REAL ESTATE
Berkshire adds German unit
Berkshire Hathaway’s real-estate brokerage is expanding overseas with a new franchisee in Germany. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices on Monday said it is adding Berlin-based Rubina Real Estate to its network. Financial terms were not disclosed. The deal gives Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate another affiliate in Germany and helps raise the Omaha, Nebraska-based company’s profile in Europe. Gino Blefari, CEO of the real-estate network, says more international franchises are likely. Irvine, California-based Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices includes more than 45,000 agents and 1,400 offices in America. Rubina Real Estate focuses on helping international investors buy German property.
AGRICULTURE
Big data for raising shrimp
Cargill Inc plans to offer big data to boost shrimp production, expanding technology tools that bolster agriculture to aquaculture. Predictive software that relies on machine learning and sensors will help farmers analyze everything from the size of shrimp and feeding patterns to water quality and weather on devices, including phones and tablets, executives from the Minneapolis-based company said on Monday. Cargill, one of the world’s biggest agriculture companies, has been harnessing big data used across diverse industries and applying it to farming. In January, the company said it was backing an Irish start-up that uses facial recognition to help increase milk output from cows. Last year, it offered an application providing reams of data to make the animals more comfortable and productive.
STEEL
Execs, Trump to meet: Cohn
White House economic adviser Gary Cohn has orchestrated a meeting of executives from US aluminum and steel users with President Donald Trump as part of a last-ditch effort inside the administration to stop or blunt tariffs announced last week, two people familiar with the matter said on Monday night. The meeting was scheduled as Republicans in Congress are waging an extraordinary campaign to halt the move. Cohn and Republican leaders on Capitol Hill are worried about repercussions, including a trade war that could harm the economy. Cohn planned the meeting for tomorrow, and it is to include representatives of breweries, beverage can manufacturers, the oil industry and automakers. Trump was scheduled to attend the meeting, said the two people, who were granted anonymity to discuss a policy disagreement.
BREXIT
EU cools on May’s proposal
British Prime Minister Theresa May’s plan to sign companies up to EU regulators to maintain their access to markets after Brexit was cast into doubt as a senior EU official expressed reservations. May proposed that the UK could remain part of EU agencies that regulate the medicine, chemicals and aviation industries to keep close to the bloc after Brexit in areas where it suits the UK economy. Stefaan De Rynck, an adviser to EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier, late on Monday said that the plan raised potential conflicts. The agencies enact the decisions of the European Commission, they “operate in a context where single market principles operate,” and while their work is technical, “it can become political,” he said. Only three non-EU countries now sign up to the regulators — Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein. De Rynck was also cool on the prospect of mutual recognition for finance, underlining the importance of financial stability and the risks posed by integration without common oversight.
US SANCTIONS: The Taiwan tech giant has ended all shipments to China-based Sophgo Technologies after one of their chips was discovered in a Huawei phone Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) suspended shipments to China-based chip designer Sophgo Technologies Ltd (算能科技) after a chip it made was found on a Huawei Technologies Co (華為) artificial intelligence (AI) processor, according to two people familiar with the matter. Sophgo had ordered chips from TSMC that matched the one found on Huawei’s Ascend 910B, the people said. Huawei is restricted from buying the technology to protect US national security. Reuters could not determine how the chip ended up on the Huawei product. Sophgo said in a statement on its Web site yesterday that it was in compliance with all laws
SPEED OF LIGHT: US lawmakers urged the commerce department to examine the national security threats from China’s development of silicon photonics technology US President Joe Biden’s administration on Monday said it is finalizing rules that would limit US investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and other technology sectors in China that could threaten US national security. The rules, which were proposed in June by the US Department of the Treasury, were directed by an executive order signed by Biden in August last year covering three key sectors: semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies and certain AI systems. The rules are to take effect on Jan. 2 next year and would be overseen by the Treasury’s newly created Office of Global Transactions. The Treasury said the “narrow
TECH TITANS: Nvidia briefly overtook Apple again on Friday after becoming the world’s largest company for a short period in June, as Microsoft fell to third place Nvidia Corp dethroned Apple Inc as the world’s most valuable company on Friday following a record-setting rally in the stock, powered by insatiable demand for its specialized artificial intelligence (AI) chips. Nvidia’s stock market value briefly touched US$3.53 trillion, slightly above Apple’s US$3.52 trillion, London Stock Exchange Group data showed. Nvidia ended the day up 0.8 percent, with a market value of US$3.47 trillion, while Apple’s shares rose 0.4 percent, valuing the iPhone maker at US$3.52 trillion. In June, Nvidia briefly became the world’s most valuable company before it was overtaken by Microsoft Corp and Apple. The tech trio’s market capitalizations have been
Two scoops of pistachio, one of corruption. For years holidaymakers have guzzled Sicilian gelato at famous parlors in Palermo, unaware that the booming businesses were controlled by organized crime. The fraud was a textbook case for detectives trained to sniff out dirty money, but even with three mobster classics — a suspicious bankruptcy, a front man and a scheming “Godfather” — it took years for investigators to shut the operation down. The Brioscia brand, made up of two ice cream parlors, was thriving at the end of the 2010s, attracting locals and foreign visitors alike with its glittering gold stars on travel