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Trudeau Loses His Mind Over Bell Canada Cutting 4,800 Media Jobs

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Canada's Trudeau Loses His Mind Over Bell Canada Cutting 4,800 Media Jobs

Bell Canada Enterprises has announced plans to reduce 9% of its staff, or 4,800 positions, in a historic and unprecedented mass layoff.

In addition to the layoffs, Bell announced that it will sell 45 radio stations, close over 100 The Source stores, and discontinue most of its midday and weekend newscasts.

The current round of layoffs comes after Bell eliminated 1,300 positions just eight months ago in June 2023, but it has continued an annual cycle of cuts from within the telecom behemoth, citing declining ad income and losses at CTV News and BNN Bloomberg.

Bell CEO Mirko Bibic stated that the company’s news activities are losing approximately $40 million per year, and ad revenues have plummeted by $140 million in 2023 compared to the previous year.

Bell’s layoffs follow CBC and Radio-Canada’s decision to lay off 600 employees and cancel some programmes in December to help cover a $125-million budget shortfall.

Shortly after the announcement, Canadian Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that he was “furious” with Bell’s plan to reduce jobs and programmes in its media sector.

Trudeau expressed deep frustration with the cuts as his administration attempts to dominate the media narrative by restricting conservative media under a proposed Online Harms Act.

“This is a garbage decision by Bell Canada, a corporation that should have known better,” Trudeau told reporters.

“Over the past years, corporate Canada — and there are many culprits on this — have abdicated their responsibility towards the communities that they have always made very good profits off of.”

Bell Canada didn’t immediately reply to Trudeau’s comments.

When announcing the changes on Thursday, Bell Canada blamed the Trudeau administration. The business said it was cutting back on capital spending and slowing down the construction of its fibre-optic network, citing Trudeau’s policies, such as a regulatory decision last year that would force it to open up its broadband networks to smaller rivals at set prices.

Bell CEO Mirko Bibic stated that we must take additional measures in response to the Trudeau government’s increasingly unsupportive regulatory policies, legacy business reductions, and a macroeconomic climate characterised by higher interest rates and ongoing inflation.

Bell Canada plans to save up to C$200 million (US$149 million) this year through workforce reductions.

Trudeau’s government has attempted to provide funding to Canadian mainstream news sites through laws such as the Online News Act, which attempted to force Google and Facebook to pay for content.

Facebook’s parent company, Meta, declined, instead barring users in Canada from sharing links to news articles. Google negotiated payments in the order of C$100 million.

Canada Trudeau

Trudeau’s Online News Act Bill C-18

In June 2023, the Trudeau government passed Bill C-18, often known as the Online News Act, which forced Big Tech behemoths Google and Meta to reimburse Canadian news organisations for information appearing on their platforms.

Trudeau claimed that Google and Meta controlled 80% of Canada’s $14 billion online advertising market and were responsible for the decline of mainstream media.

Despite Trudeau’s administration supporting the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) with around $1.3 billion in the fiscal year 2022-2023.

Trudeau’s law requires tech titans to negotiate compensation agreements with journalistic organisations. Otherwise, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) steps in.

The Marxist Trudeau government intends to extract $329 million per year by taxing Facebook and Google income at a rate of 4%. No other country in the world imposes such a high tax.

According to Conservatives, the Liberal administration under Justin Trudeau intends to control how Canadians live, think, and speak.

Earlier this year, they pushed through Bill C-11 to tax Netflix and YouTube, raking in millions given to Canadian creators to develop shows no one watches.

Justin Trudeau’s popularity is at an all-time low; most Canadians want him to quit, and even his caucus turns against him. Trudeau’s trademark manoeuvre throughout his political career has been to seek out a political conflict that will energise his followers while diverting attention away from the country’s major concerns.

Taking on big corporations helps him to seem like David versus Goliath and to be a hero in the press.

Trudeau likes linking the health of the media to the state of democracy, although a media business under the heel of big government is considerably worse than no media.

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Forced Sale Google Chrome Could Fetch $20 Billion

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Sale Google Chrome

Antitrust officials in the US could force the sale of Google’s Chrome browser for up to $20 billion, demonstrating the tremendous worth of the world’s most popular web browser.

Bloomberg Intelligence attributes Chrome’s projected worth to its more than 3 billion monthly active users. The US Department of Justice is preparing to request a federal judge order the browser’s separation from Google’s parent company, Alphabet.

Chrome’s worth comes from its overwhelming 61% market share and its crucial role in Google’s advertising ecosystem. User data enables businesses to better target adverts, and the browser also acts as an important distribution mechanism for Google’s AI technologies.

Industry analysts think it may be difficult to find a suitable buyer. While tech behemoths like Amazon could finance the purchase, they would likely face regulatory scrutiny.

AI businesses, such as OpenAI, may emerge as more viable contenders. They could potentially leverage Chrome to broaden their reach and develop an advertising business.

“It’s not directly monetizable,” one analyst told Bloomberg. “It functions as a gateway to other things. It’s unclear how you would assess that in terms of pure revenue generation.”

Google opposes prospective sales, claiming that they will hamper innovation. The firm does not break out Chrome’s revenue individually in its financial filings, even though the browser’s user data plays an important part in the company’s principal revenue stream, advertising.

The DOJ’s suggestion follows Judge Amit Mehta’s August decision that Google had illegally monopolized the search industry. The judge will consider the recommended remedies at a two-week hearing in April 2024, with a final judgment due in August 2025.

Related News:

Appeals Court Delays Order For Google To Open Its App Store In Antitrust Case

Appeals Court Delays Order For Google To Open Its App Store In Antitrust Case

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Bitcoin Has Set a New Record And Is Approaching $100,000.

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Bitcoin

(VOR News) – Bitcoin broke beyond the $98,000 mark for the first time on Thursday as investors awaited Donald Trump’s second term as president. All of this happened during the day. As such, cryptocurrency has reached a significant turning point.

According to Coin Metrics, the top cryptocurrency was trading at $97,541.61 during the most recent trading session. Merchants provided this information. This suggests a price gain of more than three percent during the previous trading session.

When the period began, Bitcoin peaked at $98,367.00.

During the premarket trading session, MicroStrategy, a platform that facilitates cryptocurrency foreign exchange trading and serves as a bitcoin proxy, saw a 13% gain. Coinbase, on the other hand, had a 2% rise during that period. Furthermore, all of these increases occurred simultaneously.

The market value of Mara Holdings increased by 9%, which helped raise the valuation of mining companies overall. This was among the factors that led to the total rise.

Because of the widespread belief that President Trump will usher in a new era of prosperity for cryptocurrencies, one marked by more favorable laws and the possible creation of a national strategic bitcoin reserve, the price of Bitcoin has been rising steadily this month.

The most recent change brought about by the increase was the consequence of higher financing rates and more open interest in the futures market during Asian trading hours. The rise was the catalyst for this change. This action was prompted by the ensuing rush.

Throughout its lifespan, this legislation was the catalyst for this change for a variety of reasons. At the same time, spot market premiums decreased, according to CryptoQuant statistics. All of this happened at the same time.

Furthermore, a number of short liquidations have been sparked by the recent spikes in Bitcoin’s price, which has caused the price to rise overnight. As a result, the price has gone up much more. As a result, the total number of short liquidations has increased.

According to CoinGlass, these liquidations have effectively produced more than $88 million in capital during the last 24 hours.

Rob Ginsberg, an analyst at Wolfe Research, noted in a study released on Wednesday that “historically, following previous movements of this magnitude, Bitcoin has either entered a consolidation phase or disregarded the overbought condition as investors accumulate.” This phrase relates to the fact that this particular move has happened before.

Ginsberg stated this in reference to the evolution of Bitcoin over time.

Ginsberg’s answer makes reference to Bitcoin’s propensity to go through a period of consolidation. The comment also made reference to this.

He said, “Considering we are emerging from an extended consolidation phase and the price has reached a new high, it suggests that the pursuit is underway.”

The crucial psychological milestone of $100,000 is expected to be reached in the upcoming weeks, and this breakthrough could happen as early as Thursday. It seems likely that this level will be reached. There is a chance that this new development will take place.

This task will be carried out against the backdrop of this historical era. In addition, if Trump were to win a second term, federal budget deficits would increase, inflation would likely increase, and the dollar’s position in international affairs would change.

The administration that Trump would run during his presidency would be responsible for these consequences. All of these characteristics would positively impact the value of Bitcoin as a currency if they were taken into account in the order that they are presented.

The price of bitcoin had risen by more than 130% by the beginning of 2024.

SOUREC: CNBC

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PayPal’s Technical Challenges Are Affecting Thousands Of Customers Globally.

NVIDIA’s Earnings: The Leader In AI Chips Demonstrates Relentless Growth.

 

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Target Struggles in the Third Quarter: Offers Tempered Holiday Outlook and Price Cuts

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Target

(VOR News) – Target experienced a modest rise in sales during the third quarter; nevertheless, profitability declined due to reduced customer spending attributed to inflation and adverse effects from the ongoing costs associated with the October dockworker strike.

Despite ongoing consumer expenditure in the United States, but with more prudence, the Minneapolis retailer did not meet Wall Street’s forecasts for the quarter and similarly disappointed industry analysts with its projections for the final quarter of the year.

Target’s reduction in prices for Christmas products, including a Thanksgiving promotion that lowered the cost of the holiday feast relative to last year’s total, raises concerns about disappointing quarterly results.

Target’s latest quarter sharply contrasts with competitor Walmart, which reported another quarter of exceptional revenues on Tuesday and provided positive forecasts for the forthcoming holiday season. Amazon disclosed last month that its quarterly profits had risen. Amazon surpassed projections with an 11% rise in quarterly revenue.

Target fell over 21% on Wednesday morning.

Chairman and CEO Brian Cornell stated, “We encountered distinct challenges and financial constraints that impacted our overall performance.”

FactSet reports that Target’s net income for the quarter ended November 2 was $854 million, or $1.85 per share, markedly below the anticipated $2.30 and a decline from $971 million, or $2.10 per share, in the same quarter of the previous year.

Despite an increase in sales to $25.67 billion from $25.4 billion the previous year, they fell short of Wall Street’s projections.

Target announced that for the fiscal fourth quarter, it anticipates earnings per share to fall between $1.85 to $2.45. This amount is below the $2.65 per share forecast by analysts surveyed by FactSet.

The retailer announced that in the third quarter, its comparable sales, derived from stores and digital platforms operational for a minimum of one year, increased by 0.3%.

This is inferior to the second quarter’s 2% growth. Several months of decreases, comprising a 3.7% reduction in the first quarter and a 4.4% reduction in the company’s final quarter of 2023, were counterbalanced by the rise in the April–June period.

Cosmetics sales rose by almost 6%, whilst food, beverages, and necessities such as shampoo experienced gains in the low single digits relative to the previous year.

The positive attributes were negligible. Target’s quarterly customer traffic rose by 2.4%. Target officials report that this represents an increase of 10 million sales transactions compared to the previous year. Digital comparable sales rose by 10.8% due to a 20% enhancement in same-day delivery facilitated by the Target Circle loyalty program and double-digit growth in its drive-up service.

Target encountered several challenges.

Target’s food and beverage sales constitute under 25% of overall sales, indicating a greater dependence on luxury items such as apparel and accessories.

Target management acknowledged that the company, similar to other retailers, had to redirect specific items due to the strike of 45,000 dockworkers, the first occurrence since 1977.

The accumulation of commodities in warehouses escalated operational expenses and diminished corporate earnings.

The commitment by President-elect Donald Trump to impose elevated import tariffs is resulting in difficulties for Target and other enterprises. Trump advocates for a 60% tariff on Chinese imports and a 20% levy on all other products. Cornell stated that, despite monitoring trends meticulously, the corporation has prioritized diversifying its supplier network.

“Currently, there exists considerable uncertainty regarding future developments, and we will exercise our flexibility to adapt as necessary,” he stated on the call.

Buyers remain apprehensive due to ongoing uncertainty, as prices, albeit decreasing, remain elevated compared to a few years prior.

“They are exhibiting significant patience, pursuing promotions and outstanding value on essential pantry items,” Cornell stated during a conference call with reporters. “Over the year, they have consistently focused on discretionary categories and are practicing prudent shopping behaviors.”

Target officials indicated a decline in television purchases, although they expressed interest in incorporating candles, frames, and flowers into their home décor.

Target has been reducing prices to boost sales. Last spring, it reduced costs for numerous essentials, including milk and diapers. Almost fifty percent of the numerous goods offered this Christmas are priced below $20. Target is offering a Thanksgiving dinner bundle for four people at $20, which is $5 less than its 2023 Thanksgiving meal package.

SOURCE: USN

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Comcast Is Expected To Announce Its Cable Network Separation On Wednesday.

Canada’s Budgetary Watchdog Warns Over Trudeau’s Spending

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