Economy

Paramount has confirmed plans to merge its streaming service Paramount+ with HBO Max, creating a single, unified platform that aims to strengthen its position in the competitive streaming market. The announcement was made during the company’s latest investor call.A significant transformation across the streaming worldDuring Paramount’s inaugural investor call following its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, CEO David Ellison presented the company’s strategy for unifying the two streaming platforms, noting that the merger of Paramount+ and HBO Max is expected to deliver a substantially stronger service for audiences around the globe.“We will combine the streaming portfolios of the two companies…

Madrid is Spain’s financial and corporate center: the Bolsa de Madrid hosts the largest domestic listed companies, many multinational headquarters are based in the city, and Madrid’s banks and corporate issuers are key players in European capital markets. Corporate governance practices in these firms — board structure, ownership concentration, transparency, audit quality, and treatment of minority shareholders — materially affect how lenders, bond investors, equity investors, and rating agencies price risk. That pricing determines the firm’s cost of debt and cost of equity, access to capital markets, and the structure of financing available to companies headquartered or listed in Madrid.How…

Portugal has become a distinctive choice for founders who want to combine high quality of life with practical access to European and global markets. With a compact population of around 10 million, an accessible time zone, growing startup activity and predictable living costs compared with major Western hubs, Portugal offers a pragmatic blend of lifestyle benefits and business advantages. The narrative below explains the key factors for founders, supported by examples, practical data points and concrete considerations.Strategic market accessEuropean single market gateway: Portugal belongs to the EU and participates in the single market, allowing duty-free exchanges and harmonized regulations for…

Howard Silverblatt launched his Wall Street career when the S&P 500 lingered under 100 points, and he concluded it as the index was nearing 7,000. Across nearly 49 years, he observed sweeping rallies, punishing downturns, and a profound evolution in how Americans approach investing and retirement savings. His insights deliver a rare, long-range view of risk, discipline, and lasting financial durability.When Howard Silverblatt first reported to work in May 1977, the S&P 500 stood at 99.77 points. By the time he retired in January after almost five decades at Standard & Poor’s—now S&P Dow Jones Indices—the benchmark index had climbed…

December is traditionally one of the strongest months for US retail, fueled by holiday shopping and year-end promotions. Instead, consumer spending unexpectedly leveled off, offering a more cautious snapshot of household behavior and raising new questions about economic momentum heading into the new year.The latest retail sales data revealed an unusual pause in consumer activity at a time when spending typically accelerates. According to figures released by the US Commerce Department, retail sales in December showed no growth compared with the previous month, marking a sharp slowdown from November’s solid increase. The stagnation caught economists off guard, as forecasts had…

France blends an extensive public safety net and fairly protective labor regulations with a robust landscape of public incentives, bank lending, venture capital, and corporate R&D. This combination offers both advantages and limitations: firms can tap into diverse funding avenues to support innovation, yet they must also navigate substantial labor‑related expenses and compliance duties that shape the cost structure and scheduling of innovation initiatives.Scope and settingR&D intensity: France’s overall spending on research and development typically sits a bit above 2 percent of GDP, falling short of the 3 percent benchmark pursued by certain European Union members. As a result, public…

Family-owned businesses dominate the Italian private sector in scale and cultural influence. Estimates and academic studies indicate that family firms represent a large majority of Italian companies and account for a significant share of private employment and value added. Succession in these firms is not merely a personnel change: it is a turning point that can either preserve decades of strategic momentum or trigger fragmentation, loss of market position, and capital strain.This piece outlines how Italian family enterprises orchestrate succession while preserving their strategic trajectory, detailing practical governance tools, legal and tax approaches, talent-development methods, and illustrative real-world cases.Essential limitations…