Guardian Columnist Warns Current Market Turmoil Echoes 2008 Crash
Economics writer Larry Elliott says rising oil prices, a bond market sell-off and an AI stock bubble mirror the warning signs that preceded the 2008 financial crisis.
Business
Markets, economics, and the companies shaping the global economy.
Business
Nike's Sliding Share Price Puts Its Dow Seat at Risk
Nike has already been dropped from the S&P 100 index. Analysts say its shrinking market value now makes it the most likely candidate to be removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average as well.
Business
airBaltic Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection in New York
Latvia's flag carrier has entered a court-supervised restructuring in the United States to cut its debt, securing €350 million in emergency financing while insisting flights and ticket sales continue as normal.
Business
Canada Seeks C$1 Trillion in Foreign Investment at Toronto Summit
Prime Minister Mark Carney is asking global investors for roughly US$723 billion over five years, betting that unease over US tariffs will send capital north.
Business
Saudi Arabia Shuts Key Pipeline After Attacks as Oil Prices Surge
Riyadh halted its main oil export route bypassing the Strait of Hormuz after strikes on pump stations, as Houthi forces advance on another vital chokepoint and Brent crude climbs past $100 a barrel.
Business
FT Reports Houthi Forces Seized Red Sea Islands, Details Unverified
The Financial Times says Yemen's Houthi movement has taken Red Sea islands from Saudi-backed forces in a rapid offensive. The specific claim could not be independently corroborated at the time of writing.
Business
Jaguar Land Rover to cut 4,000 jobs worldwide over two years
Britain's largest carmaker will shed roughly a tenth of its workforce, mostly in management and research roles, as it tries to recover from a cyberattack, US tariffs and falling sales.
Business
Mistral raises €3bn, becomes Europe's most valuable AI startup
The Paris-based AI company has closed a €3 billion funding round led by Samsung Electronics, valuing it at more than €21 billion and marking Europe's largest technology equity raise to date.
Business
Hedge fund billionaire Chris Rokos to leave UK tax residency for Greece
Chris Rokos, founder of Rokos Capital Management and Britain's third-highest taxpayer last year, is preparing to move his tax residency to Greece and open an office in Athens, Bloomberg reports.
Business
Houthi Attacks on Saudi Oil Sites Push Brent Crude Toward $100
Yemen's Houthi rebels struck energy facilities across southern Saudi Arabia on 8 September, injuring more than 70 people and driving oil and gas prices sharply higher.
Business
Canada Hits Back at US With Tariffs on 700 Products
Canada has imposed retaliatory tariffs of up to 50% on roughly US$20 billion of American goods, deepening a trade dispute that began when President Trump raised duties on Canadian exports earlier this year.
Business
US regulator investigates Tesla's driverless Cybercab after fatal crash
America's road safety agency has opened a probe into Tesla's Cybercab robotaxi, hours after the vehicles began carrying passengers in Austin, Texas. The investigation covers roughly 1,000 vehicles and at least nine crashes, including one that killed a pedestrian.
Business
UK startup Souk raises $1.6 million to revive dormant B2B partnerships
Souk, a London-founded software startup, has secured pre-seed funding led by Sure Valley Ventures to build an AI system that finds and reactivates underperforming referral partners for B2B companies.
Business
European tech startups raised over €475 million in one week
Tech.eu's latest weekly recap tracked more than 35 funding deals across Europe, a slower week compared with the totals recorded through most of August 2026.
Business
Yen Slides Past ¥160 as Fed Chief Signals More Rate Hikes
A hawkish speech from new Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh sent the yen through ¥160 to the dollar and pushed Japanese bond yields to a 30-year high, wiping out much of the gain from a record currency intervention just weeks earlier.
Business
Trump announces US stake in Venezuela's oil reserves after Maduro's capture
US President Donald Trump says a new joint venture gives Washington majority control of tens of billions of barrels of Venezuelan crude. The deal follows the capture of former president Nicolás Maduro and comes with a 100-year concession attached.
Business
Space Tech Startups Head for Record $20.3 Billion Funding Year
Venture investment in space and satellite startups has already hit an all-time high in 2026, with four months still to go, as capital piles into a handful of massive late-stage rounds.
Business
Fed's Warsh gives first Jackson Hole speech amid rate uncertainty
Kevin Warsh delivers his debut keynote as Federal Reserve chair on Friday, with investors seeking clarity on inflation and interest rates after months of sparse communication.
Business
Dutch startup VitalFluid raises €17.2 million to fight crop disease with electrified water
VitalFluid, a spin-out from Eindhoven University of Technology, has closed a €17.2 million Series A round to expand plasma-activated water technology as a residue-free alternative to chemical fungicides.
Business
Nvidia forecasts 70% revenue growth, well above Wall Street estimates
Nvidia issued its first-ever year-ahead forecast, predicting revenue growth far outpacing analyst expectations, while defending its financing arrangements with AI customers against accusations of circular dealing.
Business
Meta agrees $16.7bn settlement with US states over child safety
Meta Platforms has settled with a coalition of 29 US states midway through a federal trial in California, agreeing to pay billions and change how Instagram and Facebook treat young users.
Business
China warns US of retaliation over expanded Iran sanctions
Beijing says it will defend Chinese companies after Washington sanctioned nearly 60 entities tied to Iran's oil trade, including firms in Hong Kong and mainland China.
Business
Druckenmiller Criticises Bessent's Expanded Treasury Bond Buybacks
Billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller has publicly attacked his former protégé, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, over a plan to buy back more long-term government bonds, calling it an attempt to manage prices rather than markets.
Business
Shein Confirms Hong Kong Listing at Roughly $27bn Valuation
The fast-fashion retailer will list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 1 September, at a valuation far below the $100bn it once commanded, after repeated failed attempts to go public in New York and London.
Business
Global Trade Defies Tariff Forecasts, WTO Sharply Raises 2025 Outlook
Economists expected Donald Trump's 2025 tariffs to shrink world trade. Instead, the World Trade Organization has repeatedly revised its growth forecast upward, as businesses rerouted shipments rather than abandoned them.
Business
Portugal and Spain face Europe's worst housing shortages
Both Iberian countries are building far fewer homes than their growing populations need, driving up prices and rents and fuelling street protests. Immigration-led population growth, planning bureaucracy and high construction costs are all cited as causes.
Business
Apple Cuts EU App Store Fees, Eases Rules for Rival App Stores
Apple has replaced its controversial per-install fee with a flat 5% commission for apps sold outside its App Store, in a move it says resolves its dispute with EU regulators over the Digital Markets Act.
Business
China's oil stockpiles cushioned global markets during Hormuz crisis
China's record crude reserves and falling oil demand helped steady prices after the Strait of Hormuz was closed, according to US government estimates. Analysts say the episode revealed a deeper shift toward energy self-sufficiency and electrification.
Business
Revolut to build its own airport lounges, starting in Copenhagen
The London-based fintech, known for banking without branches, is opening a branded lounge at Copenhagen Airport in 2027, the first in a planned European network.
Business
Guardian probe finds gap between Microsoft's AI claims and chip numbers
An investigation by the Guardian has found Microsoft has far fewer advanced AI chips installed than its public statements imply. The company disputes the newspaper's figures but has not said which numbers are wrong.
Business
AI tools let scammers pinpoint holiday photos to craft bank fraud texts
Fraudsters are using publicly available AI image-analysis tools to work out where holiday photos were taken, then send convincing fake bank alerts referencing that location. Security researchers say the technique is now accurate enough to fool even cautious travellers.
Business
FT poll: most US voters say Trump has left them worse off
A new Financial Times poll finds most American voters feel worse off financially under Donald Trump, with Democrats now leading Republicans on the economy just months before November's midterm elections.
Business
BlackBerry rebuilds as software firm a decade after phones vanished
Ten years after abandoning its once-iconic handsets, the Canadian company has turned itself into a supplier of car software and cybersecurity tools, with customers including automakers, NATO and European governments.
Business
China and US took opposite paths through 2026 oil shock
After Iran shut the Strait of Hormuz in February 2026, Beijing leaned harder into clean energy while Washington doubled down on oil and gas. The split is reshaping the global energy map.
Business
Anthropic Explains How Claude's New AI Text Watermarks Work
Anthropic has published technical detail on the invisible watermark now embedded in text and code generated by its Claude chatbot, a measure driven by the EU AI Act. The company says the mark can survive light editing but does not alter the substance of what Claude produces.
Business
Panama Canal transit fees hit record highs as Hormuz shuts
Shipping companies are paying more than $1 million, and in some cases up to $4 million, to jump the queue at the Panama Canal. The surge follows the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and a new El Niño-driven drought.
Business
US 30-year bond yield hits highest level since 2001 amid inflation fears
The US Treasury sold $25bn of 30-year bonds at a yield of 5.216%, the most expensive long-term borrowing since 2001, as investors demand greater compensation for persistent inflation and a widening deficit.
Business
France bans unsolicited telemarketing calls, requires prior consent
From this week, French companies can no longer cold-call consumers without permission. Violations carry fines of up to €375,000 for firms.
Business
BAE Systems pays $36m penalty for 104 US arms export violations
The US State Department has concluded a settlement with the British defence company's US subsidiary over breaches of arms export rules. Half the penalty will be suspended if BAE strengthens its compliance programme.
Business
India's Yulu Raises $93 Million to Expand Electric Delivery Bike Fleet
Bengaluru-based Yulu has secured $93 million to grow its rental fleet fourfold to 200,000 electric two-wheelers, as India's rapid grocery and parcel delivery apps push demand for gig-worker transport.
Business
River AI, two months old, raises $1.1bn to let firms own their models
River AI, founded by former xAI co-founder Igor Babuschkin, has raised $1.1 billion in seed and Series A funding barely four months after incorporation. The Palo Alto startup wants companies and eventually individuals to train and own custom AI models rather than rent general-purpose ones.
Business
Greenland Delays Trump-Linked Oil Firm's Arctic Drilling Plans
Greenland's government has told Greenland Energy, a Texas company with ties to Donald Trump, that it cannot obtain drilling permits in time for its planned start date. The decision pushes back a project the US president's envoy had said could produce oil within a year.
Business
Oil nears $90 as US-Iran talks stall; Tui profits sink 43%
Brent crude climbed close to $90 a barrel on Tuesday after negotiations between Washington and Tehran over reopening the Strait of Hormuz broke down. The travel group Tui reported a 43% drop in quarterly pre-tax profit, citing higher fuel costs tied to the conflict.
Business
UK heatwaves cost economy £4.4bn in lost output this year
Repeated heatwaves between May and July are estimated to have cut UK economic output by £4.4bn, according to green think tank Verdant, which warns annual losses could exceed £25bn by 2030.
Business
Chinese EV sales hit record share of European market
Chinese electric car brands captured 14.2% of western Europe's battery electric vehicle market in early 2026, intensifying pressure for tighter tariffs and quotas.
Business
Trump demands Iran pay compensation, deepening Strait of Hormuz deadlock
Oil and gold prices jumped after US President Donald Trump said Iran must compensate Washington for war damages, a new condition that further complicates efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. British housebuilder Bellway also warned that profit will land at the bottom of its forecast range.
Business
Why global trade keeps growing despite Trump's tariff war
World merchandise trade grew faster than expected in 2025 even as the United States imposed its steepest tariffs in a century. Economists point to rerouted supply chains, a surge in AI-related exports, and new deals bypassing Washington altogether.
Business
Heathrow Loses Europe's Busiest Airport Title to Istanbul
Heathrow handled 7.86 million passengers in July, fewer than Istanbul's 8.15 million, ending the London airport's run as Europe's top hub. The operator says the figures strengthen its case for a third runway.
Business
Nvidia teams with six Wall Street firms on $500bn AI funding push
Nvidia has agreed partnerships with Apollo, BlackRock, Blackstone, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs and KKR to mobilise more than $500bn for data centres and chip factories. The deal has revived concerns about circular financing in the AI industry.
Business
US jobs fell in July but economist says data is not alarming
The US economy unexpectedly shed jobs in July and prior months were revised sharply lower. Economist Jed Kolko says the unemployment rate and broader trends tell a more reassuring story.
Business
Chinese robots take over British warehouses as productivity lags
Chinese firm Geek+ has become the largest supplier of warehouse robots in the UK, with Tesco, Asda and Next among the retailers now relying on its technology. The trend reflects Britain's persistent labour shortages and weak productivity growth, according to the BBC.
Business
OpenAI Acquires AI Presentation Startup NextSlide for ChatGPT
OpenAI has folded NextSlide, a startup that turned notes and documents into slide decks, into its ChatGPT team. The deal closed earlier this year but was only announced this week.
Business
Report Warns England's Student Loan System Piles Debt on Young
A think tank analysis finds English graduates now face far higher lifetime loan repayments and steeper effective tax rates than earlier generations, as sixth formers await this week's A-level results.
Business
Regal and AMC Chiefs Back Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery Merger
The heads of America's two largest cinema chains have publicly endorsed the $110 billion merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery, breaking with theatre-industry opposition as the deal faces a state antitrust trial.
Business
Backlash grows against Meta smart glasses over privacy fears
Users of Meta's camera-equipped Ray-Ban glasses report public hostility and online abuse, as European regulators separately scrutinise whether the devices comply with privacy law.
Business
Trump Media sells Wall Street early access to president's posts
Trump Media & Technology Group has launched a paid data feed giving trading firms faster access to posts from Truth Social's most influential accounts, including Donald Trump's. Critics say the arrangement lets the president profit from information he controls as head of state.
Business
Honeywell Aerospace shares plunge 24% as supply chain hits profit
The newly independent aerospace supplier missed second-quarter profit targets and sharply cut its full-year sales growth forecast, blaming persistent shortages of mechanical parts. The results delivered a brutal verdict on the company's first standalone earnings report.
Business
Airbus delivers 67 jets in July, books 204 new orders
Airbus handed over 67 aircraft in July, matching its pace from a year ago, while formally booking a wave of Chinese airline orders that pushed its 2026 order tally past 1,000 for the first time.
Business
Klaviyo to Acquire AI Startup Agency, Names Founder Torres as CPO
Klaviyo, a publicly traded e-commerce marketing platform, has agreed to acquire the AI customer support startup Agency. Its founder, serial entrepreneur Elias Torres, will join Klaviyo as chief product officer to lead its AI agent efforts.
Business
OpenAI to pay $3.2m, accept DOJ oversight over green-card hiring
The US Justice Department says OpenAI and its former subsidiary Statsig discouraged American citizens from applying for jobs earmarked for foreign workers seeking permanent residence. The AI company denies wrongdoing but has agreed to three years of federal monitoring.
Business
Big Tech's $1.65tn AI debt mountain hides in plain sight
Five US technology giants have accumulated $1.65 trillion in AI-related financial obligations that do not appear on their balance sheets, surpassing the $1.35 trillion in debt they officially report. The gap is raising uncomfortable questions for investors worldwide.
Business
EA misses bookings target as Saudi-led $55bn buyout closes
Electronic Arts reported first-quarter bookings well below analyst expectations on Monday, the same week its decade-long run as a public company ends. A $55 billion Saudi-led consortium takes the gaming giant private as early as today.
Business
Horizon3 raises $250 million, tripling valuation to over $2 billion
The San Francisco cybersecurity firm behind an AI system that autonomously hacks networks to find flaws has secured fresh funding as European and global firms shift from annual penetration tests to continuous, automated security checks.
Business
Sequoia leads $1bn round for US nuclear startup Valar Atomics
Venture capital firm Sequoia Capital has led a $1 billion funding round for Valar Atomics, tripling the small reactor developer's valuation to $6 billion after it powered an Nvidia chip with fission-generated electricity.
Business
Fed's Williams expects inflation to fall, warns of rate hikes if not
New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said on 3 August that he remains confident inflation will ease, but warned the central bank will raise interest rates if price pressures prove more persistent than expected.
Business
ECB warns wildfires and nature loss threaten core financial stability
Europe's worst wildfire season in modern times has prompted the European Central Bank to declare climate and nature breakdown a direct threat to price stability, loan quality, and the global economy. The bank is now acting on that assessment, not just studying it.
Business
Fake X login alerts are hijacking accounts for crypto scams
Scammers are sending near-perfect replicas of X's own security emails, warning users of a login from an unrecognised device, to steal account credentials. Once inside, they use hijacked accounts to run cryptocurrency fraud.
Business
Antares raises $470m to power US military bases with microreactors
California startup Antares Nuclear has closed a $470 million funding round to deploy compact nuclear reactors at US military installations by 2028, racing to meet a deadline set by presidential executive order.
Business
Bot-detection firm Spur raises $200m as bots surpass human internet traffic
Spur Intelligence, a Florida cybersecurity startup, has secured $200 million from Insight Partners to scale its platform that identifies bot traffic, VPNs, and residential proxies in real time.
Business
Global chip stocks shed $1 trillion as AI spending scrutiny intensifies
A wave of selling has wiped more than a trillion dollars from global semiconductor stocks in days, triggered by China's domestic chip advance and growing doubts about whether the world's biggest tech companies can earn back their vast AI investments.
Business
Iran missile attack on US forces sends oil surging 6%
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched ballistic missiles at American forces on Wednesday, shattering a brief pause in hostilities and driving crude oil prices sharply higher.
Business
US banks raise capital at tightest spreads since 2008 financial crisis
BNY Mellon, Goldman Sachs, and Citizens Financial priced preferred-share offerings this week at spreads not seen since before Lehman Brothers collapsed, raising questions about how much risk investors are actually being paid to take.
Business
US homebuilder confidence hits 14-year low streak on affordability crisis
American builder sentiment has now sat below the key threshold of 50 for more than two years, with the July index falling to 34 as high mortgage rates, rising costs, and a paralysed buyer pool continue to grip the market.
Business
US mortgage rates hold near 6.6% as Iran conflict fans inflation fears
American home loan costs have stabilised in the mid-6% range this week, but geopolitical turbulence and a hawkish Federal Reserve are keeping any meaningful relief firmly out of reach.
Business
IMF cuts global growth outlook as trade uncertainty bites
The International Monetary Fund projects world economic growth at 3.0 percent in 2025 and 3.1 percent in 2026, a modest recovery from April's gloomier forecast but still well below pre-pandemic norms. Tariffs, fragmentation, and threats to central bank independence remain the Fund's chief concerns.
Business
Oil prices fall sharply after Hormuz deal ends five-month supply crisis
The US Energy Information Administration has cut its 2026 Brent crude forecast by 14% following a US-Iran agreement that reopened the Strait of Hormuz in June. Global markets are now bracing for an oil glut as supply rushes back — but significant geopolitical risks remain.
Business
ASML nears $700bn as AI chip boom puts trillion-dollar milestone in sight
The Dutch semiconductor equipment maker has doubled in value within a year, fuelled by surging AI-driven demand for its irreplaceable chip-printing machines. Analysts say a $1 trillion valuation is now a realistic, if not certain, prospect.
Business
Apple reclaims world's most valuable company title from Nvidia
Apple overtook Nvidia on Friday as the world's most valuable publicly listed company, closing at a market capitalisation of $4.88 trillion. The shift reflects growing investor doubt about the pace of AI infrastructure spending and renewed confidence in Apple's leaner approach to the technology.
Business
AI IPO Wave Risks Creating a Money-Losing Bubble, Warns Howard Marks
Legendary investor Howard Marks has labelled the imminent public listings of SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI a "money-losing bubble", as the three firms prepare to flood global markets with roughly $3 trillion in combined valuation.
Business
Investors flee Big Tech as mega-rotation gathers pace, CEO warns
The head of one of the world's largest independent financial advisory firms says a sweeping reallocation of capital away from mega-cap technology stocks is now underway — and could be the most significant market shift since the post-pandemic recovery.
Business
OPEC+ approves fourth consecutive output hike as Hormuz stays shut
Seven OPEC+ nations have agreed to raise oil production by 188,000 barrels per day for August, their fourth straight monthly increase, even as the US-Iran conflict continues to block most of that oil from reaching global markets.
Business
EU-US goods trade hit €875bn record in 2025, but damage lurks beneath
A new study by Germany's leading economic research institute finds transatlantic goods trade reached an all-time high last year, even as tariffs battered European manufacturers and distorted the picture with a pre-tariff export rush.
Business
Volkswagen plans to cut 100,000 jobs and close four German plants
Germany's Manager Magazin reports CEO Oliver Blume is preparing the most radical restructuring in Volkswagen's 89-year history, targeting up to 15% of the global workforce. The plans, which Volkswagen has neither confirmed nor denied, would double a previous round of cuts agreed only months ago.
Business
Chip stocks slide again after Micron's record earnings sparked brief rally
Global tech shares fell on Friday as investors sold back into semiconductor stocks, reversing a Thursday surge driven by Micron's blowout quarterly results. The reversal reflects deepening uncertainty about whether AI infrastructure spending will translate into profits to justify soaring valuations.
Photo — The "Eighth Wonder of the World". See It in Action
BusinessSponsored
The "Eighth Wonder of the World". See It in Action
Why compound interest is the most powerful force in personal finance, and how to visualise exactly what it means for your money.
Business
SpaceX shares drop 9% as post-IPO rally fades
SpaceX stock has fallen sharply just days after its record-breaking Nasdaq debut, as early investors take profits and questions mount over the company's $2.5 trillion valuation. The pullback dragged rival space stocks down with it.
Business data & indexes
Country comparison: economy, people and environment
Key economic, social and environmental figures for 30 countries in one sortable table, and any two of them side by side. Free to read, with every figure dated and sourced.
Nordic Tech Salary Index
A recurring index of technology salaries across the Nordics — currently seeded with public salary-research data ahead of News Unlimited's first proprietary survey.