The S&P 500 broke out above a key level. Now what? | CNN Business

June 5, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The S&P 500 index on Friday closed at its highest level in almost a year. But that doesn’t mean that stocks are poised for a bull run just yet.

The broad-based index on May 26 closed above the 4,200 level for the first time since August 2022, when the market began to sell off and fell sharply to last year’s low of about 3,577 in October.

The S&P 500 ended last week up 1.8% at about 4,282, marking its best weekly gain since late March.

So, what caused the broad-based index to finally breach its level of resistance? The gains were powered by three key updates that investors cheered:

WWDC 2023: 5 takeaways from Apple’s biggest product event in years | CNN Business

June 5, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Apple on Monday unveiled its most ambitious – and riskiest – new hardware product in years: a mixed reality headset called the Apple Vision Pro.

Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook touted the Vision Pro, which combines virtual reality and augmented reality, as a “revolutionary product,” with the potential to change how users interact with technology, each other and the world around them.

The highly anticipated announcement came at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, where it also teased a long list of new features and updates to some of its most widely used products.

Here’s what you should know from the event:

There may be hundreds of millions of habitable planets in the Milky Way, new study suggests | Live Science

June 2, 2023June 1, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The sun is an ordinary star, but it’s not the only kind of star out there. Most stars in our galaxy are M dwarfs (sometimes called red dwarfs), which are significantly smaller and redder than the sun — and many of them may have the potential to host life, new research shows.

A new reanalysis of data from the planet-hunting Kepler mission shows that one-third of planets around M dwarfs may be suitable for life — meaning there are likely hundreds of millions of habitable planets in the Milky Way alone.

For the analysis, astronomers at the University of Florida incorporated new information from the European Space Agency’s Gaia satellite, which precisely measures the distances and motions of stars, to fine-tune measurements of exoplanets’ orbits. The researchers wanted to pin down a parameter of each orbit known as eccentricity, a measure of how stretched out the planet’s path around its star is.

Hiring and Retention Tips for Small Business Owners | Business News Daily

June 2, 2023June 1, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Hiring and retention remain top challenges for small business owners. Here’s how employers can improve their recruitment and retention efforts.

Hiring and retention remain top challenges for small businesses due to a lack of workplace engagement.
Businesses have difficulty retaining workers because many of them feel under-compensated and burned out. Additionally, finding employees with the right skills and qualifications is a challenge.
To recruit and retain quality candidates, businesses must provide fair compensation, career development, flexibility and a positive company culture.
This article is for small business owners and recruiters looking to secure and retain talent in the current job market.

11 Reasons Why We Fail to Achieve Our Goals | LifeHack

June 1, 2023May 31, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Thinking up a goal is the easy part. Pinpointing the specifics of a goal, developing a plan of action, and then following through with that plan of action and pushing past the inevitable obstacles that will arise is a different story altogether. As you can see, there are many reasons why we fail to achieve our goals (and our new year’s resolutions every year).

Former U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt is famous for having said: “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty.”

It would be easy to blame people’s avoidance of pain and difficulty for the fact that a great majority of goals fail to be met, but there has to be more to it than that, right? Well, there most certainly is. So, why do we fail to achieve our goals?

9 Types of Goals to Help You Move Your Life Forward | LifeHack

June 1, 2023May 31, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Goals can be about anything in life, as long as it is something you set to achieve within a timeframe. There are different types of goals you can set to make your life better.

For example, you can set a goal to improve your vocabulary by reading 30 books in a year. To achieve this goal, you’ll probably have to set smaller goals, like reading 30 minutes a day or 4 hours a week and reading up to 3 books every month.

While at it, you may discover that your family and relationship need more attention, as does your business. You might also find that you need to raise the bar of your income to meet surging expenses. Moreover, you also do not want to keep your health in the danger zone while pursuing your wildest dreams.

Amazon Launches Innovative New Echo Devices | Small Biz Trends

May 24, 2023May 23, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Amazon has unveiled an expanded line of Echo products that are set to change the landscape of the home tech market, and with it, present opportunities for small businesses. The tech giant introduced four all-new Echo devices: the Echo Pop, Echo Show 5, Echo Show 5 Kids, and Echo Buds. Additionally, the Echo Auto is now available in eight more countries, bringing Alexa’s assistance to even more drivers around the globe.

Small businesses can leverage these advancements as Amazon’s smart devices become increasingly integrated into daily routines. With over half a billion Alexa-enabled devices now sold, these innovations are set to have broad reach and diverse applications.

Tips for Wage Transparency Law | Business

May 23, 2023May 22, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Here’s how to stay compliant with new job posting requirements while avoiding workplace drama.

In the U.S., salary discussions have long remained a taboo subject. Now, not talking about it could cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.

On Nov. 1, 2022, New York City’s salary transparency law took effect. Other states, including California, are following suit with similar regulations. And while these laws might not yet affect you, it pays to prepare for changes as the pay transparency trend gathers steam across the country.

Don’t update your Apple Watch unless you want this display bug | Digital Trends

May 23, 2023May 22, 2023 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Last week saw the launch of watchOS 9.5, a relatively small update for Apple Watches that added the Pride Celebration watch face as well as fixed a few unspecified bugs. However, the update seems to be causing an irritating display issue for many users.

Posted to the subreddits r/AppleWatch and r/watchOS, users are reporting that the update has added a noticeable green/gray tint to their screens that changes the colors of the display and makes the usually crisp OLED screen look washed out. You can see what it looks like in the photos below.