Category: 3. Business

By Emily Bary

A report says the SEC is probing the app-monetization company’s practices. AppLovin says it regularly engages with regulators and would disclose updates if any were material.

AppLovin was the subject of short-seller reports earlier this year, but its stock staged a big comeback.

AppLovin Corp.’s stock has been hot this year, but a new report suggests the company has caught the attention of regulators, and that’s causing some pressure.

Bloomberg News reported toward the end of Monday’s session that the company has been the subject of a Securities and Exchange Commission probe looking into its data-collection activities.

Shares of AppLovin (APP), which makes app-monetization technology, fell 14% in Monday’s regular session and were off another 2.3% in the extended session.

“Generally, we do not comment on the existence or non-existence of any potential regulatory matters,” an AppLovin spokesperson told MarketWatch. “That said, as a global public company, we regularly engage with regulators and if we get inquiries we address them in the ordinary course. Material developments, if any, would be disclosed through the appropriate public channels.”

The Bloomberg story said that AppLovin has yet to be charged with wrongdoing and probes don’t necessarily lead to enforcement actions.

This isn’t the first time that AppLovin shares have slid on fears about the company’s data practices. Back in February, two short sellers raised issues about AppLovin’s business, including by alleging that the company force-fed app installations onto peoples’ phones and that the company copied data from Meta Platforms Inc. (META) while building its e-commerce businesses.

At the time, Chief Executive Adam Foroughi said in a blog post that it was “disappointing that a few nefarious short sellers are making false and misleading claims aimed at undermining our success, and driving down our stock price for their own financial gain, rather than acknowledging the sophisticated AI models our team has built to enhance advertising for our partners.”

AppLovin’s stock fell 12% that day, part of an eight-session slide that saw it fall 37%.

Nonetheless, AppLovin’s stock has been a hot performer this year, rising 81% over the course of 2025 through Monday’s close. That’s enough to rank it the 12th-best performer in the S&P 500 on a year-to-date basis, though that takes into account the full 2025 performance, while AppLovin only joined the index last month.

-Emily Bary

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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AI agents, combined with the ability of APIs to bring financial services into companies’ e-commerce platforms, will change the way consumers interact with digital ecosystems. According to Carmela Gómez, in the future, online shopping will no longer involve visiting a website, manually searching for a product, entering data, and completing a payment. Instead, it will consist of simply stating out loud what one wants and letting a voice-enabled AI device handle the process end-to-end—from finding the product that best meets customer needs to arranging final delivery.

This logic will also extend to businesses. The integration of AI agents into internal processes, in combination with corporate APIs, will allow them to manage critical tasks such as payroll and supplier payments, and even seek financing tailored to the company’s needs. “If the AI agent detects a cash shortfall, it could automatically request financing for a short or longer period—or even make funds available immediately. The potential is enormous,” noted Gómez, who shared these perspectives on the AI-driven future in a conversation with Gemma Godfrey, Non-Executive Director and IBM Partner, and Saket Sinha, Vice President of Financial Services at IBM, during the global Sibos event held in Frankfurt.

The discussion also touched on AI’s value for financial inclusion. Carmela Gómez emphasized that combining AI with digital payments could be transformative for those currently excluded from the banking system—from rural producers selling to large companies to small businesses that depend on micropayments.

(Bloomberg) — Japanese shares extended their rally after the election of a pro-stimulus lawmaker as the country’s next leader sent the yen sliding and drove up yields of long-tenure bonds. Gold set another record as political crises around the world lifted demand for the haven asset.

The Nikkei index gained 0.6% to a new intraday peak, following a 4.8% jump on Monday. Asian artificial intelligence and chip stocks advanced after Advanced Micro Devices Inc.’s blockbuster deal with OpenAI. The yen held its losses ahead of Tuesday’s government bond auction, the first since Sanae Takaichi’s near-certain ascent to become Japan’s next prime minister. Japanese 30-year bond yield rose to a fresh record of 3.315%.

US equity-index futures fell 0.2% as President Donald Trump said he would be willing to talk to Democrats about health care only after the government reopened.

While equities worldwide have surged to successive record highs, worries over the US government shutdown and a political crisis in France have driven investors toward alternative assets such as gold and Bitcoin, sending both to new peaks. At the same time, a flurry of AI-related deals among chipmakers has propelled shares higher and fueled concerns of a speculative bubble reminiscent of the late-1990s dot-com era.

“Semiconductors are ‘on fire,’” said Louis Navellier at Navellier & Associates. “The AI narrative continues to gain momentum.”

Technology stocks have been powering a global equity rally, with Monday’s AMD deal being the latest big-budget data center agreement this year. It follows last month’s announcement that Nvidia Corp. was planning to invest as much as $100 billion in OpenAI amid demand for tools like ChatGPT and the computing power needed to make them run.

Tech firms are spending hundreds of billions of dollars on advanced chips and data centers, and the final bill may run into the trillions. The financing is coming from venture capital, debt and, lately, some more unconventional arrangements that have raised eyebrows on Wall Street.

With China and Hong Kong markets closed, investor attention is firmly on Japan. Takaichi’s election shook up global markets with stocks surging on prospects for more spending, while currencies and bonds weakened.

Options traders are the least bullish on the yen in more than three years now that Takaichi appears in line to become the next prime minister.

Traders are also bracing for the auction of 30-year government bonds. Two disappointing bond sales last week revived worries about fiscal spending in major markets.

What Bloomberg’s Strategists Say…

Japanese long-term yields are climbing on the Takaichi-impact, which makes today’s 30-year auction a high-stakes event for G-10 debt markets. US and European yield curves will face steepening pressure should the sale be seen as underwhelming by bond investors.

— Mark Cranfield, Markets Live strategist. Click here for the full analysis.

Volatility in Japan’s longer-dated government bonds is on the rise following Takaichi’s win, and the moves may spill over to markets as far away as the US and UK, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

“Concerns over fiscal deterioration and potential credit downgrades have pushed long-term yields higher,” making it more likely the auction will “produce a weak result,” said Katsutoshi Inadome, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management Co.

Meanwhile, gold’s rally has lifted its gains this year to more than 50%, putting the metal on track for its strongest annual advance since 1979.

This year, traders have been betting more on gold, silver and Bitcoin, in what’s been called the “debasement trade.” The sudden push to a fresh all-time high in Bitcoin over the weekend has options traders adding to bets that the largest cryptocurrency will rally to $140,000.

Investors starting to view gold as a safer asset than the dollar is “really concerning,” said Citadel’s billionaire investor Ken Griffin.

Corporate News:

The sovereign wealth funds of Abu Dhabi, Norway and Singapore and global money managers including BlackRock Inc. and Fidelity International Ltd. participated in the anchor share sale of LG Electronics Inc.’s Indian unit. A devastating fire at a major supplier for Ford Motor Co. is set to disrupt business for months, the Wall Street Journal reported. Elliott Investment Management has approached several Japanese companies about buying their shares in Sumitomo Realty & Development Co., according to people familiar with the matter. Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

S&P 500 futures fell 0.2% as of 10:37 a.m. Tokyo time Japan’s Topix rose 0.4% Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.3% Euro Stoxx 50 futures were little changed Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro was little changed at $1.1703 The Japanese yen was little changed at 150.41 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.1421 per dollar Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin fell 0.5% to $124,634.55 Ether fell 0.3% to $4,674.44 Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.15% Japan’s 10-year yield advanced 1.5 basis points to 1.695% Australia’s 10-year yield advanced seven basis points to 4.40% Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.2% to $61.79 a barrel Spot gold was little changed This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Rob Verdonck and John Cheng.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.

As the US aims to decouple from Chinese supply chains by doubling down on its domestic oil and gas resources, industries such as offshore wind have faced a barrage of economic challenges, from stop-work orders, to tax break rollbacks and rising inflationary costs. Despite unfavorable conditions in the US, Rystad Energy research shows new global offshore wind capacity will reach 16 gigawatts (GW) by the end of 2025 due to projects already underway, with two thirds of them being developed in China. By 2030, Rystad Energy forecasts China’s offshore wind projects will claim 45% of the world’s cumulative capacity, making it difficult for the US market to compete in the long term, regardless of policy reversals. 

It is now clear that the energy policy shift in the US not only halts or slows progress on offshore wind projects that were previously greenlit but pushes European wind developers away from US investment. The US-China supply chain may be decoupled, but China’s position as a global renewables leader may have only been strengthened because of it.

Learn more with Rystad Energy’s Offshore Wind Solution.

Some clear effects are already emerging. US renewable energy investments have plunged 36% year-on-year so far in 2025, whereas European investments are rising as companies redirect capital away from the US. Stop work orders were issued for both Orsted’s Rhode Island offshore wind development and Equinor’s New York project, with the latter reaching a deal that lifted the administration’s ban. A federal judge has reversed the order on Orsted’s Revolution project, with the question of a continued legal battle waiting to be answered. To remain attractive to investors, Orsted and companies like it must evaluate all options for offshore wind developments and their overall US presence.  

On the flipside, China-based CNOOC stated that it is staging its offshore wind portfolio expansion, with a key project in the 1.5 GW Hainan CZ7 aimed to be commissioned before 2030. The project is approved and is to be the first utility-scale project for CNOOC. For European energy companies with less US exposure, their reliance on China and other nations will only be enhanced.  

The chances of creating an alternate, renewables-driven supply chain to compete with China are low, with Western original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) flocking back to the country’s favorable business environment after fleeing in 2020. The challenge is formidable: an analysis of turbine platforms with IEC-type certification commonly used across Europe, for example, reveals that approximately 25% of the manufacturing sites producing key components for Western OEMs are in China.  

Europe’s wind industry has taken notice, and policymakers are mobilizing to help reduce the reliance on Chinese imports and beef up the domestic wind energy supply chain. Officials hope such measures will encourage manufacturing buildouts while keeping costs in check.

+++

Contacts

Alexander Fløtre 
Senior Vice President, Head of Offshore Wind Research 
Phone: +47 24 00 42 00 
alexander.flotre@rystadenergy.com 

 
Andrea Scassola 
Vice President, Supply Chain 
Phone: +47 24 00 42 00 
andrea.scassola@rystadenergy.com 

 
Katie Keenan 
Senior Media Relations Manager  
Phone: +1 713 301 9300 
katie.keenan@rystadenergy.com 

---

About Rystad Energy

Rystad Energy is a leading global independent research and energy intelligence company dedicated to helping clients navigate the future of energy. By providing high-quality data and thought leadership, our international team empowers businesses, governments and organizations to make well-informed decisions.

Our extensive portfolio of products and solutions covers all aspects of global energy fundamentals, spanning every corner of the oil and gas industry, renewables, clean technologies, supply chain and power markets. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with an expansive global network, our data, analysis, advisory and education services provide clients a competitive edge in the market. 

For more information, visit www.rystadenergy.com

AFP via Getty Images

Getty Images

‘Crucial’ turning point

By Bill Peters

Adobe expects shoppers to spend $253.4 billion online over the holidays, as businesses try to salvage bottom lines. ‘This is a throwaway year for us,’ toy maker says.

Herald Square shopping district on Black Friday, Nov. 29, 2024, in New York City.

U.S. shoppers are expected to keep spending online at record levels this holiday season, but spending growth itself might slow and the discounts might not be as steep, as retailers and customers try to stay ahead of tariffs and inflation.

Adobe on Monday said it expects shoppers to spend around $253.4 billion online from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31. That would mark a 5.3% year-over-year gain but a slight slowdown from last season’s 8.7% increase.

Vivek Pandya, director at Adobe Digital Insights, said the deepest discounts overall this year would run at about 28%, led by items like electronics. That’s compared with 30% last year.

“We do expect the discounts to be a little weaker than 2024’s holiday season, but pretty much on par with where we saw discounts at in 2023,” he said, adding that the discounts still represented a lot of value for shoppers.

He said factors like higher grocery prices and efforts by consumers to stockpile things like furniture ahead of potential tariffs had kept discounts overall from running lower. But as the U.S. trade war upends shipments, he said there weren’t yet too many issues with items being out of stock at online retailers.

“We see a consumer being very cautious and strategic in how they buy in order to get the most value, and the online sector is supporting the most in that effort,” he said.

As consumers face higher costs of living, big discount events from Amazon.com Inc. and other retailers have played a bigger role during the holiday shopping season, pulling its start time – once generally seen as the Friday after Thanksgiving – earlier. Adobe expects shoppers to spend $9 billion Oct. 7-8, the two-day time frame for Amazon’s (AMZN) October Prime Day event. Similar, longer events held by Target Corp. (TGT) and Walmart Inc. (WMT) also run through those two days.

And as customers hunt for Oura rings and Labubu toys this year, Pandya said artificial intelligence and online influencers working with brands are likely to play a bigger role in shaping shopping decisions. More people will shop on their phones.

Albert Ko, the chief executive of Auctane, an Austin, Texas-based software company that helps large and small retailers manage inventories and shipments, said this holiday season’s shorter shopping window would make for tighter delivery times and more pressure on retailers and other businesses.

He said that over the summer, U.S. retailers made a “dramatic short-term increase” in purchases from abroad to stay ahead of the tariffs. Right now, he said, as consumers remain stretched, retailers were opting to stomach the extra import costs themselves.

“The new tariff regime and the changes to de minimis rules are pushing up price and complexity for parcel imports,” he said. “We actually see, right now, retailers eating most of those margins because there’s a lot of consumer pushback.”

But he said they were making other adjustments. U.S. retailers were pulling back from selling abroad in part due to retaliatory tariffs. Fewer of the company’s Canadian customers were selling to the U.S. To speed up shipping times, others have begun to work with multiple smaller warehouses as opposed to a single larger one.

“It used to be, if I’m a small business, I try to keep it simple,” he said, adding: “Now, with the changes, it necessitates even these smaller businesses becoming vastly more sophisticated in terms of inventory management, fulfilling, shipping, and then having much more choice and flexibility.”

Retailers that sell clothes, electronics and other typical holiday gift items have seen subdued demand over the past few years. But on earnings calls this summer, chains like Gap Inc. (GAP), Williams-Sonoma Inc. (WSM), Macy’s Inc. (M) and Five Below Inc. (FIVE) have expressed confidence about the holiday season.

Toy maker Mattel Inc. (MAT) said it hadn’t seen retailers temper their buying patterns for the holidays. Executives noted “general uncertainty regarding consumer demand” for the latter half of the year. But they said they were upbeat about demand for Hot Wheels, better trends for Barbie dolls and solid momentum for action figures related to “Jurassic Park” and the 30th anniversary of “Toy Story.”

Chris Cocks, the chief executive of rival Hasbro Inc. (HAS), said in July that company hadn’t seen much evidence that consumers were buying early to avoid tariffs. But he noted that toy prices would likely go higher.

And he said that retailers would likely still take a cautious approach to what products they buy and stock on their shelves. Hot items, he said, could end up out of stock amid shifts in warehouse and stockroom supplies.

“So like a Play-Doh, Barbie, Nano-Mals, a baby Evie, if you’re a mom or a dad, you’re probably going to want to go and buy that early,” he said.

BTIG analyst Janine Stichter, in a research note on Monday, said that the consumer retail and lifestyle brands she covered – which include Abercrombie & Fitch & Co. (ANF) and Boot Barn Holdings Inc. (BOOT) – had managed on average to offset around half of their tariff-related costs this year.

The Trump administration has argued that U.S. tariffs on imports will help strengthen domestic manufacturing. Over recent months, some signs have emerged that those extra import taxes were starting to nudge prices higher, but no major impact has surfaced yet.

Shizu Okusa, founder of Apothekary, an herbal medicine and wellness brand, said in an interview last month that while the company no longer sourced ingredients directly, the packaging it used, for to make presentations more attractive for the holidays and launches with retailers, still came from China.

“Regardless of 150% tariffs, 200%, the cost was actually cheaper than making them in the U.S.,” she said.

Jay Foreman, the founder and chief executive of Basic Fun, which makes classic toys like Care Bears and Tonka Trucks, said that consumers have yet to feel the full force of tariff-related price increases, as manufacturers and retailers try to manage their costs in other ways. That could bode well for the holiday season overall.

“Even though the retailers might be a little bit nervous, and we’re a little bit nervous, the consumer seems to be showing up, and part of that is just because they’re not feeling it as much yet,” he said.

Foreman said that to make its products more palatable to the retailers that pay tariffs on orders from its factories in China, the company had shrunk the size and complexity of the packaging from some of its Care Bears toys to reduce costs and, in turn, the overall price. In some instances, the company had taken the batteries out of those toys.

Still, he expressed concern about what impact the current government shutdown might have on the economy, as well as the ability of customs and U.S. ports to run efficiently. After some big sales gains in 2024, he said that heading into this year, he expected continued increases. But after the U.S. tariffs led to weeks of shipping interruptions, he said the company would shipping fewer toys to retailers.

“This is a throwaway year for us, from a profit perspective, where we’ll basically do enough sales and make enough profit to pay our bills this year to be able to get through the year without really having to do any layoffs.” he said. “Probably won’t be a bonus year for our employees.”

He added: “We’re setting the table now for 2026.”

-Bill Peters

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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**By refilling the bottle once: comparison between 2 full Total Eye Lift bottles and 1 full bottle refilled once. Based on a single score, calculated using a lifecycle analysis. Source: clarins.com

 

“We are proud to support Clarins with the first market launch with Gaïa. It is a true innovation designed for brand differentiation that puts the customer experience first.”

Florence Muh, Customer Support & Development Director, Aptar Beauty EMEA

 

 

Leveraging Our Industrial Synergies and Capabilities

This project exemplifies Aptar Beauty’s ability to mobilize cross-functional expertise across its global manufacturing network:

• Charleval Verneuil manufactures the airless technology
• Le Neubourg manufactures the pump cartridge
• Chavanod handles the custom assembly
• Support back-up from BTY

This collaborative approach ensures secure manufacturing and optimized logistics, while maintaining the highest standards of quality and consistency.

 

This launch sets a new benchmark for sustainable luxury in beauty, blending technical innovation, user-centric design and reloadable engineering. The collaboration between Clarins and Aptar Beauty reflects a shared vision for innovation that enhances performance, user experience and product circularity at the same time.