You don't have enough time, right? Thinking about and acting on certain things leads to wasting time. Everyone is being chased by time. I don't have enough time to do everything I want to do. That's life too. If you feel like your schedule is not well-organized and you are feeling like you are in trouble with your work performance, that may be a bad sign. It is important to know exactly what actions and ways of thinking will waste time before it has a negative impact on your career. Here are 11 habits that aren't easy, but will benefit you once you stop them.

Each weighs 100 grams of gold. REUTERS/Beawiharta Gold bullion (ingots) and silver coins are one of Costco's hottest items in 2024, with the store selling $200 million a month. Costco's Chief Financial Officer said the new gold bullion sold out "within a few hours" after its launch, slightly above the market's trading price. Taylor Huff, CEO of My Gold Advisor, told Business Insider that buying gold at Costco is not for making a profit right away. "Some people buy money from Costco when they don't know why or what to do," he says. Huff has given us three secrets that buyers should remember when purchasing gold bullion. 1. Gold is for saving. It's not something to make a profit right away "Purchase gold is not to make a profit.Purchase gold is to accumulate wealth and protect what you earn." Gold averages around 8% per year, making it popular among people seeking hedges against inflation. But that also means that you should plan to keep the physical gold you purchased at least a year, and if possible, for more.

metamorworks/Shutterstock ※こちらは「株式会社ハピスキ」の提供記事です。 求人を調べたり、就活情報を集めたり、キャリアアドバイザーに相談できたりと、就活中に便利な機能が備わっている就活サイト。新卒の大学生からフリーター・既卒まで、ターゲット層は就活サイトにより異なるものの、全面的な就活支援を無料で受けられるのがメリットだ。 しかし、就活サイトの種類は数多くあり、どのサービスが自分に適しているのか悩む人も少なくない。そこで本記事では「新卒・大学生向け」と「フリーター向け」にカテゴライズし、それぞれでおすすめな就活サイトを厳選した。安心の大手やスカウト型、特化型と幅広く選出したので、使いやすいサービスを探してみよう。 おすすめ就活サイト一覧：新卒・大学生向け 新卒や大学生におすすめの就活サイトをセレクトした。 マイナビ新卒紹介 リクナビ就職エージェント キミスカ マイナビ新卒紹介やリクナビ就職エージェントは、大手が運営しているサービスなので安心して利用できる。また、キミスカは一風変わったスカウト型を採用。それぞれに特徴が異なるため、さっそく詳細を見ていこう。 1.マイナビ新卒紹介 出典：マイナビ新卒紹介 大手の株式会社マイナビが運営する「マイナビ新卒紹介」は、新卒学生向けの就職エージェントサービスだ。専任のキャリアアドバイザーから就活全般のサポートを受けられるほか、豊富な就活ノウハウを参考にできる。 25卒には企業紹介や選考対策、書類アドバイス、選考フィードバック、入社サポートを、26卒にはインターンシップ＆キャリア紹介や就活準備セミナー、就活準備相談を行っている。面談は25卒・26卒共通のサービスだ。 全国に11拠点、営業拠点は全国展開しているため、働きたい希望のエリアで就職先を見つけられるだろう。就職情報サイト「マイナビ2026」や、2025年4月1日から公開予定の「マイナビ2027」を併用することで、就活をより効率的に進められる。 2.リクナビ就職エージェント 出典：リクナビ就職エージェント 大手の株式会社リクルートが運営する「リクナビ就職エージェント」は、新卒学生向けの就職エージェントだ。2025年3月14日時点で26卒の学生向けにサービスを提供しており、就活におけるトータルサポートを受けられる。 文系・理系・体育会系にジャンル分けされているため、自分のタイプにあわせて就活を進めやすい。情報提供や非公開求人を含めた求人紹介、キャリア相談、面談アドバイス、履歴書添削などを専任アドバイザーがマンツーマンでサポート。社会人への第一歩に不安がある学生は、悩みを解消しながら就活を進められるだろう。 26卒の学生は、就活情報サイトの「リクナビ2026」を、27卒以降の学生は「リクナビ」を併用することで、より良い求人を網羅的に探せるはずだ。ぜひ、あわせてチェックしてみて欲しい。 3.キミスカ 出典：キミスカ 株式会社グローアップが運営する「キミスカ」は、企業からスカウトを受けて就活を進められる逆求人型サイトだ。一般的な就活サイトでは自ら求人を探す必要があり、時間を要することも。しかし、キミスカではプロフィールを登録すると企業からオファーが届き、選考をスムーズに進行できる。 また、スカウトは「ノーマル」「シルバー」「ゴールド」の3種類に分けられており、ランクによって企業の本気度が一目でわかる。ゴールドスカウトにいたっては全体の4％と、かなり希少なオファーだ。プロフィールの入力率を上げるほど高ランクのスカウトが届きやすくなるので、写真や自己PRもどんどん埋めていこう。 このほか、独自の適性検査や限定イベント、面接対策セミナー、選考対策、業界研究など、多彩なサービスが揃っている。スキマ時間を活用して効率的に就活したい学生や、自分の市場価値を知りたい学生におすすめだ。 おすすめ就活サイト一覧：フリーター向け フリーターにおすすめの就活サイトをピックアップした。 キャリアスタート ハタラクティブ JAIC就職カレッジ いずれも十分な実績があり、フリーターや既卒などでも納得のいく就職が期待できる。特に、一刻も早く内定が欲しい人におすすめだ。それぞれの特徴を詳しく見ていこう。 1.キャリアスタート 出典：キャリアスタート キャリアスタート株式会社が運営する「キャリアスタート」は、就活の情報収集はもちろん、就活のトータルサポートも利用できる就活サイトだ。入社実績は2000人以上（※1）、定職率は92％（※2）と、優れた実績を誇る。 頼れる就活アドバイザーにマンツーマンで相談でき、求人紹介や面接対策など、手厚いサポートを受けられるのが魅力。最短2週間のスピード内定（※1）を狙える企業の求人も多数保有していることから「なかなか就職が決まらず焦っている」「早く内定を獲得して親を安心させたい」といった悩みを抱えるフリーターや学生におすすめだ。 就職先の実績としては、株式会社リクルートキャリアやGMOインターネットグループ株式会社、楽天グループ株式会社等、大手企業も多い傾向にある。zoomや電話から気軽に就活相談できるため、地方在住の学生でも利用しやすいだろう。 ※1：2012年4月11日から2020年11月30日までの実績から算出 ※2：2018年10月1日から2019年9月1日までの実績から算出 2.ハタラクティブ 出典：ハタラクティブ レバレジーズ株式会社が運営する「ハタラクティブ」はフリーターや既卒、第二新卒などの若年層におすすめな就活支援サイトだ。支援実績は18万人以上（※1）にのぼり、未経験者や正社員歴が浅い人たちの求職を12年以上サポートしてきたその信頼がうかがえる。 希望条件等をヒアリングしたうえで、適職診断を通しマッチ率の高い求人を紹介。求人票に記載されていない情報提供から書類準備、面接対策、入社後のフォローまで、長期的にサポートしてくれるのが特徴だ。 書類通過率は96％以上、内定率は80％以上と、素晴らしい実績（※2）があるため「書類選考で落ちてしまう」「面接が苦手」という人に勧められる。また、最短2週間ほどのスピードで内定を獲得した利用者は80.6％（※3）。未経験から正社員として就職したい、早く内定をもらって安心したいといった場合にぜひ相談してみて欲しいサービスの1つだ。 ※1：2023年12月〜2024年1月時点 ※2：2023年12月〜2024年1月時点の面接実施した求職者のうち、内定が出た求職者の割合 ※3：2023年12月~2024年1月時点の面接実施した求職者数の内、内定が出た求職者の割合 3.JAIC就職カレッジ 出典：JAIC就職カレッジ 株式会社ジェイックが運営する「JAIC就職カレッジ」は、フリーターや既卒、大学を中退してしまった人の就職支援を強みとしている就活サービスだ。サービスとしての就職支援歴は19年（※1）と、長い歴史を持つ。総支援者数は約3万6000名（※2）、相談満足度は93.5％（※3）と、実績も申し分ない。 正社員として働いた経験がない人たちも、数多くが無事に正社員就職を実現。専任アドバイザーによる1対1の就活サポートや面接・ビジネスマナー対策の実践講座で、自信を持って就活に臨めるようになるだろう。 また、JAIC就職カレッジなら書類選考をスキップすることが可能。履歴書など提出書類を作成するのが苦手な人には非常にありがたい。入社後のサポートも手厚く、10人中9人以上（※4）が入社後も安定して働き続けている。ミスマッチによる早期離職が不安な人も、安心して利用できるはずだ。 ※1：就職支援サービス「就職カレッジ」の実施年数 ※2：2005年5月～2024年4月の当社「就職カレッジ」等主催の面接会参加人数 ※3：2022年3月17日〜2023年4月20日の相談者のうち相談に満足された方の割合 ※4：2023年2月～2023年7月に入社した人材の3カ月定着率 まとめ 新卒や大学生は、キャリアアドバイザーから就活のフルサポートを受けられる就活サイトを利用するのがおすすめ。自ら求人を探すのも悪くないが、最短距離の内定獲得を目指すなら、就活のプロに相談できる環境を整えることが効率的だろう。 就活情報サイトと就職エージェントを併用すると、就活の最新情報と求人を網羅的にカバーできるため、就活に無駄がない。近年ではスカウト型のサービスも注目されているので、自分の市場価値を知るために利用してみるのも1つの方法だ。 また、フリーターや既卒・第二新卒、未経験に特化した就活サイトもある。本記事を参考にサービスの内容や特徴を比較し、自分にぴったりな就活サイトを見つけてみて欲しい。

Leland Bobbe/Getty Images Advertisement スーザン・フォン・セガーン氏は最初の遺産1万ドル（約150万円）を使ってコンバーチブルを買い、のちに家を買うために貯蓄を始めた。 その後、相続遺産を不動産と証券に投資することで、莫大な富に変えた。 昨年、新たに10万ドル（約1500万円）を相続し、それをおもに家の改修に使っている。 以下のエッセイはロサンゼルス在住の評論家兼CFOであるスーザン・フォン・セガーン氏（56歳）との会話にもとづいている。長さとわかりやすさの観点から編集を加えた。 1993年に亡くなった祖母が1万ドル（約150万円、1ドル=150円換算：以下同）を残してくれたおかげで、私はファイナンスという面で賢くなることができた。 Advertisement 死の床にあった祖母は、私たち4人の孫に豪華な料理をふるまえなくなったため、人生の終わりが近づいたある日、私たちの生活に富を授けてくれた。 私は25歳だったが、短期間しか満足できない何かにそのお金を使いたくないと考えるほどの知恵は身につけていた。 そこで、喜びが長く続くものとしてコンバーチブル（オープンカー）を買い、将来タウンハウスを買うために貯蓄をする計画を立てた。 祖母はふたりとも世界恐慌と二次大戦を経験した 祖母のふたりは、本当に必要なものにだけお金を使うよう、私の両親をしつけた。私はお金を賢く使う、あるいは投資するという考え方を、基本的な金銭感覚として身につけて育った。 20代の前半、私はロサンゼルス界隈を古い日産セントラで走り回っていた。ジオ・メトロLSIコンバーチブルが、喉から手が出るほどほしかったのだが、評論家として当時得ていた収入をそれに費やすのは不可能だと思え、代替案と言えば借金をすることぐらいだった。いずれの方法を選んだにせよ、その車を買ったときに得られる喜びよりも、リスクのほうが大きかっただろう。 祖母のひとりから1万ドルを相続したとき、私は日産を2000ドル（約30万円）で売り、相続金とその2000ドルを使ってほしかったコンバーチブルを買った。他人に勧められる車ではなく、すばらしい性能のお気に入りの車が買えて、本当にうれしかった。私は自分の望み、予算、好みを基準に車を選んだ。 Advertisement Advertisement 1993年に車を購入後、毎月400ドルを貯蓄に回した その後、私は決まった額（毎月400ドル［約6万円］）を、まるでそれが自動車ローンの返済であるかのように、1995年の年末まで貯金し続けた。私はミニマリスト的な生き方をしていたので、ときには賢くお金を使う工夫をするだけで、400ドル以上貯金できた。仕事で経費口座があったおかげで、飲み物、駐車場、ビジネスランチなどの代金はすべて、経費として計上することもできた。 遺産を使ってからも、経済的には順調にことが運んだ。買いたいものがある場合も、それが何であれ、お金をうまく使ったり節約したりすることで、いつのまにかそれを買うのに必要な額が貯まっていた。 車の次はマイホーム 数年間貯蓄を続けたことで2万5000ドル（約375万円）を確保できた。これで私にとって最初となる17万5000ドル（約2625万円）のマンション購入の頭金と引っ越しや家具などの費用をまかなえるようになった。私はそのマンションを17万5000ドルで1995年に買った。 私はビジネスパートナーとともにブティック系広告代理店を立ち上げて運営していたが、ドットコムバブルの崩壊と9.11同時多発テロに端を発する不況のあおりを受けて消滅することになった。マンションの価値が上がっていたため、それを担保に7万5000ドル（約1125万円）の融資を得て、そのお金を使って広告代理店の負債を清算した。 マンションの価値は40万ドル（約6000万円）近くにまで上昇し、融資額も22万5000ドル（約3375万円）にまで増加した。2007年、そのマンションを71万5000ドル（約1億725万円）で売った。祖母の遺産を相続することがなければ、そのようなことは不可能だっただろう。 代理店と銀行への支払いを済ませたあと、手元に45万ドル（約6750万円）が残っていたので、のちに婚約者となる人物の借金5万ドル（約750万円）も返済した。 Advertisement 1万ドルが40万ドルになったあとは、手を付けなかった 私は余った40万ドルを証券口座に入れて成長させることにした。コロナ禍がやってきて、市場が崩壊したとき、総資産の10％が失われた。 私たちは2021年に新しい家を買い、頭金として16万ドル（約2400万円）を支払った。その時点で残金は20万ドル（約3000万円）。購入や引っ越しの費用を支払ったのちに残った16万ドルを、ふたたび証券口座に託した。 証券口座のお金と収入を使って、毎月の住宅ローンを返済した。この新しい家の資産価値はおよそ30万ドル（約4500万円）とされている。 2024年に父が亡くなり、10万ドルを相続した 私たちはこれまで、この10万ドル（約1500万円）をさまざまな目的のために利用してきた。新しい屋根、エアコン、給湯器など、家のためにおよそ2万5000ドルを使った。夫のスタートアップに2万ドル（約300万円）ほど投資し、医療費としてもおよそ1万ドルを費やした。 夫も私もまだ現役で働いている。この遺産が私たち夫婦の未来を形づくる。個人としてのあるいは仕事上での必要や欲求を満たすのにじゅうぶんな額だ。

Rugby world champions South Africa will unveil First National Bank (FNB) as its new front-of-shirt sponsor after ditching MTN, City AM understands. The Springboks announced on Tuesday that an eight-year partnership between the team and the mobile telecommunications provider had concluded following a spell that saw the senior men’s team win back-to-back Rugby World Cups in Tokyo and Paris. FNB is currently on the back of the iconic green and gold jerseys but will move into prime position ahead of South Africa’s next men’s international. South African Rugby has recently announced major partnerships with Coca-Cola – who could be re-partnering with the Premier League from next season – and Rhino Rugby, the equipment provider. Springboks make replacement First National Bank is the oldest bank in South Africa, with its roots dating back to 1838. It was part of Barclays Bank until 1986. Speaking at the conclusion of their deal with MTN, SA Rugby president Mark Alexander said: “I’d like to thank MTN most sincerely for their support over the past eight years. “If you remember, we put out a call to corporate South Africa to partner with us at a challenging time for rugby in this country, and MTN answered that call, loud and clearly. Together, we have enjoyed what will, in time, I’m sure, be regarded as a golden age for the sport in this country. “The Springboks have twice visited MTN’s offices as newly crowned world champions, marking the pinnacle moments in our partnership. MTN has supported us every step of the way—not only in our efforts to win rugby matches and bring joy to the country but also in showcasing the power of South Africa’s diversity when we stand united. “MTN’s faith was truly inspiring when they first came on board during those dark days. Of course, rugby would grind to a halt without the unwavering support of our partners.

Laura Frick, creator of "You are Loved Templates," has over 140,000 followers on TikTok. I have been trying to find ways to maintain productivity, and as a result, I devised the spreadsheet "Habit Tracker" to help me stay focused and record tasks, no matter how small. My starting point for my career was working as a camera technician from 9am to 6pm. However, after about a year and a half, I burned out and quit due to overtime, tough work, and lack of time for my private life. After resigning, I tried various new things such as dropshipping and cryptocurrency to become independent and self-employed. I decided to use my spreadsheet skills to sell templates online since I have been using spreadsheets a lot since high school. I started using spreadsheets in my personal life after understanding the characteristics of my brain, which was crucial for staying productive. Until then, I had struggled with productivity issues and felt frustrated by my lack of progress. I used to think I was stupid due to poor grades in school and inability to concentrate on classes. However, using a Habit Tracker allows me to look back at myself and adjust course.

BRAND STUDIO Sponsored Content by Intel AIに代表されるテクノロジーの進化と、それに伴う市場環境の変化が起きている。真っ先に大きな影響を受けるのがPC市場だ。AIの需要が高まるにつれて、これまでとは比較にならないほど高性能なPCの需要が増しているのである。 そんな中、いち早くAIに対応した高性能PC「AI PC」を打ち出し、インテル® Core™ Ultra プロセッサーを市場に投入したのがインテルだ。 2025年はAI PCが本格的に登場して2年目となる年であり、インテルにとっても今後を占う重要な一年になることは間違いない。ラインナップが充実しつつあるAI PCを、同社はどのように成長させていくのか。他社製品への優位性や販売戦略はどのようなものがあるのか。 2025年3月5日に開催されたインテルのパートナー企業向けイベント「Intel Commercial Client内覧会」で語られた内容をもとに、AI PC 2年目の販売戦略について解説する。 AI PCはコモディティ化による市場の頭打ちを打破する存在 「Intel Commercial Client内覧会」は企業のPC買い替え需要に備え、最新のAI PCやIntel vPro® プラットフォームといった企業向けソリューション情報を共有し、パートナー各社のアップセルにつなげることを目的としたイベントである。インテルのほか、パートナー企業からは、カタオカ、NSW、アクセル、マイクロソフト、ブラックマジックデザインから担当者が登壇した。 上野晶子（うえの・しょうこ）氏／インテル 執行役員 マーケティング本部 本部長。外資系ホテル、モバイル通信や医療機器メーカーでマーケティングを経験後、2002年にインテルに入社。その後エネルギーマネジメント企業でストラテジック・マーケティング担当を経て2018年にインテルに復帰。自社のマーケティング戦略にとどまらず、エコシステム・パートナーとの共同マーケティングを推進。 同イベントではまず、インテル 執行役員マーケティング本部長・上野晶子氏が登壇。開会挨拶として、インテルにおける最新の販売戦略について語った。 上野氏はまず、2025年という年がパートナー各社にとって「法人向けのPCにおける特需の年になる」と切り出した。逆にいえば、これまでのPC市場は販売する側にとって決して楽ではなかったということになる。 その背景にあるのは、PCのコモディティ化だ。何十年もの間、PCは進化を続け、そのたびに新たな顧客を開拓し、市場を拡大させてきた。しかし、多くの人がPCを所有し、企業にも行き渡った昨今はついに市場が頭打ちに。上野氏は「PCはいまや鉛筆と同じような存在になった」と話す。「文字を書く」ことが目的の鉛筆に今以上の機能を求める人がいないのと同じく、PCの性能向上による恩恵が多くの人にとってピンとこないものになってしまったのだ。 そうした状況は、PCを販売する側にとっては大きな課題だった。人口増加が見込めない国内ではこれ以上の販売数の増加は難しく、売上を上げるには単価を上げるしかないからだ。単価を上げるには何らかの付加価値が必要だが、前述のようにコモディティ化した状況ではそれも難しい。PC業界は、これまでのPC市場を一変させるようなイノベーションを待ち望んでいたわけだ。 そんな現状を打破する契機になったのが、AIのムーブメントである。AIを端末内で動作させるには、これまで以上に強力なプロセッサが必要になる。そこでインテルが提案したのが、AIの処理を専門に行うプロセッサ「NPU（Neural Processing Unit）」を搭載したAI PCという新たなカテゴリーだったのだ。 「AI PCという新しいカテゴリーが生まれたことで、PCの単価を上げていけるのではないか。そして、より多くのお客様にサービスを提供していくことで、PC業界全体が大きく成長できるのではないかと考えています」（上野氏） では、AI PCは市場にどれほどのインパクトをもたらせるのか。キーワードとなるのが「データセントリックトランスフォーメーション（DCX）」だ。これは「データを中心にした変革」のこと。AIを使いこなす肝となるのはデータであり、今後はデータの利活用でAIを使いこなせる企業が大きく成長すると上野氏は言う。 「現在、インターネット業界においてグローバルで活躍している日本企業は残念ながら多くありません。AIにしても今はまだデータをクラウドに上げないといけない場合がほとんどなので、クラウドプラットフォームを提供するインフラ企業など特定の企業だけが成長する構造になっているのです。 しかし、AIをクラウドではなく、ローカルで処理できるようになれば、日本企業もグローバルで活躍できる成長企業になれるかもしれません。そのために必要なのが、AI PCです。AI PCの到来は、日本のビジネス構造を大きく変えていけるのではないかと思っています」（上野氏） 3年前のPCと比べて飛躍的に性能が向上 では、具体的にAI PCの特長や優位性はどこにあるのか。 一言でいえば「AI PCとは、今この世の中にある中で最も優れたPC」だと上野氏は胸を張る。そもそも、AI PCにはユーザーがPCに望む基本的な性能がすべて入っている。高い省電力性や互換性、そして生産性。AI PCはこうした基本性能の高さを備えた上で、さらにプラスアルファとしてAIを活用するための機能を搭載した存在なのだ。 では、具体的にどれほどの性能向上が実感できるのか。イベントでは、インテル 技術本部部長・太田仁彦氏が登壇。実際に3年前に発売された「第8世代インテル® Core™プロセッサー」搭載PCと、最新のインテル® Core™ Ultra プロセッサー（シリーズ2）を搭載したAI PCとの比較が行われた。 デモンストレーションでは、100ページのPowerPointファイルをPDFに変換。その結果、あっという間に作業を終えた最新のAI PCに対して、3年前のPCは数十秒の遅れが出た。 「たった数十秒と思われるかもしれませんが、日々の業務の積み重ねでは、この差が大きな違いとして表れます。一日のうちに何回アプリケーションを起動するのか、そこからデータを持ってきて、どれくらい加工したり編集したりするのか。そうした作業の一つひとつを考えれば、PCの性能差が生産性に大きく影響することは明らかでしょう」（太田氏） 3年前のPCも決して低性能というわけではない。しかし、AIの盛り上がりにより後押しされたAI PCの性能向上には目を見張るものがある。太田氏によると、両者には生産性において最大20％、バッテリー駆動時間において約2倍の差があるという。 AI PCは比較的新しい概念であるが、実際にはAI PCはさらに進化し、性能的にも円熟しつつある。 折しも、Windows10のサポート終了が2025年10月に迫っており、多くの企業がPCのリプレイスに取り掛かっている。AI PCが本格的に普及し始める時期と、企業のPCリプレイスの時期が重なったことで、今まさに起きているのが上野氏の言う「特需」なのだ。 「グローバルではすでに20％がAI PCに置き換わっています。日本は少し遅れて17％といったところ。今年は、この数字が41％までいくと予測しています」（上野氏） Intel vPro® プラットフォームがもたらした中小企業のDX AI PCの販売戦略において重要となるのは性能だけではない。具体的にどういうユースケースがあるのかを提示することが有効だ。 この点についても、すでにいくつもの事例が生まれている。 たとえば、イベントにも登壇したカタオカの事例だ。同社は広島県尾道市で水産塩干物・海産物の製造卸売事業を営む中小企業。同社が恩恵を受けていると話すのが、ハードウェアベースで高いセキュリティ機能とリモート管理機能を提供するIntel vPro® プラットフォームである。 同社ではイベントに登壇した大﨑一樹氏が“一人情シス”のような形でシステムを担当している。本社や工場、倉庫でシステム関係のトラブルが起きた場合、以前は大﨑氏が現場に直接足を運んで対応していたという。というのも、現場担当者はPCに詳しいわけではないため、電話等では状況を正確に伝えられないからだ。 さらに工場に入るには、衛生面からクリーンルーム並みの身支度が必要となる。そのため、本社のそばにあるにもかかわらず工場に入るのに最短で20分もの時間がかかっていた。 「そんな日常を変えてくれたのが、Intel vPro® プラットフォームでした。本社にいながら遠隔操作でPCに入って、PCの内部を把握してトラブルに対応できるようになりましたし、リモート操作で業務時間外にWindows Updateもできます。工場のラインの停止時間短縮にも貢献できたし、スピード感が上がりました」（大﨑氏） OSのアップデートはセキュリティ対策の面からも重要だ。リモートによる一斉アップデートが可能なIntel vPro® プラットフォームなら、これまでのように工場や倉庫を訪れ、一台一台アップデート作業する必要もなくなるのだ。 また、AI PCはその他のあらゆる作業を快適にしてくれたと大﨑氏は言う。 「プログラミングや生成AIの活用、Officeソフトなど、私が業務で行うさまざまな作業において、AI PCの処理能力は非常に高くストレスなく使えています。 たとえばオンライン会議でも（背景のぼかし処理などに）AIが活用されており、そこに対する電力消費は非常に大きいわけですが、NPUを搭載したAI PCならレスポンスも早く快適です。AI PCのバッテリー駆動時間はとても長く、電源ケーブルを持ち歩くストレスからも解放されました」（大﨑氏） トレンドマイクロとの協業でセキュリティも万全に 大﨑氏のセッションでも語られたセキュリティの重要性だが、Windows Update以外に日々の対策も大切である。 この点についても、AI PCそしてIntel vPro® プラットフォームは力を発揮する。イベントに登壇したトレンドマイクロ プラットフォームイネーブルメント部プラットフォームマーケティンググループ シニアマネージャーの塩田行宏氏は、サイバー攻撃の現状を次のように説明する。 「ランサムウェアの活動は残念ながら右肩上がりに増えており、大きな被害が出ています。日本は言語のバリアがありますが、近年はランサムウェア上陸のスピードが早まる傾向です」（塩田氏） ランサムウェアを検知し、対策するソフトウェアをトレンドマイクロでは提供している。だが、ソフトが快適に動作するにはPCのプロセッサ性能が重要だ。 そこで効いてくるのがAI PCの高い処理性能である。塩田氏によると、AI PCで動作させることで検知能力は従来よりも24％向上。スキャン性能についても7〜10倍ものスピードが出るようになったという。いずれも、従来よりも軽快な動作で高い効果が出ているところがポイントで、業務に支障をきたすことなくセキュリティの確保が可能になるのだ。 会場内には最新のAI PCも展示されていた 都市部だけでなく地方にも注力 IT関連の動きは多くの場合、首都圏をはじめとする大都市圏に集中しがちだ。また、中小企業はどうしても大企業よりも動きが遅れる傾向にある。その結果、地方の中小企業は最も対応が遅くなり、後手に回ってしまうことも少なくない。 インテルはこの点を問題視しており、地場に根ざした中堅企業向けにPCメーカー／販売パートナープログラムを設けている。具体的にはセミナーの開催やオンライン広告を活用した広報活動を通して、地方におけるAI PCの普及を図っていく構えだ。 2025年を迎えて、いよいよ本格化するAI PCの拡大。都市圏だけでなく地方も含め、取りこぼしなく最新テクノロジーを広めていこうとする動向からも、インテルの熱意が伝わってくる。

Recruit, a major human resources company, has announced it will cancel its entry into Spotwork. The spotwork market is expanding rapidly, with approximately 32 million people working using spotwork services as of February 2025, more than doubled compared to February 2024. Following the announcement, Ogawa Mine, the president of Timey, the largest company in the industry, posted on his X account, "I'm happy to be retreated." Timey stock also rose sharply, with a closing price increase of over 17%. Recruit has commented that it decided to cancel the development of Town Workskima (tentative name) from the perspective of development priorities. Recruit Holdings will begin a major organizational restructuring of human resource services from April 2025. HR services such as Rikunavi, currently under Recruit, will be transferred to two companies: Indeed Japan and a new company, Indeed Recruit Partners. A Recruit representative explained that the group aims to create matching opportunities for job seekers with various needs.

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – MARCH 08: Trent Alexander-Arnold of Liverpool during the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Southampton FC at Anfield on March 08, 2025 in Liverpool, England. The 26-year-old, who has made over 300 appearances for the Anfield club, will be without a club should he reach the end of his contract this summer. He has reportedly not pursued a new deal with the Reds, who are top of the Premier League. There is no guarantee that Alexander-Arnold will be gracing the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium pitch next season but talks have progressed. The so-called “Mbappe tax law” – in which new residents to Spain who establish their tax residence in Madrid can see a reduction in their owed monies to the government’s treasury – will be part of the process and could slow down any deal. An official contract proposal has reportedly been sent by Real Madrid to both Alexander-Arnold and his team, after a year of rumours surrounding the potential transfer. The loss of Alexander-Arnold could be the first in a series of three major departures for Liverpool. Arne Slot could see Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk leave the club despite his Reds being on course to win the Premier League under his first season in charge.

Ford Focus ST power is sourced from a 2.3-litre four-cylinder engine, which produces 425hp in the Radical SR10 XXR. The Radical SR10 XXR weighs just 725kg and will hit 62mph in just 2.4 seconds. There's no electronic driver aids in this car, making it ideal for track use. The Toyota GR86 is the successor to the GT86, with a 234hp 2.4-litre 'boxer' engine and a similar surfeit of power over grip. It's a pure sports car that will soon be extinct, serving up constant feedback and fun. Buyers are all too aware of time running out, and the entire UK allocation for the GR86 has already been sold. The 911 Carrera is updated for 2025 and gets our vote as the 'basic' model.

With Labour sinking in the polls, there's an increasing likelihood that whoever forms the next government will need the Liberal Democrats' help to do it. George Osborne drew attention to something else: the Lib Dem question. What, Osborne asked, is the Tories' Lib Dem strategy? How are they planning to recapture the seats lost to Ed Davey? Are they completely ruling out the possibility of a post-election deal? The author was invited to speak on a panel on free trade at the Lib Dems' spring conference in Harrogate. The author agreed, partly because I believe there's no reason the Lib Dems shouldn't be as devoutly pro free trade as the Conservatives. I've written previously on these pages about my constant disappointment at the Lib Dems' failure to be actually liberal and my belief that a strong liberal voice in British politics would do us all the world of good. Free trade is, I believe, an innately liberal goal, but in Lib Dem minds its merits are almost completely overshadowed by their zealous commitment to the EU. I made the case that the personal distaste many members clearly have for Donald Trump shouldn't blind us to the enormous benefits of improved trade relations with the US and that being outside of the EU had strengthened our hand when it came to avoiding or minimising the impact of Trump's tariff wars. Most people don't know that the Lib Dems are a party obsessed with process. They use their party conferences to propose, debate and vote on the party's policies and constitution. Line by line. Fairly democratic, sure. But conducive to being taken seriously as a potential party of government again? Absolutely not. The most controversial motion in Harrogate by far did not concern how the UK should deal with Trump, restoring international aid, animal welfare in the food supply, or even the one on gender which skirted around the Cass Review. It was on small changes to the party's process for selecting general election candidates.

Retail sales volumes fell markedly in March, marking the sixth consecutive month of decline. Firms across the retail and wholesale sectors reported that global trade tensions and the Autumn Budget are weighing on consumer and business confidence. The weak results are bad news for Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who will unveil the Government’s Spring Statement tomorrow, March 26. Reforming business rates, supporting the British Business Bank’s Growth Guarantee Scheme, and properly resourcing the Growth and Skills Levy could support businesses’ investment plans, according to Martin Sartorius of the CBI. A survey from KPMG found that Brits are planning to cut back spending on everyday items, with a growing number of people saying they feel financially insecure. The latest challenges for retail are compounding a problem that began with the financial crisis in 2008, according to the Centre for Retail Research (CRR).

**Summary of Article** The Defence Policy and Planning (DPP) Division leads work in the NATO International Staff on defence-related aspects of the Alliance's fundamental security tasks at the political-military level. The Assistant Secretary General for Defence Policy and Planning (ASG/DPP) leads the Division and is responsible for developing and delivering NATO's defence policy and defence capability development, including net assessments and a broad range of political-military policy issues. The ASG/DPP chairs high-level committees of nations, speaks in public fora, and to the Press on behalf of the Secretary General. They manage the Defence Policy and Planning Division (approximately 90 staff members) and are supported by three Directors. The candidate must have at least 15 years of professional experience in defence matters and change management, a university degree or equivalent level of qualification, and experience working in a multilateral environment. They should also have extensive people management experience, the capacity to lead, motivate, and engage diverse teams, and a proven track record of leading change and implementing complex programmes. The candidate must possess the minimum levels of NATO's official languages (English/French): VI ("Proficiency") in one; I ("Beginner") in the other. Desirable qualifications include prior experience working in security and defence issues at a high level and higher levels of proficiency in NATO's second official language. Key challenges facing the successful candidate for ASG/DPP during the next 3 years will likely include: Ensuring that NATO’s Defence Planning Process adapts to the changing security environment; Continuing to adapt NATO’s deterrence and defence posture, including modernising the NATO Force Structure; Establishing, assessing, reviewing, and monitoring resilience objectives; Ensuring that NATO nuclear deterrent capabilities remain safe, secure, and effective; and Strengthening Cooperation between NATO and the EU in the field of capability development. Candidates are asked to attach a document summarizing their views on these key challenges and how they would address them if selected for the position.

**SUMMARY** The Defence Investment (DI) Division is responsible for facilitating the development and adoption of cutting-edge, innovative and interoperable capabilities. The incumbent will manage the Armaments and Major Capability Programmes Directorate with clear accountability and transparency on goals, ensuring that all staff under their responsibility have clear objectives. The incumbent will provide regular and fair feedback on performance, informally as appropriate and through the HQ Performance Review and Development (PRD) system. **MAIN ACCOUNTABILITIES** The incumbent's main accountabilities include: * People Management: Manage the Directorate with clear accountability and transparency on goals. * Stakeholder Management: Support consultation and decision making in the CNAD, the Aviation Committee, the IAMD Policy Committee and other NATO committees as appropriate. * Expertise Development: Keep abreast of relevant political, military and financial developments in Alliance and partner nations. **COMPETENCIES** The incumbent must demonstrate the following competencies: * Achievement: Sets and works to meet challenging goals; * Change Leadership: Champions change; * Conceptual Thinking: Creates new concepts; * Developing Others: Provides in-depth mentoring, coaching and training; * Impact and Influence: Uses complex influence strategies; * Initiative: Plans and acts for the long-term;

エヌビディアのGTCは、急速に拡大するAI業界にとって、1年で最も重要なイベントとなっている。 Emma Cosgrove Advertisement 2025年3月17日から21日まで、カリフォルニア州サンノゼで「テック業界のスーパーボウル」とも言えるエヌビディア（Nvidia）のGTC（GPU Technology Conference）が開催され、世界中から集まった多くの人々は最新技術に驚きの声を上げた。 エヌビディアは2009年からGTCを開催しているが、15年でその規模は大きく拡大し、半導体やアクセラレーテッド コンピューティング、AI（人工知能）だけではなく、ロボティクス、自動運転車、電気自動車、さらには量子コンピューティングなどの未来のテクノロジーも紹介されるようになった。 「GTCの雰囲気が変わったと感じている人が多い」と、エヌビディアのジェンスン・フアン（Jensen Huang）CEOは3月20日の記者会見で語った。 彼の言う通り、そのイベントは確かに変わっていた。もし2025年のGTCに参加できなかったのなら、あなたが見逃したことを以下で紹介しよう。 Advertisement AIは今や大きなビジネスで、賭け金も高い 2024年のGTCの基調講演では、ジェンスン・フアンは「収益」という言葉を一度しか使わなかった。だが2025年は10回もそのことについて言及した。「エヌビディアだけでなく、AIエコシステムに関わるすべての人々が利益を上げる時が来た」というのが彼のメッセージだった。 フアンは今回の基調講演で、エヌビディアがチップメーカーから、いわゆる「AI工場」を販売するAIインフラ企業へと進化したことを強調した。 AI工場は知能を生み出す場所であり、最も効率よく生産可能な工場が最も成功するべきだとフアンは説明した。彼は各企業のAI工場の質はその企業の収益に大きな影響を与えると話しており、これはテック業界に限らずどの業界にも当てはまることだと強調した。 「すべての業界がここにある。すべての国がここにあり、すべての企業がここにあるのは、それらが成り立つためには我々の存在が必要不可欠となったからだ」と、フアンは2025年3月20日に記者団に語った。 Advertisement Advertisement エヌビディアはAIエコシステムの中心 エヌビディアのテクノロジーは現在のほとんどのAIのイノベーションを支えているため、AIがどこまでできるかの基準を示している。つまりエヌビディアのテクノロジーは、エンジニアたちが新しいアイデアをどのくらい実現するかに影響を与えているのだ。また、フアンが基調講演で紹介した次世代のチップは、非常に強力で速い性能を持っていると紹介され、会場の聴衆はその驚異的な性能に驚き、息を呑むような反応を示したという。 カンファレンスに参加したクラウド企業やAI開発者たちは、「チップの性能が大きく向上することで、開発者が作り上げるテクノロジーや製品にどんな影響があるのか、またインフラ関連の企業が何を準備すべきかについてはまだはっきりと分かっていない」とBusiness Insiderに語っている。そのために、フアンは同時に「複数の世代」を発表したのだと彼らは説明している。 「今では、他の企業も計画を立てやすくなった」とフアンは3月20日の記者会見で語った。 「昔はチップを作り、それを誰かが買ってコンピューターに入れ、コンピューターを売る、という単純な流れだった。しかし今、我々はAIインフラを作っており、それには一度に何千億ドルもの投資が必要だ。だから計画をしっかり立てることがとても重要になる」 AIの進化のペースは速くなっている カンファレンス会場のサンノゼ・コンベンションセンターは、スケジュールが過密だったり、長い列が出来ていたりしたために、参加者たちの間に慌ただしい雰囲気が漂っていた。AIモデルの進化のペースも速くなっており、会場では参加者同士が話す会話や記者会見、パネルディスカッションで、「新しいテクノロジーの変化はおおよそ6カ月ごとに起きている」という話をよく耳にした。 エヌビディアのシニアディレクターであるディオン・ハリス（Dion Harris）は「日常業務で関わる最も重要な関係者は最先端の研究者たちだ」とBusiness Insiderに語った。彼らは未来に何が起こるかを最もよく理解しているため、例えば、将来的にはAIファクトリーモデルを活用し、非常に大きな価値を生み出すかもしれないという。 Advertisement ロボットはまだ初期段階 展示会では、フアンが基調講演で話した内容を強調するかのように、さまざまな種類のロボットや自動運転車が展示されていた。 フアンはロボットを「人手不足分を補うもの」とし、すべての車を自動運転にするためのカギであり、私たちが今作り出すことのできる知能を実際に動かすために不可欠なテクノロジーだと説明した。 「物理的なAIとロボット工学は非常に速いペースで進化している。皆さん、この分野に注目してほしい。これが最も大きな産業になる可能性が十分にある」とフアンは基調講演で話した。 ロボットの未来はエヌビディアにとって重要だ。なぜなら、AIを活用して物理的な世界を理解し、3次元で行動を起こすためには膨大な計算能力が必要だからだ。そして、もしエヌビディアが今日のように計算能力の巨大企業であり続ければ、新しい産業の基盤となることで、さらにその存在感が高まることが期待されている。しかし、サンノゼ・コンベンションセンターに展示されているロボットの多くは、計算能力的にはまだ初期段階で開発途中のものが多かった。 エヌビディアは、ロボットが開発段階を早く抜け出せるようにするための無料で使える新たな「推論モデル」を2025年3月18日に発表した。この新しい仕組みを使うと、ロボットはその場で異なる仕事や環境に素早く適応できるようになるかもしれないという。 オムニバース＆シミュレーション部門のバイスプレジデントであるレヴ・レバレディアン（Rev Lebaredian）は、「これで実現可能になるだろう」と、Business Insiderに語った。 「我々はついに、このテクノロジーを中心に産業を築くことができるようになる」 量子コンピューティングがついに登場 2025年のGTCでは、かつては遠い未来の技術と見なされていた量子コンピューティング（フアン自身も2025年1月に「この技術が『非常に役立つ』ようになるまで20年はかかる」と述べ、その結果、関連企業の株価は急落した）の重要性が証明された。 エヌビディアは初の「Quantum Day（量子コンピューティング・デー）」を開催し、研究者たちが新薬の発見、新しい化合物の開発、暗号解読など、さまざまな成果が期待され、急成長している量子コンピューティングに関わるテクノロジーを紹介した。 フアンは、Quantum Dayを開始するにあたって、数カ月前に量子コンピューティングに対して懐疑的だった自分の考えが間違っていたと認め、さまざまな量子コンピューティング企業の幹部たちを迎えて量子処理がテクノロジー業界の次のフロンティアである理由を説明させた。 これまで、量子コンピューティング分野の進展は、エラー修正や、コンピューターがもっと多くの計算をこなせるようにするための技術的な課題のために遅れていた。しかし、2025年のGTCでは、マイクロソフト（Microsoft）、アマゾンウェブサービス（Amazon Web Services）、グーグル（Google）といった大手企業や、ディーウェーブ（D-Wave）、イオンキュー（IonQ）、リゲッティ・コンピューティング（Rigetti Computing）などのあまり知られていない量子コンピューティング企業が、舞台裏で進めてきたことが明らかになった。 フアンは「これはGTCで開催される多くの量子コンピューティング・デーの始まりに過ぎない」とステージ上で述べ、エヌビディアのカンファレンスがこの分野での新しい進展の場を提供し続けることを示した。 「来年（2026年）はGTCでいくつかの量子に関するデモンストレーションが行われるだろう」とフアンは語っている。

Revolutの6～17歳向けサービスが日本に上陸する。 撮影：小林優多郎 Advertisement イギリスの金融ベンチャー・Revolut（レボリュート）は3月25日、日本で子ども向けサービスを開始する。 対象は6～17歳で、保護者が子どものお金の使い方を管理でき、お互いの金融リテラシーを高めるための工夫が凝らされたサービスとなっている。 日本では、キャッシュレス比率が4割に達してきているが、まだ十分に浸透しているとは言えず、子どもを対象にしたサービスも少ない。Revolutの新サービスはどのように日本市場に食い込もうとしているか解説しよう。 親が管理できる「子ども用」金融サービス Revolutの新サービスは、「6～17歳向けRevolut」と表現されている。国外ではすでに20カ国で提供されており、ユーザー数は約500万人。 以前は「Junior（ジュニア）」というサービス名も使われていたが、対象年齢が幅広いことから「Revolut ＜18」（Under 18＝18歳未満）というサービス名に変わり、さらに今後は「Revolut for Kids & Teens」というサービス名に変更していくという。 Advertisement ただし、日本では対象年齢を示す「6～17歳向けRevolut」という表現になった。これは厳密にはサービス名ではなく、あくまでサービス名は単に「Revolut」になる。 利用には既存のRevolutアプリではなく、黄色いアイコンが目印となる子ども向けのRevolutアプリをインストールする。 アプリを有効化するには子ども用のアカウントが必要だが、子ども用のアカウントは、保護者のサブアカウントという位置づけで、アカウント作成には保護者のRevolutアカウントも必要になっている。 Revolutには無料のスタンダードプランと、有料プラン2種類があるが、スタンダードプランでは1人分、プレミアムプラン（月額980円）では2人分、メタルプラン（月額1980円）では5人分の子ども用アカウントを紐づけられる。 保護者向けの通常のRevolutアプリでは、メイン画面を左右にスワイプすると、複数の通貨の残高が切り替わって表示される。 子ども用アカウントのセットアップが完了すると、その残高のリストの中に子どものアカウントの残高も表示される。子どもの残高のメニューから保護者は送金でき、残高や利用履歴を把握できる。 子ども用アカウントの画面。履歴の分析も可能。 出典：Revolut 保護者からは「おこづかい」として定期的にお金を送ることも、任意のタイミングで送ることもできる。定期送金の場合は「週ごとの指定曜日」に送金ができる。 保護者側から発行したカードの停止やATMの利用禁止など、通常のRevolutのセキュリティー機能も設定が可能。 子ども側の機能としては、決済利用、利用履歴の管理、Revolutユーザーへの送金などが用意されている。ただし、親以外への送金は13歳以上のユーザーでないとできない。 子どもが残高を決済に使いたい時、Visaブランドの物理カード発行が必要になる（発送料500円）。物理カードのアクティベーションをすれば、Apple Pay、Google Payへの登録も可能。 通常アカウントのRevolutだと物理カードを発行せず、バーチャルカードを発行してネットやVisaのタッチ決済対応の実店舗で利用ができるが、6～17歳向けRevolutのサービス開始当初は物理カードの発行が必須となる。 Revolut広報によると、6～17歳向けRevolutでのバーチャルカードのみの発行は「今後提供予定」。 Revolutと言えば、海外での利用シーンの印象も強く、子ども用アカウントでも海外利用は可能。ただし、外貨への両替はできないので、決済時の為替レートで日本円から引き落とされる仕組み。 物理カードの発行も可能。このイエローが6～17歳向けRevolutの特徴のようだ。「Wow」のイラストはカスタマイズ（700円）機能を利用したもの。 撮影：小林優多郎 ポイントは、保護者が子どもの利用履歴を確認できるという点だ。保護者は自分のアカウントから子どもの状況を確認できるため、使いすぎや不審な利用にリアルタイムに気付ける。 セキュリティーも基本的に親が管理する形で、子どもが送金する場合、初めての送金先にはまず保護者アカウントでの承認が必要になる。もちろん、送金履歴もリアルタイムで保護者が確認可能。 なお。海外版では提供されている「貯金機能」に関しては提供されない。これは日本では資金移動業であり、貯蓄サービスを提供できないためだ。 日本は遅れている「金融リテラシー教育」 こうしたRevolutのサービスについて、「日本での金融リテラシーの向上を見据え、単なる親子向けのサービスというだけでなく、アナログ面でのコミュニケーションによる見守りもできる」と同社オペレーション部ストラテジー & オペレーション マネジャーのYidi Li氏は指摘する。 日本では、家庭や学校での金融教育が遅れていると長く言われてきた。 金融広報中央委員会が2016年に実施した「金融リテラシー調査（2016）」によると、「学校等で金融教育を受けたと認識している人の割合」は6.6％、家庭では19.8％だった。これが2022年の調査では、それぞれ7.1％、18.4％と、家庭では減ってしまっている。 2016年の金融教育の経験を聞いた調査の回答。学校では6.6％、家庭では19.8％だった。2022年になると7.1％、18.4％となり、多く変動はしていない。アメリカも学校で19％から20％になったのであまり増えていないが、日本との差は大きい。 出典：金融広報中央委員会 アメリカの学校教育では金融教育を受けた割合が20％に達しており、日本の約3倍となっている。 さらに、日本では金融知識に自信がある人が約12％にとどまるのに対して、アメリカでは71％に達していた。各種調査からも、この自信のなさによって金融教育に二の足を踏む保護者が多い。 野村アセットマネジメント資産運用研究所の「金融教育に関する意識調査2023」では、家庭での金融教育をしたことがないという回答が最も多かった。 出典：野村アセットマネジメント資産運用研究所 その理由として「教えるほどの知識がないから」という回答が多かった。 出典：野村アセットマネジメント資産運用研究所

Small businesses are battling rising employment costs ahead of the Spring Statement. 71 per cent of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) have formed plans to offload rising employment costs onto consumers, a 15 per cent increase from December. Almost seven in ten businesses said they planned to reduce or freeze hiring in the next six months as they battled costs. SMEs have suffered mounting pressure since the Autumn Budget, with the government's flurry of tax increases and employment reforms hitting business confidence. Rachel Reeves announced in the Budget that employers' national insurance contributions would rise by 1.2 per cent, and upped the national minimum wage across all age rates. Labour's Employment Bill has created a headache for SMEs, with the radical overhaul of worker's rights sparking fears for employers that they will be more easily subjected to lawsuits. However, as SMEs prepare to battle the fallout of the budget, optimism in the mid-market has experienced an uptick, with 85 per cent of firms optimistic about their revenue growth over the next six months. Giles Mullins, head of core advisory at Grant Thornton UK, said: "How long this confidence will last though remains to be seen. As we head towards the Spring Statement, the majority of mid-sized businesses are also expecting the Chancellor to increase taxes on businesses again this year."

Shell has handed almost £19bn to its investors in 2024. Ahead of its capital market day event today, Shell told investors it plans to ramp up cost savings and cut spending as it promised to “deliver more value with less emissions”. It will strip out a cumulative £3.9bn to £5.4bn a year by the end of 2028, up from the previous aim for £1.5bn to £2.3bn by the end of 2025. The firm will also lower its spending to £15.5bn to £17bn a year over the next three years. Shell told shareholders it would look to boost investor returns through share buybacks and dividends payouts. Other targets outlined included aims to grow top-line production across the group’s upstream and integrated gas business by one per cent a year over the next five years. It added it would seek to grow sales of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by four per cent to five per cent a year through to 2030. Shell also cautioned over plans to shut some chemicals operations across Europe, saying it wants to “unlock more value from our strong portfolio of chemicals assets by exploring strategic and partnership opportunities in the US and both high-grading and selective closures in Europe”. Chief executive Wael Sawan said: “Today we are raising the bar across our key financial targets, investing where we have competitive strengths and delivering more for our shareholders.” According to its latest annual report, pay of Shell’s chief executive swelled to more than £8m in 2024. Wael Sawan’s pay packet increased to £8.6m for 2024, up from the £7.9m he received in 2023. Shell added that Sawan’s base salary would rise by 5.5 per cent for 2025 to £1.5m. The FTSE 100 giant reported a dip in earnings from £23bn in 2023 to £19.1bn in 2024 amid weaker oil prices and lower demand for fossil fuels. Despite the drop-off in earnings, Shell said it had hiked dividends by four per cent in the fourth quarter and announced a £2.8bn share buyback programme.

UK consumer confidence is tanking warns KPMG. Three in five Brits believe the UK economy is worsening, a new survey by KPMG has shown, as Chancellor Rachel Reeves' Spring Statement risks failing to lift people's spirits. Just under half of respondents told One Poll that they are planning to cut back spending on everyday items, as some 36 per cent of people said they are saving more as a contingency. The survey of 3,000 consumers also showed that a growing number of people said they felt financially insecure. One in 50 people said they are now incurring debt to pay their bills. The Chancellor is not expected to provide relief to consumers, or make changes to taxes. Those taxes include increases to national insurance contributions (NICs) and changes to inheritance tax bands. Consumers are already responding to high inflation of around three per cent in January as Brits have eaten out less and bought fewer clothes, according to the survey. Linda Ellet, KPMG's head of consumer and retail, said the research shows that most people think the economy is "heading in the wrong direction". "This nervousness about the economy is leading many, including some of those who are secure in their current personal financial circumstances, to cut everyday spend, defer big ticket buying, and save more," Ellet added.

Firms must innovate to attract Gen Z (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images) RE: Why top law firms are betting big on virtual reality training, 4 Mar Technology is changing workplace training, but many businesses find it daunting, especially when it comes to innovations like virtual reality. Yet embracing it is key to engaging the workforce – especially Gen Z, who have high expectations when it comes to innovation and technology in the workplace. The irony is that many businesses attempt to engage Gen Z without truly involving or understanding them. By bringing them into the process, you ensure that learning and development are relevant and effective by inherently understanding their skill sets. Gen Z are natural early adopters, eager to experiment with new tech. Businesses must be forward thinking, going beyond making content shorter, faster, “mobile-friendly” (the bare minimum) and start leveraging XR, and VR. While VR may seem intimidating, its adoption is growing rapidly, AR/VR job listings have increased by 154 per cent since 2019, proving its expanding role in the workplace. VR is becoming more than just a powerful training tool – thanks to AI advancements it’s allowing organizations to scale, personalize and therefore democratize career coaching, mentoring, and realistic role-playing practice sessions that create ‘safe to fail’ environments. Companies serious about attracting and then engaging Gen Z should consider this modality offering which not only makes its business stand out, but signals a commitment to innovation and investment in the future. Vincent Belliveau, Cornerstone

The Henry Passport Index ranks countries based on visa-free travel. Singapore, which allows travel to 193 countries, came in first place in 2025. Japan was second in line with Korea, both having access to 190 countries. Below, we will introduce the "strongest passport ranking" based on the Henry Passport Index as of March 2025, starting with 10th place. 10th place: Lithuania and Iceland number of countries where visa-free travel is possible: 182 countries 9th place: Croatia, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia, America number of countries where visa-free travel is possible: 183 countries 8th place Estonia, United Arab Emirates (UAE) number of countries where visa-free travel is possible: 184 countries 7th place: Canada, Czech Republic, Hungary, Malta, Poland number of countries where visa-free travel is possible: 185 countries 6th place: Australia, UK number of countries where visa-free travel is possible: 186 countries

Oishii Farm, which produces high-quality strawberries in a closed "plant factory," has made its first M&A (mergers and acquisitions) to reduce labor costs. On March 25th, it announced that it had acquired Tortuga AgTech, the largest American startup company that is the auto-harvesting robot. The acquisition price is not disclosed. Oishii Farm CEO Koga Daiki said on the effectiveness of this strategic acquisition: "By the end of 2025, we aim to reduce labor costs associated with harvests by more than 50%. Labor costs are the largest production costs for strawberry plant factories. The fact that the harvest costs, which account for the majority, will be reduced by more than 50%, will have a huge impact on the whole." Tortuga Agtech's automatic harvesting robot. Since its founding in 2016, Tortuga AgTech has raised more than $55 million from leading VCs and has developed automatic strawberry and grape harvesting technology. "Tortuga Agtech is the number one in the industry in terms of the number of robots we own and the track record of harvesting strawberries," Koga said. The company's technology and data, which has been specialized in this area, are overwhelming, and there are a lot of things Oishii Farm can get from Tortuga AgTech. The acquisition will also allow for further advances in automated harvesting technology, including accurate judgment on harvesting times and delicate techniques to harvest the surrounding strawberries without damaging them. Not only technology but acquiring talent was a major factor. "The engineering team that supports the company's technology is extremely talented, and many people have doctoral programs at top graduate schools such as MIT and Harvard," Koga said. An agreement was reached in just 1-2 weeks. Oishii Farm CEO Koga Daiki once spoke with the CEO of Tortuga AgTech four or five years ago when they were considering whether to develop their own automated harvesting technology or procure it from outside. "We interviewed several companies, including the company, but at the time, Tortuga Agtech was mainly for greenhouse solutions and plant factories were not the target," Koga said. After that, Oishii Farm has successfully mass-produced fruit plants and strawberries that can be sold at high prices.

Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan said "vibe coding" will allow startups to maintain a minority structure. Tan said this was partly due to Vibe coding, which was coined by Andrej Karpathy, co-founder of OpenAI. "Just talk to a large language model (LLM) and you'll code the entire app," Tan explained. If there's a bug and it doesn't work, or if you want to change it, or if you want to change it to a different look, you don't have to code it yourself." Tan seems to define this as an increasing number of cases where hard programming processes are relied on AI. "There's no need to hire people to do the job, just talk directly to the LLM who coded it and they'll fix it," he explained. "And it's so good that you can just accept changes without checking." According to Tan, vibe coding makes the entire software building process more efficient, and many startups trained by Y-combinators, who are around 81% of AI companies, are making the most of it. "It's the first time I've ever had, but about 25% of the batch, or 95% of the code, was written by LLM," says Tan. With full vibe coding, Tan believes that a team of 10 can achieve what's previously built by 50 or 100 engineers. "If you really get to use cutting edge code generation tools like Cursor and Windsurf, you can literally do 10 or 100 engineers in just a day," he explained.

The Big Four giants—EY PwC, Deloitte, and KPMG—have all launched legal arms to compete against the traditional legal sector. PwC was the first Big Four to launch a dedicated legal services arm, PwC Legal, in 2014, followed shortly by EY and KPMG. The Legal Services Act 2007 introduced Alternative Business Structure (ABS) licenses, which allowed the Big Four to compete in the UK legal market. PwC completed the group with the launch of Deloitte Legal in 2018. In 2023, data by Saïd Business School revealed the Big Four generated $1.5bn (£1.25bn) in revenues from their legal segments. However, the cracks have started to show. Last week, news broke that EY was making more cuts, this time for around 30 staff in its legal department, EY Law. In a statement EY said: “These proposals would continue to strengthen EY’s existing legal capabilities in corporate law, company secretarial, tax litigation and immigration but would, regrettably, result in a reduction of roles across other areas of the UK Law business.” This isn’t the first time EY has taken the shears to its legal arm. In December 2023, news broke it was shutting EY Riverview Law, the Manchester-based legal services business it acquired in 2018. According to Scott Gibson, director of Edwards Gibson: “If we exclude Deloitte’s ill-fated lock-stock and barrel acquisition of 27-partner TMT boutique Kemp Little in 2021, between 2019 and 2024, the Big Four’s legal divisions combined hired 35 partners in London.” “Against this, the quartet lost 40 serving partners (including two-thirds of the laterals who joined during that time) to rival law firms,” he added. The Big Four conflicts of interest Christopher Clark, director at Definitum Search, says: “One challenge lies in the conflicts with the audit businesses, preventing a large number of legal instructions from getting off the ground.” Nick Woolf, partner at Woolf&Co, highlighted that “however big their legal practice, they are always going to pale into insignificance compared to other parts of the firm.” KPMG is the outlier Out of the Big Four, it seems KPMG is keeping its head above the water. In 2024, whilst KPMG only managed to hire one partner in London, this was still 100 per cent more than the rest of the quartet combined,” he noted. A spokesperson for Deloitte Legal told City AM: “Deloitte Legal’s approach is blending legal expertise with our ability to deliver scale and leverage technology, alongside the broader range of Deloitte capabilities.” “Our focus is on business solutions to the chief legal officer and becoming their business partner – a strategy that continues to resonate strongly with our clients and also with our people,” they added.

BYDは17日、1秒あたり航続距離で2キロメートルに相当する超高速充電を行えるEV用の新型プラットフォーム（車体）を発表した。 電池材料や冷却技術を改良し、従来より高出力の1000キロワットでの充電に対応することで、5分間で最大400キロメートル分の充電を可能にしたという。 新型プラットフォームは4月に発売するセダン「漢L」と、SUV「唐L」の2車種に搭載する。 急速充電をするには高出力の充電設備が必要になるため、BYDは最大出力1360キロワットの充電システムを中国全土4000カ所以上に整備する計画も発表した。 充電の様子を取材した中国テック系メディアの36Krによると、漢Lの電池残量は5分の充電で7％から62％に上昇し、「携帯の充電より速かった」という。 BYDの王伝福董事長は発表の場で、「油と電気を同じスピードで充電できる時代が来た」と強調した。この発言は同社が1年前に打ち出したスローガン「電比油低」（EVはガソリン車より安い）を踏まえたものだ。 BYDは2024年2月、売れ筋の低価格車種「秦PLUS」を大幅に値下げした。その後、中国では価格競争が激化し、ホンダや日産などガソリン車を主力とする外資ブランドの多くが打撃を受けた。 低価格車種にもADAS BYDは低価格車種にもADASを搭載すると発表した。 Reuter 急速充電プラットフォームを発表した翌18日、香港市場に上場するBYDの株価は過去最高値を更新した。同社の株価は今年に入って30％以上上昇している。 香港市場は、トランプ大統領就任以降の資金の逃避先となっているほか、DeepSeekフィーバーの後押しもあってこの数カ月上昇が続いているので、BYDはその恩恵を受けている面もある。また充電設備の整備はこれからなので、急速充電プラットフォームの開発が直ちに販売増に直結するわけではない。 より販売への貢献が見込まれそうなのは、BYDが低価格モデルにも先進運転支援システムの搭載を始めたことだろう。 BYDは2月10日、運転や駐車などを補助する先進運転支援システム（ADAS）をほぼ全ての車種に搭載すると表明した。 自社の運転支援技術をA、B、Cの3グレードに分け、以下のように展開する。 A：高精度センサーLiDAR3台と米NVIDIAのチップ「Orin-X」を2つ搭載。 搭載車種：最上級ブランド「仰望」 B：LiDAR1～2台、Orin-Xを1つ。 搭載車種：騰勢（Denza）とBYDブランド上位モデル。 C：LiDARは非搭載。代わりに5つのミリ波レーダーと12個のカメラを備える。NOA（Navigation on Autopilot：ナビゲーション・オン・オートパイロット）を採用し、高速道路での運転支援や自動駐車を行う。 搭載車種：BYDブランド低価格モデル 20万元（1円＝20.6円で計算、約410万円）を超える車種には多くのメーカーが既にADASを搭載しており、今回の発表の目玉は「C」の部分だ。 筆者作成 NOAは中国で普及が進むADASの一種で、自動運転「レベル2」に相当する。システムが自動で運転し、車線変更や追い越しも可能だが、運転者による監視が不可欠となる。 BYDはCレベルのADASを「海洋シリーズ」「王朝シリーズ」を中心に21車種に搭載すると発表した。6万9800元～（約140万円～）の小型車「海鴎（シーガル）」、7万9800元～（約160万円～）の「海豹（シール）」など、10万元を切る低価格の主力モデルにもADASを搭載し、かつ価格は据え置く。 王伝福会長は「2～3年後に、ADASはシートベルトやエアバッグのような当たり前の装備になる」と述べ、2025年を自動運転の大衆化元年にするとの決意を表明した。 BYDは3月に入って、ADASを搭載した海洋シリーズ車種のプロモーションを強化している。 同じ自動車でも高価格帯と低価格帯では消費者が異なる。2024年にBYDが仕掛けた価格競争は特に200～300万円台のガソリン車に大打撃を与えた。今回のADAS搭載も、元々搭載が進んでいる中～高価格帯市場への影響は少なく、やはり150～300万円台で勝負している他メーカーの脅威になるだろう。 中国でも不振のテスラ テスラは中国での販売が急減している。 Reuter BYDがベンチマークにしてきたテスラはどうなっているのか。 アメリカではトランプ政権入りしたイーロン・マスクCEOの強硬策への反発が高まり、消費者によるテスラの不買運動が拡大している。株価の下落にも歯止めがかからない。 テスラは中国でも振るわない。中国の乗用車市場信息聯席会（CPCA）によると、テスラの中国製EVの2025年1月の販売台数は前年同月比11.5％減の6万3238台、2月は同49%減の3万688台まで落ち込んだ。 同社は1月にSUV「モデルY」の改良版の受注を始め、過渡期であることも関係しているだろうが、CPCAが公表した1～2月の中国乗用車販売台数が同1.3％増であることを考えると、苦戦しているのは間違いない。 テスラも先進運転支援システム「FSD（フルセルフドライビング）」の中国導入を急いでおり、今月17日から1カ月限定で、無料トライアルを実施している。 つい先日には、同社が上海工場で2026年からモデルYの廉価版の量産を始める方針が欧米メディアに報道された。 株価では対照的なトレンドになっているテスラとBYD。2024年のEV販売台数も2万台にまで差が縮まっている。テスラの想定以上の不振もあって、2025年はBYDのテスラ越えが実現する年になるのかもしれない。 浦上早苗： 経済ジャーナリスト、法政大学MBA実務家講師、英語・中国語翻訳者。早稲田大学政治経済学部卒。西日本新聞社（12年半）を経て、中国・大連に国費博士留学（経営学）および少数民族向けの大学で講師のため6年滞在。｢新型コロナ VS 中国14億人｣「崖っぷち母子 仕事と子育てに詰んで中国へ飛ぶ」（大和書房）。未婚の母歴13年、42歳にして子連れ初婚。

Dentsu Digital has announced a new AI solution to be used internally. The main focus of this update is four solutions found in "∞AI Marketing Hub." ∞AI Customer Data Hub integrates data held by a company with data obtained through ∞ AI chat, generating medical records for each customer in real time. ∞AI Customer Twin generates virtual customer AI based on the accumulated data from "∞AI Customer Data Hub", speeding up hypotheses verification and analysis of marketing measures. The update also includes ∞AI MC Planning, which implements marketing communication measures such as media planning for advertising delivery, and effectiveness prediction for advertising copying, in a dialogue with AI agents. ∞AI CX Planning creates an interactive process with AI agents to create ideas for new businesses and services using customer journey design and interactive AI chat, aiming to improve customer experience (CX). You can conduct interviews and surveys with "Consumer AI" by combining user persona with chat logs to create the AI. The key point is that this new solution can perform tasks that previously required knowledge such as programming and complex processing using an AI agent. Yamamoto Kaku, Dentsu Digital's CAIO, defined an AI agent as a system in which users are judged and presented by trial and error, working while listening to a database or other AI if necessary. The practicality of AI agents is seen in the use case of "∞AI Customer Twin", which creates "AI that imitates users" allowing you to ask individual questions in a chat format. ∞AI Customer Twin is fine-tuned using chat logs embedded in client company websites and apps, rather than making suggestions.

製薬業界は、生成AIによる医薬品開発での生産性向上を通じ、毎年数百億ドルの節約ができるかもしれない。 免疫抑制剤ステララ（Stelara）や多発性骨髄腫治療薬ダルザレックス（Darzalex）のような治療薬メーカーであるジョンソン・エンド・ジョンソンは、10年近く従来型のAIを使ってきた。使用例としては、外科医の手技をガイドしたり、創薬をスピードアップしたり、医薬品メーカーの在庫管理を効率化したりするAI対応ソフトウェアツールなどだ。 2023年、同社はAI、データサイエンス、その他の新興テクノロジーに焦点を当てた6週間のデジタル・イマージョン・プログラムを試験的に実施した。2024年は2500人以上の社員が参加し、毎週90分の授業を受けたが、ジョンソン・エンド・ジョンソンは2025年、さらなる拡大を計画している。 スワンソンはBusiness Insiderの取材に対し、企業のリーダーが技術リテラシーを促進する文化を作ることは重要なことだという。 「私たちには135年の歴史があります。今の時代にあった最新の状態を維持するため、過去何度も内部で改革をしてこなければなりませんでした」（スワンソン） 製薬大手、メルクの初期のジェネレーティブAI投資には、GPTealと呼ばれる独自のプラットフォームの開発が含まれていた。HPVワクチン「ガーダシル（Gardasil）」や免疫療法薬「キイトルーダ(Keytruda)」を手がけるメルクは、GPTealによって、OpenAIのChatGPT、メタ（Meta）のLlama」、アンスロピック（Anthropic）のClaudeといった大規模な言語モデルに従業員がアクセスできるようになったが、企業データを外部に出さないようセキュリティを保つことも可能だという。 従業員は電子メールやメモの下書き、その他の生産性重視のタスクに生成AIを使っているが、メルクがこれからやろうとしていることはさらに大胆なものだ。 メルクのシニア・バイスプレジデント兼最高技術責任者（CTO）のロン・キム（Ron Kim）は、「今後私たちに必要なのは、ビジネスに劇的な影響を与えるユースケースを特定し、実装し、追跡し、測定すること、というのは明らかです」と語る。 ジェネレーティブAIによって、メルクの従業員はよりインパクトの大きいタスクに集中する時間を増やすことができる。例えば創薬では、ジェネレーティブAIが、保健当局に提出する規制文書の下書きのサポートが可能だ。 「科学者の何人かは、コピーエディター（校正者）として時間を取られているようにこれまで感じていました。そうした仕事というのは、彼らが訓練されてきたことではありませんから」（キム） キムは、5万人以上のメルク社員がGPTealを常に使っていると述べた。同社は、セルフサービスのデジタルトレーニングコース、ジェネレーティブAIに焦点を当てた毎月のウェブキャスト、半日から10日間にわたるソフトウェア開発者向けのブートキャンプを組み合わせることで、社員のスキルアップをサポートしている。 さまざまな規模の製薬会社にアピールするAI ブルー・アース・セラピューティクス（Blue Earth Therapeutics）の最高医学責任者であるダニエル・スティーブンス（Daniel Stevens）博士は、臨床段階の放射性医薬品会社である同社にとってAIは魅力的であると語る。なぜなら、2021年創業の小規模なスタートップとしては、どのように資金を使うかについて賢明であるべきだからだ。 「人工知能の応用というのは、私たちの効率化目標に役立つかもしれないので、興味があります」（スティーブンス） 同社は、ヘルスケア投資会社ソレウス・キャピタル（Soleus Capital）と画像診断会社ブラッコ・ダイアグノスティックス（Bracco Diagnostics）からの資金を含む7650万ドル（約114億円､1ドル＝149円換算）のシリーズAを2024年10月に実施したが、その主な目的は、新しい前立腺がん治療法の安全性と有効性を評価する臨床試験を支援することだった。 スティーブンスによると、ブルーアース社のフルタイム従業員はわずか20人しかいないため、AIのスキルアップトレーニングを提供する必要はまだないという。同氏は、ブルーアースの従業員数が増え、この技術に関する指導を行う準備が整えば、外部ベンダーによるオンラインコースやAI認定資格を利用する予定だという。 抗うつ薬「プロザック(Prozac)」や2型糖尿病・体重減少薬「モンジャロ（Mounjaro）」などの治療薬を手がける製薬大手イーライリリーは、低分子・高分子両方の研究をサポートするためにジェネレーティブAIを活用している。同社はまた、臨床試験用の文書を作成し、規制当局に提出する資料を作成するためにもAIを利用している。 ChatGPTがサービスを開始した後、アップル（Apple）やアマゾン(Amazon）などの大手企業は、データプライバシーに対する懸念を理由に、人気のあるチャットボットの従業員の使用を制限した。イーライリリーの最高情報・デジタル責任者であるディオゴ・ラウ（Diogo Rau）は、「我々は真逆の方向に進んでいます」と語る。 ラウは、会社の機密情報を外部にさらすことなく、まるでGoogle検索を使うようにAIツールを使うよう、イーライリリーの従業員に呼びかけたという。 「ChatGPTを業務に取り入れる必要がある、と全員に伝えました。しかし、外部に漏らしたくないものは何も入れてはいけないと 」（ラウ） 同社はまた、パリで開催される夏季オリンピックに合わせて「AIゲーム」コンテストを開催し、社内の関心を高めようとした。コンテストでは、チャットボットを使って同僚にメッセージを書いたり、生成AIを使ってイーライリリーの歴史に関するクイズを作ったりした。 2024年、イーライリリーは全従業員と管理職に対して、年末のレビューにジェネレーティブAIを使用することも奨励している。2025年、同社はすべての上級リーダーと管理職にAI資格の取得を義務付ける予定だ。 「我々には、AIを受け入れている従業員たちがいます」とラウは述べ、従業員がしばしばオフィスで彼を呼び止めたり、電子メールで日々の業務にAIを使っている方法を共有したりしていると語った。

FamilyMart has announced three new products in its "Fresh Bread" series. On March 24, FamilyMart announced that it will be adding three new products to FamilyMart's "Fresh Bread" series: "White Raw Koppepan (Tsuboku Strawberry & White Chocolate)", "White Raw Croissant (Double Raw Chocolate)," and "White Raw French Bread (Double Condensed Milk Milk)". These products will be sold at approximately 16,300 FamilyMart stores nationwide from the 25th. All prices are 168 yen including tax. The white bread series will be sold at Family Marts nationwide from March 25th. There are three types: white raw koppepan (small strawberries and white chocolate), white croissants (double raw chocolate), and white raw French bread (double condensed milk milk from Hokkaido). FamilyMart's bread business sales for 2024 hit a record high following in 2023. The number has grown to about 113% compared to 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic began to slow down customers. At the 2025 Bread category strategy and policy briefing, new products were announced, and the bread business policy was discussed. Vice-Chief Suzuki Takayoshi explained the background to the new product being introduced into the new white bread series. The strong performance of the "Raw" series is one of the factors driving the strong performance of FamilyMart's bread business in recent years. In addition to this, Suzuki said the pillars of growth are "price strategy" and "acquiring new customers through sweet bread." As for pricing strategy, FamilyMart is conscious of balanced lineups of low, medium and high-priced products. Suzuki says that they are able to better grasp consumer needs, even though prices for all kinds of products continue to rise these days. The company plans to continue to increase sales through its product range while maintaining pricing that will prevent consumers from leaving.

Reeves crosses her fingers and hopes for growth Ahead of last October’s Budget, ministers allowed months of speculation as to what would be unveiled, and the never-ending drumbeat of doom and gloom talked the economy to a standstill. Largely as a result of the contents and consequences of that Budget, economic growth has since evaporated and now all eyes are on this week’s Spring Statement. The Treasury is adamant that it isn’t a Budget and officials are keen to downplay the significance of the Chancellor’s speech to the Commons on Wednesday, but economic (and political) conditions mean that it’s taken on the status of a major event and there’s little point in ministers complaining about that. The spin coming out of Whitehall so far is that there will be no new tax measures announced, no borrowing binge and absolutely no return to austerity. The Chancellor’s team are also desperately hammering the message that “the world has changed” – in other words, don’t blame us for how bad things are, blame Trump. As I’ve noted before, global economic uncertainty is having an impact, of course, but it’s a case of insult to injury – with the government’s policies weakening the economy long before Trump launched his tariff war. As for the Spring Statement, we know that there will be substantial cuts to public spending (call it austerity if you want) and a modest reduction in the number of civil servants, plus the contentious welfare reforms designed to save a few billion, but if Reeves isn’t planning any major announcements then the risk is that her approach is reduced to crossing her fingers and hoping that is growth is on its way. Unfortunately, economic forecasters are currently slashing their expectations for 2025, and the OBR is almost certainly going to do the same this week. Some City analysts are now starting to ring the alarm bells ahead of the actual Budget, due in the autumn, with banking giant ING warning that “barring a surprise boost to UK growth this summer, we think further tax hikes look inevitable in the autumn.” More worryingly, investment bank Citi has just revised up its expectations as to how much debt the government is going to issue over the coming year to £321bn which, as Harry Robertson at Reuters noted last night, would be the second largest amount on record – dwarfed only by the government’s response to the pandemic in 2020/21. All in all, it’s not a pretty backdrop ahead of the Chancellor’s speech tomorrow.

The Chancellor's National Wealth Fund is facing criticism for 'misleading' the public. The government has been accused of "gaslighting the British public" over its National Wealth Fund as the Treasury committee announced on Monday it had launched an inquiry into the new body. Originally a fixture of Labour's 2024 manifesto – the National Wealth Fund was to consolidate the British Business Bank and the UK Infrastructure Bank, which launched under Rishi Sunak's Chancellorship in 2021. However in October, Rachel Reeves announced the UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB) would "become" the National Wealth Fund (NWF). Shadow Financial Secretary Gareth Davies told City AM the transformation was "completely misleading" and "didn't need to happen". Davies, who worked closely with the UKIB during his tenure as Exchequer Secretary at the Treasury, supported the initial proposal of one consolidated institution, but has since criticised the Treasury for changing course. He blasted: "The UKIB didn't need a rebrand just to satisfy the need for Labour to say they've done something." Davies said: "We've come to the conclusion that it's not a National Wealth Fund or a sovereign wealth fund, it is a bank – a UK Infrastructure Bank." Figures obtained under a Freedom of Information Request by City AM reveal the rebrand of the UKIB cost £87,212. The location of the National Wealth Fund's headquarters remains in Leeds in the same space originally used by the UKIB, with £1,632 listed for new signage. Labour pledged an additional £5.8bn to the £22bn inherited from the UKIB, which Davies questioned amidst the backdrop of the '£22bn blackhole'. The Treasury Committee announced on Monday that it had launched an inquiry into the National Wealth Fund. Dame Meg Hillier, Chair of the Committee, said: "A sovereign wealth fund which can encourage private investors to back projects and funnel capital into emerging sectors is a logical way of trying to move the dial on economic growth." However, if the National Wealth Fund veers off course by choosing the wrong sectors for investment, making operational errors or misjudging the appetite of the private sector, it can also end up being an extremely poor use of taxpayer money at a time when the public purse is incredibly stretched. A spokesperson for the Treasury told City AM they "rejected" the characterisation of the National Wealth Fund as "misleading". The Treasury cited key differences between the two institutions as the National Wealth Fund's higher risk appetite, after increasing economic capital limit from £4.5bn to £7bn and its investment beyond infrastructure into areas of "national importance". A spokesperson for the National Wealth Fund told City AM: "We welcome the Chancellor's recent strategic steer which clearly sets out the changes that have been made to our organisation." The spokesperson added: "This includes the scope to move beyond infrastructure to support the industrial strategy, and increasing our capacity for risk, all while crowding in private capital to drive growth and the clean energy transition."

On a Wednesday morning, there was plenty of activity on the shop floor at the Georgian townhouse that plays home to Richard James' bespoke suit-making. Sean Dixon, wearing a 'Prince of Wales' brown check blazer and trousers, one of Richard James' ready-to-wear suits, says the company is seeing revenues grow around 5 per cent year-on-year. The company is among a group of specialist retailers based in an iconic area of London known for bespoke tailoring, particularly menswear, for more than two centuries. Businesses here have more in common than an iconic address; they share a similar tale of enjoying good sales momentum as loyal and new customers seek outfits for social events and alterations to pre-loved suits. Work wear is also popular and comes at a time when London firms are luring – or requiring – staff back to the office. Fresh figures from Remit Consultancy show office occupancy in the West End for the week ended March 14 was 62.1 per cent, the highest so far this year. All of this is pleasing for bosses after much turbulence. From changing styles to climbing rents, and more recently the loss of VAT-free shopping for international tourists hitting trade – and Covid lockdowns suddenly hurting demand in 2020 for formal wear – Savile Row has weathered plenty of storms. Now further challenges loom, including a potential bumper 144 per cent leap in business rates bills in the soon-to-start financial year (more on that later), and an increase in employers' national insurance contributions that comes in next month. Fashion experts will also eagerly wait to hear if US President Donald Trump's tariffs plans could affect them. Closer to home, suitmakers are not anticipating any big announcements that will drastically impact them when the Chancellor delivers her Spring Statement. Helen Brocklebank, who leads luxury goods trade body Walpole, says: "Savile Row tailoring is more than a symbol of luxury; it sustains a network of skilled artisans across the UK, from wool producers to expert weavers. While it attracts high-spending customers, it faces the same retail challenges as other sectors." The government wants to create a fairer more sustainable system around this property tax, and at the Autumn Budget in 2024 it was announced retail, hospitality and leisure firms will have lower multipliers on properties with a ratable value under £500,000. However this won’t come into effect until April next year when a new financial year begins. The changes to business rates relief compounds the problem of no-VAT free shopping for the traditional houses that haven’t diversified, says James Sleater of Norton & Sons. Walpole’s Brocklebank says: "With the luxury industry contributing £81 billion to the economy and supporting nearly half a million jobs, the Chancellor should incentivise spending – such as reinstating tax-free shopping for international visitors." A HM Treasury spokesman says “we are a pro-business government …We delivered a once-in-a-Parliament budget to wipe the slate clean and without our action, business rates relief for retail, hospitality and leisure would have ended completely in April this year”.

John O'Brien, the founder of Anthropy, an annual gathering of corporate and political luminaries, reflects on its impact. Anthropy was founded to help the UK "build back better" from the pandemic, but since its inception, the world has seen multiple conflicts, high inflation, and minimal economic growth. Over 1,000 people attend the event, which is held in an Eden Project Biome in Cornwall. The event features talks and sessions on various topics, including business, society, and politics. John O'Brien believes that purposeful business should be a standard practice for companies. He has written three books on the merits of purpose in business and is one of its prominent advocates. O'Brien criticizes companies that use purpose as a marketing tool to gain an advantage over their competitors. He argues that true purpose should go beyond labels like CSR or corporate social responsibility. The article also mentions the comparison between Anthropy and Davos, with some calling it a "Glastonbury for good" or a "national TED talk". Despite its cult following, O'Brien acknowledges there is still room for improvement. Attendees of the event have reported feeling inspired by the sessions and talks. Some attendees have even added "Anthropist" to their LinkedIn job titles. The article concludes with O'Brien's reflection on the impact of Anthropy and his hopes for its future.

The chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has said the watchdog is "going so much further" on its mission to boost growth in the UK. Nikhil Rathi, FCA CEO, said they had presented almost 50 measures designed to support long-term growth to the Prime Minister and vowed to "deliver at a pace that matches the urgency of the UK's economic challenges." The FCA will now focus on four priorities: supporting economic growth, helping consumers, fighting crime, and becoming a smarter regulator. Rathi also announced plans to simplify rules to remove burdens on firms while maintaining high standards. Becoming a more efficient and effective regulator helps fight crime, building people's trust and giving them confidence to take informed risks. The FCA will shortly announce ways to simplify its rules to reduce burdens on firms. FCA chair Ashley Alder said the watchdog would push for retail investors to increase their level of risk through tackling fraud. Alder explained that by making a "heavy emphasis on financial crime and fraud across the sector," confidence in investing can be increased, allowing consumers to take more risks. The FCA was assigned a secondary growth and competitiveness mandate in 2023 while maintaining its primary objective of protecting consumers.

The instalment of permanent facial recognition cameras in Croydon should worry us all. Croydon, Big Brother is watching you. It’s been a busy month at Big Brother Watch. Amidst a number of worrying bills being rushed through parliament at breakneck speed and the Home Office’s relentless battle to break encryption, we’ve also seen alarming escalations in the roll-out of live facial recognition (LFR) technology. Things were bad enough when South Wales Police trialled the use of a network of LFR cameras across an entire city centre in Cardiff – a UK first – for two of the Six Nations games earlier this month. In the LFR zone were places of worship, a family court, abortion and health clinics, and other sites where anyone would want their right to privacy respected. The grand total of arrests during the Wales vs England rugby match on 15 March, when police scanned 162,680 faces? Zero – evidencing a shameful waste of police resources, on top of serious rights-based concerns. Now the situation has reached an even more disturbing new low, with reports emerging over the weekend that the London Metropolitan Police Service is installing the UK’s first permanent network of fixed LFR cameras in Croydon town centre. The move represents an alarming expansion of the surveillance state, and a further slide towards a dystopian nightmare that could quickly take hold across the UK. It also underscores the urgent need for legislative safeguards on LFR. Police forces have been left to write their own policies on how they plan to use LFR, and can choose how and when to employ it. For its part, the Met’s “LFR watchlist” expands beyond those suspected of criminal activity, including vulnerable persons and even victims of crimes. France protects encryption… but the UK? Last week the French National Assembly voted down a dangerous legislative proposal that would have forced all secure messaging services to create an encryption backdoor, in the name of fighting drug trafficking. The matter is currently under consideration by the secretive Investigatory Powers Tribunal, which convened behind closed doors on 14 March. The Home Office should revoke this draconian proposal and ensure encryption and our privacy rights remain intact. Quote of the week: “We have ceded so many of the core operations of our lives and institutions to tech, we must recognise that strong encryption isn’t the enemy of security — it is security. The argument that weakening encryption will make any of us safer is as wrong as it is dangerous.” Meredith Whittaker, president of the Signal Foundation, in The Financial Times The Bill turning banks into spies As we await tomorrow’s spring statement by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, there’s been widespread attention to the Labour government’s expected welfare cuts. Alarmingly, in the name of rooting out welfare fraud, this bill would give the government unprecedented powers to force banks to spy on everyone’s bank accounts, regardless of whether they’ve ever received benefits. This flawed bill is in dire need of amendments before it progresses further. A recommendation: All eyes seem to be on Netflix’s four-part miniseries Adolescence

The London Property Alliance said ministers “must be bold” on vital transport projects in the capital. Despite frantic denials, the debt burden means Rachel Reeves will soon have to revisit promises she made on tax in the care-free days of opposition, says Vince Cable. The Chancellor has many competing priorities on Wednesday: a big rise in defence spending; keeping the NHS afloat; honouring promises not to raise taxes on income and spending; bailing out bankrupt councils and universities; and managing the welfare budget without imposing hardship on the disabled or raiding pensioners' pockets. Like other countries, the UK – rightly – borrowed heavily to cope with the financial crisis in 2008, Covid, and latterly the 'cost of living' crisis. The current net public sector debt to GDP of just under 100 per cent is four times the level in 1989/90, before the golden era when Blair and Brown were able to surf the waves of global and national non-inflationary growth. The debt burden is much less than we 'enjoyed' after the Napoleonic and World Wars. It also looks good compared to Japan – where debt is 220 per cent of GDP – though Japan has patriotic savers happy to lend their government the money cheaply. Britain also looks better than Italy – 135 per cent – or even France at 111 per cent, though they both have the backing of the Eurozone. And we seem better than the USA, with debt on 124 per cent of GDP and rapidly rising. The overhang of debt becomes a burden on the budget when interest rates rise, as they are now. Interest on government debt averaged around two per cent in the first two decades of the century but was almost four per cent in 2023/24, taking up almost nine per cent of government spending. Debt costs in this financial year have been around £105bn – that’s almost double what we’ve spent on defence in the same period. The OBR predicts future interest rates on government debt of 3.5 per cent which is consistent with a stable level of debt. But there isn’t much room for manoeuvre. One big uncertainty is Trump, whose economic policy is becoming less and less rational. Continued moronic behaviour around tariff warfare and unfunded tax cuts will slow growth, raise inflation, and raise risk premiums everywhere. There is nothing Rachel Reeves can do about Trump beyond keeping our own house in order. And our money lenders happy. That is becoming increasingly difficult. She must not sacrifice her one big achievement as Chancellor which is to have accepted the need for borrowing to invest – something that previous governments, including mine, failed to do. Such investment is key to growth and growth is necessary to achieve debt sustainability. So current public spending must carry the weight of budgetary discipline.

BERLIN, GERMANY – SEPTEMBER 06: An Honor television monitor claims to on-device AI deepfake detection technology at the Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin (IFA) international trade fair for consumer electronics and home appliances during the show’s 100th anniversary. Reality used to be something you could trust. What you saw, heard and experienced was, for the most part, real. But as AI-driven filters, deepfake augmented reality (AR), and immersive environments creep further into everyday life, the line between real and synthetic is dissolving. There was a time when photo filters were just playful tweaks. Now, AI-enhanced reality is so pervasive that entire digital personas are crafted out of thin air. Instagram faces, AI-generated influencers and deepfake avatars are standard fare. News images are algorithmically “enhanced”, videos are subtly altered and AI-powered beauty filters don’t just soften wrinkles, they shift bone structures, erase ethnic markers and rewire self-image at a fundamental level. The world we see through our screens is already fiction. The next step is removing screens altogether. Augmented reality was supposed to add layers to our experience of the world. What it’s doing instead is replacing reality itself. With deepfake AR, AI doesn’t just modify digital content, it overlays a version of reality that is entirely customisable. Real-time face-swapping, AI-powered speech modulation and personalised content feeds mean that two people can stand in the same physical location and experience completely different digital realities. Take AI-powered video calls. It’s already possible to subtly tweak your real-time appearance with smoother skin, brighter eyes and better lighting. Now push that further. Your voice can be modulated, your body language adjusted, your facial expressions rewritten in real-time. The person on the other end has no idea they’re interacting with an altered version of you. There are already examples of AR masks being donned by people for job interviews. If job interviews, dating, and even casual conversation rely on AI-enhanced presentation, then refusing to engage with it becomes a disadvantage. People who choose to live in unfiltered reality might soon be seen as socially or professionally unpolished, less competitive in a world where perfection is automated. Businesses need to start planning for an AI-mediated future now, both to protect their own interests and to shape how these technologies evolve. In the short term, companies must audit their reliance on AI-enhanced content, ensure transparency in how they present reality to consumers, and establish ethical guidelines for AI-generated interactions. Customer trust will hinge on authenticity; businesses that are upfront about their use of AI will hold an advantage over those that quietly manipulate perception.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves' small cuts are unlikely to deliver growth and make big savings. Emergency Budgets are a bad idea, but with the economic changing fast Reeves may not have the luxury of waiting until Autumn to raise taxes. Last autumn, after a long summer of speculation and rumour, our newly installed Chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves delivered what she promised would be the first in a new annual series of Budgets. One autumn event each year, with the spring forecast seemingly relegated to more of a progress update than a Budget with a capital B. It’s not the first time a Chancellor has promised this. The Treasury has longed to get back to a once-a-year cycle for ages. But it’s easier said than done. A year is a long time in economics. A brave call was made, but what happens when you promise no event at a time when people are used to an event? Especially just before the fiscal year end, when tax rates and thresholds traditionally get adjusted? You get speculation. The spectre of the famous “emergency Budget” looms. We’ve been rather spoiled with fiscal events and emergency Budgets recently. This peaked back in 2022 when, lest we forget, we endured three fiscal events in three months. It’s been more sedate since then, but we still had two Budgets in 2023 and 2024. Objectively speaking, emergency Budgets are a bad idea for many reasons. Constant tinkering with the rules increases volatility in tax policy and adds complexity to the system. That makes it harder for businesses to look ahead and plan, which they regularly tell us puts them off from committing to large investments. This is because businesses like stability. Emergency Budgets also betray a lack of government confidence. How credible is any long-term economic plan if you keep changing it on a whim? They make the government ever more beholden to switches in wind direction on fiscal forecasts and GDP, which are, by their nature, unpredictable. The logical course of action would be for the government to see through its promise and not touch tax this time. Except for a few procedural measures like HMRC consultations. By all accounts they seem more focused on spending restraint rather than tax changes. But hang on. For several reasons, might some surprise measures this time be a temptation that’s hard to resist? A recognition that some rabbits out of the hat are needed but not a full emergency Budget. I wouldn’t bet the house against a couple of surprises on the day

The FCA will boost growth by being a smarter regulator. Nikhil Rathi, chief executive of the FCA, prioritising growth and fighting financial crime as he unveils a new five-year strategy. Tomorrow the Chancellor will deliver her Spring Statement. Among the blizzard of figures, it’s likely we will hear one word more than any other: growth. The government has made growth their number one mission. And growth matters. Without it, there is less money for public services and less in people’s pockets. Living standards won’t rise. At the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), our work has long contributed to growth by enabling trusted, liquid markets, boosting competition, reducing financial crime and ensuring consumers can confidently engage with products they need. In the last year alone, we have delivered reforms to strengthen the UK’s wholesale markets and make it easier for businesses to attract investment. And we are going much further. We recently set out to the Prime Minister almost 50 measures we will take forward to support long-term, sustained growth. The FCA has confirmed that supporting growth will be one of four priorities in their new five-year strategy, along with helping consumers, fighting crime and becoming a smarter regulator. Consumers must make often complex financial decisions. We will help them navigate their financial lives by ensuring they get the right information and support. Our ground-breaking consumer duty, which sets a higher standard of consumer protection, already means firms have to act to deliver good outcomes for their customers. We will enable more people to benefit from financial guidance, so they can make the most of their pensions and invest with greater confidence. And we will drive better value for money in workplace pensions. Fighting financial crime is also a priority. We have made good progress in the collective fight against financial crime which is a drain on growth and damages consumer confidence. Over the last two years, we’ve charged more people with criminal offences than ever before and reduced our investigation times. We are harnessing technology to better identify scams and stop them sooner. The FCA will become a smarter regulator by working more quickly to authorise firms that meet their high standards and investing in their technology, people and systems. Becoming a more efficient and effective regulator helps fight crime, which builds trust among consumers and gives them the confidence to take informed risks. Those savings can be turned into capital for businesses to invest and expand, supporting growth. The FCA will deliver at a pace that matches the urgency of the UK’s economic challenges. They have already taken steps to help get more people on the housing ladder and opened a debate on whether they should remove the £100 contactless limit to make payments easier and spur innovation. Today they are announcing ways they will simplify their rules to remove burdens on firms, while maintaining high standards. By embracing the push for growth, the FCA aren’t walking away from their primary objectives of protecting consumers, safeguarding market integrity and promoting competition.

Retail stocks with strong membership numbers and retention rates are ideal candidates to hold as recession fears grow, according to Bernstein. We generally view the likes of Amazon, Walmart and Costco as the best positioned to ride a macro storm given the combination of a defensive category mix, relative value and membership lock-in that comes with each platform. The Bernstein report landed the same day as the consumer confidence report that showed the economy touched a 12-year low, the Conference Board said. That followed a recent University of Michigan Survey of Consumers for March falling to its lowest reading since 2022. Due to the mounting macroeconomic uncertainty, Devnani said both gross merchandise value and membership loyalty are the differentiating factors in e-commerce, with Amazon and Walmart seemingly engaged in a race to secure dominance. Earlier this year, Amazon surpassed Walmart in quarterly revenue for the first time ever. Costco has historically been a go-to for staples during times of economic uncertainty. The company focuses on passing along savings to shoppers, and leans heavily on selling memberships for added revenue. Costco CEO Ron Vachris said on its fiscal second-quarter earnings call in early March that one of the company's responses to tariffs is to limit price increases on already burdened shoppers. Bernstein reiterated an outperform rating on all three stocks. The firm's $275 per share price target on Amazon implies about 35% upside from its $203.26 close on Monday, while Bernstein's $113 per share price target on Walmart calls for about 29% upside from its $87.49 close. Amazon stock has slipped more than 6% so far this year, while Walmart is down about 5%. On Costco, Bernstein's $1,177 price target calls for more than 27% upside ahead. The membership-based wholesaler is higher by about 1% this year. "We continue to live week to week with these stocks as investors try to discern the degree to which the macro backdrop may be shifting, or if these concerns can blow over," Devnani said.

New Street Research analyst Pierre Ferragu stood by his buy rating on Tesla in a Tuesday note. Ferragu's price target of $465 suggests 67% upside from where Tesla shares closed on Monday, which was up about 12% during the day but still 43% below its December all-time high. Shares have faced tough months due to controversies around CEO Elon Musk and a rough first quarter expected by analysts. The company is anticipated to post a decline in deliveries for the period on a year-over-year basis. Edmunds recently reported that Tesla owners have been trading in their vehicles at record levels. Ferragu pointed out that while Musk's actions have grabbed headlines before, they did not have a material negative effect on sales and doesn't expect them to do so this time either. He added that Tesla's current problems are largely on the supply side, with demand in China remaining strong. Ferragu thinks the electric vehicle maker will be able to rise above short-term headwinds plaguing shares. "A bad quarter is in expectations. It will be the trough," he wrote. "Some good reasons to buy the bottom."

Ashley Tyrner-Dolce knows what it's like to struggle to afford healthy food for her family. A little over a decade ago, she was a single mom relying on food stamps and Medicaid. Now, Tyrner-Dolce is the founder and CEO of FarmboxRx, which aims to deliver healthy foods to low-income Americans in food deserts through their health insurance plans. Last year, the subscription-based business brought in more than $20 million in revenue, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. FarmboxRx is free of cost for its users: Medicare, Medicaid and other insurance providers pay for the grocery deliveries, as a means of preventative health care. The company became profitable in 2022, says Tyrner-Dolce. In 2011, Tyrner-Dolce and her newborn daughter moved to New York from Arizona looking to start fresh. Living in the Big Apple wasn't glamorous: She crashed with friends, relied on government assistance for food and lugged her groceries through the subways, she says. She landed a role as a business manager in the fashion industry, and got off food stamps — now known in New York as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits — a year later at age 25. Her living situation improved over the next few years, but her trips to the grocery store never did, Tyrner-Dolce says. Finding affordable, healthy food was difficult, as was hauling heavy bags home on her own. In 2014, she left her corporate job to launch FarmboxRx. She used three years' worth of savings — about $80,000 originally meant to go toward buying a house, she says — to cover startup costs like branding and marketing, a warehouse and legal fees. Initially, FarmboxRx was a direct-to-consumer service: Customers subscribed, and received fresh produce on their doorsteps. Tyrner-Dolce wanted to find a way for health plans to help pay for the food, but investors didn't share her vision at first, she says. "Every VC wanted to turn us into a meal kit," says Tyrner-Dolce, now 41. But "I don't take no for an answer. I like to say I'm a rhino. I can't ever turn around and look back. I have to just charge forward." FarmboxRx reportedly reached $1 million in annual revenue in 2019, off those produce subscriptions. That money largely covered the business' expenses, leaving comparatively little for payroll, including Tyrner-Dolce's own salary, she says. But she learned something important that year: Some Medicare and Medicaid users could access discounted and free produce as part of their health plans. Tyrner-Dolce reached out to "80 to 100 health plans," hoping to land a partnership, she says. She struck up one with Vibra Health Plan, owned by Blue Cross Blue Shield, in 2020. Two years later, FarmboxRx had enough health plan partners to completely leave the direct-to-consumer market. "That's when we became profitable," says Tyrner-Dolce, adding that her company still hasn't taken any external funding.

The CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer holds a "Morning Meeting" livestream at 10:20 a.m. ET every weekday. 1. Markets are higher on Tuesday as the S & P 500 aims for its third positive day in a row, appearing to shrug off a disappointing economic report. 2. New data from the Conference Board shows that consumer confidence dipped again in March. 3. Meanwhile, in tech Alibaba Chairman Joe Tsai made comments stating that there is a potential bubble in the AI data center buildout. Jim Cramer disagrees with this assessment after attending Nvidia's GTC conference last week, where CEO Jensen Huang said we still need a lot more data centers. CrowdStrike was upgraded to a buy at BTIG with a price target of $431. 4. The firm noted that with the July outage now eight months in the past, CrowdStrike "has much better visibility on forecasts." 5. Analysts believe that annual recurring revenue will accelerate in the second half of the year above street forecast. Jim Cramer said this was a "fantastic upgrade" and if the stock price hits the $400 level, Jim said we'd probably sell some of the shares we purchased when prices fell earlier this month. Honeywell announced the leadership for its Advanced Materials business to be named Solstice Advanced Materials. 6. The company's spin is on track for late this year or early 2026 with David Swell as the new CEO. 7. Jim Cramer said the selection was a "good pick" by Honeywell, but the company is now in what he calls "spin purgatory." Jim Cramer believes that there is initial excitement around companies when breakups are announced, but people often wait to buy back in closer to the spin's completion date. Stocks covered in Tuesday's rapid fire at the end of the video were: KB Home, McCormick, Carvana, Cloudflare, and Oklo.

KB Home — Shares of the homebuilder fell more than 4% after the company posted a top- and bottom-line miss in the first quarter. KB Home earned $1.49 per share on revenue of $1.39 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG were looking for earnings of $1.58 per share and revenue of $1.5 billion. The company also cut its revenue guidance for fiscal 2025. Cloudflare — Shares of the network security firm jumped more than 2% on the back of Bank of America's double upgrade to buy from underperform. The bank said Cloudflare's fundamentals are improving and the stock is an underappreciated play on artificial intelligence. Oklo — The nuclear technology company tumbled 9% after reporting a wider annual loss compared with a year prior. Oklo also said it expects to incur "significant expenses and continuing financial losses." CrowdStrike Holdings — The cybersecurity firm saw shares rising more than 3% after BTIG upgraded the stock to buy from neutral . The Wall Street firm said CrowdStrike has "much better visibility" on its forecast now that the IT outage is eight months in the rearview mirror. Trump Media — The stock jumped about 7% after the parent of President Donald Trump's Truth Social platform announced a deal with Crypto.com to launch a series of exchange-traded funds and related products. The company revealed that it plans to launch the funds later in 2025. Mobileye — The autonomous driving stock climbed 6%. Volkswagen announced it would collaborate with the company to advance its assisted and autonomous driving technology. Crown Castle — The telecommunications stock shed 4% after Crown Castle's board announced it had terminated CEO Steven Moskowitz, effective immediately. Chief Financial Officer Dan Schlanger will serve as interim CEO.

Traders' most widely cited measure of fear is currently pointing to cause for confidence, according to Wall Street veteran Nick Colas. The Cboe Volatility Index, an options-based measure of expected market gyrations, has drifted below its long-term average after previously spiking, which Colas said in his overnight market note Monday is often an attractive time to buy stocks. Specifically, he pointed out that the fear gauge closed at 27.9 on March 10, or more than one standard deviation above its long-term average of 19.5. That close, he said, "proved to be a good entry point to buy the S&P 500." Even though US large caps wobbled for a few days after, the index is now 2.7 percent higher. This is exactly what should happen. Investors and traders who buy unusual levels of uncertainty, expressed as expected stock price volatility (i.e., what the VIX measures), expect to see a near term gain for their troubles. In more recent moves, the VIX closed at around 17.5 on Monday and edged down even more in Tuesday trading. Should the index hold below 19.5, it will send a message that the recent volatility, induced by President Donald Trump's tariffs plans and worries about economic growth, has been largely priced into market activity, Colas said. It's too early to declare victory over policy-related uncertainty and the stock market volatility it creates, but today was a big step in the right direction, he wrote. Simply put, the bulls needed not just an outsized rally but also the decline in the VIX to lay the groundwork for further gains. While the near-term figure he said to watch on the VIX is 27.3, Colas noted that a move past 35.1, or two standard deviations above the norm, would be an even stronger short-term buy signal.

Seven years ago, the founders of Crusoe Energy set out to solve a dirty problem by converting gas burned off by oil producers into electricity to mine bitcoin. But then came the artificial intelligence boom, and Crusoe co-founders Chase Lochmiller and Cully Cavness started to see a much bigger opportunity. The company is getting out of bitcoin mining as it focuses on AI and builds what could be one of the most powerful clusters of graphics processing units in the world. Crusoe has struck a deal to offload its bitcoin mining operation to NYDIG, a power and financial services firm focused exclusively on bitcoin. The terms of the deal weren't disclosed. NYDIG will take on about 135 Crusoe employees, who will continue operating the business under new ownership. Crusoe will become a major equity holder in the combined entity - second only to Stone Ridge, NYDIG's parent company. The deal includes Crusoe's technology that captures and converts flared gas from oil fields, and more than 425 modular data centers spread across seven U.S. states and parts of Argentina. Altogether, the operation accounts for roughly 1% of the world's bitcoin mining, according to Crusoe.

Landing a job in a major U.S. city often comes with a high salary, but those same large metros tend to have higher costs of living as well. In fact, a single adult would need to earn a minimum of $85,197 to live comfortably in any of the 100 largest U.S. cities, according to a recent SmartAsset analysis. SmartAsset used estimates from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Living Wage Calculator and the common 50/30/20 budget guideline to define "financially comfortable" and determine the minimum salary a single adult would need in each place. The median income, per Census Bureau data, lines up with SmartAsset's estimate for how much single adults need to live comfortably in just nine of the 100 largest U.S. cities. Here's a look at those places, including how much is left over after meeting SmartAsset's comfortability thresholds.

To get by these days, more young adults turn to a likely source for help: their parents. For the first time, 50% of parents with a child older than 18 provide them with at least some financial support, according to a new report by Savings.com. That's up from 47% last year and 45% in 2023. From buying food to paying for a cellphone plan or covering health and auto insurance or even rent, these parents are shelling out about $1,474 a month, on average, the report found — a three-year high. "Adulting is expensive," the report notes. More from Personal Finance: What financial advisors tell investors about market turmoil Consumer outlook sinks as recession fears take hold Don't hide cash at home — here's what you're risking Many experts argue it's harder today for young adults to make it on their own. In addition to soaring everyday expenses and housing costs, millennials and Generation Z face other financial challenges their parents did not at that age. Not only are their wages lower than their parents' earnings when they were in their 20s and 30s, after adjusting for inflation, but they are also carrying larger student loan balances, many reports show.

Howmet Aerospace is a well-positioned industrial company within the aerospace & defense industry, despite February-March volatility. HWM was focused on the oil & gas industry until 2020 when they re-focused on primarily aerospace, defense, and commercial transportation markets. Looking around in aerospace and defense, some standout companies have weathered the market pullback quite well, including Kratos Defense & Security, Heico, General Dynamics, even Boeing and General Electric. All of these stocks look tradable to the upside in light of the Trump administration's policies aimed at reshoring manufacturing, the implementation of AI within aerospace & defense, and a strong rebound in air travel. Howmet is well positioned in two specific areas of commercial aerospace and industrial gas turbines. We first added HWM to our growth portfolio at Inside Edge Capital on June 24 with a 1% allocation. Even though the stock is up approximately 75% in that time, during the next reallocation we plan to increase the size by at least a 2% allocation once we have a bit more confidence the broader market pullback is complete. Based on last week's article of the broader market successfully holding our support levels, it seems like a good time to attack. Turning to the technicals on the weekly chart, you'll see a beautiful uptrend that began in October 2023 that has formed quite a formidable parallel trend channel (green). Amid the recent market pullback, HWM tested parallel channel support along with the 20-week moving average (orange) and re-engaged on the upside ahead of the broader market averages. Highlighted below the chart is some scary good yearly percentage EPS growth (for an industrial company) of 88%, 65% and 54%. And though 2025 is expected to moderate out to just a 17% growth, 2026 is looking to move back above 20% growth. Looking at the daily chart, you can see a similarly impressive quarterly EPS growth that should be able to carry it above the dotted green resistance breakout level to new highs. If we do in fact increase our position size, I will use a stop around the March lows of $120 for the entirety of the position. I do understand the stock commands a higher valuation with a current PE of 48. But when you consider the EPS growth rate and solid position in the explosive growth sectors discussed, the forward PE of 31 X's 2026 expected earnings of $4.04 based on a last trade of $136.32 may not seem all that stretched. Of course, it is the combination of fundamentals and technicals to manage risk on high growth positions like this that allows us to actively manage our stock portfolios.

Julian Kelly, Google Quantum AI's director of hardware, said he believes quantum technology is only five years away from running practical applications that can't be calculated on modern computers. One of Google's top executives working on quantum computers, Kelly told CNBC's Deirdre Bosa that a quantum computer may be able to do cutting-edge physics and potentially generate new kinds of data. "We think we're about five years out from a real breakout, kind of practical application that you can only solve on a quantum computer," said Kelly in an interview aired Tuesday. Quantum technology has enjoyed increased attention after Google announced a breakthrough in error correction in December that the company said suggested a path to working quantum computers. Microsoft revealed a new quantum computing chip called Majorana in February. The company had to create an "entirely new state of matter" to get the chip to work, CEO Satya Nadella said. Google's most advanced quantum computer has 105 cubits, or the basic building block of a quantum computer, while experts say 1 million or more cubits will be needed for useful applications. Quantum computers have been a dream of physicists and scientists since the 1980s. While traditional computers are based around central processors or graphics processors with bits that are either 0 or 1, quantum qubits are on or off based on probability. "Quantum computers speak quantum mechanics — they can access the way the universe works at the most fundamental level," Kelly said. The first applications for the technology will likely include using the system to simulate cutting-edge physics, Kelly said. That includes "areas where you've got some system that's sort of just out of reach of what a classical computer to do," he added. Quantum computers may also be able to generate data used to train AI, although Kelly called this use "speculative."

それぞれの決断 取材に応じた3人の個人投資家に共通するのは、良く言えば型破りな、悪く言えば物議を醸しやすいマスク氏の性質を踏まえて、テスラ株の売却に至ったことだ。 パブリック・リレーション（PR）戦略スペシャリストとして活躍するミカエラ・デラハンティ氏は、2023年8月に初めてテスラ株を購入し、ちょうど1年後の2024年8月に売却した。 「イーロンがトランプと手を組み始めたのを見て、私は（仕事柄）ブランディングの視点から考えてしまいました。典型的なテスラの顧客、テスラ車の購入者にとって、この動きはどう映り、どんな影響を及ぼすのだろうか、と」 企業を顧客とするプロマジシャンのダン・チャン氏は、大統領就任式を直後に控えた1月初旬にテスラ株を売却した。マスク氏の組織リーダーとしてのあり方、さらには政治活動への関与が決定打になったという。 チャン氏はマスク氏とは旧知の仲。チャン氏は決済大手ペイパル（PayPal）の創業時、初期従業員として勤務していたが、当時同社を経営していたのがマスク氏だった。 著名投資家ピーター・ティール氏が創業したコンフィニティ（Confinity）と、マスク氏設立のエックス・ドットコム（X.com）が合併して誕生したのが現在のペイパルで、マスク氏は短期間ながらCEOを務め、2000年秋に解任された。取締役会にマスク氏追放を求めた従業員の嘆願書にはチャン氏も署名した。 トランプ氏に巨額の選挙活動資金を提供したり、米政府効率化省（DOGE）の設立を持ちかけたり、マスク氏が政治活動への関与を深めたことが、チャン氏がテスラ株売却を決断する「最後のひと押し」になったという。 （チャン氏のよく知る）マスク氏の組織リーダーとしてのあり方、トランプ大統領との協力関係が投資家の信頼を揺るがし、結果として株価は下落すると考えたチャン氏はポジションの解消に動いた。 なお、Business Insider編集部が確認した投資口座などの資料によれば、チャン氏は2016年に初めてテスラ株を投資ポートフォリオに組み入れ、1900％超（！）のリターンを得ている。 チャン氏は、マスク氏の米政府効率化省の責任者としての発言や行動がペイパル時代のそれとオーバーラップして見えると語る。 「イーロンがペイパルを追い出された一番の理由は、手元資金が減っていっている時にプログラミング言語の大規模移行をしようと言い出したこと。あまりに軽率なのです。 それは政府にとっても良くないことです。一度言ったことをすぐに取り消してまた別のことを言う、そんな朝令暮改が日常茶飯事のリーダーの下で、職を失うかもしれない不安に追い立てられながら仕事をしていては、目の前のことに集中できるわけがありません」 企業オーナーのジョナサン・グッドマン氏は、テスラを電気自動車業界の成長をけん引するリーダー企業と確信してパンデミックの最中に株式を購入した。 グッドマン氏は当初、マスク氏の何事にもストレートな言動や行動が株価にとってはプラスに働くと考えていた。 しかし、トランプ大統領との関係が（大統領選が終わっても）切れずに続いてやがては共鳴し合うようになり、グッドマン氏も最終的にテスラ株を手放すことに決めたという。 「（企業の情報発信を担う）優秀なスポークスマンを私は尊敬します。イーロンはこれまでいくつもの取り組みについて、スポークスマンとして非常に素晴らしい成果を残してきました。 宇宙開発企業のSpace X（スペースエックス）、人工知能開発のxAI（エックスエーアイ）、そしてテスラ。いずれも業界や人類を前進させる重要な取り組みばかりです」 それほどに高くマスク氏を評価してきたにも関わらず、グッドマン氏はテスラ株を売却した。それは、1月20日のトランプ大統領就任初日の祝賀イベントに参加したマスク氏が、壇上でナチス・ドイツの敬礼を彷彿とさせるジェスチャーを繰り返し見せたからだった。 問題はマスク氏の人格だけ？ グッドマン氏にとって、マスク氏の人格はテスラ株の処分を決断する唯一の要因だった。株式を手放した今も、テスラのビジネスモデルそのものは堅実だと考えている。 「もし明日イーロンがテスラを去ったら、株を買い戻すと思います」 一方、最初の二人（デラハンティ氏とチャン氏）がテスラ株の売却を決めたのは、必ずしもマスク氏の言動や行動だけが要因ではなかった。 デラハンティ氏はこう語る。 「リコール（回収・無償修理）が目につくようになったのです。メモリや車載電池の不具合を理由とするリコールが相次いで、これはマズいことになると考えるようになりました」 直近では3月にも、電動ピックアップ「サイバートラック（Cybertruck）」の外装剥落が後続車の事故につながるとして4万6000台強をリコールすると発表している。 デラハンティ氏はこうした車両品質の問題とトランプ大統領との政治的関係の生み出す問題を併せて考えた結果、消費者にとってのテスラの魅力は今後失われていくと結論した。 チャン氏も同じくテスラ車の品質に対する懸念から、株価の先行きを弱気と考えるに至った。より具体的に言えば、先進運転支援システム『フルセルフドライビング（FSD）』とその延長上にある完全自動運転機能を、チャン氏は肯定的に評価できずにいた。 マスク氏が自動運転技術の開発において安全（確保）メカニズムをさほど重要視しておらず、コスト抑制のために対策不十分のまま市場投入するのではとの疑念が消えなかった。 デラハンティ氏がポジションを解消した後、テスラを強気とするトレンドが強まったものの、彼女は（12月の）ピークを迎えるかなり前に株式を売却したことを後悔していない。 「信頼のおける報道機関や投資家がさんざん強気と持ち上げたテスラ株が、今こうして深刻なボラティリティの嵐の中にいるのを興味深く眺めています。私は自分の判断したタイミングで売却できて本当に良かったと思っています」

A sign is posted in front of the 23andMe headquarters in Sunnyvale, California, on Feb. 1, 2024. With genetic testing company 23andMe filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and courting bidders, the DNA data of millions of users is up for sale. A Silicon Valley stalwart since 2006, 23andMe has steadily amassed a database of people's fundamental genetic information under the promise of helping them understand their disposition to diseases and potentially connecting with relatives. California Attorney General Rob Bonta warned people in a statement Friday that their data could be sold. In the statement, Bonta offered users instructions on how to delete genetic data from 23andMe, how to instruct the company to delete their test samples and how to revoke access from their data's being used in third-party research studies. DNA data is extraordinarily sensitive. Its primary use at 23andMe — mapping out a person's potential predisposed genetic conditions — is data that many people would prefer to keep private. In some criminal cases, genetic testing data has been subpoenaed by police and used to help criminal investigations against people's relatives. Security experts caution that if a bad actor can gain access to a person's biometric data like DNA information, there's no real remedy: Unlike passwords or even addresses or Social Security numbers, people cannot change their DNA. A spokesperson for 23andMe said in an emailed statement that there will be no change to how the company stores customers' data and that it plans to follow all relevant U.S. laws. But Andrew Crawford, an attorney at the nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technology, said genetic data lawfully acquired and held by a tech company has almost no federal regulation to begin with. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which regulates some ways in which health data can be shared and stored in the United States, largely applies only "when that data is held by your doctor, your insurance company, folks kind of associated with the provision of health care," Crawford said. "HIPAA protections don't typically attach to entities that have IOT [internet of things] devices like fitness trackers and in many cases the genetic testing companies like 23andMe," he said. There is precedent for 23andMe's losing control of users' data. In 2023, a hacker gained access to the data of what the company later admitted were around 6.9 million people, almost half of its user base at the time. That led to posts on a dark web hacker forum, confirmed by NBC News as at least partially authentic, that shared a database that named and identified people with Ashkenazi Jewish heritage. Emily Tucker, the executive director of Georgetown Law's Center on Privacy & Technology, said the sale of 23andMe should be a wake-up call for Americans about how easily their personal information can be bought and sold without their input.

EV cars are pictured inside BYD's first electric vehicle (EV) factory in Southeast Asia, a fast-growing regional EV market where it has become the dominant player, in Rayong, Thailand, July 4, 2024. Chinese automaker BYD reported annual revenue of 777 billion yuan ($107 billion) for 2024, leapfrogging U.S. rival Tesla as competition between the two electric vehicle rivals heats up. In a filing published Monday, BYD posted a 29% increase in revenue from the previous year, bolstered by sales of its hybrid vehicles. This figure exceeded the $97.7 billion annual revenue reported by Elon Musk's Tesla. Wang Chuanfu, chairman and president of BYD, hailed the firm's "rapid development" in 2024, noting the company became the first automaker globally to reach the milestone of rolling out 10 million new energy vehicles in November. "BYD has become an industry leader in every sector from batteries, electronics to new energy vehicles, breaking the dominance of foreign brands and reshaping the new landscape of the global market," Wang said in a statement. The filing comes shortly after BYD announced a new battery technology that it claims can charge EVs almost as quickly as it takes to fill a gasoline car. The automaker said last week that it's new so-called Super e-Platform will allow cars that use the technology to achieve 400 kilometers (roughly 249 miles) of range with just five minutes of charging. CNBC could not independently verify these claims. Analysts hailed BYD's new battery platform as "out of this world" and suggested the development could lead to a profound change of behavior among EV owners.

US President Donald Trump speaks to the press as he meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 13, 2025. President Donald Trump said he was not upset with national security advisor Michael Waltz after he reportedly added a journalist to a Signal text thread in which top officials discussed pending military strikes. "Michael Waltz has learned a lesson, and he's a good man," Trump told NBC News in a phone call when asked if he still had confidence in his top national security aide. The Atlantic's editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, revealed that his number on Signal, an encrypted messaging app, had been added on March 13 to a chat thread called the "Houthi PC small group." The thread showed participants discussing and debating plans related to U.S. bombing attacks on Houthi targets in Yemen, which were ultimately carried out on March 15. The participants' names appeared to match those of top-level Trump administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and others. Goldberg declined to reveal some of the contents of the texts, including the name of one person he described as an "active intelligence officer." A National Security Council spokesman confirmed the authenticity of the Signal group to The Atlantic, saying, "We are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain."

Morgan Stanley's Adam Jonas upgraded Carvana, an online used car marketplace, to "overweight" from "equal weight." Jonas raised his price target on the stock to $280 from $260, signaling more than 31% upside from Monday's close. He labeled Carvana a "unique opportunity for investors to gain exposure to a leader in auto retail and fleet fulfillment," in light of the stock's more than 8% pullback in March. Jonas previously was cautious on Carvana due to high leverage on its balance sheet, but those worries have now abated due to strong free cash flow generation. The company can use this free cash flow to pay down its $5.6 billion corporate debt. Jonas noted that Carvana has "impressive operating execution" and has addressed concerns about leverage. He also pointed out that the company has shown an ability to grow its used vehicle volume, with four-straight quarters of double-digit retail unit growth year over year in 2024. Shares were up nearly 4% after the upgrade. Of the 24 analysts who cover Carvana, 12 rate it a buy or strong buy.

The news that Capital One's stock could be worth $427 per share if it completes its merger with Discover Financial Services was highlighted in a Tuesday note by BTIG analysts. BTIG analysts upgraded the stock to a buy rating from hold and said they believe shares of Capital One would be worth $427 apiece if the Discover deal is completed, implying an eye-popping upside of more than 137% from Monday's close. They see significant earnings power as Capital One fully utilizes Discover's network to take market share in the prime transactor credit card space. The analysts argued that Capital One's technology capabilities could help the payments network better compete against rival operators Visa and Mastercard, making it a "polished diamond" in its payments network. BTIG is upbeat on Capital One's stock even if the merger does not go through, with a price target of $208 a share valuing the company on a standalone basis. The primary reason that BTIG still likes Capital One, even on its own, is all the excess capital that the firm has built up since the $35 billion acquisition was announced in February 2024. This could enable Capital One to repurchase $25 billion in stock over the next three years instead, equivalent to 12% of the company, analysts predicted. Analysts also said that while Capital One is not totally immune to a weakening consumer, its decision to tighten underwriting standards a few years ago was smart and improves its competitive positioning against the likes of American Express and Ally Financial. Shares of Capital One are up nearly 1% on Tuesday. Capital One's stock fell in response to an unconfirmed report about the Justice Department's thinking on the merger last week, but Citi, KBW, and Jefferies all came to the stock's defense, with analysts at each firm still expecting the deal to be completed. The antitrust discussion also comes against the backdrop of a legal battle between Capital One and President Donald Trump's family business. The Trump Organization filed a lawsuit against the credit card lender on March 7, alleging that Capital One violated consumer protections laws by closing its accounts in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Capital One has said it does not close customer accounts for political reasons. We're quite bullish on Capital One — even if we haven't thrown out an estimate of what the stock would be worth post-Discover like BTIG has with its $427 figure, according to a separate analysis. Our current price target of $210 a share is pretty close to the firm's standalone target. The pending Discover deal is a major reason why we first initiated a position in Capital One earlier this month. If completed, Capital One will be able to shift some of its transactions onto Discover's payments network, reducing what it has to pay out in fees to Mastercard and Visa.

Consumer confidence dimmed further in March as the view of future conditions fell to the lowest level in more than a decade, the Conference Board reported Tuesday. The board's monthly confidence index of current conditions slipped to 92.9, a 7.2-point decline and the fourth consecutive monthly contraction. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for a reading of 93.5. However, the measure for future expectations told an even darker story, with the index tumbling 9.6 points to 65.2, the lowest reading in 12 years and well below the 80 level that is considered a signal for a recession ahead. The index measures respondents' outlook for income, business and job prospects. "Consumers' optimism about future income — which had held up quite strongly in the past few months — largely vanished, suggesting worries about the economy and labor market have started to spread into consumers' assessments of their personal situations," said Stephanie Guichard, senior economist, global indicators at The Conference Board.

President Donald Trump is urging oil producers to "drill, baby, drill." The U.S. is already producing more crude oil than any other nation in history. In December 2024, U.S. oil and gas firms produced more than 13.49 million barrels of crude per day. High rates of production tend to lower prices, which benefits consumers. But if prices drop too far, affecting producers' profits, they may stop drilling. On March 24, 2025, the nationwide average price of regular unleaded gasoline was about $3.10 per gallon, according to GasBuddy data. U.S. gasoline prices are expected to fall by 11 cents in 2025 and 19 cents in 2026, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts. According to the EIA, crude oil prices in the U.S. accounted for about 52.6% of the average retail price of gasoline in 2023. The future trajectory of crude oil prices is a key concern for investors in the oil and gas industry. On March 24, 2025, the spot price of the U.S. benchmark for crude oil, West Texas Intermediate, was hovering below $70 a barrel. Analysts at S&P Global Commodity Insights expect WTI to average $66 per barrel in 2025.

Egg prices are once again top of mind for many Americans — and it's easy to see why. Even after a recent drop in wholesale costs, retail egg prices remain near historic highs, averaging about $6 per dozen — roughly double what people paid a year ago. It's the most Americans have paid for eggs in decades, according to a CNBC analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The surge is part of a pattern that's become increasingly familiar to U.S. grocery shoppers. While egg prices were relatively stable from the 1980s through the early 2010s, the past decade has seen three major spikes, all triggered by outbreaks of avian influenza that have been more deadly than in the past. The virus, which spreads rapidly through commercial flocks, has forced producers to cull tens of millions of egg-laying hens, creating sudden supply shocks that drive up prices. But the current surge stands out — not just for its severity, but its staying power. Retail prices haven't caught up to wholesale declines

従業員の間に満ちている現在の空気をひと言で表現するなら、「肩をすくめてやり過ごそう」とでも言えばいいだろうか。 テスラの株価が史上最高値を更新した2024年12月前後に初めて購入した投資家なら、この急落に恐怖を感じるのも無理はない。しかし、報酬を株式で受け取って長期保有している従業員たちの目に映る景色は、短期投資家たちとは全く異なるようだ。 ある従業員からはこんな正論が聞かれた。 昨年の同時期（つまり2024年3月中旬）と比べればまだ30〜40％高い水準だし、ましてや5年前との比較なら690％も上昇していて、とんでもない水準であることに変わりはないと。 一方、それとは別の複数の従業員が、株価の変動にはあえて目を向けないようにしていると口を揃えた。その中のテキサス拠点に勤務するある従業員は「毎日株価を見ていたら気が変になるよ」と語った。 株価パフォーマンスに影響を及ぼす変数はいくつもあって、もちろんイーロン・マスク最高経営責任者（CEO）の各種行動もその一つだが、それは従業員がどうこうできるものではない（から考えても仕方がない）、というのがその従業員のスタンスだった。 そうした意見は、Business Insider編集部が直接取材していない従業員にとっても、特段違和感のないもののようだ。 テスラ社内のコミュニケーションツールには、株価の値動きをテーマに一部の従業員が意見を交換する場として利用している非公式チャンネルが存在し、そこでも（株価下落に対して）特に際立った反応はないと複数の従業員が証言する。 同チャンネルには一部の従業員と言っても数千人が参加しており、自社に関係するソーシャルメディア投稿やニュース記事を共有するのに使われているという。 ネバダ拠点に勤務するある従業員はそれらを総合して、社内には「陰うつな空気」も「危機感」も漂っていないと語った。 自社株を保有する従業員の心理 テスラにおいて株式報酬の付与は大きな役割を果たしており、それを同社の最も魅力的な特徴の一つと考えている従業員も少なくない。 マスク氏もそれをよく分かっていて、テスラの生産拠点はミリオネアを多数輩出してきたと過去に発言している（米経済誌フォーチュン、2023年11月30日付）。 従業員の中にはそれと異なる立場もある。近頃退社したある従業員はこう指摘する。 「付与された株式報酬の価値が跳ね上がって一気に富裕層の仲間入り、といったシナリオに期待してテスラで働いている従業員がいることは間違いありませんが、そういう人に限って長続きしないのが現実です」 また、別の従業員2人は、株価のボラティリティ上昇（により報酬が目減りするリスクの増大）を受け、「長期キャッシュ」型の報酬オプションを選んだことを、Business Insiderに明かした。業績を反映して決定したインセンティブ報酬を、その後数年（通常4年間）にわたって繰り延べて現金支給する仕組みという。 Business Insiderが独自入手したテスラ社内の給与関連書類（2021年時点）によると、同じテクノロジー業界や自動車業界の企業に比べてベースサラリー（基本給）は見劣りするものの、インセンティブ報酬としての株式付与が大きい。 年次報告書の記載によれば、テスラは2024年に譲渡制限付株式ユニット（RSU）で約26億9000万ドル、ストックオプション（新株予約権）で約35億ドルを従業員に付与している。 上述の長期キャッシュ型報酬を選んだ従業員2人は、自分たちを含むテスラの従業員にとって株価の変動は大きな関心事ではないと強調した。 マスク氏はデフォルトで物議を醸す存在 テスラは今、経営トップであるマスク氏のトランプ大統領との親密な間柄や、米政府効率化省（DOGE）の責任者としての発言力、影響力がハレーションを引き起こし、国民からの強い抗議とそれを要因の一つとする株価急落に直面している。 ニューヨーク・タイムズ（New York Times）はこの2月、マスク氏がX投稿でナチスの親衛隊長だったヒムラーや、総統ヒトラーの後継者と目された国家元帥のゲーリングらに不適切な形で言及したことを批判したテスラのマネジャー、ジャレッド・オットマン氏が解雇されたと報じた。 しかし、Business Insiderの取材に応じたテスラのあるエンジニアは、従業員がマスク氏についてさまざまな形で繰り返し質問を受けることに苛立ちを感じていると前置きした上で、こう語気を強めた。 「自分の会社のCEOについて考える機会って、どのくらいありますか？CEOの行動に個人的に責任を負っているって考えてますか？」 そのように社内にはさまざまな意見や見方があるものの、取材に応じた10人の従業員のうち8人が口を揃えたのは、会社の先行きはおおむね安泰だろう、ということだった。 あるマネジャーは端的にこう述べた。

Regardless of whether the US Department of Efficiency (DOGE) works, it is undoubtedly true that Musk has spent '110%' of his time as head of the second Trump administration. This has transformed Tesla into a political symbol, of course, which is not good for investors. Ives presented Tesla with a prescription, which was at a turning point. "If Musk wants to bring this crisis to an end, so that the Tesla brand crisis that we've built up to this point will become snowballed over the next few years and eventually turn into a Black Swan (an unpredictable, hugely impactful extreme event), then we have to tackle two things." One is to explain in his own words how Musk will manage Tesla's management and role as head of the Ministry of Government Efficiency Ministry at the first quarter (January to March) earnings announcements, or at the information session, scheduled for early May. "To continue investing in Tesla, we need to take a step back (from the current state of leaning forward to the Ministry of Government Efficiency) and make sure that Musk is balanced." Even if Musk takes a step back, Ives analyzes that the "overheating" surrounding Musk as the Ministry of Government Efficiency and its director will "cold." Another is to clarify the "roadmap of development for low-cost EVs and when to market," which Tesla has announced to launch within the year, and also provide a detailed perspective on the "robotic taxi service to be launched in Texas from June." Ives believes that there are a lot of issues, including the complete revamp of the Model Y, the main SUV (multipurpose sports car), the issue of inventory management (surplus), and the sluggish demand due to brand damage, and investors will not be convinced unless Musk himself explains what he thinks about these issues. Tsai Capital President and Chief Investment Officer Christopher Tsai recently spoke to Business Insider and emphasized that it is important to separate Musk's behavior as director of the Ministry of Government Efficiency and his involvement at the heart of the US government (in a position to exert influence). "Elon is in a position to form policies (in favor of Tesla's business expansion) by engaging in the government. I think negative market sentiment will eventually fade and disappear."

Stock prices have been declining since hitting a record high in mid-December, and at this point (closing price on March 21st), the decline has spread to around 48%. The market capitalization, which was up to $1.5 trillion, has shrunk to around $780 billion. The direct cause of this slump is Musk's political involvement mentioned at the beginning. He provided huge amounts of funds to Trump in the presidential election last November, and since the launch of the second Trump administration, he was the head of the newly established US Department of Efficiency (DOGE), and has pioneered debate with numerous actions that fueled political conflict, including sudden dismantling of government agencies and unannounced inbound inspections, and supporting German far-right parties that advocate for immigration. TD Cowen analyst Itai Micheli pointed out that Musk's moves will be a tailwind for Tesla in the future. "There are things that people who are concerned about Tesla's future are overlooked: Tesla loses share in counties with more Democrats (due to Musk's political activities), while increasing share in groups with more Republicans. It will take some time, but Tesla can expect a significant increase in sales." Tesla has gained fame as a pioneer in electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers, and has expanded sales, particularly in the liberal area, which is the Democratic support base. However, as Musk rose to conservative stardom throughout the November 2024 presidential election, Tesla's brand is beginning to be eroded in areas that have traditionally been "strong" (Mikeli). In extreme cases, they are even subject to systematic boycotts and vandalism. However, on the other hand, there are signs of growing market share in the conservative areas, which are the Republican support base. Micheli modeled the trend and created a predictive scenario and found it could bring Tesla's business to light. If the situation continues at stake, Tesla will certainly face headwinds before the tailwinds blow. So this is not the case for a demand forecast for the first quarter (January to March), where severe results are expected. According to TD Cowen's basic scenario, Tesla's medium- to long-term sales will decline by 22-28% in Democratic-backed counties, totaling 105,000 units, but EV penetration rates will rise to 9.7% in Republican-backed counties, while Tesla's sales will increase by 107,000 units. The changes that this trend will bring are also positive for Tesla's competitors, with General Motors, Hyundai and Ford EVs benefiting. Wall Street's investment decisions are divided. The bright outlook for Tesla, Micheli explained, is in contrast to the successive reductions in price targets on Wall Street. Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has recently reduced its target stock price from the previous $440 to $320. The investment decision was kept unchanged by "outperform." JPMorgan Chase also lowered its target stock price to $120 in the second week of March after Tesla revised its delivery forecast significantly downwards. JP Morgan analysts argue that Musk's political activities are "not interesting for the left, but it's a pleasant story for the right, but the impact on Tesla's sales is negative anyway." Cantor Fitzgerald raised Tesla's investment rating to overweight on March 19, leaving its target stock price at $425.

It all adds up to a majority of CFOs (60%) saying they expect a recession in the second half of the year – another 15% say a recession will hit in 2026. Many executives in the C-suite and across the economy remain disturbed about the trade war outlook and a White House that has given every indication it is ideologically committed to a major change in global economic policy. Shifting messages from President Trump that continue to add confusion to the tariff planning process haven't helped. The stock market experienced a relief rally to start the week, and attempted to keep the comeback going on Tuesday morning , as comments from the Trump economic team over the weekend suggested a softer stance on tariffs. But within the boardroom, hope is not likely to replace caution any time soon. In recent weeks, recession has become a more popular default setting in the market, for the first time since the Fed began aggressively raising interest rates to beat back runaway inflation in March 2022. The odds of recession are running as high as 50% at some financial firms, new "recession watch" indicators are being created, and other recent CNBC surveying, among money managers and economists, shows a spike in recession fears. U.S. trade policy is the primary reason for the new economic downturn base case. It is now being cited as the top external business risk by CFOs, at 30%, followed by the related risks: inflation (25%) and consumer demand (20%), with the latest reading on consumer confidence in income, business and job prospects hitting a 12-year low. Ninety percent of CFOs say tariffs will cause "resurgent inflation," and as CFOs worry more about prices, expectations for when the Fed can engineer it back down to 2% in keeping with its dual mandate keep getting pushed further out. Despite Fed Chair Jerome Powell himself holding out hopes that any tariffs inflation may be "transitory," half of CFOs now say that the 2% target inflation rate will not be achieved until either the second half of 2026 or 2027. Pressure on U.S. treasury bond yields is expected to remain, with 65% of CFOs saying the range will still be between 4% and 5% at the end of 2025 (50% of CFOs expect yields to stay within the lower end of this range, between 4% and 4.5%, where 10-year treasury are today). As industries look to the White House for tariff exemption deals molded in their own self-interest, the general level of economic and market uncertainty among business executives across sectors was registered in one unusual way in the quarterly survey. Few CFOs think the bull market will quickly resume its march upwards, with 90% of respondents saying the Dow Jones Industrial Average will retest 40,000 before ever reaching 50,000, which indicates the potential for several thousand points more in the index lost. In a more key, core way, the cautious corporate view was evident in the change quarter over quarter with respect to spending plans, with the number of CFOs who say their firm plans to increase capex this year declining from Q4.