Seoul, Global fabrication capacity for 200-millimeter wafers is forecast to jump 14 per cent over the next three years, a report showed on Thursday, as demand for chips used in electric vehicles (EVs), in particular, is sharply rising. "The development of powertrain inverters and charging stations for EVs in particular is expected to fuel increases in global 200mm wafer capacity, as EV adoption continues to rise," according to the 200mm <keyword id="18943431" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="fab-outlook" source="Orion">Fab Outlook</keyword> to 2026 report, published by SEMI, a global industry association representing some 3,000 electronics design and manufacturing companies worldwide. "The global <keyword id="581400" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="semiconductor-industry" source="Orion">semiconductor industry</keyword>'s ramp to record 200mm fab capacity highlights the bullish expectations for growth in the automotive market in particular," SEMI President and CEO Ajit Manocha said. "While automotive chip supply has stabilised, the increased chip content in EVs and the drive to reduce charging time is spurring capacity expansions," he added, reports Yonhap news agency. SEMI said fab capacity for automotive and power <keyword id="145965" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="semiconductors" source="Orion">semiconductors</keyword> was likely to grow 34 percent by 2026, followed by microprocessor and microcontroller units at 21 percent and micro-electromechanical systems at 16 percent. Semiconductor manufacturers, like <keyword id="18943432" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bosch-fuji-electric" source="Orion">Bosch, Fuji Electric</keyword>, <keyword id="176195" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="infineon" source="Orion">Infineon</keyword> and <keyword id="6427662" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="mitsubishi" source="Orion">Mitsubishi</keyword>, are all ramping up their 200mm capacity projects to meet future demand, SEMI said. 200mm wafers, also known as 8-inch wafers, were once seen as outdated compared to bigger wafers like 300mm. But the 200mm market rebounded in 2020, as demand surged for analog, display drivers and power management ICs chips, which are produced in 200mm fabs.

200mm fab capacity to reach record high due to automobile chip boom

<ul><li>Legendary investor <keyword id="174544" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Bill-Gross">Bill Gross</keyword> said investors should look more closely at value <keyword id="6354298" type="DEFINITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Stocks">stocks</keyword> rather than growth stocks like Apple, Netflix, and Amazon to make money right now.</li><li>The retired fund manager said in his first investment outlook of the coronavirus pandemic that the outperformance of the "Fab 5" technology companies and other growth stocks are linked to real interest rates.</li><li>Gross named four value stocks — IBM, Altria, Enterprise Products, and Abbvie — that he backs right now.</li><li>"Value stocks, versus growth stocks, should be an investor's preference in the near-term future," he wrote.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>Legendary investor Bill Gross <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200714005178/en/Bill-Gross-Releases-Investment-Outlook-%E2%80%9CThe-Real">said</a> on Tuesday that investors should choose value stocks over growth stocks in the near future.The retired fund manager said in his first investment outlook of the coronavirus pandemic that the outperformance of the "Fab 5" technology companies and other growth stocks are linked to real interest rates — which have declined over recent years.Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Netflix and Google's parent company Alphabet — often known as the FAANGs — are the "Fab 5" Gross was referring to, <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-usa-investors-gross/bill-gross-predicts-value-outperforms-growth-based-on-rates-correlation-idUKKCN24F1EY">according to Reuters</a>, which cited his spokesperson."A value investor (are there any left?) would know that over time a stock's price is significantly influenced by real rates – not so much by nominal rates, which incorporate an outlook for inflation and (these days) deflation," the former chief investment officer of PIMCO said.Gross highlighted that many investors make decisions based on hopes for a return to an "old normal economy and a Fed focused more on inflation, and the real economy than stock prices and unemployment."Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-picks-to-buy-pharma-covid-19-coronavirus-vaccine-treatments-2020-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BANK OF AMERICA: Buy these 7 pharma stocks now as they race to develop COVID-19 treatments and vaccines</a>He said the key reason behind growth of stocks like Apple and Microsoft compared to value shares lie in the close-knit links between their performance and inflation-protected securities."Value stocks, versus growth stocks, should be an investor's preference in the near-term future," Gross, who <a href="https://www.snl.com/IRW/file/4147331/Index?KeyFile=396604303">retired</a> as portfolio manager from Janus Henderson in 2019, said.He then endorsed four stocks he favors right now rather than the FAANGs:<ul><li>Enterprise Products, a gas and crude oil pipeline company.</li><li>Altria Group, the tobacco giant behind Philip Morris International.</li><li>IBM, the tech hardware giant.</li><li>Abbvie, a pharmaceutical firm with around $30 billion in annual revenue.</li></ul>Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/investing-strategy-credit-trades-pimco-fund-manager-mohit-mittal-interview-2020-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">An award-winning PIMCO fund manager who's crushed 99% of his peers for years told us the 2 trades he's making to stay ahead — and shared his key to credit investing today</a>Gross made clear that his recommendations might be wrong, telling readers: "No guarantees!"<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-stock-picks-market-advice-recommendations-value-investing-tobias-carlisle-2020-5">Wall Street experts</a> have also guessed that monetary conditions as dictated by the Federal Reserve have encouraged a speculative <keyword id="35175" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="investing">investing</keyword> behavior, meaning that traders have gone on to pile into growth names — or proven winners — even as they have blown past historical valuations."The future price disparity of Microsoft, Apple and Amazon relative to lesser growth but still high quality stocks like Coca Cola or Proctor &amp; Gamble, is subject to an ongoing decline in real rates, which to my mind, have seen their best days," Gross wrote."Happiness is a healthy body, sinking a few 10-foot putts, and investing in value, versus the 'Fab 5'," he concluded.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-picks-to-buy-20-firms-for-megatrend-gains-ubs-2020-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UBS says buy these 18 diamond-in-the-rough stocks that will offer massive gains over multiple years, even as their underlying industries suffer</a>

Investing legend Bill Gross says investors should favor value over growth during the pandemic, and tipped these 4 stocks to flourish

THE TECH 'TITANIC': How red-hot startup Fab raised $330 million and then went bust

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/537e29b8ecad04925aea91b8-720-540/jason-goldberg-22.jpg" border="0" alt="Jason Goldberg" />Jason / Goldberg / FacebookFab CEO Jason Goldberg</div></div></div>More bad news hit the struggling e-commerce startup Fab last night: The company sent an email telling many of its employees <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/fab-employees-email-2014-5" target="_blank">not to show up to work today</a>, likely ahead of the extreme New York City <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/fab-job-cuts-2014-5" target="_blank">layoffs rumored last week</a>. The company will be cutting around 80 or 90 jobs, leaving a team of around 30 in New York and about 200 people globally. That's down from a high of 700 employees less than a year ago.
This lightning-fast downward spiral matches the company's equally quick ascent: It had raised $172 million a year after launch and was seen as the e-commerce world's golden child. Looking back, the story is pretty incredible.
After pivoting from being a Groupon for gay people, Fab launched its new invite-only flash sales website on June 9, 2011. It was exclusive and invite-only at first, but gave users perks when they referred their friends. After all its prelaunch hype, it sold $65,000 worth of merchandise on the first day and hit $1 million in sales only 18 days after going live.
It raised a $8 million Series A from Menlo Ventures about a month later, and reached 1 million users just five months after launch. That was incredible growth compared to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/fab-hits-1-million-users-2011-11#ixzz32SITZDRz" target="_blank">other shopping sites</a> in the same space: It took Gilt Group two years to reach 1 million members and One King's Lane slightly more than that. Two months later, it hit 2 million users. 
<blockquote class="pullquote">Investors were lining up to pour money into the startup.</blockquote>
Investors were lining up to pour money into the startup. In December, Fab raised $40 million in fresh funding from Andresseen Horowtiz at a $200 million valuation, and CEO Jason Goldberg said that he picked Andresseen out of the more than 15 new venture capital firms that wanted in on the round. That $200 million valuation was a 4x multiple of the startup's revenue run rate of $50 million. 
Later in 2012, Marc Andreessen named Foursquare, Pinterest, and Fab as the next three big breakthrough companies and called Fab an "e-commerce category killer." 
This was a time when the daily deals model had already started to look like it was in trouble. Groupon was going bust, Gilt Groupe was stalling, LivingSocial was having issues. Facebook and Yelp had both axed their daily deal attempts after determining that the business model was not sustainable. But investors were won over by the site's fast-growing metrics. 
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/537e6a2669bedd4d41c2faf1-373-279/screen shot 2014-05-22 at 9.37.07 am.png" border="0" alt="Fab" />FabFrom Fab's 2011 slide deck.</div></div></div>Fab CEO Jason Goldberg was handing out rosy company stats like candy, and giving frank interviews where he told journalists that the company was "<a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/nicoleperlroth/2011/11/14/fab-com-hits-a-milestone/" target="_blank">crushing it</a>" and that "every investor and their mother" was knocking on Fab's door. The company raised another $105 million Series C round that summer. It had 200 employees in New York, and 200 more globally. 
The company had big plans. It saw itself as taking on Ikea and disrupting the design and home decor space, and it wanted to expand aggressively to other countries. It was focusing on mobile (35% of Fab's daily U.S. visits came from smartphones in July 2012) and spreading the word about the site through social media, as well as traditional advertising. Of all of Fab's products, 90% weren't sold on Amazon, or any other website. 
By the end of 2012, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/fab-a-design-site-that-raised-156-million-to-compete-with-ikea-now-has-10-million-members-2012-12" target="_blank">it proudly boasted 10 million members</a>, and $100 million in sales, with products shipping to 26 countries.
But internally, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-fabs-top-brass-still-thinks-ceo-jason-goldberg-can-turn-this-hot-mess-around-2013-12" target="_blank">the flash sales model wasn't working as well as the company hoped</a>. Although the company was selling lots of product, it was costly and logistically cumbersome to maintain, board member Allen Morgan told Business Insider's Jim Edwards last year. The gross margins on each sale were fine, Morgan says, but that profit was quickly eaten by operating expenses, like marketing and personnel expenses. Turns out, the daily deals model really wasn't sustainable, and most of its revenue wasn't coming from flash sales. 
Goldberg and the Fab team began to plan a turn-around. In April 2013, the company<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/fabs-next-big-pivot-2013-4" target="_blank"> announced a pivot</a> and the acquisition of a German custom furniture company. It started allowing designers to create pages on Fab to sell their own exclusive work and began to sell customized furniture as well - it was going to start making products in-house. It opened a brick-and-mortar store in Germany. Its ethos became to be a global design store (not just home decor), encompassing fashion as well as furniture. 
In June 2013, it raised another <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/fab-raises-150-million-2013-6" target="_blank">$150 million in part one of its Series D round</a> at a pre-money valuation of $1 billion, with plans for $100 million more. That round made it the highest-funded e-commerce site in history. It had around 700 employees globally. 
At this point, people starting <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/hot-e-commerce-startup-fab-is-losing-money-and-missing-revenue-targets-2013-6" target="_blank">airing their concerns about the business</a>. Some of the golden sheen was wearing off: Why did Fab need that much money?
<blockquote class="pullquote">Why did Fab need that much money?</blockquote>
It was expanding too fast. It wasn't yet profitable. It had <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-24/fab-com-s-race-to-1-billion-valuation-brings-missteps.html" target="_blank">spent $40 million on marketing</a> that year - an astounding 35% of revenue. The company said that it expected revenues of $250 million by the end of 2013, but it had just missed its 2012 revenue goals by 20%. Site traffic had been declining since the end of 2012, <a href="http://www.inc.com/eric-markowitz/can-fab-stay-cool-as-a-mainstream-company.html" target="_blank">according to Alexa data</a>. People wanted to know the company's burn rate. 
Goldberg tried to ease concerns by <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-fabs-ceo-defends-its-decision-to-raise-100-200-million-more-than-any-other-e-commerce-startup-2013-6#ixzz32TDWHZPY" target="_blank">disclosing gross margins of 43%</a> and saying that Fab's contribution margins (the amount left over after all costs of sending products to consumers) was 20%, while Amazon's was only in the single digits.
But in July, the company <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/fab-lays-off-more-than-100-employees-in-europe-2013-7" target="_blank">laid off more than 100 employees in Europe</a>, which was about 15% of its workforce. Goldberg had said that 40% of Fab's sales were from outside the United States and that it was razor-focused on expanding globally, so this move seemed strange, but management cited job redundancies as the reason for the cuts. It also officially stated that it was ditching the daily deals model once and for all. The company made it clear that its new batch of investors knew about both the layoffs and the new business model when they made the decision to give Fab their money. By the end of the summer, it had raised an additional $15 million. 
As <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-fabs-top-brass-still-thinks-ceo-jason-goldberg-can-turn-this-hot-mess-around-2013-12" target="_blank">the Fab team spins it</a>, it took Goldberg a lot of courage to drop the flash sales model and pivot yet again, but that not doing so would have run the company into the ground. It had essentially raised $117 million on a business model that just wouldn't work. 
After the cuts in Europe, layoff news just kept coming. Fab <a href="http://allthingsd.com/20131003/fab-makes-big-cuts-again-laying-off-nearly-20-percent-of-staff/" target="_blank">cut 100 people in October</a>, and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/50-more-layoffs-fab-2013-11" target="_blank">50 more in November</a>. It was down to about 380 people. It lost its cofounder, Bradford Shellhammer, who had been responsible for vetting every product sold on the site, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/fab-coo-out-2013-11" target="_blank">and its COO</a>, Beth Ferreira. The company was making it clear that the path to profitably became more important than the growth numbers that Goldberg used to flaunt at every opportunity. 
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/537e5b9d6bb3f7474291ea19-371-278/screen shot 2014-05-22 at 9.35.44 am.png" border="0" alt="Fab" />FabFrom Fab's 2011 slide deck.</div></div></div>These layoffs felt particularly brutal, because since the beginning, Fab had made it a point to stress how important its employees were to the company. It tricked out its New York City offices with beer on tap and an ice cream machine. One of its conference rooms had scratch-and-sniff wallpaper. 
One of its six tenets for "building a long term brand and a multi-billion dollar e-commerce business in an Amazon world" was to "be the best company to work for." 
Even before the cuts, there had been <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-24/fab-com-s-race-to-1-billion-valuation-brings-missteps.html" target="_blank">a few horror stories</a> about Fab management. Goldberg threatened to fire employees who hadn't uploaded headshots and publically shamed one for leaving the office's model apartment a mess. 
After all the cuts, however, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/at-fab-where-they-used-to-joke-about-being-fired-workers-arrive-this-morning-after-100-lost-their-jobs-2013-10" target="_blank">morale was extremely low</a>. It seemed like the only time the company made the news was when it was announcing more layoffs. It announced in November that 85 more employees would be cut by February. 
By the beginning of 2014, Fab's European site <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/fab-europe-2014-1" target="_blank">started only selling customized furniture</a>, instead of the large array of design products that it once had, further darkening the outlook of its goal to become a dominant global brand. 
At the time, Goldberg <a href="http://recode.net/2014/01/07/fab-ceo-jason-goldbergs-3500-word-mea-culpa-we-had-started-to-dream-in-billions/">wrote a very lengthy blog post</a> about the matter along with his thoughts on Fab's business as a whole, saying that it had tried to grow too quickly in Europe. 
The additional cuts announced yesterday are just another bad sign after such a fast six-month decline. If you look at it in a very high-level way, the company's story seems almost simple: Fab raised a ton of money on a bad business model. It tried to pivot. Pivoting meant major layoffs, low morale, bad press, all without any real proof that the new direction was working any better than the last one.
Maybe Fab will still be successful, as <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-fabs-top-brass-still-thinks-ceo-jason-goldberg-can-turn-this-hot-mess-around-2013-12" target="_blank">Goldberg and his board insist that it can be</a>. But looking back on the whirlwind of the past two years, we're not holding our breath.

Looking Back: The Incredibly Fast Rise And Fall Of The Struggling E-Commerce Startup Fab 

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The semiconductor bull run will persist until mid-2026, based on previous cycles, Bank of America said.</li><li>This will benefit three major industry themes: cloud computing, cars, and complexity.</li></ul>The semiconductor bull run is a long way away from petering out, with artificial intelligence momentum likely to carry it towards a mid-2026 peak, Bank of America said.Ever since AI frenzy first took over markets, the semiconductor-tracking SOX index has shot past benchmark indices, and is already up 26% year-to-date. Compared to the <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/index/s&amp;p_500?utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest%3Futm_source%3Dmarkets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets">S&amp;P 500</a>, it trades at a 4 to 5 times premium, the bank said.Of course, a pullback could come from near-term triggers, such as the US election or monetary policy, but there's good reason to remain bullish, analysts wrote on Monday. That's as the chip industry often undergoes 10 quarters of upside after experiencing a downcycle, a pattern that has just begun."The current upcycle started in late'23, so we are only in quarter 3, implying strength likely till mid-26E. However, chip stocks (SOX) change direction 6-9 months ahead of cycle inflection, so semis could potentially peak sometime around 2H25, or another year+ from now," Bank of America said.What's more, the sector is expected to accelerate towards double digit annual sales growth in 2025, after last year's inventory correction. For investors trying to capture this rally, the note offered three investing themes that will benefit: cloud computing, cars, and complexity.For the first, <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/nvda-stock">Nvidia</a> is a top pick, as well as <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/avgo-stock">Broadcom</a>. Bank of America sees major upside potential for both, holding a $1,500 and $1,680 price objective on each.At least for Nvidia, some of this stems from bullish outlooks on AI data center expansions, which provide strong demand for the firm's hardware. Of today's global IT spending, data center systems make up around 5%, or $260 billion, the bank said. But by 2028, this could jump to $360 billion.Meanwhile, the growing importance of chips in the auto industry should boost stocks such as <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/nxpi-stock">NXP Semiconductors</a>. This top pick has price objective of $320."Industrial/auto chip stocks are less crowded and offer diversification away from AI, with easier compares going into CY25E," the bank said. "End of inventory correction could support solid double sales growth into CY25E."Finally, the growing complexity of semiconductor manufacturing should support the industry's climbing valuations, justifying the trading range of these stocks, such as <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/klac-stock">KLA Corporation</a> and <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/snps-stock">Synopsis</a>.Bank of America holds a price objective of $890 and $650."The top 5 global semicap equipment stocks are trading at a 46% premium or 26x CY25 PE vs. 18x historical average," analysts wrote. "We expect the premium to persist on leverage (fundamental, sentiment) to AI driven chip complexity, to global reshoring efforts, and to their solid 25%+ FCF margins even at trough of recent [wafer fab equipment] cycle."

BofA says chip stocks won't peak until mid-2026, and that these 3 sub-industries will thrive until then

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Russia's war machine looks different today than it did at the start of the conflict.</li><li>Moscow has new defense leadership in place and is setting the stage for an offensive this summer.</li></ul>It took Russia more than two years of brutal war, thousands of armored vehicles damaged and destroyed, an estimated 450,000 casualties, and tens of billions of dollars to get to this point, but Moscow seems to finally be taking its war seriously.Much of the war in Ukraine has gone poorly for Russia. Its death toll alone — by many estimates more than 50,000 troops — is staggering. But Russian President Vladimir Putin's war machine looks very different today than it did at the start of the conflict.The country's defense-industrial base has begun firing on all cylinders, and Putin recently installed an economist as his defense minister to boost the mass production of weaponry, especially firepower. Moscow blunted Ukraine's counteroffensive last summer with a strong defense while rebuilding stockpiles and transitioning to a wartime economy. It has effectively exploited Ukraine's material, manpower, and industrial disadvantages over the spring, especially as Kyiv's Western partners floundered, and it is now setting the stage for what could be a major, multi-pronged offensive this summer. Its forces have also found and copy-catted tactics to drive Ukraine back.Russia finally appears committed to its ambitions in Ukraine — and, as some fear, beyond — and it comes even as Ukraine's weapons stocks are being reloaded after US lawmakers passed a major Ukraine aid deal.<div type="image" title="Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives to meet Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel at the Great Kremlin Palace in Moscow on May 9, 2024." height="4228" width="6000" msid="110234034" hostid="261" sizebytes="656966"></div>"The Russians are still dangerous and they're learning," George Barros, the geospatial-intelligence team lead and a Russia analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, told Business Insider. "They're improving every day."<h2 id="a8e1bf66-fbad-4047-b501-4822a82d312c">An 'inflection point' in Russia's war efforts</h2>The war began with Russia's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biggest-russian-blunders-during-putin-war-against-ukraine-2022-12#abandoning-lots-of-weapons-3">botched invasion of Ukraine</a>, with command failures, tactical missteps, and high levels of confusion in the Russian ranks in the face of stiff Ukrainian resistance ultimately derailing plans for a swift victory.The Russian military continued to suffer from other problems in the first year of fighting, racking up troop and equipment losses while failing to capture significant amounts of Ukrainian territory.And Ukraine got the better of its more powerful enemy on more than one occasion, including in its 2022 counteroffensive pushes in northeastern Kharkiv and southern Kherson.But Russia found success in using a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-front-line-forces-fighting-through-russia-surovikin-line-2023-9">sophisticated array of defensive lines</a> to prevent <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-ukrainian-counteroffensive-ran-into-trouble-2023-11">Ukraine's 2023 counteroffensive</a> from achieving notable forward progress. As it concluded last fall, the highly anticipated effort ended in failure, with Kyiv unable to liberate much of the territory, even with an influx of armored combat vehicles from the West.In the months that followed, Russia took advantage of stalled US military support for Ukraine, which spent much of the winter and spring <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-different-weapons-blunt-russia-artillery-fire-2024-1">outgunned and lacking</a> critical munitions to defend itself. Ukraine also notably failed to adequately build out its defensive fortifications until the last minute. Moscow exploited these problems to make gains in the east and prepare for future assaults.<div type="image" title="A turret of a destroyed Russian tank is seen near the front-line village of Robotyne in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region on Feb. 21, 2024." height="3737" width="5617" msid="110234036" hostid="261" sizebytes="1156980"></div>Alarm bells have been ringing in the West in recent weeks. US intelligence assessed in March that, despite suffering serious damage in Ukraine, the battlefield deadlock has <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-military-suffered-in-ukraine-deadlock-shifting-momentum-us-intelligence-2024-3">shifted momentum</a> in Moscow's favor.The following month, a top US official and general said, respectively, that the Russian military was <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-military-almost-completely-reconstituted-after-ukraine-losses-us-official-2024-4">"almost completely reconstituted"</a> and had <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/top-us-general-russia-growing-back-pre-war-military-strength-2024-4">"grown back"</a> to its pre-war strength."They've got some gaps that have been produced by this war, but their overall capacity is very significant still," Gen. Chris Cavoli, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe and the head of US European Command, told Congress in April. "And they intend to make it go higher."And those intentions have since been put on full display. In a rather surprising move on Sunday, Putin <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8vzzqz2qq6o">nominated Andrei Belousov</a> — a civilian economist with no military background — to replace his long-time defense minister Sergei Shoigu, who has faced <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/putin-fires-shoigu-defense-minister-russia-war-economy-ukraine-west-rcna151920">resounding criticism</a> over Russia's inefficiencies in Ukraine.The recent military leadership reshuffle indicates Putin's intent to put Russia on a "Soviet-style economy war footing" to increase the output of the country's defense-industrial base, Barros said.But this isn't just to satisfy Moscow's immediate needs in Ukraine, he added. It's also for "long-term force regeneration" in which there's a scenario where Russia goes beyond the borders of Ukraine and looks to project force against NATO's eastern flank.<div type="image" title="In this pool photograph distributed by Russia's state agency Sputnik, Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu (L) and Russian new Defense Minister Andrei Belousov attend a meeting of Russian President with military leaders in Moscow on May 15, 2024." height="1442" width="2326" msid="110234038" hostid="261" sizebytes="96134"></div>Belousov, identified as a "competent, hard-head technocrat," was essentially brought in to audit the Russian defense ministry — which is riddled with <a target="_blank" href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/russia-arrests-senior-defense-ministry-official-bribery-charges-110205410">corruption</a> — and ensure that the country's tax dollars are actually going to the procurement of weapons and equipment that will allow Moscow to more successfully wage war in Ukraine, something the Kremlin previously struggled with, Barros said."This is an important inflection point in the Russian effort to treat the 'special military operation' as a real war and gets serious about long-term strategic protracted efforts," Barros said, referring to the term that Moscow has long used to describe the conflict.It's not the first time Russia has tried to improve its war footing. Ukraine's blitz-style counteroffensive in the northeastern Kharkiv region during the fall of 2022 led Putin to announce a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/putin-speech-partial-military-mobilization-draft-reservists-ukraine-war-2022-9">partial mobilization</a> and take other measures to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-behind-russia-drone-war-experts-2023-10">increase defense output</a>, such as ramping up <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-replacing-lost-battle-tanks-100-month-offensive-ukraine-uk-2024-1">drone and tank production</a>. The situation improved, but it still wasn't sufficient enough for Moscow.Now, Russia's defense-industrial base — with the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/12/politics/china-russia-support-weapons-manufacturing/index.html">help of some key partners </a>— appears to be rolling.<div type="image" title="Military experts operate at the site of a Russian aerial bombing of a high-rise residential building in the Shevchenkivskyi district on March 27, 2024 in Kharkiv, Ukraine." height="3000" width="4500" msid="110234040" hostid="261" sizebytes="2111000"></div>The Russian defense ministry in March, for instance, announced that it would increase production of several types of munitions, including the 1,100-pound FAB-500, 3,300-pound FAB-1500, and 6,600-pound FAB-3000 bombs — a troubling development for Ukraine.These munitions can be converted to glide bombs, which are standoff weapons that can be released from a distance, thus reducing a Russian aircraft's exposure to Ukraine's air defenses. These highly destructive weapons can't effectively be intercepted and are hammering Ukraine's trenches and defensive lines.The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraines-in-a-race-to-stop-russia-glide-bomb-attacks-2024-3">employment of glide bombs</a> to support ground maneuver is the primary example of how Russia's military is successfully learning from its past shortcomings, Barros said.It's a tactic that did not see widespread employment until the end of 2023, but one that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-air-superiority-avdiivka-could-be-devastating-for-ukraine-2024-2">Moscow relied heavily on</a> earlier this year to capture the war-torn eastern city of Avdiivka, and is currently replicating during its new assault in the Kharkiv region.<h2 id="f23c2c91-4f10-4ea1-9433-657e44f88259">Ukraine is 'going to be in a difficult position'</h2>Since <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fierce-russian-attacks-test-ukraine-defense-near-kharkiv-war-expansion-2024-5">launching a new offensive effort</a> in the Kharkiv region last week, Russia has been using glide-bomb strikes to enable ground maneuver so it can seize territory and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/ukraine-stabilized-kharkiv-russia-offensive-crimea-drone-attack-power-rcna152717">create what it claims is a buffer zone</a> along the border with Ukraine.<div type="image" title="Ukrainian servicemen of the 42nd Separate Mechanized Brigade fire a 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer towards Russian troops in the Kharkiv region on May 16, 2024." height="1440" width="2164" msid="110234041" hostid="261" sizebytes="574448"></div>But Ukraine's ability to defend itself has been severely hamstrung by US restrictions on striking military targets inside Russia, analysts at the ISW wrote in an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-may-15-2024">assessment</a> this week. This has effectively created a sanctuary space where Russian aircraft can lob glide bombs against Ukrainian positions, and where Moscow's troops can gather ahead of combat operations, they added.Ukrainian officials have <a target="_blank" href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/14/ukraine-weapons-russia-00157970#:~:text=Ukrainian%20officials%20are%20making%20a,their%20major%20march%20toward%20Kharkiv.">tried to push the Biden administration</a> to rethink its stance, but Washington has been unwavering in its position.Meanwhile, with its new Kharkiv push underway, Russia now appears to be setting the stage for what could be a multi-pronged summer offensive that could stretch a Ukrainian army still depleted of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraines-manpower-problem-could-get-worse-before-it-gets-better-2024-5">critical materials and much-needed manpower</a>.Ukrainian and Western officials, as well as war experts, have said that the months-long hold on additional US military aid to Ukraine put the country in the tough position in which it currently finds itself.Kyiv also faces <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-exploiting-ukraine-manpower-shortage-thin-line-breakthrough-war-expert-2024-5">morale and recruitment issues</a> that didn't exist a year ago, when many were rather optimistic ahead of the summer counteroffensive.<div type="image" title="Russian conscripts called up for military service prepare to depart for garrisons from a recruitment center in Russia's Rostov region on May 16, 2024." height="3739" width="5500" msid="110234042" hostid="261" sizebytes="563638"></div>"The Ukrainians are going to be in a difficult position over the coming months," Barros said. The pattern of US support for Ukraine, where Washington surges assistance at the last minute when the situation gets dire, "is not a sustainable approach. What we're seeing now are the consequences of that approach to Ukraine," he explainedMick Ryan, a retired Australian major general and strategist who recently returned from Ukraine, wrote in April that Russia has clearly gotten over the "shock of its early failures" and seems able "to subjugate Ukraine in a way it was not capable of when it began its large-scale invasion in February 2022.""Russia is now a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-is-more-dangerous-than-when-it-first-invaded-strategist-2024-4">more dangerous adversary</a> than it was two years ago," he wrote.Jack Watling, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute think tank, said that Russia is taking advantage of its numerical superiority, stretching out Ukrainian forces across a vast front line.Kyiv desperately needs more forces, ammunition, and air-defense interceptors if it hopes to brave Moscow's advances, he warned, noting that "the outlook in Ukraine is bleak."But, Watling argued in a new <a target="_blank" rel=" nofollow" href="https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/ukraine-russia-beginning-compound-advantages">analysis</a> this week, "if Ukraine's allies engage now to replenish Ukrainian munitions stockpiles, help to establish a robust training pipeline, and make the industrial investments to sustain the effort, then Russia's summer offensive can be blunted, and Ukraine will receive the breathing space it needs to regain the initiative."

Russia is finally getting serious about its war, and it spells trouble for Ukraine

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Russia has relied heavily on glide-bomb strikes to target Ukrainian positions this year.</li><li>This tactic shows Russia's air force has adapted to its own limitations, war experts told BI.</li></ul>Russia has increasingly relied on glide-bomb strikes to hammer Ukrainian defenses while keeping its attack aircraft mostly out of harm's way.It's a devastating tactic that underscores Russia's ability to adapt to some of the problems that have hamstrung its forces, and one that has helped Moscow secure recent battlefield victories. Glide bombs allow the Russians to blast fortified positions from ranges well beyond artillery without exposing their aircraft to Ukraine's surface-to-air missiles, and what Russia lacks in accuracy it makes up for in sheer firepower. These bombs can weigh up to 6,600 pounds.Ukraine has also proven that it struggles to easily defeat this threat largely due to a shortage of air defense missiles. And while it continues to expend precious air-defense resources, and additional Western military aid remains out of reach, war experts say Kyiv may end up losing more ground and experienced troops."Russia's employment of glide bombs is really underscoring the extent to which the Russian military is still dangerous," George Barros, the geospatial-intelligence team lead and a Russia analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, told Business Insider.<div type="image" title="A Ukrainian officer walks amid the devastation caused by a Russian glide bomb that landed in the village of Petropavlivka on Feb. 13, 2024." height="1444" width="2168" msid="108817989" hostid="261"></div>"They're still learning" and coming up with solutions, he said, enabling Russian forces to advance despite some of the issues they've had with positional and trench warfare in the past.<h2>Operating over Ukraine with 'impunity'</h2>Glide bombs have flight control surfaces and are standoff weapons, meaning that attacking aircraft can release them at a distance from a target instead of directly above it (unlike conventional gravity bombs), which helps reduce the aircraft's exposure to enemy air defenses.Short flight times, small radar signatures, and non-ballistic trajectories make glide bombs <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-shoot-down-russian-planes-f16-glide-bombs-military-2023-5">particularly difficult to intercept</a> as well. And while Ukraine has warned throughout the war that these munitions <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russian-glide-bombs-headache-ukraine-moscow-making-new-ones-2024-1">can cause serious problems</a>, the past few months have proven this concern to be especially true."Russian forces have significantly increased guided and unguided glide-bomb strikes against rear and frontline Ukrainian positions in 2024, notably employing mass glide-bomb strikes to tactical effect in their seizure of Avdiivka in mid-February," analysts at the ISW think tank wrote in an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-march-21-2024">assessment</a> last week.<div type="image" title="A view from a car shows buildings destroyed in Avdiivka on March 16, 2024." height="3903" width="5635" msid="108817992" hostid="261"></div>Advanced <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-surface-air-missiles-key-fight-russia-superior-air-force-2023-4">air-defense systems</a> on both sides kept the skies above Ukraine <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-air-problems-show-early-setbacks-still-problem-intelligence-2024-1">contested</a> for the first two years of the war. But as Russian ground troops closed in on Avdiivka, a small city in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, Moscow's air force managed to barrage Ukrainian defensive positions that supported a major breakthrough.With the Russian air force able to strike targets for its ground forces that artillery couldn't reach, Ukraine reported an uptick in glide-bomb strikes in the dying days of its Adviivka defense. Ultimately, Moscow captured the war-torn city, marking its biggest victory in nearly a year.The Russians are getting better at understanding how the timing and volume of its large strike packages can be delivered to Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure in a way that best exhausts Kyiv's air-defense bandwidth, Barros said."When the Ukrainian air-defense bandwidth is all tied up, they then move in with the fixed-wing aircraft to conduct these glide-bomb attacks," he said. "If Ukraine had better air defenses, they might be able to preclude the use of glide bombs by forcing the fixed-wing aircraft to stay further away from the front line."<div type="image" title="Russian Su-35 fighter jet wreck" height="930" width="1240" msid="108817999" hostid="261"></div>In Avdiivka, Russia successfully figured out how to tie up the Ukrainians, thus enabling its employment of extremely destructive glide bombs against Kyiv's fortifications. Rather than precision, experts say the sheer volume of these barrages made Ukraine's positions untenable. This has concerning implications going forward, Barros said.Ukraine has largely denied Russia control of the airspace over the battlefield in the way that Moscow has enjoyed in previous conflicts. In the Syrian Civil War, for example, Putin's forces supporting the Assad regime relied on widespread carpet-bombing campaigns to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/drone-footage-russian-way-of-war-bombing-syria-ukraine-similar-2023-5">obliterate cities</a>.But now, if Ukraine's air-defense capabilities are increasingly stretched thin, "then we could potentially be looking at dangerous future scenarios where the Russian air force might be able to operate over Ukrainian skies with impunity," Barros said.<h2>Can Ukraine avoid losing ground?</h2>Russian aircraft have already dropped over 3,500 bombs on Ukrainian positions nearly three months into 2024, Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense Lt. Gen. Ivan Gavrylyuk wrote in a March 18 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-ato/3841249-aki-faktori-vplivaut-na-situaciu-na-fronti.html?fbclid=IwAR360XKuFOwCNTvzug7HILrmuzw-SkzBwn9TtmeWYZxIVWDczNi5c2QNLVM">op-ed</a> for state-run news agency Ukrinform. This is much higher than the previous year, he said.<div type="image" title="A Ukrainian officer walks beside the crater of a Russian glide bomb that missed a nearby bridge in the Kharkiv region on Feb. 13, 2024." height="1438" width="2158" msid="108818001" hostid="261"></div>But despite this high rate of fire, it doesn't look like there will be a shortage of glide bombs in the Russian arsenal anytime soon.Last week, Moscow's defense ministry said production of several munitions types is increasing. This includes the 1,100-pound FAB-500, 3,300-pound FAB-1500, and 6,600-pound FAB-3000 bombs — all of which can be modified and turned into glide bombs."What the Russians are doing here is they're reinforcing a success," Barros said. In other words, Moscow found a tactic that works, so it's rapidly scaling up production of these munitions.Many of the Russian glide bombs are being released up to 30 miles or farther behind the front lines, making it difficult for Ukraine to engage these aircraft with nearly all its air-defense systems beyond the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-army-instructors-say-ukrainians-amazing-mastering-patriot-missile-system-2024-3">US-made MIM-104 Patriot system</a>, Justin Bronk, an airpower expert at the Royal United Services Institute think tank, told BI.<div type="image" title="Russian Sukhoi Su-35S fighter aircrafts, Su-34 military fighter jets and Su-30SM jet fighters fly in formation over central Moscow during the Victory Day military parade on May 9, 2021" height="2103" width="3154" msid="108818003" hostid="261"></div>Glide bombs are only capable of hitting fixed or stationary targets, meaning they're particularly impactful in areas that have seen long-term fighting, like in Avdiivka, where Ukrainian positions are relatively easy to spot, Bronk said."That makes the mission planning for attacks with standoff weapons that can hit fixed targets, like the glide bombs, quite practical," he explained. "They contain a lot more explosive — particularly the 1,500-kilogram variants — than artillery or rocket artillery shells."Because of this, he said, there's a "qualitative psychological impact that is greater, in many ways, than artillery."Ultimately, to help mitigate the glide-bomb threat, the experts said, Ukraine needs a significant boost in air-defense interceptors — in tandem with artillery ammunition — from its Western backers.<div type="image" title="Ukrainian soldiers fire with the Archer Artillery System on Russian position on January 3, 2024 in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine." height="1821" width="2732" msid="108818005" hostid="261"></div>Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly said that Kyiv's existing arsenal of air-defense capabilities is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/nashij-yevropi-potribna-realna-oboronna-samodostatnist-vistu-89793">not enough to protect the country</a> from unrelenting bombardments, frequently calling on his partners to provide more support.But Republican lawmakers in Congress have yet to end their months-long hold on additional funding to Ukraine, which would unlock much-needed military aid, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-kinzhal-missiles-beaten-by-patriots-slip-past-ukraine-defenses-2024-3">including air-defense</a> capabilities and munitions like Patriot missiles, for the country.The White House on Friday <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/NSC_Spox/status/1771167893943624145">said</a> it's "critical" that the US provide Ukraine with more air-defense assets.Russia's glide bombs alone will not necessarily determine the war, the experts said, as Moscow also enjoys a major <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-advantage-ukraine-dig-in-defend-enemy-war-machine-experts-2024-1">artillery advantage</a>. But this trend, combined with Ukraine's diminishing resources and uncertainty over the future of Western security assistance, is making the battlefield outlook increasingly grim for Kyiv.<div type="image" title="Ukrainian servicemen of the 59th Separate Motorised Infantry Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine fire a BM-21 Grad multiple launch rocket system towards Russian troops in the Donetsk region on Feb. 4, 2024." height="3037" width="4556" msid="108818008" hostid="261"></div>"Without the US passing the aid supplemental, it's very difficult to see how the Ukrainians can avoid continuing to lose ground —potentially catastrophically — when it comes to the Russian major offensive in the summer, which will come," Bronk said.Barros agreed that if Ukraine doesn't get a resupply of weaponry, it will ultimately concede territory. And it won't be entirely the fault of glide bombs — Kyiv needs all the tools its forces can get right now."If all things keep the same and the Russians keep with their current pattern of innovation and adaptation, we have no reason to doubt that the Russian air force will become more involved in this war and bring more forces to bear," he said, "which will ultimately affect the ground domain reality."

Ukraine is in a race to stop Russia's mounting glide-bomb attacks

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Stocks could rally 21%, as there are indicators flashing their strongest signal since 2020, according to Ned Davis Research.</li><li>The firm pointed to the S&amp;P 500, which recently formed a so-called golden cross.</li></ul>Stocks could climb 21% higher this year, as there are bullish indicators in the market flashing their strongest signal since 2020, according to Ned Davis Research.In a note on Monday, the research firm pointed to several indicators, including the firm's Fab Five Tape Component, a multi-indicator gauge of winning stocks in the S&amp;P 500.That model recently hit its highest level since December 2020, when the S&amp;P 500 was on track to record its all-time-high in 2021.In particular, the bullish signal has resulted from three indicators in the Fab Five model:<ol><li>The Volume Demand cross. This occurs when volume demand in the S&amp;P 500 rises above volume supply, a sign that there are more buyers than sellers in the market causing prices to climb higher. The bullish signal flashed last week for the first time since May 2020.</li><li>The 10-day advance/decline ratio. This is a gauge of winning stocks versus losing stocks over a 10-day period, and it's flashed its first "thrust signal" since July 2020, strategists said.</li><li>The golden cross. This is a <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/stock-market-bullish-golden-cross-analysis-buy-signal-sp500-outlook-2023-1">bullish indicator</a> that flashes when the 50-day moving average surpasses the 200-day moving average. For the S&amp;P 500, this happened on Friday, after most other global stock indices and individual US sectors saw it earlier, Ned Davis Research said.</li></ol>These signals have been common in the stock market, but the bullish outlook on stocks in 2023 has been confirmed by other longer-term indicators, the firm added, pointing for instance to Ned Davis Research's Rally Watch aggregate, a collection of 16 bullish stock market indicators.The aggregate recently reached 63%, its highest level since October 2020. Stocks have seen a median gain of 21% the following year after the Rally Watch aggregate surpasses 50%, suggesting a similar rally could be underway in 2023."Corrections can be expected in the months ahead. But as with the recovery that started after the bottom in 2020, the indications of trend improvement suggest that the sell-offs will take place within a strengthened uptrend that's likely to remain intact as 2023 progresses," the firm's strategists said.

The stock market could jump 21% as bullish indicators flash their strongest signal since 2020

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Ally Capriotti Grant is a casting director who worked on "Queer Eye" for five seasons.</li><li>Grant said the first step to choosing a "hero" is finding someone who represents their city.</li></ul>This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Ally Capriotti Grant, a casting director for ITV America based in Brooklyn, New York. The following has been edited for length and clarity.I've been working as a casting director for ITV America, one of the largest non-scripted production houses in the world, for eight years after getting my start on Food Network's "Restaurant: Impossible" as a casting scout. Since then, I've had the pleasure of working on a lot of interesting shows, including "<a href="https://www.insider.com/love-island-usa-cbs-things-to-know-2019-7">Love Island USA</a>," "Tiny House Hunting," and "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-real-housewives-of-new-jersey-whistleblower-2015-4">Real Housewives of New Jersey</a>." I started working on "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/queer-eye-star-tan-france-on-best-money-decisions-2019-8">Queer Eye</a>" in December 2016 and worked there through season five, which aired in June 2020.I love that "Queer Eye" celebrates what makes us different. The overall tone is so uplifting — it's definitely a feel-good show and one that I feel lucky to have gotten to work on for five seasons. It's close to my heart and a shiny spot within my career.I was part of the team that selected the show's "heroes," which is our word for participants. I really like making people feel comfortable and safe enough to share their stories. Getting to know a hero over the course of a few months was my favorite part of the job.When my team looks for heroes, we focus on location, the willingness of a candidate to share their story, and that "why now" element.<h2>The location of each season of "Queer Eye" is a character in and of itself</h2>Once we land on the location, we research the city to answer questions like, "What food is it known for? What are its sports teams? What is the city known for in general?" We think about the stories we want to tell about the city, and we look for heroes with stories that will resonate, are timely, and inspire.Past cities we've worked in include Atlanta, Kansas City, and Philadelphia. If a city is known for something in particular, like Philadelphia is known for cheesesteaks, my team is going to go into ten different cheesesteak restaurants to see if anyone has a story to share.Then the team splits up into two: those who are boots-on-the-ground and those that stay in the office. Those on the ground hand out fliers in places like grocery stores, sporting events, and restaurants. The half of the team in the office will simultaneously spread the word virtually in places like local Facebook groups. Once we find someone who might make a good hero, we reach out, meet them in person, and learn about their world.<h2>Another component to finding a hero is they have to be willing to share their story</h2>We look for people who are real and aren't playing a part. Our number one priority is to find people who are willing to be vulnerable, are open to a transformation, and are ready for a change in their lives. We always say that instead of giving a "makeover," we're giving a "make better."And there's a big reward for being open and honest — you get to share your story with people who care and start unpacking challenges that you might be facing day-to-day.In <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/reality-show-secrets-2016-4">non-scripted television</a>, you're most often dealing with people who have never been on camera before. The beauty of this is that they're real. Our job is to make them feel comfortable being themselves, especially when cameras are present.<h2>We also talk about the "why now" element all the time as a team</h2>There has to be a clear reason why this candidate needs a little love in the form of <a href="https://www.insider.com/karamo-brown-queer-eye-salary-fab-five-paid-per-episode-2018-12">the Fab Five</a>, the hosts of the show, in their lives. What's at stake for them at the moment? What's on the line?For example, maybe they're just starting to date now because they're an <a href="https://www.insider.com/couple-sold-everything-and-now-travels-as-empty-nesters-2022-3">empty nester</a>. Maybe before, dating wasn't a priority, but their child left for college last month, so now dating makes sense.A lot of different factors go into it, but we're looking to answer why they need help right now. While heroes are not paid, they receive makeovers that often include a new wardrobe, furniture, home improvements, and oftentimes, a new positive outlook on life.

I'm a reality TV casting director &mdash; here's what we look for in a contestant on shows like 'Queer Eye'

Dubai this year is preparing to ride high on the arrival of international tourists. Initial set back aside, tourism sector started opening by the last quarter of the previous year with proactive measures and protocols in place to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic and ensure business continuity. Dubai had attracted a record 16.7 million tourists in 2019 - an increase of 5.1 per cent compared to the previous year - and tourism sector's contribution to the emirate's GDP was 11.5 per cent, and it accounted for a direct international tourism spending worth $27.9 billion. With Expo 2020 coming up in October of this year and running till March 2022, the event would be a catalyst for tourism growth. <div type="image" title="pexels-aleksandar-pasaric-2115367" msid="80768111" hostid="261"></div> Director General, <keyword id="2518336" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Dubai-tourism">Dubai Tourism</keyword>, Helal Saeed Almarri says the emirate's multi-geographic strategy allows Dubai to react quickly to market changes across source markets combined with strong economic relief programme. <div type="ExtQuote" text="Dubai as a global tourism destination remains highly competitive in spite of global challenges because of our approach and exceptional cross functional management of the situation." auname="Helal Saeed Almarri - Director General, Dubai Tourism"></div> Almarri, of course, is referring to the emirate's Covid management strategy which is already showing results. This is evidenced by a 2021 Global Investment Outlook Report published by First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), the UAE's largest bank predicting a V-shaped recovery for the UAE. According to the report, the UAE economy should grow by around 2.5 per cent overall and 3.6 per cent for non-oil sectors. The report notes that Expo 2020 will add further strength to the national economy and the imminent boost to tourism will have a positive impact on other sectors as well including retail and real estate activity as the Covid-19 immunisation programme moves forward. Further, Dubai Tourism officials are enthused by the hospitality sector's rebound since November last year. Citing preliminary data, research firm STR says hotels in Dubai were 71 per cent full in December. <div type="image" title="pexels-denys-gromov-4612433" msid="80768148" hostid="261"></div> With an aggressive inoculation program, of the 10 million population, it has already administered 3.7 million vaccine doses - one of the highest rates of inoculation per 100 people globally. Almarri says that Dubai has a very clear plan on how to deal with Covid-19 and it will be ready to receive visitors for the Expo 2020. "We are going to be ready to make sure that the growth starts this summer and by Expo in the fourth quarter, we look to welcome the world," he asserts. DISCLAIMER: This article is a part of featured content series on Business in Dubai.

Dubai’s tourism to grow with major events lined up for 2021

Welcome back.Buckle up for what should be a wild week. <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/4np/insider-finance">If you're not yet a subscriber, you can sign up here to get your daily dose of the stories dominating banking, business, and big deals.</a>Like the newsletter? Hate the newsletter? Feel free to drop me a line at <a href="mailto:ddefrancesco@businessinsider.com">ddefrancesco@businessinsider.com</a> or on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/dandefrancesco">@DanDeFrancesco</a>. <h1><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-biden-election-stocks-options-rise-whale-trade-bull-spread-2020-10">The curious case of the market whale</a></h1><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-biden-election-stocks-options-rise-whale-trade-bull-spread-2020-10"><div type="image" title="Trump debate" height="1000" width="1333" msid="78999256" hostid="261"></div></a>Speaking of the election, Alex Morrell has a great story on a single investor <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-biden-election-stocks-options-rise-whale-trade-bull-spread-2020-10">making some big waves.</a>The mystery investor has spent <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-biden-election-stocks-options-rise-whale-trade-bull-spread-2020-10">more than $300 million</a> in a week on tens of thousands of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-biden-election-stocks-options-rise-whale-trade-bull-spread-2020-10">S&amp;P 500 call spreads</a>. Alex has a breakdown <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-biden-election-stocks-options-rise-whale-trade-bull-spread-2020-10">on what it all means</a> from experts in the space.<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-biden-election-stocks-options-rise-whale-trade-bull-spread-2020-10">Click here to read the entire story.</a><h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vista-equity-partners-tension-robert-smith-brian-sheth-exit-taxes-2020-10">Inside Vista Equity Partners, where a top exec is negotiating a messy exit</a></h2><h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vista-equity-partners-tension-robert-smith-brian-sheth-exit-taxes-2020-10"><div type="image" title="robert f smith brian sheth" height="3000" width="4000" msid="78999258" hostid="261"></div></a></h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vista-equity-partners-tension-robert-smith-brian-sheth-exit-taxes-2020-10">Dakin Campbell and Casey Sullivan</a> with a great look into Vista Equity Partners. Get the rundown on what's going on as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vista-equity-partners-tension-robert-smith-brian-sheth-exit-taxes-2020-10">Vista president Brian Sheth</a> negotiates his exit from the private-equity firm. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vista-equity-partners-tension-robert-smith-brian-sheth-exit-taxes-2020-10">Read the whole story here</a>.<h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-bytedance-data-center-space-millions-square-feet-us-investment-2020-10">ByteDance quietly leased 'massive' US data centers in 2020</a></h2><h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-bytedance-data-center-space-millions-square-feet-us-investment-2020-10"> <div type="image" title="tiktok filming" height="3996" width="5328" msid="78999265" hostid="261"></div></a></h2>Nice scoop from <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-bytedance-data-center-space-millions-square-feet-us-investment-2020-10">Paige Leskin and Daniel Geiger</a> about TikTok parent company ByteDance leasing data-center space in northern Virginia. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-bytedance-data-center-space-millions-square-feet-us-investment-2020-10">Get the full rundown here</a>.<h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fab-gallo-resigns-as-equities-head-trading-bank-of-america-2020-10">Fab Gallo, Wall Street's longest-tenured equities chief, is leaving Bank of America </a></h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fab-gallo-resigns-as-equities-head-trading-bank-of-america-2020-10"><div type="image" title="Tom Montag" height="1498" width="1998" msid="78999268" hostid="261"></div></a>Another nice people move from <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fab-gallo-resigns-as-equities-head-trading-bank-of-america-2020-10">Alex Morrell</a>. Read up on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fab-gallo-resigns-as-equities-head-trading-bank-of-america-2020-10">Fabrizio Gallo's departure</a> as global equities chief from Bank of America. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fab-gallo-resigns-as-equities-head-trading-bank-of-america-2020-10">Read more here</a>. <h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/franklin-resources-invesco-janus-ameriprise-columbia-asset-management-merger-activity-2020-10">Franklin, Invesco, Janus, and other money managers are prepping for the next wave of deals</a></h2><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/franklin-resources-invesco-janus-ameriprise-columbia-asset-management-merger-activity-2020-10"><div type="image" title="Jenny Johnson" height="2174" width="2899" msid="78999270" hostid="261"></div></a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/franklin-resources-invesco-janus-ameriprise-columbia-asset-management-merger-activity-2020-10">Bradley Saacks and Rebecca Ungarino</a> have a nice breakdown of the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/franklin-resources-invesco-janus-ameriprise-columbia-asset-management-merger-activity-2020-10">deal-making convos</a> taking place at asset managers. Read up on what executives are saying about M&amp;A. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/franklin-resources-invesco-janus-ameriprise-columbia-asset-management-merger-activity-2020-10">Click here for the full story</a>. <h2>Odd lots:</h2><a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/21541113/rashida-tlaib-aoc-public-banking-act">Exclusive: Rashida Tlaib and AOC have a proposal for a fairer, greener financial system — public banking (Vox)</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/alphabet-earrnings-google-cloud-separate-reporting-segment-2020-10">Google is making a change to its earnings report next quarter that shows just how important cloud computing has become to its business (BI)</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-expects-another-4-billion-in-covid-related-expenses-q4-2020-10">Amazon expects $4 billion in COVID-related expenses this quarter — but its CFO says it's mostly coming from indirect costs like 'productivity drags' (BI)</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fti-consulting-hiring-restructuring-litigation-revenue-outlook-earnings-q3-2020-10">FTI Consulting saw a dip in its restructuring business that led it to cut the firm's revenue outlook. Here's why it still hired hundreds of new staff. (BI)</a><a href="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/jpmorgan-goldman-order-software-code-freezes-around-election?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=pagepage">JPMorgan, Goldman Order Software 'Code Freezes' Around Election (The Information)</a>

Inside Visa Equity Partners — Election whale trade — Asset managers' M&A playbook

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/525439c86bb3f785622c9bcf-1200-924/intel-brian-krzanich.jpg?maxX=480" border="0" alt="Intel Brian Krzanich" width="480" /><a href="http://cache-www.intel.com/cd/00/00/53/72/537272_537272.JPG">Intel</a></div></div>This holiday season, new <keyword id="89180" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="PCS">PCs</keyword> with <keyword id="28115" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Intel">Intel</keyword>'s low-power, long-battery life Haswell chip will hit the shelves as promised. That's good news for Intel and consumers alike.
But all eyes are on the next-generation chip, named Broadwell.
On Wednesday, as part of Intel's earnings conference call, CEO Brian Krzanich said the Broadwell chip will be delayed. Technical challenges have put it about three months behind schedule, he said, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/15/us-intel-results-idUSBRE99E0Y520131015">reports Reuters' Noel Randewich.</a>
Broadwell uses a mind-bogglingly small architecture. Its transistors are only 14 nanometers (nm) thick, about twice the size of a human blood cell.
Shrinking transistors from 22nm to 14nm is a huge technical challenge because such tiny objects are influenced by quantum mechanics and operate with different physical properties, than larger-sized objects do.
Intel is investing billions in new factories to create state-of-the art fabs that can manufacture such small transisters. It promises it can shrink them even more, <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/09/10/intel_reveals_14nm_pc_declares_moores_law_alive_and_well/">to 7nm</a>.
The smaller the transistor, the more of them Intel can pack onto each chip. This makes chips more powerful while using less power or battery juice.
In September, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/intel-shows-pc-using-broadwell-14nm-chips-2013-9">Krzanich showed off a Windows 8 PC</a> running Broadwell and promised that devices shipping with it will be coming in 2014.
Krzanich called the delay, "a small blip in the schedule," but investors aren't thrilled.
Although Intel beat expectations for its quarter, between this delay and a cautious outlook for the next quarter, the stock is down 2% in after hours trading.

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