accounts, he said.
You may also have lower taxable income during a year with a temporary job loss, Brown said.
“The most important thing is the timing,” Robinson added, explaining how it’s critical to estimate your taxable income before attempting to harvest gains. More

As retailers brace for a lackluster holiday season, they’re dangling Halloween items to pump up sales early in the crucial quarter.
Nearly 70% of Americans are planning to celebrate Halloween, the same as before the pandemic, according to a National Retail Federation survey.
Companies have taken note, with Lowe’s debuting a 12-foot mummy to compete with Home Depot’s hit skeleton, and Party City is hiring 20,000 seasonal employees.

A child looks at a halloween costume on the rack. At the Target department store in Exeter Township Tuesday afternoon for a story on halloween costumes.
Ben Hasty | Medianews Group | Getty Images

In the past few weeks, Craig Cislo dug out the spray-painted tombstones from his attic, scoured websites for a giant animated reaper and convinced his teenage son to dress as a bush to spook trick-or-treaters.
Cislo, 43, of Dallas, plans to spend about $700 for Halloween to step up his family’s front yard decorations. He has noticed more neighbors are joining in too, with large inflatables, animatronics and even an elaborate display inspired by “The Walking Dead.”

“My wife and I joke — because we take a daily walk — that we have competition this year,” he said.
As retailers brace for a lackluster holiday season, many are planning to pump up early sales in the crucial quarter by dangling a wider assortment of Halloween merchandise. Even if consumers are cutting back on spending elsewhere, they say Halloween gives people a chance to get into the holiday spirit with relatively inexpensive celebrations before Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Home Depot and Lowe’s stocked up on a wide range of spooky lawn ornaments, including giant mummies and skeletons. Target executives expressed high hopes for sales of costumes, haunted house cookie building sets and other Halloween merchandise, even after cutting the company’s profit outlook twice. And Party City, which sells costumes, balloons and bags of candy, plans to hire about 20,000 seasonal employees before the Oct. 31 occasion.
The push around Halloween comes as more people return to in-person gatherings. Participation is expected to return to pre-pandemic levels this year, with nearly 70% of Americans planning to celebrate, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey.
That’s expected to lift total Halloween spending to a record $10.6 billion, a jump from last year’s $10.1 billion, the survey found. On average, consumers plan to spend $100 for candy, decor, cards and costumes.

For some shoppers, celebrations like Halloween offer an escape from the worries of everyday life. As customers face troubling news headlines, Covid surges and political uncertainty, they’re seeking more ways to celebrate and “bring joy to their families,” said Christina Hennington, Target’s chief growth officer.
“This is one of the reasons we continue to see such strength in our seasonal categories, which we expect will continue in the back half of the year,” she said on the company’s earnings call in August.

Herman the 12 foot tall skeleton stands amongst his fellow skeletons in Middletown, Maryland on October 20, 2020. The Ferrone family purchased a 12-foot-tall skeleton from Home Depot, the hottest halloween decoration this year. It was stolen from their yard, and they petitioned the company for a replacement.
Marvin Joseph | The Washington Post | Getty Images

The 12-foot skeleton

For Home Depot and Lowe’s, spring remains the most lucrative time of year. But over the years, the home-improvement companies have bulked up on their Halloween and Christmas product lines.
In 1987, Home Depot added Christmas trees. That was followed by Christmas decor in 2005 and Halloween merchandise in 2013. Then it saw an opportunity to expand seasonal sales in the fall, said Lance Allen, the company’s senior merchant of holiday decor.
The retailer’s team of merchants sought inspiration by going to haunted houses and watching classic ’80s Halloween movies and Tim Burton movies. They also roamed trade shows, where they spotted a display of a giant skeleton torso that would inspire one of the company’s most popular Halloween products.
The skeleton at the trade show cost thousands of dollars, so Home Depot designed a 12-foot skeleton that costs $299 and debuted last year. It became a social media sensation and sold out.
When Home Depot’s “Skelly” skeleton returned this year, the first shipments sold out the first day they became available on July 15, Allen said. The retailer has since been getting replenishments.
Other Halloween sales items include a new “Hocus Pocus”-themed inflatable that goes for $149 and an eight-foot animated reaper that recites scary phrases while moving its head and mouth costs $249. The company also added a 15-foot towering phantom — its tallest decoration yet — that sells for $399.
Rival Lowe’s rolled out its answer to the skeleton this year: A 12-foot mummy that sells for $348.
Lowe’s also expanded its Halloween array of goods by more than 20% this year and dedicated more space in stores for larger outdoor merchandise. Decorations with scarier themes have been popular, such as a life-size Freddy Krueger and a giant mummy, along with staples like scarecrows, hay bales and pumpkins, said Bill Boltz, executive vice president of merchandising.
Both Home Depot and Lowe’s say Halloween sales are going well, but they do not break out sales figures in the category.

Arrows pointing outwards

Lowe’s debuted a 12-foot mummy this year to tap into customers’ enthusiasm for Halloween. It is exclusive to the retailer and sells for $348.

A ‘relatively inexpensive’ splurge

It is too early to say exactly how Halloween sales will play out this year. Merchandise is already in stores, but sales tend to gain momentum throughout October as families gear up to celebrate. Major retailers will give sales updates in November when they report quarterly earnings.
Seasonal items, however, do appear to be drawing consumer spending.
In late September, Costco said on an earnings call that early sales of Halloween merchandise were going well, and Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said the company is stocking up on spooky items, such as inflatables and outdoor decor, even as it cancels other orders and copes with a glut of unwanted merchandise.
Boltz of Lowe’s said higher prices of food, rent and other essentials do not appear to be scaring customers away from spending.
“When you think about Halloween and you think about discretionary categories, it’s probably as discretionary as you can get,” said Boltz of Lowe’s. He noted that there’s been demand for pricier Halloween items, too, such as the big lawn decorations.
Meanwhile, back in Dallas, Cislo is still deciding which new animatronic he’ll buy for his lawn. He also plans to get supplies and build a tunnel that trick-or-treaters will have to walk through to reach the porch and get their treat: a chocolate bar or a lollipop.
He said he wants to create the kind of experience he enjoyed when he dressed up in costumes and trick-or-treated as a kid in upstate New York. The best houses, he recalled, gave out full-sized candy bars or had extra spooky decorations.
 “It wasn’t just ‘The lights on are on. Let’s go ring the bell'” he said.

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Red Bull Racing’s Dutch driver Max Verstappen poses on the podium with the trophy following his victory at the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, Mie prefecture on Oct. 9, 2022.
Toshifumi Kitamura | Afp | Getty Images

Max Verstappen sealed his second Formula 1 world championship amid huge confusion after winning a chaotic, rain-shortened Japanese Grand Prix.
There was huge confusion at the chequered flag amid uncertainty over whether full or partial points would be awarded for a race in which only 29 of the 53 scheduled laps were completed.

With between 50 per cent and 75 per cent of the laps completed, most of the F1 paddock believed Verstappen would only be awarded 19 points for his victory. But for the Japanese GP there was a different interpretation of the rules, which state that the reduced points are only applied if a race is suspended “and cannot be resumed”.

Verstappen was clearly confused by the situation as celebrations began and were then paused, but it was eventually confirmed that full points had been awarded, sealing the 25-year-old’s triumph with four races of the season remaining.
“The first one is a little more emotional, the second one is more beautiful,” Verstappen said.
“Looking back, what a year we’ve had so far. It’s been incredible. It’s something I could never have imagined. After last year, fighting until the end, and then having such a good car again this year. I’m so thankful to everyone who has been contributing to this success.”
The Dutchman would have been denied the title if Charles Leclerc had come second, but the Ferrari driver’s final-lap error saw him given a five-second penalty – for leaving the track and gaining an advantage – that demoted him to third behind the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez.

The field leave the pitlane for the restart following a red flag delay during the F1 Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka International Racing Course on Oct. 09, 2022 in Suzuka, Japan.
Dan Istitene – Formula 1 | Formula 1 | Getty Images

The race had earlier threatened to be overshadowed by controversy, as an initial attempt to start in heavy rain resulted in chaos, with Carlos Sainz crashing into a barrier, before a recovery tractor came on track with the cars still on the circuit.
The race was red-flagged and a two-hour plus delay ensued as rain continued to fall, with the chances of a resumption appearing bleak at several points.
However, the skies cleared and the race resumed with a rolling start behind the Safety Car, with about 45 minutes left on the three-hour clock that had began ticking with the initial start.
The drying track saw the field switch from full wet tyres to intermediate, but Verstappen was comfortable throughout as he pulled clear to win by 27 seconds.
Esteban Ocon produced a brilliant defensive display to hold off Lewis Hamilton for fourth, while Sebastian Vettel and Nicholas Latifi benefitted from being the first cars to pit at the restart, finishing sixth and ninth respectively.
Japanese GP Final Result, Top 10
1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull2) Sergio Perez, Red Bull3) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari4) Esteban Ocon, Alpine5) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes6) Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin7) Fernando Alonso, Alpine8) George Russell, Mercedes9) Nicholas Latifi, Williams10) Lando Norris, McLaren

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EVOLVE GLOBAL SUMMIT 2022
Evolve Events

GM is “all-in” on electric vehicles and is bringing out EVs across styles and brands, from the Hummer to the Cadillac Lyriq and an all-electric Silverado.
Demand is already high at the luxury end of the car market for limited production, with the Hummer recently closing to new reservations.
As Tesla, Ford and GM vie for the future EV buyer, GM’s top marketing executive Deborah Wahl tells CNBC “We have to be even more clever. There is more competitive activity, more innovations I think, than at any other time in automotive history since we changed from horses to cars.”

Electric Chevrolet Silverado shown at the New York Auto Show, April, 2022.
Scott Mlyn | CNBC

When people think of electric vehicles, their minds typically jump to Tesla. But Elon Musk’s company now has a lot more EV competition from Detroit.  
Within the past six years, General Motors CEO Mary Barra has pushed the company towards a total transition from gas vehicles to electric as deals and consumer interest are increasing. GM plans to sell up to 175,000 electric vehicles to Hertz Global by 2027 – rentals are a key method to introduce more people to EVs without having to commit to a purchase. And the company also had to close reservations for its high-end all-electric Hummer last week after reaching 90,000 people. 

Ford is on a similar track, and it had to close reservations for its F-150 Lightning pickup, and the auto maker raised prices for the second time on the EV pickup, too.
The reservations and price hikes aren’t just about an absolute level of demand that is off the charts — supply chain constraints and limited production for new models are major factors. 
That crowded EV landscape is making GM approach its marketing differently, GM CMO Deborah Wahl told CNBC’s Julia Boorstin at a recent CNBC CMO Exchange virtual event. 
“We have to be even more clever,” Wahl said. “There is more competitive activity, more innovations I think, than at any other time in automotive history since we changed from horses to cars.” 
The message from the auto giants is clear. 

While the economy is in a period of uncertainty and costs are being scrutinized more closely as inflation pinches consumers and influences purchase decisions, Wahl told CNBC that GM is focused on core objectives, and “For us right now, it is to work on the transformation of the industry to EVs. We believe EVs are the future.” 

Taking the Hummer into the world of EVs shows that auto companies are betting on continued interest at the high-end of the market, where Tesla made its name. Mercedes, too, is betting that luxury consumers will continue to lead the EV adoption curve. But there’s also a transformation taking place across auto categories and including the best-selling vehicles in the U.S. As GM rebrands as an EV company it is featuring a growing range of electric vehicles, from the Chevrolet Silverado (its F-150 rival and together, the two most-popular vehicles in the U.S.) to the Cadillac Lyriq and to under $30,000 with its base model Bolt sedan.  
“We’ve made it very clear that we’re going all-EV in our portfolios, and right now it’s a really big consumer challenge about bringing everyone along with that,” Wahl said.  
Here are a few of the key ideas inside GM that Wahl shared with CNBC on how the auto company plans to make the EV a mass-market success. 
Let car buyers ask a lot of questions 
Two-thirds of Americans support the government offering incentives for EV purchases, according to a recent study from the Pew Foundation. However, only 42% of Americans would be very likely or somewhat likely to purchase one. While people recognize the benefits of EVs, like helping the environment and saving money on gas, these factors alone aren’t enough to convince the public to switch to EVs.  
That’s why GM is doing whatever it can to educate customers on EVs and get them comfortable with making this switch. 
“People are at different levels of knowledge of EVs, and so they need different information,” Wahl said. “It’s a different exchange overall.” 
GM’s video chat platform GM EV Live allows customers to call in to live showrooms, ask questions and gain a greater understanding of GM’s electric vehicles without having to travel to a dealership, whether a customer is curious about charging, mileage or new technological features.  
GM first began this move towards virtual showrooms back in 2017 with Dentsu Aegis Network when the companies partnered together to launch a mixed-reality dealership application. Over the years, GM has created other virtual showrooms like Chevy MyWay and Cadillac Live, but GM EV Live is the first EV-only showroom being offered by GM.  
Focus on all the in-car technology, not just EV technology 
GM is focused on advancing technology to create better and safer driving experiences along with sleeker models for EVs. On-the-go charging abilities, active noise cancellation speakers and hands-free driver assistance are just some of GM’s many technological advancements that are enticing even those weary of EVs. 
“They’re already mesmerizing people because the experience is so stunning, not only just the core driving, but the technology that you have inside,” said Wahl.  
While GM’s technology is finding ways to draw in more EV customers, the company still faces the challenge of getting customers on board with the idea of autonomous vehicles. GM is currently testing Cruise, its first ever autonomous vehicle unit, in San Francisco and it is aiming to eventually have all its vehicles powered by electricity and be autonomous.  
Despite a recall of 80 Cruise vehicles in early September, GM is pushing towards expanding Cruise testing to Phoenix and Austin and forecasts a business worth $1 billion in revenue by 2025. 
Maintain core principles through EVs 
Wahl said one thing that has not changed is the underlying principles of marketing. 
“I do believe in the core basics of marketing, which is tell the story, tell it well, do it in an engaging fashion, and if you’re really good, you’ll make a cultural impact,” she said. 
For over a century now, GM has impacted American culture and secured a presence as a top auto maker. So, it’s crucial for the company to continue maintaining its identity even as it transitions to EVs.  

GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra addresses investors Oct. 6, 2021 at the GM Tech Center in Warren, Michigan.
Photo by Steve Fecht for General Motors

Cadillac, for example, is getting a remake as a luxury EV brand, starting with the Cadillac Lyriq. 
Cadillac has been iconic it its journey, and that is its new tagline, Wahl said: Be iconic. “And if you look at the way they are expressing themselves, they’ve gone back to re-express the core of who Cadillac has been but for the modern day, and they’re doing it with the Lyriq EV which completely redefines luxury with EVs,” she said.
With a starting price of $59,990, the Lyriq will be the first electric Cadillac on the market, but GM isn’t stopping there, as other electric Cadillacs are already in the works, like the Cadillac Celestiq, which is set to begin production by the end of this year.  
Keep up with celebrity and influencer trends 
The world of celebrity endorsements doesn’t look the same as it did ten years ago either, and GM is partnering in new ways with iconic celebrities as well as new social media personalities, from NBA star LeBron James to TikTok influencer Breland.  
In a recent commercial for the Hummer EV, James shows off the car’s CrabWalk ability, which lets you drive diagonally and enables greater mobility for parking or off-roading.  
The Hummer EV is also being promoted in video games like “Call of Duty” and GM is expanding beyond producing traditional commercials by placing a new focus on social media platforms. 
“Influencers are the new media channels,” Wahl said.  
Joining forces with Breland, a TikTok influencer who went viral for making music, GM debuted its first TikTok for Chevrolet. Performing a parody version of his song “My Truck,” Breland sang about Chevy trucks, while various Chevrolet Silverados were showcased throughout the TikTok.  
“It allows us to get the core messages out to the right audiences at the right time,” Wahl said. “It’s pretty easy to see, you know, which influencers impact which targets.”  More

Europe is facing a tough winter, as inflation and energy prices continue to rise. The continent also faces tough decisions following its scorching hot summer
Heat waves in Europe broke records, sparked widespread wildfires and even damaged a busy runway at a London airport.

Unlike the U.S., European countries don’t rely on air conditioning to cope with high temperatures. Fewer than 10% of households in Europe owned air conditioners as of 2016, according to the International Energy Agency.
“If we were looking at the beginning of this summer, it was fairly quiet. We were getting typically 20 inquiries a day maybe for people interested in air conditioning,” said Richard Salmon, director of The Air Conditioning Co., which is based in central London.
Demand for air conditioners spiked as temperatures crossed 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the United Kingdom.
“I’ve been here for 15 years and I’ve never seen anything quite like it,” Salmon said.
As countries around the globe rapidly adopt ways to cool their homes and businesses, it becomes more important to install cooling technology that doesn’t contribute to higher temperatures in the future via carbon emissions.

“It is clear that if no effective mitigation strategies will be put in place on a global scale to cut emissions then this kind of summer and these kinds of events will become the new norm,” said Andrea Toreti, senior climate researcher at the European Commission, the executive body of the EU.
Watch the video to learn more about why large parts of Europe don’t have air conditioning, how ACs contribute to climate change, and new kinds of efficient cooling technologies that can mitigate carbon emissions.

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