#7 Renewables are going fast

Good news from the renewable energy front: it’s already significantly underpricing coal and getting cheaper fast. An all-source utility solicitation by the Public Service Company of Colorado revealed information even the most optimistic analysts hadn’t projected.

The solicitation led to a large number of developers coming forward, all of them eager to build renewable energy – and storage – and at unprecedented prices.   


#6 Billionaires to the rescue?

A new report from Oxfam was released on Monday and shows that billionaires made enough money in 2017 to end extreme poverty around the globe, not one or two, but seven times over: Forty-two of the richest people in the world currently hold the same wealth as 3.7 billion of the poorest people in the world. 


#5 Netflix joins the billion dollar club

Online streaming company Netflix hit a $100 billion valuation after reporting its fourth-quarter earnings this week. It turned out they’d added no less than 8.33 million subscribers to their subscriber base during the final three months of 2017.

Plans for 2018 include an $8 billion content budget and use it to keep creating new hit shows and films.

Related: Netflix turns off TV as we know it.


#4 Banks have no plan A (or B)

According to Kenneth Rogoff, an economics professor at Harvard University, banks are not prepared for another financial crisis. They don’t have a plan A, let alone a plan B in case we have to face such an emergency.

Rogoff said this on a panel on ‘The Next Financial Crisis’ at the World Economic Forum earlier this week. He thinks banks have fewer tools to deal with a financial crisis now than ever before. There is good news too though: Rogoff is optimistic that a new crash isn’t imminent.    


#3 Bezos Goes Big

Amazon launched its first Amazon Go grocery store this week in Seattle. You could say it’s the grocery shopping of the future; customers don’t need to check out or wait in line, they can simply use the Amazon Go app, take whatever it is they need and walk out again.

For Jeff Bezos, the launch of Amazon Go meant he gained $2,8 billion in one day and reached his highest net worth ever: $113,5 billion.


#2 Soros on Facebook and Google

The World Economic Forum – the International Organisation for Public-Private Cooperation – takes place in Davos, Switzerland this year. Among the many speakers from all walks of life was billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros

In his speech, he warned for the influence of big, data-rich companies such as Facebook and Google saying they’re near-monopolies that are dangerous and an obstacle to innovation. You can watch the video below.


#1 ECB not happy with Washington  

ECB chief Marco Draghi spoke on Thursday. He didn’t seem pleased with the comments from US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin about how a weak dollar was good for US trade and the economy. According to Draghi, the Euro has gone up partly because of these comments.  

On a potential rate spike, he said that was very unlikely to happen this year. 


That’s it again, the fourth week of 2018 captured in 7 Tweets. We’ll keep tracking Twitter as usual and will continue to bring you the top financial micro-messages from the web. Have a good weekend and see you here next Friday!

Source: https://www.scoopnest.com/