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<ul class="summary-list"><li>AI stocks like Nvidia, Super Micro Computer, and Broadcom soared nearly 20% this week.</li><li>The rally was sparked as Oracle and Nvidia CEOs addressing concerns about AI returns.</li></ul>The stock market's artificial intelligence trade was revived this week, with shares of AI stalwarts like <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/nvda-stock">Nvidia</a>, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/smci-stock">Super Micro Computer</a>, and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/avgo-stock">Broadcom</a> all soaring nearly 20%.AI-related names and semiconductor shares were caught in a slump following Nvidia's second-quarter earnings two weeks ago. Nvidia shares slid sharply after the company failed to meet sky-high expectations, which led to investors questioning how much further the AI trade could possibly run after a yearslong hot streak. Questions about the return on the billions of dollars worth of investment into AI by big firms led to a sell-off in the wider space. But the market staged a comeback this week as key players separately addressed some burning questions investors are asking about what to expect from big AI spend. At midday on Friday, shares of Nvidia and Oracle were both 16% higher for the week, while Super Micro Computer stock was up 19%, and Broadcom rose 21%. Helping to drive the week's resurgence were <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/orcl-stock">Oracle</a> cofounder, chairman, and billionaire investor Larry Ellison, along with Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang.Both executives addressed concerns about <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/ai-stocks-risk-nvidia-gpus-blackwell-tech-outlook-depreciation-accounting-2024-8">the return on investment for AI infrastructure spend,</a> and investors seem to be taking their word for it.<h2 id="b46ae1b0-31fd-46e1-a2f2-5e74ba98258f">Oracle's Ellison: 'This race goes on forever'</h2>Oracle reported solid earnings after the market close on Monday, and on the earnings call, Ellison made a point to talk up the immense potential of artificial intelligence.Talking about the sustainability of AI infrastructure spending trends, which have exploded in recent years, Ellison said it's not going to stop."This race goes on forever, to build a better and better neural network. And the cost of that training gets to be astronomical," Ellison said.He added: "I think this is an ongoing battle for technical supremacy that will be fought by a handful of companies and maybe one nation-state over the next five years at least, but probably more like 10. So this business is just growing larger and larger and larger. There's no slowdown or shift coming."Since those bullish comments, Oracle shares soared as much as 24% at their intraday peak on Friday.At its analyst day on Friday, Oracle also gave investors long-term annual revenue guidance of $104 billion by 2029 with earnings per share set to grow more than 20% between now and then."This matched the bullishness the Company has been coyly hinting at for a number of months now; this was the upside to expectations that justifies continued multiple expansion, in our view," KeyBanc analyst Jackson Ader said in a note.According to Ellison, building an AI training model for cloud companies will cost upward of $100 billion."That's over the next four, five years for anyone who wants to play in that game. That's a lot of money, and it doesn't get easier," Ellison said.That should be great news for Nvidia, which is the main supplier of AI-enabling GPU chips that cloud companies use to build their models.<h2 id="ce90f725-5b29-4e18-9be9-fff77569b08c">Nvidia's Huang: 'You get a 10x savings'</h2>At a Goldman Sachs conference on Wednesday, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was directly asked about concerns related to its customers' return on investment in AI spending, and Huang gave a direct answer."The return on that is fantastic because the demand is so great that for every dollar they spend with us translates to $5 worth of rentals. And that's happening all over the world and everything is all sold out," Huang said of the cloud hyper scalers buying his company's chips.On top of that, Huang explained that could companies are seeing immense cost savings with Nvidia's GPUs thanks to the computation inflation found with CPUs."You reduce the computing time by about 20 times, and so you get a 10x savings," Huang said of running Nvidia's GPU accelerators relative to traditional CPUs.Shares of Nvidia have surged 12% since Huang took the stage at Goldman's conference Wednesday morning.The AI rally has spread throughout the tech sector this week, with semiconductor stocks seeing renewed interest and a nearly 10% surge.

Why the stock market's AI trade came back to life this week

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Rains from Hurricane Helene caused severe flooding in western North Carolina, devastating communities.</li><li>But less than 3% of properties in the state have flood insurance, leaving many unprotected.</li></ul>Torrential rains from Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc on western North Carolina last week, with flooding that has devastated local communities, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://governor.nc.gov/news/press-releases/2024/10/01/rescue-relief-and-recovery-operations-continue-western-north-carolina">killed dozens in the state</a>, left many residents <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://governor.nc.gov/news/press-releases/2024/10/01/rescue-relief-and-recovery-operations-continue-western-north-carolina">without running water or power</a>, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-helene-hits-asheville-beer-microbreweries-north-carolina-floods-2024-9">uprooted businesses</a>, and destroyed homes.Rainfall collected by at least a dozen weather stations in the region, including near Asheville, reached their highest-ever 3-day totals during the event, ranging from nearly 13 inches to over 31 inches, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://climate.ncsu.edu/blog/2024/09/rapid-reaction-historic-flooding-follows-helene-in-western-nc/">according to a report from the North Carolina State Climate Office</a>.<div type="image" title="image of flooded street in Asheville, NC" height="4708" width="7054" msid="113922495" hostid="261" sizebytes="2725582"></div>But only about 2.6% of the 4.3 million properties across the state — or around 115,000 properties — had flood insurance as of June 2024, according to private provider Neptune Flood Insurance, which analyzed data from the government-backed National Flood Insurance Program. And that's a 2.5% year-over-year coverage decrease from June 2023, Neptune said.North Carolina Department of Insurance communications director Jason Tyson estimated that about 139,000 properties in the state have flood insurance through the NFIP.Neither estimate includes private flood insurance. But the number of private flood insurance policies in the US is small compared to the amount of NFIP policies, according to a 2023 report from independent insurance <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.policygenius.com/homeowners-insurance/private-flood-insurance-vs-nfip/#:~:text=Most%20policies%20are%20provided%20and,and%20availability%20of%20additional%20coverages.">provider PolicyGenius</a>.The North Carolina Joint Information Center told Business Insider that it's still too early to provide estimates on the number of buildings damaged or the total cost of the damages.<div type="image" title="image of destroyed home" height="5504" width="8256" msid="113922496" hostid="261" sizebytes="5511238"></div>Federal disaster assistance does help people who lost their homes with mortgage payments, home loans, or bill payments. But without flood insurance, many homeowners may be left with a significant financial burden. Part of the problem with flood insurance is a common misconception that regular home insurance covers flooding, which is rarely the case, four experts knowledgable about flood insurance and disaster management told Business Insider."They just think that, 'Oh, yeah, I have insurance. I have homeowner's insurance. I have State Farm or whatever. That must cover it,'" Trevor Burgess, the President &amp; CEO of Neptune Flood Insurance, told BI. "And it doesn't. They have to buy a separate policy."Another factor influencing why so few people have flood insurance is that it's not required for everyone — only homes and businesses with government-backed mortgages in areas that are designated high-risk flood zones are <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.floodsmart.gov/am-i-required-have-flood-insurance">legally required to have flood insurance</a>."One of the biggest drivers of whether or not people get flood insurance is whether or not they're required to have it," Jeffrey Schlegelmilch, a research scholar and director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) at Columbia Climate School, told BI."So if you don't live in one of these areas, one of these floodplains that trigger that, then a lot of people just simply don't get flood insurance," Schlegelmilch added.Margaret Walls, a senior fellow and director of the Climate Risks and Resilience Program at nonprofit research institute Resources for the Future, said that people also wrongly believe that if they're not in a high-risk flood area, then they're not at risk."It's not a lot of homes that are in those designated floodplains relative to the total number of homes, but there's still a lot of flood risks," Walls said. "And this is one of the biggest issues in the flood world is that the mapped areas where FEMA says you're supposed to have flood insurance policy are not the areas that are all risky. There are plenty of areas where you're at risk outside of those mapped areas."Walls explained that people don't understand their actual risks."They think that the map is telling them their risks," Walls said. "It's actually not. It's just telling them where they have to have a mandatory purchase of a flood insurance policy. But it's not saying that you're zero risk when you're outside of that area. And as climate changes happening, those risks are going up."And the areas devastated by flooding in western North Carolina were largely not considered to be high-risk flood areas. The State of North Carolina's Flood Risk Information System designates many of the counties in the region that were most affected by flooding after Helene as "minimal flood risk," <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://flood.nc.gov/ncflood/">according to a map on their website</a>."We almost always associate flood risk with hurricanes and coastal storm surge in Florida, Louisiana, and Texas," Jeremy Porter, who leads climate implication research at First Street, a public-benefit corporation that evaluates climate risk, told <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-hurricane-helene-flooding-north-carolina-f49b2a6bf2b549473e0211f883332592">The Associated Press</a>. "We don't think of western North Carolina and the Appalachian mountains as an area that has significant flood risk."And the perception that a certain place is safe from flooding contributes to the problem, Schlegelmilch suggested."This is one of those things we look at areas like Asheville, North Carolina, that were thought of as climate havens, where people thought, 'Well, I'm going to escape the worst of climate change and I'm going to move there,'" Schlegelmilch said. "And unfortunately, this is just an important reminder that we cannot outrun this."Having insurance to protect your home and mitigate your financial risks is an important step, and more people need to take that precaution, Schlegelmilch said, a sentiment that Walls and Burgess also echoed.Yanjun Liao, an economist and fellow at Resources for the Future, added that people should be prepared for even unexpected flood events, like what happened in western North Carolina."I definitely think that a lot more people need flood insurance," Liao said. "Oftentimes even people who are living outside of the flood zones, the 100-year flood zones and sometimes outside 500-year flood zones, can face these kind of unexpected flood damage."Liao said that the cost of flood insurance can be burdensome, particularly for those who live in more disaster-prone areas. But the alternative may be even more costly: rebuilding after a devastating storm.

A majority of North Carolina homeowners didn't have flood insurance. Then Helene hit.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/florida-residents-moving-leaving-climate-change-refugees-hurricanes-flood-2023-2">climate crisis</a> is an often-hidden financial risk when buying a house.</li><li>A few online tools can help you assess that risk and possible costs by address.</li></ul>If you're <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/florida-man-refused-leave-hurricane-proof-home-basically-unharmed-milton-2024-10">shopping for a house</a>, you're probably thinking ahead and planning for your future.Here's the thing, though: By the end of a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/mortgages/will-mortgage-rates-go-down-this-year">30-year mortgage</a>, you'll be living on a pretty different planet.Even if companies and governments across the world make some drastic changes — and that's a big "if" — humanity's carbon emissions have already locked in some additional warming for decades to come. That means more intense and sometimes more frequent floods, wildfires, hurricanes, winter storms, and other forms of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/housing-market-outlook-analysis-prices-rising-extreme-weather-risk-jpmorgan-2024-2">extreme weather</a>.You and your house could suffer everything from headaches and declining <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/housing-market-higher-home-prices-climate-change-air-quality-impact-2024-2">property value</a> to giant bills and life-threatening events.That's why it's important to take stock of the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/real-estate-housing-market-prediction-sun-belt-climate-change-zelman-2024-7">climate risks your home faces</a> in the coming decades.It's impossible to know exactly what will happen, but a few <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tool-determines-home-climate-risk-heat-wind-bad-air-2024-3">online tools</a> can give you an idea of the risks — as well as the costs you could incur and what you can do about it — depending on which house you buy.<h2 id="f72716a3-6428-4f34-94f8-2f3ebf4d7693">Learn about the possible damages</h2>The <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/zillow-gone-wild-weird-unique-houses-homes-hot-homebuying-selling-2024-7">most popular real-estate website</a> in the US, Zillow, has a new feature to peer into the potential climate future of each listing. The new "climate risks" tool shows <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/map-shows-united-states-extreme-heat-belt-study-2022-8">how many days of extreme heat</a> and unhealthy air quality a property is expected to see over the next 30 years, assuming humanity is on track to stabilize climate change by 2100. The tool also shows the likelihood of more destructive events: floods, wildfires, and windstorms.<div type="image" title="group of people watch wildfire burning home in the hills with palm trees" height="1771" width="2500" msid="114374425" hostid="261" sizebytes="281278"></div>These assessments come from First Street, a former nonprofit that became a for-profit company this year, which uses computer models to quantify certain weather and climate risks for individual properties. First Street says it incorporates a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/maui-wildfires-lahaina-wooden-house-spared-among-rubble-2023-8">building's specific structural characteristics</a>, as well as local infrastructure like roads and utilities."If you don't take stock of the climate risk specifically, you could be in over your head," Jeremy Porter, the head of climate implications research at First Street, told Business Insider.For example, if the cost of flood or wildfire insurance spikes as it already has in places like <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/homeowners-california-florida-insurance-issues-natural-disasters-wildfires-hurricanes-2023-10">Florida and California</a>, "all of a sudden your household budget doesn't make any sense for the property that you ended up buying," he said.The new Zillow tool also makes recommendations about insurance based on First Street's analysis.To dive even deeper, you can go to First Street's website and get a free trial of its paid service, which shows ballpark estimates of how much a flood or fire could cost you, expected cooling costs, and projections of <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/florida-insurance-hurricanes-extreme-weather-relocate-to-ocala-2023-10">insurance prices</a>. You can also toggle certain renovations to see how they impact those costs.<h2 id="0eef8ad3-480e-4072-aadf-cb64222742c5">Remember those estimates aren't a crystal ball</h2>Climate-science experts outside the company have some reservations about First Street's flood and wildfire estimates, though.Michael Wara, a senior research scholar at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, told <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://heatmap.news/guides/zillow-climate-risk-flooding-fire">Heatmap News</a> to take First Street's calculations with "a lot of grains of salt."Heatmap reported that First Street probably underestimates <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-wildfire-burns-multimillion-dollar-homes-in-california-orange-county-2022-5">wildfire risk</a> in wildfire-prone areas and that flood risk is very difficult to accurately model. You can try to cross-check flood risk with other sources like seeing if the town or city has flood maps available."Everything that we're offering are probabilistic risk estimates," Porter said."I think that just in general, the models give you a pretty good indication of which properties are riskier than other properties," he added.<h2 id="ea2c710b-3a7a-45fe-b58f-971596d4b019">Then check local building codes…</h2>Once you know the climate risks, you can assess <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-why-some-homes-survive-hurricanes-lessons-homeowners-2024-10">how well a property is built</a> to withstand them.<div type="image" title="slumping one-story grey and wood panel house with panels ripped away next to a standing yellow house" height="1500" width="2249" msid="114374424" hostid="261" sizebytes="407800"></div>A good indicator of that is the local building code and whether the house is built to its standards. The Federal Alliance for Safe Homes has a tool for checking that at <a target="_blank" href="http://inspecttoprotect.org">inspecttoprotect.org</a>.Not only does FLASH rate the local building code, but the tool also shows information about the area's past <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-how-profit-natural-disasters-hurricanes-wildfires-storms-investors-2023-8">natural disasters</a> and suggests upgrades.<h2 id="03112be6-cab7-49c5-9eed-55cc34037179">... and consider renovations</h2>In the FLASH tool, you can select the year a house was built to see what <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiny-home-renovation-old-abandoned-cottage-scotland-before-after-photos-2022-7">renovations</a> would strengthen it against different natural disasters. Each upgrade has a cost and impact rating.Taking matters into your own hands could make a big difference because, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.fema.gov/emergency-managers/risk-management/building-science/bcat#:~:text=FEMA%20tracks%20the%20building%20code,simply%20by%20its%20acronym%2C%20BCAT.">according</a> to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, only about one-third of US jurisdictions have adopted up-to-date codes to match their natural hazards.Even then, building codes are often designed to protect the lives of people inside the house, but not necessarily to prevent <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/florida-homeowner-milton-tearing-through-neighborhood-cant-sleep-2024-10">expensive property damage</a>."You got to at least have a good building code, but that's a starting point. It's not your gold standard, it's your minimum," Leslie Chapman-Henderson, FLASH's president and CEO, told BI.In some cases, renovations and upgrades can even help lower your insurance costs.

Before buying a home, check this hidden financial risk

For 10 years, Joe Gallegos Jr. lived the life of an LA actor, driving from audition to audition across the sprawling city in the hopes of landing a role. Things were going well — he'd landed a role in "A Cowgirl's Story," a military drama starring Bailee Madison, the "Dance Moms" star Chloé Lukasiak, and Pat Boone, and he was starting to read for bigger projects.That all changed a few years ago when a film role brought him back to his native New Mexico. He was close to family for the first time in years, and the film industry there was burgeoning. When the movie wrapped, instead of sprinting back to Los Angeles, Gallegos realized he didn't have to go back. The pandemic had shifted from in-person to on-tape. He's since earned acting credits in TV shows like "Pulse," a medical procedural on Netflix; and "Duster," a JJ Abrams drama on HBO Max — both of which filmed in New Mexico. The money he's made from those gigs and a few independent projects made it possible for Gallegos to buy a townhouse in downtown Albuquerque — something he'd never come close to being able to afford in La La Land."It's been a good decision because, as an actor, I can be literally anywhere in the world now," he told me.Lately, creative workers are increasingly chasing their Hollywood dreams in production hubs far from Hollywood. LA continues to hold the lion's share of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hollywood-losing-dominance-tv-movies-employment-chart-2024-10">film and TV jobs</a> in America, but after a long grind of jobs slowly slipping away, the exodus from the city has accelerated in recent years. A recent analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics figures conducted by Patrick Adler and Taner Osman of Westwood Economics &amp; Planning Associates found that the figure was 22% in August, down from about 33% two years earlier.So what's making actors, executives, and studios look beyond the Hollywood sign? Some factors aren't new. Most notably, states have long used financial incentives to try to lure film investment away from California. But those incentives helped establish an infrastructure across the US — with top-notch sound stages being built in cities as varied as Dallas, Atlanta, and Miami — that was ready and waiting when the pandemic-era rise of remote work gave those seeking a lower cost of living a real choice in deciding where to live. Add it all up, and it seems that the glitz and glam of Hollywood is struggling to keep up with simple dollars and cents.The filmed entertainment industry's center of gravity is shifting further from Hollywood at a time of upheaval. The decadelong shift to streaming was exacerbated by the pandemic, which stalled, then boosted, production as people stayed inside and became couch potatoes. Peak TV came to a halt in 2022 when networks, studios, and streamers couldn't make the financial math for all those new streaming shows work. And filming was shut down once again in 2023 because of the Hollywood actors and writers strikes.When projects slowly got back on their feet, fewer of them were turning their lights on in LA. FilmLA, which issues permits for production in the region, found that Greater Los Angeles' share of US-produced TV and film projects declined from 23% in 2021 to 18% last year. The number of people employed in the traditional entertainment industry in LA, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, hit a 30-year low in June. At the same time, jobs related to video gaming, live events, and the creator economy rose in the city as people's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.emarketer.com/content/digital-media-makes-up-nearly-two-thirds-of-consumers-total-time-spent-with-media">media diet</a> shifted toward social video and away from traditional TV and movies.The biggest reason that productions are looking elsewhere is cost. The wage gains made by the actors and writers have increased budgets for talent, leading producers to hunt for ways to drive down outlays in other areas — including locations. Thirty-seven states offer perks for film and TV production — typically in the form of tax credits equal to a percentage of a production's in-state spending, or cash rebates — and at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ncsl.org/state-legislatures-news/details/watch-out-hollywood-states-want-a-piece-of-the-moviemaking-action-1">least 18 states have implemented or expanded</a> film tax incentives since 2021. Georgia boosted its incentive program in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ajc.com/blog/buzz/top-grossing-films-shot-georgia-since-2008/joqaWPplc0L2mKzwmcNMwK/">2008</a>, helping attract big-budget films like Disney's Marvel franchise and the Netflix hit "Stranger Things." Atlanta's share of entertainment employment is still relatively small — just 2%, according to the Otis Report on the Creative Economy, a closely-watched research study — but that has doubled over the past decade and shows no sign of slowing.As productions move out of Los Angeles, it becomes easier for others to follow. Tiffany FitzHenry, an executive producer known for "Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot," has seen the Atlanta area evolve since relocating there from LA in 2009."We have training for not just below the line but people in producing, packaging, financing," she told me, adding that the shift in major studio movies to the city had brought with it the structures needed to sustain a more permanent workforce."The biggest movies have been made here for the past 15 years," she said. "We have all the toys and tools at our fingertips."Other states are getting in on the action. Kentucky passed an incentive program in 2022 offering fully refundable production tax credits worth up to $75 million total or $10 million a project. Its second-largest city, Lexington, recently hired the entertainment marketer Lisa Brin, a Lexington native, to help persuade studios to shoot there. Brin said Lexington had attracted 30 film and TV projects so far this year, representing more than $2 million in local spending. In addition to the financial incentives, the city touts production spaces like Lex Studios, a facility with three sound stages, a growing crew base, and a willingness to pull strings as they did for a recent production that requested a major street to be closed for a shoot.In addition to luring productions, these areas are also trying to make it more appealing for creatives to stick around once the cameras shut off. Georgia and Kentucky are among states that have invested in training programs to foster homegrown talent and initiatives like FilmLex as a resource hub to help productions. For transplants, it's cheaper to live and raise a family outside LA as well as New York, the second-biggest entertainment market. And while jobs and the cost of living might be the primary reasons people move, the proliferation of cultural amenities in many smaller cities makes it easier for them to stay. 26 Keys, a production founded by Noah Hawley, an Austin native who created FX's "Fargo" series, is taking steps to build up Austin's entertainment cultural capital, with plans for a library, events like industry happy hours, and film screenings, working with organizations like the Austin Film Society and South by Southwest. "I just don't think there's a real sort of hub that's trying to connect them," said Maddy Bilder, a project director at 26 Keys. "That's what we're hoping to do here."It's not just other parts of the US that are drawing film crews away from LA; other countries are trying to win over Hollywood as well. Hungary, with a 20-year-old tax rebate and access to culture and an expanding stage system, was recently the setting for Yorgos Lanthimos' "Poor Things." Australia <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ausfilm.com.au/media-releases/ausfilm-celebrates-passage-of-australias-30-location-offset/">nearly doubled</a> its location tax credit to 30% this summer after big-budget titles like the Sony Pictures rom-com "Anyone but You" and the Universal Pictures comedy "The Fall Guy," which starred Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, were shot there. Roughly 60% of Netflix's and Amazon's commissions in the first half of this year were on continents other than North America, according to Ampere Analysis."I know of producers, senior production people, moving to places like Australia or working in Hungary," said Tyler Mitchell, the CEO of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-ron-howard-brian-grazer-impact-production-crew-staffing-platform-2023-3">Impact</a>, a LinkedIn-like platform for Hollywood. "In the UK, Australia, the governments have supported a lot of education, training, to make sure as they built up production facilities, they had enough crew to service sound stages. So there is more of a talent base globally in places like Ireland, Budapest, South Africa, and the UK. I've heard of more productions in Saudi Arabia looking for crew than I ever have."Actually being on a set is only one part of entertainment production. Development, preproduction, and postproduction are responsible for a huge portion of what ends up on screen. But here, too, the need to physically be in the mecca of moviemaking is waning. Technology is giving rise to a Tinseltown version of remote work.Self-tapes, where actors use ring lights and film themselves at home to connect with casting directors, have become commonplace. Many meetings to pitch projects that shifted to Zoom early in the pandemic have stayed on video. On the postproduction side, file sharing and editing platforms like Pix and ScreenIt Pro enable production companies like 26 Keys to review content locally rather than fly to editing rooms in LA."A lot of pitch meetings are happening over Zoom, four years later," Bilder said.While the power of Los Angeles is dispersing, no single "new Hollywood" is coming to take its place. The end of Peak TV has contracted employment all over — the total number of jobs in the industry, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hollywood-losing-dominance-tv-movies-employment-chart-2024-10">at 447,000</a>, declined 9.1% from 2013 to 2024. Even as markets like Atlanta and Miami grow, their homegrown entertainment encampments have a long way to match the hundred-year history of LA — the most valuable parts of the supply chain, like casting big stars, greenlighting, and packaging, are still concentrated in the city."There's high stakes there. This is an area where trust matters," said Adler, the principal at Westwood, which conducted research for the Otis report. "You built it through face-to-face interaction, repeated exchanges. That's why casting for top roles still happens in LA, even if they end up being shot elsewhere."For those who are just starting out or who work on the creative side, too, Hollywood is still where careers are made and nurtured. FitzHenry wishes there were more directors and producers with packaging and marketing skills in Georgia. "It's a skill set that hasn't been outside of Hollywood," she said. "Currently, the only way to learn is for a producer to adopt and teach you. I was lucky to work with highly skilled producers, which I learned in LA, like an oral tradition. That's a lot of relational capital that needs to be established." Keisha Perry, a longtime entertainment attorney in Atlanta whose clients have included Cedric the Entertainer's production company and the movie "The Waterboyz," said that being a local attorney had made it easier to connect with the growing number of productions taking place in the South but that she still traveled to LA regularly."The reality is, a lot of the decision-makers are in LA," she said. "There are those people who feel as though if you're not in LA, your legitimacy can be questioned."Further evidence of LA's staying power is in the industries like video games, marketing, and the creator economy that are concentrated there because of the city's legacy in entertainment, which has endured through the rise of radio, then TV, then streaming. That may not necessarily lead to more TV shows and films being made there, but it underscores The Town's cultural importance.Gallegos estimates that he still gets half his work from outside New Mexico, helped by representation he has in LA. "The reality is, major roles are not cast here and often not shot here," he said. For all the perks, he misses the excitement of being in LA. "There's stuff happening 24/7. I'm a trained dancer, too. I could always jump into something." Then there's the nagging feeling that virtual auditions don't count. "Sometimes I think I'm sending things out into the void that don't get watched."Despite the similar professional gaps she sees, FitzHenry remains deeply rooted in Atlanta. She's found an affordable, friendly place to raise her kids and a tight-knit professional community that pulls together to help bring projects to the state, things she never experienced in LA."There's a sense people really care about each other," she said. "There used to be that mentality of, you have to be in Hollywood to be in the business. I think that's changing."<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/lucia-moses">Lucia Moses</a> is a senior correspondent covering the intersection of tech and Hollywood for Business Insider's Media team.

Leaving Los Angeles: Why the film industry is ditching Hollywood

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Investors should buy stocks ahead of this week's release of the April CPI report, according to Fundstrat's Tom Lee.</li><li>He said the setup appears favorable for higher stock prices as disinflation makes progress.</li></ul>Investors should buy stocks ahead of this week's release of the April CPI report, according to Fundstrat's Tom Lee.Lee said in a recent note that the "buy in May" trade is still in full force after the <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/index/s&amp;p_500">S&amp;P 500</a> jumped nearly 4% so far this month.Lee expects those gains to continue with the upcoming April CPI report likely to show disinflation progress, which would push stocks higher as investors shift to pricing in more than two interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve this year."We think an 'in-line' April CPI will cause the number of Fed cuts to rise from ~1.8 (by year-end 2024) towards 2.5 cuts or more," Lee said. "The rationale, in our view, is that this April CPI will highlight the possibility that auto insurance's disproportionate impact on CPI is ebbing."Economists expect the April Consumer Price Index, set to be released Wednesday morning, to be up 0.31%. Lee said his bullish short-term outlook is corroborated by ongoing declines in the volatility index, the US dollar, and long-term interest rates. It also doesn't hurt that other central banks are beginning to cut interest rates.Sweden's Riskbank cut interest rates for the first time since 2016 on Wednesday, and the Bank of England signaled that interest rate cuts are imminent. "Bottom line, we are still 'buy in May.' The fact that stocks rose this week is a positive signal. And next week, we expect incoming data to show overall softening of the key components of inflation," Lee said.

Why you should buy stocks ahead of this week's inflation report

Why America's hospitals are on life support  

<ul class="summary-list"><li>I hand't considered life insurance until 2022. </li><li>After doing research, I decided to get my 5-month-old child life insurance. </li></ul><a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/why-get-life-insurance-before-married-kids">Life insurance</a> had rarely ever crossed my mind until 2022, when I went through a traumatic childbirth and received the devastating news of my 29-year-old friend's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/diagnosed-with-brain-cancer-at-25-how-i-stay-resilient-2023-4">cancer diagnosis</a>, all while watching the market downturn wipe away half of our hard-earned <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/many-americans-dont-have-high-yield-savings-account">savings</a>.These events made me start looking for a financial strategy to safeguard our family's future, and I stumbled upon <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/why-you-should-get-life-insurance-if-you-have-student-loans">life insurance</a> with living benefits. Not only does it pay out upon passing, but it also offers coverage for critical illnesses, including cancer, providing financial support when needed most. Moreover, it can shield our savings from market volatility and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/life-insurance-retirement-plans-expert-advice-2023-9">pave the way for a secure retirement</a>, offering a steady lifetime income stream.This seemed like the ideal solution to my concerns, but I discovered some conflicting opinions from financial advisors and insurance agents. As a CPA with a passion for numbers, I decided to obtain a life insurance license to be able to calculate and assess its financial aspects. This ultimately led me to secure life insurance for my daughter when she was 5 months old.<h2>Maximizing the power of compound interest with minimal fees</h2>Life insurance costs are based on health and age. By securing a policy for our child at just 5 months old, we locked in the most favorable rate for her lifelong protection. Additionally, this lower cost allows us to contribute more to the life insurance policy's cash value and take advantage of compound interest for long-term savings.For instance, if we start saving just $100 a month for our child now, she can accumulate $1 million by the time she retires. Waiting 25 years to begin the same savings plan would result in a significantly smaller sum — around $150,000.<h2>Potential tax-free college funding without influencing financial aid eligibility</h2>When structured correctly, a permanent life insurance policy can provide tax-free withdrawals, making it a valuable choice for funding college expenses without affecting eligibility for financial aid.If a family has substantial funds in a 529 plan or other savings accounts, it can potentially reduce the amount of financial aid the student qualifies for. However, a life insurance policy doesn't count as an asset in this calculation, so it doesn't influence the level of financial aid available to the student.<h2>Flexible use throughout a lifetime</h2>While 529 plans confine their use to qualified educational expenses, imposing penalties and taxes if funds are redirected for other purposes, life insurance distinguishes itself with flexibility.Through life insurance, our child gains access to potential tax-free funds for expenses beyond college. This money can serve various purposes, from financing a wedding to securing a down payment on a house and even providing a reliable source of income for retirement.<h2>A financial safety net in market downturns</h2>Withdrawing money from the stock market during downturns can be challenging due to the declining value of investments. In contrast, life insurance offers stability with a guaranteed floor.For instance, with the 0% floor, the cash value in our policy won't decrease even if the stock market is underperforming. This is because the interest rate is guaranteed not to fall below 0%. Consequently, this means that our child can access the funds from her policy when she needs them, even in challenging economic times.<h2>Lifetime protection with living benefits</h2>Thanks to living benefits, the policyholder can tap into death benefits while still alive for qualified illnesses such as cancer, stroke, heart attack, and many more. This ensures we have the financial resources to cover advanced medical treatments and maintain, or even enhance, the quality of life to aid in the recovery process.<h2>A Legacy for the Next Generation</h2>Last but not least, life insurance can become a substantial asset to pass on to future generations, establishing a lasting legacy. By securing a policy now, we are not only protecting our child's future but also giving the gift of financial security to the next generation.<a target="_blank" href="https://hoanganhle.com/">Hoang Anh Le</a>, the founder of <a target="_blank" href="https://luxuryunderbudget.com/">Luxury Under Budget</a>, is a CPA turned financial educator, life insurance advisor, and entrepreneur.

I got life insurance for my 5-month-old baby. Here's why. 

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The prices of new and used cars are normalizing, but sales have flatlined, Bank of America says.</li><li>Consumers are still priced out of the market because of rising interest and insurance costs.</li></ul>Car prices are falling back down to earth in a steady decline from 2021 peaks. But that's no relief to consumer wallets, as car affordability remains low.<a href="https://institute.bankofamerica.com/content/dam/bank-of-america-institute/economic-insights/auto-affordability.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bank of America</a> says overall car sales have flatlined despite recoveries in both pricing and supply. During the COVID years, new car inventory slumped heavily as stimulus-rich buyers looked for alternatives to public transport. Deepening the crunch were supply-chain issues, which dented the availability of components needed for manufacturing. Used-car purchases picked up as an alternative; as a result, the prices of used vehicles swung past those of new models.<div type="image" title="A line graph showing the prices of used vehicles and new vehicles going up during 2021 and coming back down again in 2024." height="1366" width="1374" msid="110677908" hostid="261"></div>But supply has since bottomed out, and inventory is showing slow signs of recovery. Despite this, buyers aren't coming back as expected, with both new- and used-vehicle loan originations tumbling through 2023. That suggests sales have plateaued."One reason for this flattening, we believe, is that the total 'all in' cost of ownership — including elevated interest rates, insurance, and maintenance costs — has become more expensive even as auto prices are declining," the bank wrote on Friday.For instance, the note points out that car-loan interest rates have jumped steeply since mid-2022. Citing a nearly four-percentage-point gain since then, it means consumers would have to pay close to $100 more a month for the average new vehicle loan as of March.And insurance costs are similarly trending upward, having risen 22.6% year over year in April. The bank says premiums are likely to remain higher.<div type="image" title="A line graph showing the steep increase of interest rates on new car loans from 2020 to 2024." height="1408" width="1390" msid="110677910" hostid="261"></div>"In fact, Americans feel that vehicle maintenance and loans were two of the top five most difficult household expenses to afford as of April 2024," the report says, citing a recent Bank of America proprietary Market Landscape Insights study. "Nearly 45% of respondents reported difficulty affording these items, while the share was even starker for Gen Z at nearly 60%."Owners are instead holding onto their vehicles longer, potentially as they wait out for affordability to improve. The average age of US vehicles jumped 40% between 2001 and 2023, reaching 12.5 years.For some consumers, this market has prompted interest in electric vehicles and hybrids, marked by a sharp rise in EV loan originations. But this trend has limits, Bank of America says, as buyers will need to face limited access to charging stations.

Car prices are finally falling. Here's why people still aren't buying.

It was already a hectic day when my <keyword id="19996817" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="insurance" source="keywords">insurance</keyword> broker left a frantic voicemail telling me that my homeowner's insurance had lapsed. I felt nauseous and naked. Suddenly, any leak, fire, or tree branch falling onto the hundred-year-old Hudson Valley house that's been in my family for nearly 40 years could <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-meltdown-rebound-fed-japan-interest-rate-decision-emergency-2024-8">wipe out</a> my bank account. I spiraled in shame. How did I let this happen? Did I forget to update a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/credit-card-rewards-points-friends-fights-brunch-money-payment-venmo-2024-7">credit card</a>? Did I miss a bill? Did I do something wrong with the policy? But when I checked my records, even the <keyword id="20508386" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Travelers" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Travelers" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Travelers">Travelers</keyword> website, there was nothing. A few hours later, my panic turned to bewilderment. When I finally reached my insurance broker, he told me the reason Travelers revoked my policy: AI-powered aerial <keyword id="19942081" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="surveillance" source="keywords">surveillance</keyword>. My finances were imperiled, it seemed, by a bad piece of code. I take privacy and surveillance extremely seriously — so seriously that I started one of the leading <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.stopspying.org/">think tanks</a> on the topic, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project. But while I study <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-walmart-warehouse-surveillance-employees-oxfam-report-2024-4">surveillance</a> threats around the country for a living, I had no idea that my own insurance company was using my premium dollars to spy on me. Travelers not only uses <a target="_blank" href="https://www.travelers.com/about-travelers/technology-analytics/data-driven-and-powered-by-ai">aerial photography and AI</a> to monitor its customers' roofs, but also <a target="_blank" href="https://ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/20240005470">wrote patents on the technology</a> — nearly 50 patents actually. And it may not be the only insurer spying from the skies. This didn't just feel creepy and invasive — it felt wrong. Literally wrong: There was nothing wrong with my <keyword id="20715650" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="roof" source="keywords">roof</keyword>. I'm a lazy homeowner. I hate gardening, and I don't clean as often as I should. But I still take care of the essentials. Whether it's upgrading the electrical or installing a new HVAC, I try to make sure my home is safe. But to Travelers' <keyword id="19899640" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="AI" source="keywords">AI</keyword>, it appeared, my laziness was too big a risk to insure. Its algorithm didn't detect an issue with the foundation or a concern with a leaky pipe. Instead, as my broker revealed, the ominous threat that canceled my insurance was nothing more than moss. Where there's moisture, there's moss, and if you leave a huge amount of it on a roof for a protracted period, it can undermine the roof's lifespan. A small amount is largely harmless. Still, treating it couldn't be simpler. Sure, I could have knocked out the moss sooner, but life was busy, and so it kept falling (and growing) between the cracks. Finally, in June, weeks before I knew my roof was being surveilled, I went to the hardware store, spent 80 bucks on moss killer, hooked the white bottle of chemicals up to the garden hose, and sprayed it on the roof. The whole thing took about five minutes. A few days later, much to my relief, the moss was dying. I thought it was the end of an entirely unmemorable story. Who knows. Maybe if I'd done that a month sooner, Travelers' technology never would have flagged me, never would've said I was an insurance risk. But one of the deep frustrations of the AI-surveillance age is that as companies and governments track ever more of our lives in ever more detail, we rarely know we're being watched. At least not until it's too late to change their minds. While there's no way to know exactly how many other Travelers customers have been targeted by the company's surveillance program, I'm certainly not the first. In February, Boston's ABC affiliate reported on a customer who was threatened with nonrenewal if she didn't replace her roof. The roof was well within its life expectancy, and the customer hadn't encountered any issues with leaks; still, she was told that without a roof replacement she wouldn't be insured. She said she faced a $30,000 bill to replace a slate roof that experts estimated could have lasted another 70 years. Insurers have every incentive to be overly cautious in how they build their AI models. No one can use AI to know the future; you're training the technology to make guesses based on changes in roof color and grainy aerial images. But even the best AI models will get a lot of predictions wrong, especially at scale and particularly where you're trying to make guesses about the future of radically different roof designs across countless buildings in various environments. For the insurance companies designing the algorithms, that means a lot of questions about when to put a thumb on the scale in favor of, or against, the homeowner. And insurance companies will have huge incentives to choose against the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-are-new-homes-ugly-construction-builders-design-materials-architecture-2024-7">homeowner</a> every time. Think about it: Every time the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-quietly-picking-your-pocket-with-personalized-pricing-2024-7">AI gives the green light</a> to a roof that actually has something wrong, the insurance company picks up the bill. Each time that happens, the company can add that data point to its model and train it to be even more risk-averse. But when homeowners are threatened with cancellation, they pick up the bill for repairs, even if repairs are unnecessary. If the Boston homeowner throws out a slate roof with 70 years of life left in it, the insurance company never knows it was wrong to remove it. It never updates the model to be less aggressive for similar homes. Over time, insurance companies will have every incentive to make the models more and more unforgiving, threatening more Americans with loss of coverage and potentially driving millions or billions of dollars' worth of unnecessary home repairs. And as insurers face increasing losses due to the climate crisis and inflation, the pressure to push unnecessary preventive repairs on customers will only rise. A confusing coda to this whole ordeal was what Travelers said when I reached out with a detailed list of fact-checking questions and a request for an interview. In response, a spokesperson sent a terse denial: "Artificial intelligence analysis/modeling and drone surveillance are not a part of our underwriting decision process. When available, our underwriters may reference high-resolution aerial imagery as part of a holistic review of property conditions." How did this make sense given what was written on Travelers' own website and patent applications? Then the precision and slipperiness of the language started to stand out. What exactly counts as the "underwriting decision process"? When Travelers boasts online that its workers "rely on algorithms and aerial imagery to identify a roof's shape — typically a time-consuming process for customers — with close to 90% accuracy," does that classification not count as the underwriting process? And even though Travelers has flown <a target="_blank" href="https://www.aloft.ai/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Travelers-case-study-updated-5.14.21.pdf">tens of thousands of drone flights</a>, are those not part of underwriting? And if AI and drones aren't actually affecting customers, why file so many patent applications like "<a target="_blank" href="https://ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/20240005470">Systems and Methods for Artificial Intelligence (AI) Roof Deterioration Analysis</a>"? It felt like the company was trying to have it both ways, boasting about using the latest and greatest tech while avoiding accountability for errors. When I brought these follow-up questions to the company, Travelers did not respond. Thankfully, my own roof isn't going anywhere, at least not for now. A few hours after my panicked ordeal with Travelers began and I started to scramble to find new coverage, the situation resolved. Travelers admitted that it screwed up. It never conceded that its AI was wrong to tag me. But it revealed the reason I couldn't find my cancellation notice: The company never sent it. Travelers may have invested huge sums in neural networks and drones, but it apparently never updated its billing software to reliably handle the basics. Without a nonrenewal notice, it couldn't legally cancel coverage. Bad cutting edge tech screwed me over; bad basic software bailed me out. Part of what is so disturbing about the whole episode is how opaque it was. When Travelers took aerial footage of my house, I never knew. When it decided I was too much of a risk, I had no way of knowing why or how. As more and more companies use more and more opaque forms of AI to decide the course of our lives, we're all at risk. AI may give companies a quick way to save some money, but when these systems use our data to make decisions about our lives, we're the ones who bear the risk. Maddening as dealing with a human insurance agent is, it's clear that AI and surveillance are not the right replacements. And unless lawmakers take action, the situation will only get worse. The reason I still have insurance is simple consumer-protection laws. New York state won't allow Travelers to revoke my insurance without notice. But why do we let companies like Travelers use AI on us in the first place without any protections? A century ago, lawmakers saw the need to regulate the insurance market and make policies more transparent, but now updated laws are needed to protect us from the AI trying to decide our fates. If not, the future looks unsettling. Insurance is one of the few things that protect us from the risks of modern life. Without AI safeguards, the algorithms will take what little peace of mind our policies give us. Correction: August 9, 2024 — A previous version of this story cited a Travelers broker who said the company flew a drone over the author's house. After the story was published, Travelers clarified that any "high-resolution aerial imagery" it used did not come from a drone. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/albert-fox-cahn">Albert Fox Cahn</a> is the founder and executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, or STOP, a New York-based civil-rights and privacy group.

My insurance company spied on my house from the sky. Then the real nightmare began.

<div type="image" title="Indians are getting fancy, and they don&amp;#39;t mind paying a little extra if it means quality and luxury. Most consumer brands are witnessing an uptick in their premium product segment" msid="115018213" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Indians are getting fancy, and they don&amp;#39;t mind paying a little extra if it means quality and luxury. Most consumer brands are witnessing an uptick in their premium product segment&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> It's time to move over from plain, vanilla budget basics! Indians are no longer looking for “best purchases and value buys under Rs 1,000”—at least not as much as before. <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india" source="keywords">India</keyword>'s getting fancy, and how! From gold-flaked chocolates to swanky SUVs that look like they’re wheeled straight out of a Bollywood blockbuster, Indian companies are rapidly jazzing up their product lines, even faster than you can say the word "premiumization." But what does this mean for Indian companies and consumers? What is this jazz about premiumization all about? Is it just urban India that’s riding this wave, or has rural India also joined the bandwagon? We decode for you. <h2>What's premium, really?</h2>Imagine you’re eating Pav Bhaji at a roadside thela. Later during the day, you decide to dine out at a fancy, upmarket cafe, only to find Pav Bhaji Fondue on the menu. Same same, but much more expensive—often 5 to 10 times higher—for a little more hygiene and some better ambience! Think of premium products as this fondue. They are a notch up your regular, daily-use products soaps or shampoos, and even cars, all packaged luxuriously, offering just about the right touch of quality. The main differentiator, though, would be the price range. <h2>Driving home premium wellness</h2>A recent report by Nielsen suggests that over 70% of urban Indians are okay with paying a premium for their products. And companies are cashing in on this sentiment like never before. This explains why 58% of new products launched so far this year have been in the premium+ segment, as opposed to just 38% of new launches in regular, traditional trade. Take cars, for instance. Indians are no longer vying for a good old <keyword id="19950117" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="maruti" source="keywords">Maruti</keyword> 800 or <keyword id="20400567" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="alto" source="keywords">Alto</keyword>, traditionally known for their healthy mileage, but are rather happy investing in more swanky features that come along with high-end cars. In October 2024, India’s largest car manufacturer, <keyword id="19909974" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="maruti-suzuki" source="keywords">Maruti Suzuki</keyword>, sold 65,948 units of its compact cars like Swift, WagonR, Dzire, and more. Compared to the year-ago period, which saw sales of 80,662 units, this was an 18% dip. But take a look at their SUV (sport utility vehicle) sales for the same period. Cars like Brezza, Ertiga, and Grand Vitara sold about 70,644 units, a 19% uptick from the sales made in October 2023, i.e. 59,147 units. Simply put, when it comes to cars, Indians are saying the bigger, the better! The same is true for India's second biggest automobile manufacturer, Hyundai. Its SUV lineup made up a staggering 68.2% of the firm's total sales made for October 2024. What's more, SUV demand remained largely consistent across urban and rural markets. <h2>Consumers are inching up</h2>FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) are also riding the premiumization wave, with Indians prioritizing their health and wellness and not bothered about dishing out a few extra bucks for the same! You’ll find no dearth of words like organic, vegan, gluten-free, and sugar-free, peppered generously over every product you’ll see today, be it soaps, juices, or more. No wonder then, sales from premium segments in 2024 make up around 27% of all FMCG sales and even contribute a massive 42% to the sector’s value growth in India. Nielsen report further adds that luxury brands that position themselves at twice the price of their category’s average are even witnessing stellar growth. In fact, for most FMCG brands like Tata Consumer Products, <keyword id="20002610" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="hindustan-unilever" source="keywords">Hindustan Unilever</keyword> (HUL), Dabur, and Nestle, it is this premium segment that is growing much faster than their regular ones. And it's not just about daily-use products; Indians are also taking their celebrations a step over. Spirits manufacturer <keyword id="20125704" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="radico-khaitan" source="keywords">Radico Khaitan</keyword> highlighted that for the first half of 2024, their prestige &amp; above segment made for 88.4% of its net sales value. In the same period, the regular popular segment accounted for just 9.1% of their net sales. From Hindustan Unilever, which saw its premium products grow 30% over the last quarter, to <keyword id="20521971" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="kingfisher" source="keywords">Kingfisher</keyword> beer's parent company, <keyword id="20124009" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="united-breweries" source="keywords">United Breweries</keyword>, whose premium product sales volume jumped by 27% during the quarter as opposed to just a 5% rise in overall volumes, everyone is seemingly taking their lifestyle a notch above. Per the Nielsen report, in 2024, a typical global consumer spends about $13.7k per year. This is set to grow by around 2.4% to $14k as early as next year. Even a report by Goldman Sachs also highlighted a similar trend, noting that India’s affluent class, or those earning over $10,000 (Rs 8,42,694.97), is set to reach 100 million in the next 3 years. And where will this consumer spend? On premium products! <h2>Online shopping shifts from mass to class</h2>Amazon’s Great Indian Shopping Festival, which was live between September 27 and October 29 this year, saw 140 crore customers, more than 85% of whom came from non-metro Indian cities. On the site, there was a 400% spike in sales in premium sales across categories like watches, fragrances, handbags, jewelry, and more. Rival <keyword id="19896939" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="flipkart" source="keywords">Flipkart</keyword> noted a similar trend, recording 1.8x growth in premium beauty and personal care products during the first half of this year. <h2>Dialing in premiumness</h2>The Indian smartphone ecosystem has always been dominated by basic phones, or those entry- and mid-range phones that are priced between Rs 10,000 and Rs 6,000. But that has changed in recent times, with premium smartphones (i.e., those priced over Rs 60,000) registering 20%+ growth in 2024. During the first quarter of this year, sales of mass phones (priced between Rs 10,000 and 20,000) reached 44%, compared to 51% in the year-ago period. But it's all sunny and shiny in the mid-premium (priced between Rs 40,000 and Rs 60,000) and super-premium segments (priced above Rs 60,000). Sales growth has burgeoned by as much as 27% and 86% in these categories, respectively. As India continues its march toward becoming the world's third-largest economy by 2027, the premium party is just getting started. Industry experts predict that premium segments will grow faster than you can say "sustainable organic handcrafted artisanal batch of coffee." So the next time you see someone dropping serious rupees on a fancy bottle of black water that also somehow plays music and tracks their hydration (yes, that's a thing), remember: This is just the trailer. Picture abhi baaki hai, mere dost! Do you have a topic in mind you'd want a simpler explanation for, or insights or experiences to share on personal finance and more? Contact us at businessinsider@timesinternet.in.

Simply Put: From Dal to Dolce—India is loving its luxury life

<ul class="summary-list"><li>I <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/american-move-family-kids-to-dubai-similarities-to-america-2024-8">moved my family of five</a> from Connecticut to Switzerland in 2016.</li><li>We were welcomed into our new community with open arms, and it's so easy to get around.</li></ul>In 2016, my family was eager for change. We were having a hard time finding an <keyword id="23304879" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="inclusive-school" source="keywords">inclusive school</keyword> for my 9-year-old <keyword id="23304878" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="neurodivergent-son" source="keywords">neurodivergent son</keyword>, who was depressed from years of bullying and exclusion. On TV, politicians also continued to fight to keep assault rifles legal in homes four years after the mass shooting of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School, a short drive from my house. Just before the presidential election, my husband's employer offered him an opportunity to move to Switzerland. At first, the move felt too wild to consider. But as political tensions in the US continued to rise, we only felt more depressed and isolated. Families and friends fought over how the country should be run, and we still had no school for our son. By the end of the year, my husband took the offer and we officially decided to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mistakes-i-made-switzerland-first-time-airbnb-restaurants-buses-2024-7">move abroad</a>. <h2>We folded seamlessly into our interconnected Swiss community</h2> <div type="image" title="amy's daughter walking along the water in switzerland" height="3024" width="4032" msid="113637041" hostid="261"></div>Because of my husband's job, we quickly obtained resident permits to live in Switzerland and acquired health insurance. I also found an international school that was willing to work with our son. When we arrived in our hilly Swiss neighborhood a mile from Lake Zurich, it felt like we were welcomed with open arms — especially by local expats. All around me were families from Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and South America who were also <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/typical-immigrant-united-states-jobs-construction-food-services-florida-california-2024-4">new immigrants</a>. When I got lost in parking lots, tunnels, and tiny streets and constantly misinterpreted cultural signals, I expected to be scolded, but I wasn't. Our international community offered helpful tips and advice. On the days I was hopeless at learning German, couldn't unlock a grocery cart, or failed to interpret labels on cereal boxes, someone was there to help. Though our backgrounds and beliefs varied widely, we united in our general awe of our new, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/most-beautiful-places-to-visit-from-expert-2024-6">beautiful country</a>. Most of us had no family nearby, so we became each other's people. <h2>Many aspects of life are just easier here</h2>In our suburban Connecticut neighborhood, there were no sidewalks, accessible bike paths, or <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-public-transportation-new-york-city-ferry-opinion-2023-8">public-transportation</a><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-public-transportation-new-york-city-ferry-opinion-2023-8"> options</a>, so we had to drive everywhere. Having the freedom to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/car-free-in-the-suburbs-happier-healthier-2024-3">get around without a car</a> in Switzerland has been life-altering for us. It eases our days and helps us stay connected to the beautiful nature around us. Here, most people stroll down long wanderwegs (paved trails) lined with trees and primroses on their way from home, school, or the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-vs-target-grocery-shopping-which-is-better-review-2024-9">grocery store</a>. If walkers need to rest, there are red benches perched beside fields full of happy cows. We can swim, walk dogs, run, and hike pretty much anywhere on pristinely maintained paths. And if we're traveling a little farther, the local <keyword id="20415868" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="public-transportation" source="keywords">public transportation</keyword> is clean, safe, and convenient. Bus stops and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/traveling-with-kids-first-amtrak-train-new-york-worth-it-2024-5">train stations</a> sit on most corners. Beyond being physically connected here, there's a communal responsibility for people of all ages. That means it's even pretty <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tips-keep-children-safe-disney-world-2024-8">safe for my children</a> to get around by themselves. Independence is highly valued. I often see young kids — usually wearing bright-orange lapels so others know they're traveling alone — walking along sidewalks or hopping onto public transit to get to school. <h2>As the US continues to deal with extreme political divides, we're staying abroad</h2> <div type="image" title="amy's kids looking at a field of cows" height="3024" width="4032" msid="113637035" hostid="261"></div>The US will always have a special place in my heart. But, for now, it's not somewhere I want my family to call home. Earlier this year — almost eight years after <keyword id="23304877" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="moving-to-Switzerland" source="keywords">moving to Switzerland</keyword> — I returned to the US to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/weekend-trip-new-york-city-on-budget-not-worth-it-2023-12">stay in Manhattan</a> with my youngest daughter. It was strange to be back; I felt like a foreigner. I had fun showing her our homeland, playing <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/i-rent-out-my-pickleball-court-to-strangers-made-money-2024-9">pickleball in Central Park</a>, visiting writer friends, touring artists' studios, listening to live jazz, and feeling nostalgia for the version of America that's been inaccessible to me for a long time. But then, I stumbled upon a wall of barricades in front of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue — people were furiously shouting at each other about contrasting political views right on the street. Sadly, that scene was the only reminder I needed of why I left in the first place. Correction: September 24, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misstated when the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting happened. In 2016, it had been four years since the shooting, not five.

I moved my family from the US to Switzerland 8 years ago. The difference in our quality of life is astounding.     

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Victoria Craparotta and Flavio Fabiani fell in love during a study abroad program in Spain. </li><li>Craparotta is Canadian, and Fabiani is Italian, so they decided to test out life in both countries.</li></ul>Victoria Craparotta and Flavio Fabiani had a decision to make. In 2022, after maintaining a long-distance relationship for over two years, Fabiani, a 27-year-old architect <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/teachers-buy-house-in-italy-instead-of-more-expensive-usa-2024-5">from Italy,</a> moved to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/millennial-moved-to-florida-leaving-canada-cant-work-happier-healthier-2024-5">Toronto</a> to be with Craparotta, a 26-year-old <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/canadian-in-us-doesnt-understand-why-americans-want-to-move-2024-5">Canadian</a>. They'd met at a study abroad program in <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moved-to-denver-colorado-and-regretted-it-2023-11">Spain</a> in 2019. It was their only "opportunity" to live in the same place, Craparotta told Business Insider. She had a full-time e-commerce job at Dyson, the technology and appliance company, while Fabiani had just graduated from college and had fewer commitments. <div type="image" title="Victoria Craparotta and Flavio Fabiani sitting at the edge of the Trevi Fountain in Rome." height="1707" width="1280" msid="112443085" hostid="261"></div>As the expiry date for his working holiday visa neared, Fabiani said they settled on a solution, "Let's do the same experience in Italy. And then, at the end of it, let's decide where we're going to stay." Craparotta, who was disillusioned with her job and ready for a fresh start, agreed. She quit her job and flew to Rome in May 2023 on a working holiday visa to start a new chapter with Fabiani. A year later, the <keyword id="19915400" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="couple" source="keywords">couple</keyword> is still in Rome. There have been challenges, like turning a dusty old apartment Fabiani inherited into their home, and plenty of adjustments, but they aren'tinterested in moving back to Canada anytime soon — here's why. <h2>Italy is pedestrian-friendly and a convenient base for travel</h2>One of Fabiani's first questions to Craparotta when he arrived in <keyword id="19988008" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Toronto" source="keywords">Toronto</keyword> was, "Where are the mountains?" Like many first-time visitors, Fabiani assumed Canada was "covered in nature," and that places like <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-go-to-banff-canada-things-to-do-2023">Banff National Park</a> were a stone's throw away, Craparotta said. But the best lakes are a two-hour drive from Toronto, she said, and potentially pricey flights are the easiest way to get to hot spots like Vancouver. As an architect, Fabiani enjoyed how "industrial-looking" Toronto is, but he wasn't a fan of how reliant the couple was on a car in the city's suburbs, where they lived with Craparotta's parents. <div type="image" title="A bird's-eye view of the buildings lit up with lights in the business district in Toronto at night." height="853" width="1280" msid="112443087" hostid="261"></div>By contrast, Craparotta appreciates how "walkable" Rome is, even in its outskirts, and how close it is to lakes, beaches, and quaint medieval towns. Another upside is that the couple doesn't have to plan European vacations that far in advance. "Back in Canada, I would have to plan and take a one-week trip to go anywhere in Europe," she said. Based in Europe, it's relatively easy — and cheap — to book weekend trips on trains or budget airlines to Milan or <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amalfi-coast-towns-to-stay-in-according-to-local">the Amalfi Coast</a>, as well as international spots like London or Paris. "Ican easily travel around Italy or Europe for the same cost as a long-distance bus ticket in Canada," Craparotta said. <h2>Food in Italy is better, healthier, and cheaper</h2>Craparotta and Fabiani are big on food, as cooking isone of their favorite things to do together. But Fabiani wasn't a huge fan of some Toronto dining options. Craparotta said her mother was excited to take Fabiani to her favorite Italian spot. Like most Italians she's met, Fabiani is "brutally honest," Craparotta said. When a waiter came by to ask how the food was, his response was: "Not the greatest." It was only after Craparotta moved to Rome that she understood where Fabiani was coming from. <div type="image" title="An assortment of fresh fruit and vegetables on sale at a farmers market in Rome." height="854" width="1280" msid="112443084" hostid="261"></div>Italians "cook very simply," and there are fewer deep-fried or sugary dishes compared to restaurants in Canada, Craparotta said. "I could eat out three days in a row, and I'm not going to gain a crazy amount of weight," she said. Craparotta also said the produce is much fresher and cheaper in Italy. In Rome, she added, she can pop over to a local vegetable vendor and buy a week's worth of fruit and vegetables for 10 euros (or about $10), whereas in Toronto, a single bag of lettuce can cost as much as 10 Canadian dollars (or $7). <h2>Italian social life is less focused on drinking</h2>In Toronto, Craparotta was used to a social life that revolved around drinking. It came as a culture shock for Fabiani. When they lived in Canada, Craparotta remembered Fabiani being shocked by a rowdy party where people were playing beer pong and drinking out of red Solo cups. "The first time that I experienced something different to that was when I was in Spain with my Italian friends, because they would always have dinner parties or wine nights," Craparotta said. That's what most of their social life is like in Rome now, which Craparotta prefers as it's easier to get to know people and have more in-depth conversations. "If we go out, it's like one or two glasses of wine, and they're not drinking more than that," Craparotta said. <h2>Italy's job market can be tough, especially if you're used to North American salaries</h2>Craparotta came to Rome on a working holiday visa with "the hopes" that she'd eventually find a full-time job in e-commerce. Even though she felt she had the advantage of having worked for a well-known technology company for years, it became clear with every rejection that her lack of fluency in Italian was a real issue. "With Italian culture, it's so social, especially at the office," she said, adding that most of the companies she interviewed at didn't feel she was a "social fit" because of her language skills. <div type="image" title="Rome, Italy." height="3840" width="5760" msid="112443088" hostid="261"></div>Craparotta also had a "hard time" accepting how much lower salaries are in Rome compared with Toronto. According to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=Canada&amp;city1=Toronto&amp;country2=Italy&amp;city2=Rome">Numbeo</a>, a data-based website that crowdsources the cost of living in major cities across the world, the average monthly net salary in Toronto is 4,937 CAD ($3,564), whereas Rome's is 2,870 CAD ($2,071). "When I got here, people were saying my expectations were way too high," she said. As the months passed without an offer for her, she and Fabiani reluctantly toyed with the idea of moving back to Canada. "I didn't want to leave," she said. "But the job market in Italy is not your friend." But after over a year of applying, Craparotta secured a decent-paying job in Rome in e-commercethat she will start in July. While she is making less than what she would back in Toronto, Craparotta said the location is worth the pay cut. "You can do more with less in Rome," she said. "There's always something to do, amazing food to eat, and people out enjoying life." Correction: August 12, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misstated the start date of Craparotta's e-commerce job in Rome. It was July of this year, not July of next year; she has started the role.

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