Category: News

August 7 2017

Honda’s Solo Act Turns Risky in the Alliance-Happy Auto Industry

Honda Motor Co.’s go-it-alone strategy looks increasingly risky as an alliance-happy auto industry scales up to cope with the soaring investment needed for self-driving vehicles, electrified power trains, connected-car technologies and artificial intelligence. In the latest industry tie-up, Toyota Motor Corp. and Mazda Motor Corp. on Friday announced plans to jointly invest in a $1.6 […]

August 7 2017

Electric Car Boom Drives Rush to Mining’s $90 Billion Hub

A scramble by the lithium market’s biggest players to tie up supply of the high-tech metal is gathering pace in the 170-year-old heartland of Australia’s $90 billion mining industry. Rising Chinese demand for lithium-ion batteries needed for electric vehicles and energy storage is driving significant price gains and an asset boom in Australia, already the world’s largest […]

August 4 2017

World Bank Group Issues Its Biggest-Ever Catastrophe Bond

The World Bank Group issued its largest catastrophe bond, providing Mexico with financial protection of as much as $360 million against losses from tropical cyclones and earthquakes. Mexico is among the countries most vulnerable to natural disasters, the bank said in a statement. Nearly a third of its population lives in areas exposed to hurricanes, […]

August 4 2017

Toyota’s Game Plan Features Robots, M&A, Self-Driving Cars

Toyota Motor Corp. agreed to buy a stake in Mazda Motor Corp. and jointly build a $1.6 billion plant in the U.S. Asia’s largest automaker will also invest more in areas like self-driving cars to stay relevant in an industry upended by technological changes. As new rivals emerge and cars become autonomous and connected, Toyota […]

August 4 2017

Alphabet’s Green Energy Ambitions Hit Turbulence

On May 16, Makani released a YouTube video. A camera pans on a T-shaped airplane, with wings stretching 85 feet holding eight small turbines and a tether connecting it to a tall ground station. The plane swoops into the air. It dips and soars, looping elegantly in circles that mimic a windmill, something it was built to replace. For more […]

August 4 2017

The Church of England Takes on Climate Change—and Generates a 17 Percent Return

President Donald Trump may have quit the Paris climate accord, but shareholders aren’t going to let carbon-producing U.S. ­companies off the hook. Witness the investor victory over Exxon ­Mobil Corp. management on May 31, a day before the Trump decision. Over the Exxon board’s objections, almost two-thirds of shareholders voted for a proposal asking the company […]

August 4 2017

Tech Guru Bill Joy Unveils Battery to Challenge Lithium-Ion

Elon Musk isn’t the only visionary betting that the world will soon be reliant on batteries. Bill Joy, the Silicon Valley guru and Sun Microsystems Inc. co-founder, also envisions such dependence. He just thinks alkaline is a smarter way to go than lithium-ion. On Thursday, Joy and Ionic Materials unveiled a solid-state alkaline battery at […]

August 3 2017

Even at $25 Billion, Southern Sees Value in Finishing Nukes

Southern Co. still sees benefits in finishing two long-delayed, over-budget nuclear reactors in Georgia, even as new cost estimates show the overall price tag of the project has swelled to at least $25 billion. Southern Chief Executive Officer Tom Fanning stressed that, while the U.S. utility owner is still deciding the fate of the Vogtle nuclear […]

August 3 2017

Tesla Burns Through Record Cash to Bring the Model 3 to Market

Tesla Inc.’s Elon Musk keeps getting the green light to do what it takes to bring electric cars to the masses, regardless of how much it’s going to cost. The company burned through $1.16 billion in cash during the second quarter by spending on capacity for its cheapest model yet and boosting battery output. Investors […]

August 3 2017

Electric-Car Revolution Shakes Up the Biggest Metals Markets

The revolution in electric vehicles set to upturn industries from energy to infrastructure is also creating winners and losers within the world’s biggest metals markets. While some of the largest diversified miners like Glencore Plc argue fossil fuels such as coal and oil still play a crucial role supplying energy needs, they’ll also benefit the […]