Bitcoin slips below $14,000, down 30 percent from record peak
TOKYO (Reuters) – Cryptocurrency bitcoin tumbled below $14,000 briefly on the Bitstamp exchange <BTC=BTSP> on Friday, down roughly 30 percent from its record top near $20,000 set at the start of the week.
Bracing for EV shift, NGK Spark Plug ignites all solid-state battery quest
NAGOYA, Japan (Reuters) – Facing the eventual demise of gasoline engines, the world’s biggest maker of spark plugs is turning its focus to a component it believes will be just as vital in the coming era of electric vehicles – next-generation all solid …
Sonic boom or bust? Dreams of super-fast jet travel revival face headwinds
(Reuters) – Supersonic passenger travel, which died out with the Concorde’s demise in 2003, will make a comeback by the mid-2020s if three entrepreneurial U.S.-based companies can make jets quiet and efficient enough to win over buyers and fliers.
This year’s lumps of coal could be 2018’s diamonds
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Investors saddled in 2017 with the market’s worst performers, including Under Armour and General Electric, may do well to remember as December draws to an end that lumps of coal sometimes turn into diamonds.
Catalan vote dents euro, upbeat U.S. data lifts stocks
TOKYO (Reuters) – The euro dipped on Friday after Catalan separatists wanting to break away from Spain won a regional election, while Asian stocks edged up on new data pointing to steady growth in the U.S. economy.
In Silicon Valley, much-feared tax bill pays dividends for workers
(This version of December 21’s story refiles to add dropped words ‘for couples’ in paragraph 8.)
Some U.S. automakers go slow on automatic emergency braking systems
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. automakers installed automatic emergency braking technology that experts said could prevent thousands of deaths and injuries in just 19 percent of new vehicles sold in the 2017 model year, regulators and safety advocates sai…
Upbeat U.S. data lifts stocks, euro slips on Catalan vote
TOKYO (Reuters) – Asian stocks edged up on Friday on new data pointing to steady growth in the U.S. economy, while the euro slipped after a vote in Catalonia favored separatists wanting to break away from Spain.
Exclusive: U.S. experts resign from monitoring China’s ZTE Corp – sources
(Reuters) – Two consulting firms hired to help the United States police ZTE Corp’s compliance with trade sanctions have resigned, according to four people familiar with the matter.
Papa John’s founder Schnatter to step down as CEO
(Reuters) – Papa John’s International founder John Schnatter will step down as chief executive by the year-end, the pizza chain operator said on Thursday, weeks after his comments on the NFL leadership drew criticism.




