President Biden will require travelers to the U.S. to provide a negative Covid test within a day of departure and will extend a mask mandate on airplanes and other public transportation beyond the planned January 18 expiration date.
The number of angel-investment rounds totaled 1,783 in the first nine months of 2021, translating to 2,377 for the full year, which would be up from 1,942 last year and 2,147 in 2019. This pace would produce a 2021 total of $3.6 billion, up from $2.5 billion last year and $2.7 billion in the pre-pandemic year of 2019.
Gasoline prices have climbed about 50% in a year, and this year’s rise is on pace to be the largest percentage increase in at least a decade.
Amazon blanketed the country with more than 450 new facilities used to store, sort and ship items, doubling down on a logistics empire. Many of the new buildings are concentrated near big cities, putting more items for sale on the website closer to large population centers. The facilities also include more than two dozen smaller outposts stocked with bestselling items.
Investors had a record quarter, buying 90,215 homes worth a combined $63.6 billion. Investors made up 18.2% of all housing sales in Q3.
Brands allowed owners to use their furniture, fixtures and equipment reserves for operating expenses during the pandemic and many hotels weren’t renovated before or during the pandemic. Now those hotels have experienced wear and tear from the increased leisure demand over the last 18 months and some owners do not have enough capital to invest in renovation upgrades.
A venture between Hackman Capital Partners and Square Mile Capital Management has agreed to pay more than $1.8 billion for the historic CBS Studio Center in Los Angeles, the latest deal in the red-hot studio sector.
Status matters to travelers. The usefulness of loyalty programs for many road warriors isn’t the free trips with accumulated miles or points. It’s the perks that come from qualifying for elite tiers: better seat selection, early boarding, free checked bags, upgrades, priority for rebooking and standby seats, special phone numbers and priority queues at airports.
