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Labor Day usually marks the slowdown. Not this year. From corner offices to checkout lines, businesses are scrambling as shaky markets test prices, patience, and loyalty. Tech is still the flashpointAI is fueling record demand while doubling as cover for layoffs and financial gymnastics. IPOs are slowly coming back, but only for companies that can prove theyve got the growth to back it up. Meanwhile, D.C. drama over tariffs and the Fed is shaking currencies, commodities, and investor confidence. On the consumer side of things, it was all about value this week. Retailers and restaurants are leaning on old tricks to keep shoppers spending. Housing is caught between too many unsold homes and buyers who cant afford them. And gold? It just smashed a record, flashing a warning about the nerves running through the economy. Heres your week in business: Oracle lays off thousandsor moreglobally amid rapid AI shifts A freh wave of cuts came this week at Oracle. The cuts expanded beyond 101 Seattle layoffs disclosed in state filings, with posts from Kansas, Massachusetts, and Texas suggesting a broader reduction. Anonymous boards noted that thousands were exiting company Slack, though Oracle hasnt confirmed totals. The belt-tightening contrasts with record stock highs and astronomical cloud/AI demand Larry Ellison touted. Translation: Oracle is racing to fund capacity while reshaping talent for its AI-first road map. Amazon ends Prime Invitee; household-only Family sharing begins Oct. 1 Amazon is sunsetting the Invitee program that let members share shipping perks beyond their household. The replacement, Amazon Family, limits benefits to one co-adult plus up to four kids (and legacy teen accounts), consolidating broader Prime perks under one roof. The move mirrors streamings crackdown on out-of-home sharing as Amazon chases higher paid conversion. Expect some churnand clearer attribution on whos paying for what. Frozen veggies recall: Endico peas, carrots, and mixes flagged for listeria Check your veggies! Endico Potatoes voluntarily recalled 2.5-lb bags of peas & carrots and mixed vegetables sold in six states and D.C. this week due to listeria concerns. No illnesses have been reported yet, but consumers should check lot codes and return affected bags for refunds. Listeria can be severe for pregnant people, seniors, and immunocompromised individuals. Retailers will be watching inventory pulls and shrink; brands will be revisiting QA and supplier audits. Homebuilder inventory hits 2009 levelscreating room for deals Completed but unsold single-family homes rose to 121,000 in July, the highest since 2009. While the Finished Homes Supply Index shows slack growing, its nowhere near the 200708 extremes. Pressure is sharpest in Sun Belt markets like Florida and Texas, where resale listings run hot. Expect incentives, price trims, and rate buydowns in oversupplied metros as builders protect pace. Gold sets a record above $3,551safe-haven bid returns Gold hit a record high this week. The surge caps a year of +36% gains, fueled by macro jitters, a softer dollar outlook, and expectations for a near-term Fed cut. Legal uncertainty around tariffs and escalating pressure on Fed independence add to haven demand. Non-yielding assets typically shine in lower-rate regimesand traders are positioning accordingly. For portfolios, the move is both a hedge and a sentiment signal. Trump to seek expedited Supreme Court ruling to save emergency tariffs After a 74 appeals court decision found broad IEEPA-based tariffs illegal, the administration is planning a fast-track appeal. If the Supreme Court curtails tariff power, the government could face duty refunds while pivoting to other authorities (e.g., Section 232, Smoot-Hawley §338). The case tests the major questions doctrine against executive trade leeway. Markets are bracing for policy whiplash into 2026. Lucids 1-for-10 reverse split fails to stop the slide LCID executed a reverse split to maintain Nasdaq compliance this week, consolidating shares ten-to-one. The stock still fell double digits post-action and remains down sharply YTD amid missed revenue expectations and steep losses. Reverse splits dont fix fundamentals; they buy time. Investors want delivery scale, cost control, and clearer demand signals beyond flagship models. Klarna sets $35$37 IPO range, eyeing a ~$14B valuation The BNPL pioneer filed to sell ~34.3M shares on the NYSE under KLAR, aiming to raise up to $1.27B. The valuation is well below the 2021 peak but reflects renewed IPO risk appetite for profitable (or near-profit) fintechs with durable top-line. Klarna posted 2024 profitability on rising revenuenow it must show operating discipline at public-market scrutiny. Execution post-listing will determine multiple expansion. Via Transportation files to go public at up to $44 a share The transit-tech operator, heavily tied to government contracts, is targeting a valuation up to ~$3.5B. Company revenue more than tripled since 2021, though losses persist with a narrowing trendline. The pitch: software-led, dynamically routed transit that augments aging bus networks. Investors will parse contract durability, unit economics, and path to profit across cities and rural deployments. Stocks notch worst day in a month as AI leaders drag Nvidia, Broadcom, and other AI beneficiaries led declines, with the S&P 500 off ~1.2% and yields climbing. Rising long rates, debt sustainability concerns, and political pressure on the Fed weighed on multiples. Tariff-lgal uncertainty added noise to Treasury trading. Defensive pockets (hello, gold) outperformed as investors rotated and trimmed froth. McDonalds revives Extra Value Mealsfor now Starting Sept. 8, the chain brings back bundled Extra Value Meals about 15% cheaper than la carte, part of a broader value push alongside $5 deals and nostalgic promos. The goal is traffic: meet cost-conscious diners where they are without deep margin erosion. Expect mix shifts toward bundles and potential competitive responses from rivals. Limited-time framing creates urgencyif it works, dont be surprised by an encore.
Category:
E-Commerce
We live in a world where workers are doing more varied and complex tasks. And in most instances, theyre doing so at the expense of focus and performance, according to a global EY study. People are juggling priorities that shift by the hour and filling their days with decisions that drain more than they deliver. And after more than two decades working with leaders and teams on productivity and time management, Ive seen the same pattern play out again and again. That of smart, capable people caught in a cycle of saying yes to everything. As a result, they leave little space for what really matters. My client, Alex, was no exception to this. Most days were a familiar and exhausting routine. On a typical day, hed finally open his laptop around 10:15 a.m. By then, hed already had three conversations, reviewed an urgent email thread, made lunchbox sandwiches, resolved a childcare drop-off tantrum, and sat through half a leadership meeting with his camera off and a blank stare. His day had technically begun hours earlier, but it wasnt until then that he had a moment to look at his calendar and feel the weight of nine meetings, two deadlines, and yesterdays unfinished list pressing in. Breaking the cycle of yes If this sounds familiar to you, thats because most of us in the modern world have developed an unconscious reflex to keep saying yes to urgency, opportunity, and momentum. In doing so, weve trained ourselves to push forward without pause. We’ve also convinced ourselves that availability equals value and responsiveness equals worth. Our best thinking, most meaningful contributions, and clearest leadership rarely emerge from this state of constant forward motion. They emerge from space. And space is only possible when we learn to press pause, even briefly, and reclaim our right to decide when something deserves our time, attention, and energy. This echoes cognitive load research, which shows that the brain’s working memory can only process so much before it starts dropping or distorting information. Overcommitting is more of a capacity issue than a time issue. The power of a deliberate pause One of the most underused and undervalued tools in this regard is not a new app or a color-coded calendar system. Its a simple phrase: not now. Its not about avoidance or indecision. This phrase lets us be deliberate with how we navigate our days and our decisions. Not now allows us to acknowledge somethings importance without letting it run our schedule. It gives us permission to protect our current focus, preserve our mental bandwidth, and delay commitment until we have the capacity to give it our full attention. What makes this particularly powerful is that it doesnt rely on dramatic change. It asks only for awareness. In fact, small shifts in how we respond to requests and obligations can be the most transformative, precisely because theyre sustainable. Start by noticing where the automatic yes creeps in. That might be meetings you dont need to attend, projects that belong on someone elses desk, and tasks that are loud but not actually important. Begin questioning the pull to respond immediately by pausing before you commit. Let silence do some of the heavy lifting. This kind of deliberate delay can be uncomfortable at first. Were conditioned to equate speed with success. Slowing down can feel risky, even subversive. But what were really doing is replacing reflex with intention. And the impact can be profound. Leading with discernment By saying not now, we arent rejecting opportunity or disengaging from our responsibilities. Were creating room to assess whether those opportunities align with our values, goals, or priorities. Were choosing to invest our energy where it will have the most impact, not just where the noise is loudest. Over time, this practice becomes more than a productivity tactic. It becomes a leadership mindset. At some point, every effective leader needs to learn to stop reacting and start choosing. We all operate in dynamic environments. There will always be times when there is real urgency, and we need to respond. But even in those moments, the ability to discern between what demands our attention now and what can wait becomes a defining skill. Leaders who master this are often those who appear calm amid chaos. Not because they arent busy, but because theyve learned to carry less noise. They know how to separate the signal from the static. They are discerning with their time, and clear in their decisions. They’re also generous with their presence because theyve protected it from being scattered in too many directions at once. So when you next feel the tug of obligation, urgency, or expectation, try asking yourself one question: Does this need me now or am I simply in the habit of saying yes? Then, give yourself the grace to wait. Remember, its not forever. Its just for now.
Category:
E-Commerce
The first time I read The Count of Monte Cristo, I was astounded by how freakin cool it all was. Heres a story about daring prison escapes, finding hidden treasure, and elaborately executed revenge. It felt aliveno matter that it was written 180 years ago. That book, and everything else published before 1930, is currently in the United States public domain. That means its perfectly legal for anyone to re-create the original text and publish it online or off. And there are a number of websites dedicated to offering public domain ebooks online, which is fantastic. But free downloads can be kindawell, ugly. Whether its typos from the transcription process, inconsistent style choices, or missing details like cover art, an exceptional digital reading experience isnt always easy to find. Its almost enough to make you want pay a few bucks for an ebook thats technically free, just to get a better designed product. Before you do that, though, you should check out todays Cool Tools discovery. Itll change how you think about reading on a screen, and youll never want to go back to the old way again. This tip originally appeared in the free Cool Tools newsletter from The Intelligence. Get the next issue in your inbox and get ready to discover all sorts of awesome tech treasures! Beautiful ebook downloads$0 The great thing about free culture is that people can build on whats freely offered and better adapt it for a specific purpose. The website I want to share with you today is a perfect example of that, building on the free ebook downloads from sites like Project Gutenberg and The Internet Archive. Its called Standard Ebooks, and its a collection of over 1,000 free ebooks with a real focus on style, design, and compatibility. The result: Every book offered on the site is absolutely beautifuland an absolute pleasure to read. You can start browsing the archive immediately and transfer a book to any device you like in 20 seconds or less. Whether you read books on a Kindle, a Kobo, or even just on your phoneAndroid, iOS, whateveryoull find beautifully formatted books made specifically for your screen. Standard Ebooks looks and feels like a polished, premium marketplaceeven though it’s free. Youll also find easy-to-follow instructions for getting the books onto your device and into a place where you can easily read them. Formats offered include epub, azw3 for Amazon Kindle gadgets, and kepub for Kobo devices. Or you can opt to simply read a book right within your browser, evenwith an easy-to-navigate chapter-by-chapter framework or on a single click-free page. You can get books formatted for any kind of device you’re using. Standard Ebooks has a handy search function if youre looking for something specific, or you can browse by things like genre, release date, or author. Every ebook offered has a visually pleasing cover, also from the public domain (and with not a single AI-generated illustration in sight). And all are edited to adhere to a rigorous style guide. Books from Standard Ebooks aregasp!actually a pleasure to read. Its the rare free software project thats focused on aesthetics. Ive read several books from Standard Ebooks over the years, and I always appreciate the attention to detail. I bet you will, too. Standard Ebooks is available online, within any web browser on any device. Its a completely free service, though it does offer opportunities for both donations and volunteering. You dont have to sign up for any accounts or provide any manner of personal info to use the site and download to your hearts content. Treat yourself to all sorts of brain-boosting goodies like this with the free Cool Tools newsletterstarting with an instant introduction to an incredible audio app thatll tune up your days in truly delightful ways.
Category:
E-Commerce
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