Nutritix

Tag: News

  • Quarter of global population used site daily in December

    Quarter of global population used site daily in December

    The number of people using Facebook daily grew to an average of two billion in December – about a quarter of the world’s population.

    The bigger-than-expected growth helped drive new optimism about the company, which has been under pressure as its costs rise and advertising sales slump.

    Shares in parent company Meta surged more than 15% in after-hours trade as boss Mark Zuckerberg declared 2023 the “year of efficiency”.

    He said he was focused on cost cuts.

    “We’re in a different environment now,” he said, pointing to the firm’s revenue, which declined in 2022 for the first time in its history after years of double-digit growth. 

    “We don’t anticipate that that’s going to continue, but I also don’t think it’s going to go back to the way it was before.”

    Meta, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, announced a major restructuring last year, including reducing office space and cutting 11,000 jobs or about 13% of staff.

    The firm said those moves cost it $4.6bn last year – hitting its profits, which were almost cut in half. It still brought it in $23.2bn in profit for the year.

    “2022 was a challenging year but I think we ended it having made good progress,” Mr Zuckerberg said. 

    In the three months to December, the firm said revenue was $32.2bn, down 4% year-on-year. 

    But that was better than many analysts had expected. 

    Meta alarmed investors last year when it posted the first-ever decline in daily Facebook users in its history and signaled it was focusing investments on virtual reality, known as the metaverse. 

    But in December, the number of users on the site daily was up 4% from a year earlier, adding users even in Europe and the US, and Canada. 

    Meta said the number of people active across all of its apps each day was up 5% year-on-year. 

    Mr Zuckerberg said the company was making progress with its video product – Reels – which it has been focused on as it faces off with rivals such as TikTok, which have gained traction, especially among younger users. 

    Mr Zuckerberg said those efforts were starting to pay off, and ad dollars were starting to follow users to the videos.

    Investors seized on the company’s forecast of lower costs and stronger sales than expected in the months ahead, helping send shares higher. 

    The company also said it would spend an extra $40bn to buy back shares, which dropped sharply last year amid investor doubts about the direction of the company.

  • Missing radioactive capsule found in Australia

    Missing radioactive capsule found in Australia

    Authorities in Western Australia say they have found a tiny radioactive capsule that went missing last month.

    Emergency services had “literally found the needle in the haystack”, they said.

    A huge search was triggered when the object was lost while being transported along a 1,400km (870 miles) route across the state. 

    Authorities released a close-up picture of the pea-sized capsule – which could cause serious harm if handled – on the ground among tiny pebbles.

    A serial number enabled them to verify they had found the right capsule, which is 6mm (0.24 inches) in diameter and 8mm long.

    It contains a small quantity of Caesium-137, which could cause skin damage, burns, or radiation sickness.

    Mining giant Rio Tinto apologized for losing the device, which is used as a density gauge in the mining industry.

    A 20m “hot zone” has now been established around the capsule and it will be placed into a lead container.

    It will be stored at a secure location in the town of Newman overnight before being transported to a secure facility in the city of Perth on Thursday.

    Announcing their find, the state emergency services paid tribute to “inter-agency teamwork in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds”.

    The capsule was found when a vehicle equipped with specialist equipment, which was traveling at 70 km/h (43 mph), detected radiation, officials said.

    Portable detection equipment was then used to locate the capsule, which was found about 2m (7ft) from the side of the road.

    The device is part of a density gauge, which was being used at Rio Tinto’s Gudai-Darri mine in the remote Pilbara region of Western Australia. 

    “The simple fact is the device should never have been lost,” said the head of the company’s iron ore division, Simon Trott. He thanked the authorities for the “pretty incredible recovery” of the capsule.

    Rio Tinto would be happy to reimburse the cost of the search if requested by the government, Mr. Trott added.

    Australian authorities have promised a review of existing laws on the matter. 

    Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told a news conference in Perth that the current fine for failing to safely handle radioactive substances is “ridiculously low”. It currently stands at A$1,000 ($700, £575) and A$50 ($35, £30) for every day that the offense continues.

  • Government promises robust crypto regulation

    Government promises robust crypto regulation

    The government has published proposals for crypto-asset regulation it hopes will “manage” the risks of the “turbulent industry”. 

    The sector has had a calamitous year, with assets collapsing in value by an estimated 75% from their peak of about $3 trillion in November 2021.

    Ministers estimate up to 10% of UK adults now own some form of crypto.

    They plan to use existing regulations for the industry, rather than creating a bespoke regime.

    The Treasury says that will allow crypto to benefit from the “confidence, credibility and regulatory clarity” of the existing system for financial services, as set out in the UK’s Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA).

    It wants to create a level playing field between traditional and emerging financial services, where the principle is “same risk, same regulatory outcome”.

    But it also acknowledges some crypto businesses may simply choose to continue operating in offshore jurisdictions that “do not impose equivalent market-abuse rules”.

    The Treasury says its proposals – which it’s now consulting on – will:

    • lay down rules on crypto-asset promotions which are fair, clear and not misleading
    • enhance data-reporting requirements, including with regulators
    • implement new regulations to prevent so-called pump and dump, where an individual artificially inflates the value of a crypto asset before selling it

    Ministers say the measures will “mitigate the most significant risks” of crypto technologies, while “harnessing their advantages”. 

    Economic Secretary to the Treasury Andrew Griffith said the government remained “steadfast in our commitment to grow the economy and enable technological change and innovation – and this includes crypto-asset technology”.

    “But we must also protect consumers who are embracing this new technology – ensuring robust, transparent and fair standards,” he added.

  • Fed announces smaller rate rise as inflation cools

    Fed announces smaller rate rise as inflation cools

    The US central bank has raised interest rates again as it continues its fight to stabilize prices in the world’s largest economy.

    The Federal Reserve said it was raising its key rate by 0.25 percentage points.

    That marks the smallest increase since last March, after a series of aggressive rate hikes last year.

    But officials warned that they did not think they were finished raising rates, despite signs that price increases in the US are slowing. 

    The bank’s moves are closely watched around the world as the US drives a global shift after years of low-interest rates that followed the financial crisis.

    The Bank of England and European Central Bank are expected to announce their own rate increases on Thursday.

    The rate rise announced by the Fed on Wednesday was expected. It increases the bank’s benchmark rate to a range of 4.5%-4.75% – the highest since 2007.

    By pushing up borrowing costs, the Fed is trying to cool the economy and ease the pressures of pushing up prices.

    But officials risk triggering a painful recession, in which the economy slows so sharply that it prompts mass job cuts.

    Pressure has mounted on the bank to slow, or stop, its rate hike campaign, as the higher borrowing costs hurt sectors such as housing and the US economy, slows sharply. 

    Those voices have grown louder amid recent data showing inflation in the US dropping to 6.5% last month.

    Many investors have been betting that the bank will raise rates only once more after this meeting.

    But Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said bank officials remained worried by data suggesting that the costs of many services – such as health care – are increasing far faster than the 2% pace considered healthy.

    He said the bank would rather raise rates too high than declare victory over the problem prematurely. 

    “The job is not fully done,” he said. “While recent developments are encouraging we will need substantially more evidence to be confident that inflation is on a sustained downward path.”

    In the statement announcing its decision, Fed officials said they continued to believe “ongoing” increases would be appropriate.

    Projections released in December showed they thought the bank’s benchmark rate could stand above 5% at the end of 2023.

    Mr Powell declined to say whether officials had changed their views, noting that there was a lot of “uncertainty” about the outlook. 

    Stocks rose during and after the news conference, with the S&P 500 ending up more than 1%. 

    The market gains could be a sign that investors are gaining confidence that the central bank will be able to stabilize prices without a recession, said Jay Bryson, an economist at Wells Fargo. 

    But Ronald Temple, chief market strategist at Lazard, said if investors get too optimistic that the rate rises are over, it may make the Fed’s job harder. 

    “Taken together with today’s report indicating near record level job openings, I believe markets remain too dovish regarding how high rates will go and how long they will stay there,” he said. 

    “The more markets resist the Fed, the tighter conditions will have to be to tame inflation.”

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