6 Most Important Things in Business Today

December 28, 2017 by Douglas A. McIntyre

Bitcoin value dropped 10% to $13,947 as South Korea plans to limit trading in cryptocurrency.

Holiday retail sales should hit a new high. According to Reuters:

The holiday shopping season, a crucial period for retailers that can account for up to 40 percent of annual sales, brought record-breaking online and in-store spending this year of more than $800 billion, according to Mastercard Inc’s analytics arm.

According to the Financial Times, global M&A topped $3 trillion for the fourth year in a row.

Apple Inc.’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) CEO Tim Cook got a large raise last year. According to Bloomberg:

Cook’s incentive pay totaled $9.33 million for the year ended Sept. 30, the Cupertino, California-based company said Wednesday in a regulatory filing. He also took home $3.06 million in salary and a previously disclosed equity award of $89.2 million, bringing his total payout for the year to about $102 million.

People are paying property taxes early in an attempt to cut the financial burden from new laws. CNNMoney reports:

Local tax collectors across the country are working overtime as people line up to pay their property taxes early — before the new tax plan goes into effect.

Airbus may kill its A380 super jumbo jet. According to Forbes:

Is the ax finally falling for the Airbus A380? According to three highly placed sources, the Airbus consortium is reportedly drawing up contingency plans to phase out production of the world’s largest jetliner, if it fails to win a key order from Dubai’s Emirates. This is the same highly anticipated A380 order that was supposed to be a highlight of the Dubai Airshow in November 2017, but somehow never arrived.

So the high-stakes game of chicken over the future of the Airbus 380 continues, a battle of wills between Airbus Industries and its most important A380 customer, Emirates Airways. What’s at stake? Only whether Emirates will finally cough up another 36-plane, $16 billion order, or if the production line will be shut down for the multi-billion dollar aircraft project.

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