globalEDGE Blog - Page 36

One of the most common ways a private company can generate capital for its business is through issuing equity (i.e. going public).  This is typically performed through an initial public offering (IPO).  An IPO is a two-step process, where a company issues stock in the primary market to institutional investors, after which shares are traded on the secondary market to retail investors.

The pandemic has led to millions of people relying on technology more than ever. From phones to laptops to televisions and much more, technology has become the center of our lives over the last year. One thing that all modern technology has in common is the use of microchips. Microchips help with memory, logic, and functionality in electronic devices. The increase in demand for different forms of technology has finally caught up to microchip suppliers, and now multiple industries are facing shortages and shutdowns.

As technology advances, scientists and environmentalists are testing new ways to further the recycling efforts for our planet. Plastics are a long-debated problem that often ends up in landfills where it will never decompose, so what if we could find a way to take that durability and use it to our advantage?

In late January, a popular Reddit chat named “WallStreetBets” successfully inflated the stock price of many publicly traded companies. The group of bullish traders had been focused on buying stock and placing options on particular companies that hedge funds had been shorting in order to force them into a “short squeeze.” As a result of such an extensive army of traders all buying into these companies within a similar time frame, the WallStreetBets group was able to pump stock prices of companies like Gamestop (GME) from $20 a share to $483 in only two weeks. Now, hedge fund managers are flustered, brokerage dealers such as Robinhood are facing lawsuits, and federal prosecutors are investigating as to whether or not market manipulation or other criminal actions took place.

The Cloud is a computer service that has the ability to deliver a wide range of resources over the internet for business and personal use.  The Cloud brings innovation and speed to computing services, as there is no software to download to a device and a lessened need to save copies of documents to a computer.  Let’s take a look at the future of the Cloud and how it can be used to ease the technology side of doing business.

The shift to green technology has been highly covered throughout media and it is agreed on by many exports that improving society’s sustainability will be key in our future economic, technological, and health advancement.  Recently, the United States’ Exxon Mobil declared its new plan to increase investment in an emerging area of carbon reduction: carbon capture technology.  Although this move may appear to be simply another example of a company moving toward sustainability, there is a much bigger implication at hand.

The media industry has changed drastically with the development of the internet. While television and print are still used, an ever-growing amount of people are getting their information from online news websites and social media platforms. With these large shifts, the structure in the way that these companies monetize their content is bound to change as well. Given the strong connection between social media platforms and news content, there are going to be disputes over how the companies in these industries interact. Recently, Australia enacted legislation to address the way that news content is shared online.

Gas prices across the globe have seen dramatic changes over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet within the last month, many different factors have been giving rise to a series of high gas prices.

As world governments begin to roll out COVID-19 vaccination initiatives, they are faced with a dilemma. Are they allowed to discriminate against who can travel or visit restaurants, and theatres based on whether a person is vaccinated? Proponents of these restrictions say opening businesses to vaccinated persons is a solution for allowing the economy to safely heal. On the other hand, some say these types of restrictions may unfairly discriminate against minorities who are less likely to have access to a COVID-19 vaccine, or younger people who won’t be able to get access to a vaccine until later phases of vaccination initiatives. Some countries are already experimenting with these types of restrictions.

Last week, U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order that directs a review of supply chains that have been negatively affected due to the pandemic. The review is focused on four products—semiconductors, minerals and rare earths, pharmaceuticals, and advanced batteries. The goal of this executive order is to increase the domestic production of these products as well as increase imports from ally countries. The order mainly prioritized and placed heavy emphasis on semiconductors, as it included a $37 billion fund to dramatically increase semiconductor or “chip” manufacturing in the U.S.