When the question first appears on a phone screen, it almost seems theatrical: was the Strait of Hormuz closed? There’s nothing theatrical about it, though, out on the water. Tankers are idling in loose formations off the coast at dawn, instead of gliding in steady formation toward the Gulf of Oman. Dozens of ships can be seen hardly moving on satellite maps, their digital markers remaining stationary. The ocean appears to be serene. It’s not tense. Iran has not formally announced that the waterway will be sealed. According to reports, however, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has radio-warned ships that “no ship…
Author: errica
The words “Iran hit Burj Khalifa” flashing across a phone screen has a surreal quality. The tower has always seemed inaccessible, more of a symbol than a structure, rising 828 meters into the Gulf sky. Gleaming like a silver needle at night and shimmering in desert light during the day, it anchors Dubai’s skyline with an almost theatrical confidence. Rumors spread more quickly than the interceptors when missiles and drones started flying over the United Arab Emirates this past weekend. The Burj Khalifa itself was not hit, according to official statements from Dubai authorities. However, debris from Iranian drones that…
Alphabet Inc.’s Mountain View headquarters campus has an oddly modest feel to it. buildings with low glass. There are outdoor tables strewn beneath trees that have been pruned. Engineers with laptops in their arms are moving quickly. There is nothing about it that points to a $3.77 trillion company, but the price of Google’s stock, at $311.43, carries that weight each and every trading day. Investors haven’t forgotten the 52-week high of $350.15, which is still below it. Seldom do they. One gets the impression that traders are holding their breath as they watch the stock fluctuate between $303 and…
The stock of IonQ closed at $38.37, down over 6% in a single session, but still up significantly from the beginning of the week. The situation gets even stranger when you zoom out: the shares have almost doubled from their lows from the previous year, but they are still more than 50% below their 52-week high of $84.64. Even experienced investors start to sway in their seats due to this type of volatility. This time, earnings served as the impetus. IonQ reported $61.9 million in revenue for the fourth quarter, a staggering 429% increase from the previous year. That number…
At first glance, the numbers appear surprisingly calm. 678.88. 0.43% lower for the day. Beside the closing price of the S&P 500, a benchmark so well-known that it almost seems like public infrastructure, there is a tiny red tick. However, the market is struggling with something less obvious—doubt—behind that slight decline. The actual trading floor is no longer the tumultuous arena it was. Coffee cups sweating next to mechanical keyboards, the majority of the action now takes place on glowing screens in suburban homes and Midtown offices. However, beneath the surface, the tension still hums. Investor confidence may be lower…
The John F. Kennedy International Airport’s departure boards were already crimson by the middle of the morning. Flights to New York were canceled. As though the airport were stuttering, the phrase was repeated gate after gate, line after line. Outside, a fine white crust covered parked aircraft as snow whipped sideways across the tarmac. Bundled in neon jackets, ground crews moved carefully between idle jets, their boots vanishing into drifts that were accumulating more quickly than plows could clear them. Overnight, Winter Storm Hernando, also known as a “bomb cyclone,” grew stronger, causing its pressure to drop sharply and causing…
Before dawn, the departure boards started to turn red. The word “Cancelled” began to recur at Dubai International Airport, which is typically a ballet of long-haul connections and polished efficiency, in subtly defying the norm. The same scene played out in Doha, Abu Dhabi, Tel Aviv, and Beirut in a matter of hours. Flights to the Middle East were canceled. No delay. Not redirected. canceled. The trigger was set off quickly: US and Israeli strikes on Iran were followed by drone and missile launches across the Gulf in retaliation. There was a complete or partial closure of airspace over Iran,…
Rarely do the departure boards at Dubai International Airport appear muted. They typically flicker with cities ranging from Los Angeles to Lagos, São Paulo to Sydney. However, something felt different on Sunday morning. The word “cancelled” was repeatedly spelled in rows of red letters. Flights to Dubai were canceled. No delay. Not rescheduled. canceled. It was swift. Airspace over portions of the Gulf was suddenly closed after retaliatory missile activity and increasing military strikes throughout the region. Emirates halted flights to and from Dubai within a few hours. Flights from Abu Dhabi were suspended by Etihad. Flydubai and Air Arabia…
When someone is standing on the deck of an Antarctic research vessel, the first thing they notice is the silence. The Southern Ocean moves with a heavy, purposeful rhythm beneath the howling wind and moaning ice. It makes no announcements about its changes. They are absorbed by it. For many years, Antarctica was viewed as a far-off white continent that was responding to climate change more slowly than the Arctic. That presumption is eroding. Even seasoned polar scientists have been surprised by the rate at which the sea ice surrounding Antarctica has decreased since 2014. Once displaying a comparatively stable…
In northern Germany, the wind turbines stood nearly still on a dreary January afternoon. Normally slicing through North Sea gusts, their blades appeared to be suspended in contemplation. Ironically, in a nation that is staking its future on the sun and wind, there are days when neither materializes. Germany has always had high goals for its Energiewende, or energy transition. More than half of the nation’s electricity is now generated by renewable sources, a remarkable increase from just 6% at the beginning of the century. With 80% of electricity coming from renewable sources by 2030 and climate neutrality by 2045,…