Experience Over Inventory: How Department Stores Are Recasting Themselves for a Post-Transactional Age

Across global fashion capitals, department stores are no longer defining themselves primarily as places to buy things. Instead, they are repositioning as destinations to spend time, discover culture, and participate in curated experiences that cannot be replicated online. From ice-skating performances and architectural tours to wine tastings, designer talks, and fine dining, the sector is…

Mining’s Scale Race Intensifies as Rio Tinto–Glencore Talks Redefine Competitive Pressure

Rio Tinto’s exploratory move toward acquiring Glencore has injected new urgency into a mining sector already reshaping itself around scale, copper exposure, and long-term strategic positioning. While the talks remain preliminary, their mere existence has altered expectations across the industry, sharpening focus on whether the world’s largest diversified miners can afford to stand still as…

Capital, Power and Compute Converge as Stargate Pushes AI Infrastructure Into a New Phase

The decision by OpenAI and SoftBank Group to jointly commit $1 billion to SB Energy marks a decisive shift in how leading AI players are thinking about scale. The investment is not simply about funding another data center. It reflects how and why control over power generation, land, and long-term infrastructure has become inseparable from…

Scale, Scarcity and Strategy: How Mining Mega-Deals Forged the World’s Largest Resource Giants

The mining industry has long been shaped by cycles of boom, bust and consolidation, but the current wave of merger activity reflects a deeper structural shift. As demand for critical minerals accelerates and the cost of developing new projects rises, scale has become a strategic necessity rather than a competitive advantage. The prospect of Rio…

Deal Revival and Market Momentum Power U.S. Banks Toward a Strong Fourth-Quarter Finish

U.S. banks are heading into fourth-quarter earnings season with a markedly different backdrop from the caution that dominated much of the past two years. A broad revival in investment banking activity, combined with resilient trading desks and steady loan growth, has reshaped profit expectations across the sector. Analysts now expect the largest lenders to post…

Why Venezuela’s Political Upheaval Is Unlikely to Jolt Oil Markets Anytime Soon

The overthrow of Nicolás Maduro in one of the world’s most oil-rich countries might ordinarily be expected to send shockwaves through global energy markets. Instead, traders and analysts are treating the event as largely neutral in the near term. Despite Venezuela’s vast reserves and its symbolic weight as a founding member of OPEC, the country’s…

Washington’s Gamble in Caracas Signals a New Phase of U.S. Power Projection

President Donald Trump’s declaration that the United States will temporarily run Venezuela following the capture of its president marks one of the most consequential assertions of American authority in the Western Hemisphere in decades. The statement goes far beyond the immediate drama of a high-risk raid and the detention of a foreign leader. It signals…

Orbital Recalibration Signals Starlink’s Shift Toward Safer, Denser Space Operations

Starlink’s decision to lower the operating altitude of its satellite constellation marks a significant evolution in how the world’s largest satellite operator is responding to rising congestion and risk in low Earth orbit. Beginning in 2026, the network will gradually move satellites from around 550 kilometres down to roughly 480 kilometres above Earth, a move…