Spend

A bank convinced the people of a poor town in the US to spend their savings. Now it’s full of millionaires

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Stories of Lucky blows and Millionaires There are manybut they almost always have a common denominator: We speak in singular. Therefore, what happened in a small town in Florida whose families were going through serious difficulties to get ahead is so special. Even today, the enclave continues to look like a bland and inhospitable town. But do not deceive you, there is still a large number of millionaires among people. And all Thanks to Coca-Cola. Quincy and the banker. This is the name of the people of one of the most fascinating stories of the United States economy. There, in the midst of the great depression of the 20s and 30s and with part of the census in serious difficulties, a figure appears that was going to change everyone’s life. His name: Pat munroea cunning banker, a businessman who noticed a key detail to convince all citizens. It didn’t matter how impoverished they were in Quincy or how serious the financial situation of families was, the man observed that almost religiously, people spent until the last penny in a good glass of icy coca-cool. What if that devotion made it a blow of luck? Coca-Cola in the stock market. The sugary giant began to quote in stock market in 1919 to $ 40 the actionbut a conflict with the sugar industry and its bottlers caused a 50% drop soon, when it reached 19 dollars per share. In other words, there was a time in the story in which Coca-Cola quoted for less than the cash in the bank and its actions were extremely cheap. And among others, Munroe was at the right time. The bargain of the century. What did he do? Invest. The man He began acquiring Coca-Cola actions As if there were no tomorrow. However, he did not do it alone. He encouraged all his acquaintances and friends of acquaintances in the town to buy a participation in the company. Focusing on the final profits and the power of the brand, Pat Munroe continued and continued buying. And while doing it, he kept telling everyone who were willing to listen to him in Quincy who also bought. He took advantage of the confidence and respect that the community had towards him and undertook a crusade to get anyone who could go up to the Coca-Cola train. Loans for shares. The man was so sure of his success that every time a person went to his bank to ask for a loan, I encouraged him to accept another in exchange for actions. Farmers, shopkeepers, teachers: absolutely anyone who could spend money was tempted by Munroe. For the banker, that Coca-Cola’s action was at $ 19 each was an opportunity that no one in the city should escape. That is why he did not get tired of buying and, almost equally important, to stand firm in the decision regardless of the market fluctuations that occurred in the short term. The ball. Finally, the banker’s observations were a historical success. Quincy, an eminently agricultural city, not only remained afloat in difficult times thanks to Coca-Cola dividends, brought a wealth that is still studied in universities. In fact, the enclave became the richest city per capita in the United States for a while, and dozens of its inhabitants were nicknamed “the millionaire secrets of Coca-Cola”. People who trusted the good eye of Munroe and invested all their money (and the one they did not have), and who kneaded huge fortunes with those first actions, which then transmitted from generation to generation, making them the millionaire eponyms of Coca-Cola, some who, effectively, established whole dynasties of financial prosperity that transcended generations. How much we are talking. It is difficult to speak in total terms, but for us to get an idea of ​​money, in 2013 it was made An assessment study of what happened in Quincy. The results found that a single action with reinvested dividends were worth 10,000,000 dollars. $ 270,000 in cash dividends would be sent before taxes to the owner by sending a check worth $ 67,500 in March, June, September and November of each year. In this way, if the great -grandmother and great -grandfather on duty had acquired a round lot of 100 shares for between $ 1,900 and $ 4,000, depending on the purchase price, they would now have more than one billion dollars, excluding the effects of taxes on assets. Money for crisis. That investment has meant a lifeguard every time a hard time is approaching. When the local economy was supported by coca and the crisis arrived, tail dividends. In fact, these assets have supported the city in all recessions since then. When the crops failed, it was the money of the Coca-Cola that kept the people used. When the national economy collapsed, it was Coca-Cola’s cash that allowed people to remain in their homes. When the times were good and Coca-Cola was cheap, they bought more actions. Quincy today. It is a unique story, by unusual. All families that kneaded a fortune then passed it to their children and grandchildren, in some cases through direct donations and in others through the use of fiduciary funds. Even the bank where everything started has a Coca-Cola on exhibition And, until a few years ago, an amazing 65% of the fiduciary assets under administration were still invested in Coca-Cola shares. Quincy’s appearance today does not differ much from the era of great depression. It is still a quiet and eminently agricultural city with a population of less than 10,000 inhabitants. But do not fool your sight, some of the grandchildren whose families raised an empire, that of the secret millionaires of Coca-Cola. Image | Pxhere, Ebyabe, Pxhere In Xataka | The 100,000 million club: the exclusive group of 14 millionaires that has doubled its members in 2024 In Xataka | There are rich and ultra -ups: countries with more millionaires, centimillionaires and milmonarios of the world counted in a graphic *An earlier version of this article … Read more

It is a strategy to wait less and spend more

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Take a day in a amusement park It is a pleasant activity, but there is something that can ruin the experience (and it is not normal food luxury restaurant price): The tails. Be in a jam by carwaiting for plane or for get into an attractiontails make us waste a lot of time –and money– Every year, but there is something that has reached the rescue of some parks: the artificial intelligence. And it seems that … it works to be less in the tail. And to spend more money. Disney and its Fastpass+. It is one of the companies that most committed to technology in its parts. Well with Robots to interact with visitorsbe Action doubles Or, directly, with invisible technology to not queue in the most popular attractions. We do not refer to your 400 dollars (entrance to the park not included) to skip queues (which also have parks such as Port adventure or the Madrid amusement park), but to something they have called ‘Fastpass+‘. It is a system that uses AI to balance audience peaks in an attraction. Create a virtual tail in which we can reserve access to certain popular attractions through the MY Disney Experience app and that reserve is loaded in the Magic Band (the smart bracelet) or on radiofrequency tickets. Depending on the AI ​​calculations on the use of attraction, he warns us to move to it, being able to enter without making a long tail. LEGOLAND’s great brother. Another example is LEGOLAND. With a technology that they have baptized as’Vision ai‘, The park improves the management of the queues thanks to a camera system placed on the attractions. They analyze in real time the number of people who are in each attraction, visitors who are in the park and the expectation of using each popular attraction so that managers can make decisions in real time. Results. These measures are not implemented by whim and have a double purpose: that the user is happier when wasting less time in the queues, yes, but also spend more time on other sides of the park where he can buy food, objects or services. That they work is something that is polishing over time, but there are already some interesting results. For example, the analysis From Legoland has allowed the park to identify moments in which some of its attractions had 10% of the empty seats. Implementing adjustments, such as the entry to the so -called ‘single riders’ (users who are alone), have increased the average travel by attraction by 30%. This implies enjoying an additional daily attraction per visitor. Another example is that, if virtual things are used, visitors have more time to spend in the park 25% more that those who do not use them. And privacy? The Disney system is like a Excel With AI support, but … What happens to our privacy in a tool that uses cameras to actively monitor park visitors? They already have Chambers for security reasonsbut in the case of Legoland, we talk about a system that is constantly monitoring us. In statements a Business Insiderthose responsible for the park claim that the cameras “analyze the number of people riding in the attractions at any time. It does not identify you in a unique way, but it does detect how many people are in an attraction.” That is to say, Come silhouettes and human movements, not faces What is clear is that the lines in the attraction parks are a problem for the user, so much that there are educational degrees in which you learn how to design them better, and perhaps in their management, AI and their real -time analysis can be the solution. Image | Xataka In Xataka | The catastrophe of the ‘Star Wars’ hotel: 3,000 euros per night in an interactive film of 350 million dollars

Nobody wants to spend three hours on a Saturday. And that’s why hypermarkets go down

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For decades, hypermarket was the dominant format in the collective imaginary of mass consumption. A huge parking, infinite halls, “all under the same roof” as a promise of efficiency and a comforting feeling of abundance. It was almost aspirational, a happy import. Today that promise does not advance, but goes back. According to the latest Mercasa data cited by The economistsupermarkets already concentrate 91.8% of the commercial food area in Spain. Hypermarkets, on the other hand, have fallen to 8.2%. It is a modest percentage change – 1.3% loss in a decade – but very symbolic: the consolidation of one model and the replication of the other. Not even the investment effort of Alcampo or Carrefour have reversed the trend: in a decade, the hyper have opened 37 new stores and added more than 27,000 square meters. But its relative weight continues to fall. Even in market value there is stagnation. After a postpandemic rebound, the Híper channel has returned to 13% quota, the same level as in 2021. And the format that grows most is ‘great supermarket’, that of more than 1,000 square meters. In 2014 there were 3,501 stores like this, in 2024 were 4,836. Almost half of the food sales surface in Spain is in the hands of this specific supermarket. The reading of some experts such as Kantar points to a combination of factors: Smaller homes. Average age of the population. Urban context that favors small and close purchases. Less culture of the car than in countries like the United States. They are elements that explain a good part of this displacement of consumption. It is not the people bought less in the hyper, but often neither considers going there. From the chains themselves recognize the turn. Alcampo recently announced a plan to reduce the size of 15 of its hypermarkets and close 25 supermarkets. He is also reforming more than 60 stores and strengthening his logistics for the online channel. All with the idea, they say, to “adapt to smaller, convenient and adapted establishments to new needs.” The parent group, Auchan retail, also crosses difficulties in other markets, especially in France, with two consecutive years of fall in sales. Carrefour does not escape either. Although he bought 46 Supercor stores, Its quota has fallen to 9.8% and Its matrix has also announced adjustments. It is early to know if we are facing the definitive sunset of the hypermarket or if it is a lower correction, but although it maintains objective advantages (assortment, price, promotions, suitability for those who need to go by car …), and it is likely that it will keep its relevance in suburban contexts, the tendency direction seems clear: the battle by surface, frequency and closeness is won by the supermarket. Maybe Change is not as commercial as mental: we no longer think about purchase as an event (which requires going to a very specific place, getting the car, dedicating more time, keeping it a weekly time) but as a more spontaneous and functional routine. And in that logic, the supermarket – Ágil, close, practical, integrated in our day to day – has an advantage. It is not that the hypermarket has failed, but that the context has changed. In Xataka | Mercadona has eaten its competition in Spain thanks to a recipe as successful as Leonina: 3.88% Outstanding image | Annie Vo in Unspash

Bill Gates has revealed how he will spend all his fortune. He has also made a very serious accusation about Elon Musk

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The Gates Foundation This week has celebrated its 25th anniversary. Founded in 2000 when Melinda French Gates was 35 years old and Bill Gates 44 (and was the richest man in the world), she quickly became one of the most important philanthropic organizations in history. Therefore, and because talking to Gates is always a “song”, The New York Times and The Financial Times They have had access to an extensive interview. He has rarely left such powerful headlines. Gates goes against Elon Musk and announces the plan to liquidate a fortune of 200 billion dollars. A transcendental decision. Yes, at 25 years of its foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation He has announced that he will definitely close its doors on December 31, 2045, after having allocated more than 100,000 million dollars to improve global health and human development and with the commitment to double that figure in the next 20 years. Gates, who will allocate almost all of his personal fortune to this final stage, argues that current scientific tools, including advances in AI, offer A unique opportunity to achieve radical changes that make its institutional continuity unnecessary. This strategy responds not only to an impulse of efficacy and urgency, but also to the finding of a worrying setback in international cooperation, aggravated by the dismantling of programs like Usaid Under the administration of Donald Trump, whose decisions They could be translated into millions of additional children’s deaths in the coming decades. Gates, although still optimistic, admits that global philanthropy is going through its most delicate moment since the beginning of the century. Elon Musk and moral terrain. The struggle between two of the most influential figures in the contemporary world, Elon Musk and Bill Gates, It was knownbut now it has reached a new and sour dimension with the very hard statements of the founder of Microsoft. Gates accused in the Financial Times Musk of being responsible, although indirectly, of “killing the poorest children in the world” after the dismantling of the USAID, a measure promoted by Doge, the entity created by Musk and backed by the US government. Not just that. Gates denounced that this decision, taken (according to him) since ignorance, has paralyzed the Distribution of essential medicines and food in vulnerable areas, in addition to putting fundamental programs for public health in countries such as Mozambique, where a hospital that avoided the transmission of HIV from mothers to children was affected by cuts that Musk He erroneously justified When confusing the African province of Gaza With the Palestinian region of the same name. An ideological and long enmity. As we said, the confrontation between Gates and Musk is not new. In 2012, both initially coincided in the GIVING PLEDGEa commitment to donate much of his fortune to philanthropic causes, but Musk soon described traditional philanthropy of “garbage”defending commercial solutions such as Tesla electric vehicles as more effective tools against challenges such as climate change. His distancing was aggravated in 2022, when Musk knew that Gates had Around short Against Tesla’s actions, which unleashed his anger and caused a public response out of tone in social networks. According to the biography written by Walter Isaacson, this revelation marked A point of no return between them. A moral and financial setback. Therefore, Gates’s announcement comes in the midst of unprecedented divestment in foreign aid. The drastic 80 % reduction In the USAID budget, cuts to key programs like Pepfar And the decline in international cooperation in countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany and France, illustrate what Gates Describe in the Times as a dangerous collective withdrawal of commitment to the poorest. The paradox, As explainedIt is that while science and health innovation offer viable solutions to eradicate diseases such as HIV, malaria or tuberculosis, moral and political impulse to finance these solutions seems to be disappearing. It emphasizes that instead of consolidating the achievements of the last two decades, the world is on the verge of reversenot due to lack of resources, but for a weakening of the “humanitarian impulse” that, until recently, defined rich democracies. A finite legacy. Gates He argues thatby establishing a closing date and not trying to perpetuate the legacy of its foundation, you can allocate many more resources immediately and decisively. This approach, which describes how A “BOLUS DOSE” philanthropic (a great power injection), will allow the annual expenditure of the foundation for about 9,000 million dollars and concentrate on key areas such as maternal child health, the eradication of infectious diseases and the fight against structural poverty. Gates believes that, thanks to innovation accumulated in recent years, it is possible achieve ambitious objectives How to half reduce infant mortality, eliminate endemic diseases in Africa and double agricultural productivity in the continent. All this while driving the use of AI in local contexts (from medical diagnoses to agronomist in regional dialects) as a motor to close historical gaps. Between optimism and urgency. In both talks, although he acknowledges that pandemic and debt crisis in the poorest countries have stopped decades of progress, insists that the panorama It is not irreversible. See in technology, in collaboration with new philanthropic actors and in the example of a foundation with expiration date, A realistic route to return strength to the global movement for equity. He also states that he does not want to build a monument to his fortune, but return it to the service of humanity at the time you can have more impact. In front of a new generation of more billionaires centered on space exploration Or in individual interests, the man claims the urgency of acting now to avoid millions of avoidable deaths and definitively transform the living conditions of the most disadvantaged. In his own words, if it is not achieved now, what alternative would he have? Give your money on ships? The answer, according to Gates, is morally obvious. Image | World Economic, Ted Conference In Xataka | Bill Gates and the autistic spectrum: a family revelation … Read more

TSMC has found a way to avoid US tariffs. Although 100,000 million dollars will have to spend

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Trump wins. And TSMC, actually, too. During the last two years we have spoken in dozens of articles of The three semiconductor factories as a avant -garde that this Taiwanese company is getting ready in Arizona (USA). Approximately will be spent on them 65,000 million dollarsalthough they will cost much more (each high integration chip production plant costs approximately 30,000 million). The rest of the money subsidies will be provided approved by the administration led by Joe Biden. For TSMC it is crucial to develop its integrated circuit production infrastructure beyond Taiwan’s borders. The only way to hold your business if in the future it is triggered A war conflict with China It is precisely having a very solid network of factories outside the island. And, if possible, out of Asia. In any case, there is another reason why TSMC is very interested in having more chips plants in the US: tariffs approved by the administration led by Donald Trump. Tariffs are strengthening the US technological ecosystem At the end of last January Donald Trump launched a warning Very forceful to TSMC: “In the very close future we will impose tariffs on foreign production of computer chips, semiconductors and pharmaceutical products to return the manufacture of these essential goods to the US (…) went to Taiwan; now we want them to return. We do not want to give them billions of dollars in the ridiculous Biden program. They already have thousands of dollars. money; The Trump government ensures that you will impose tariffs on all electronic devices that incorporate chips produced abroad Although this statement is expressly addressed to TSMC, the Trump government ensures that it will impose tariffs on all electronic devices that incorporate chips produced abroad. They belong or not to US companies. This decision has caused all the large US technology companies to rush with the administration with the purpose of drawing a plan that allows them to dodge tariffs. Apple is one of them. Just a week ago those of Cupertino announced that They will invest 500,000 million dollars in the US During the next four years to dodge the threat of tariffs. This money will be destined, among other purposes, to the construction of a new server factory for artificial intelligence (AI) In Houston, at the point of a training center in Detroit and the creation of 20,000 jobs. This is the context in which TSMC has just confirmed that something similar is going to do. And it is that a few hours ago CC Wei, the president and general director of TSMC, Donald Trump and Howard Lutnick, the US Secretary of Commerce, They have announced that this manufacturer of integrated circuits will invest at least 100,000 million dollars in the construction of five new semiconductor production plants in the US. These facilities are added to which TSMC is already making a point in Arizona (the first of these three factories It has already started chips production). Three of the new five floors will be integrated avant -garde circuit factories, and two of the facilities will be dedicated to the advanced chips packaging. In addition, a research and development center will be ready. Presumably these plants will create, according to TSMC, about 40,000 jobs. Anyway, everyone wins. The US government is achieving its purpose: drastically limiting its dependence on chips manufactured abroad and controlling 40% of global semiconductor production. And TSMC protects itself against a possible future conflict between China and Taiwan, and dodges US tariffs. Image | TSMC More information | Nikkei Asia In Xataka | Intel has a bullet in the bedroom. A bullet capable of helping you compete from you with TSMC

Tenants spend more than recommended for rent. And there is something that explains it: “Hot Spots” internationalized

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Buying house is not easy. Rent, either. Every month a large part of Spanish families living as tenants disheve The advice Of the experts and expose their pockets to situations of “overexertion”, which means that they are forced to pay their landlords a pinch of their income greater than desirable. When it goes down to detail, like He has just made idealisthowever, a curious phenomenon is observed: not in all cities the tenants make the same effort. Moreover, there are many provincial capitals in which this effort is totally assumed. The Great question Therefore it is: is overwriting a problem of the Spanish residential market in general or rather something that weighs on certain internationalized cities, such as Madrid, Barcelona and Malaga? A percentage: 36%. That is the “effort rate” that supported the closure of 2024 Spanish households living for rent. Or at least this has been calculated idealist in A study in which he nourishes two major sources: the ads published on their own website and the National Statistics Institute (INE), which has served to obtain information on homes and rent of families. The data is interesting because (technicalities separately) the “effort rate” is an important indicator for any tenant: shows what percentage of income dedicates to paying your home. The general recommendation is that this expense It does not exceed 30% of annual profits. There are those who stretch it a little more and talk about overwhelming alone From 40%. One or another reference is taken, idealist reflects that on Middle Spain exceeds the 30% barrier and steady the red zone. Click on the image to go to Tweet. A figure: 981 euros. The study Not only does the thermometer that Spaniards make to pay their rentals make. It also goes down to data in euros and sound. And its conclusion is that, on average, in Spain there is a two -room -type floor requires 981 euros per month, quite above what it would have to cost for a home standard He could rent it without crossing that red line of 30% of his annual income. Idealista believes that this “reasonable” and assumed price is 764 euros. The fact is interesting again for several reasons. First because it reflects that the difference between the “reasonable” price and the average that is handled in the market is 217 euros per month. Second because the study shows that there are very few homes that fit (or are below) of those 764 euros. According to their calculations, they are only 32%, which means that the remaining 68% of the rental housing offer requires the tenants to tighten their finances. A city: Barcelona. In Your study Idealista goes down to the detail of some provincial capitals, which allows you to appreciate an interesting reality. The effort to deal with rentals is not equally intense in all cities. Moreover, there are enough cities in which (on average) families are not even forced to cross the red line of 30% of their annual income. It is well seen comparing two extreme cases: Barcelona and Ciudad Real. In the first, the city, idealist Calculate That the “reasonable rent” for a two -bedroom floor would be 1,036 euros. That is, that is the monthly income that Barcelona families could pay without having to spend more money from their recommended income. However, there are very few houses that fit that stop, only 16%. Royal market rentals are much higher and are on average in 1,796, which explains that the city has the highest effort rate of the capitals: 49%. In the opposite pole is Ciudad Real, where Idealista’s photo It is radically different. There the “reasonable rental” barrier would be at 881 euros, an amount to which 98% of the homes offered are adjusted. Moreover, the average monthly payment is requested by a two -bedroom house is 501 euros, below that red line. Consequently, the effort rate is only 16%. Capital Effort rate (two bedroom housing) Barcelona 49% Palm 45% Malaga 42% Madrid, Valencia 41% Alicante 38% Segovia 35% Las Palmas de GC, Donostia 34% S/C of Tenerife 33% Bilbao 32% Girona 31% Seville 30% Cádiz 28% Granada, Vitoria-Gasteiz 27% Pamplona, ​​Coruña 26% Ceuta, Salamanca, Guadalajara, Santander, Huelva, Almería 25% Tarragona, Pontevedra, Oviedo, Córdoba, Albacete, Castellón de la Plana 24% León, Valladolid, Zaragoza, Logroño, Ávila 23% Murcia, Badajoza, Zamora, Soria, Lugo, Burgos 22% Ourense, Cuenca, Cáceres, Lleida, Huesca, Toledo 21% Melilla, Jaén 20% Palencia, Teruel 19% Ciudad Real 16% Spain 36% One question: Is it an isolated case? No. Neither from Barcelona nor that of Ciudad Real. In fact, the report reveals something else: that although on Middle Spain it registers an effort rate of 36%, several points above the desirable for tenants, in reality that indicator only exceeds 30% in a handful of large capitals characterized by its high population, internationalization and tourist profile. In Malaga, for example, which has highlighted In recent years for its ability to capture technological multinationals and as Digital nomad destinationthe effort rate is 42%. In tourist points such as Palma, Valencia, Alicante, Las Palmas, Donostia or Tenerife also exceed 30%. A fact: 39 capitals. Ciudad Real is not the only town in which the effort rate is in the lathe or even below 20%. In the same situation are Teruel, Palencia, Jaén and Melilla. In general, the idealist reflects that there are 39 capitals in which the indicator does not reach 30%. Eight other provincial headwaters move between 30 and 40% and there are five between 40 and 49%. The data are in line with the evolution of the effort rate nationallywhich has remained between 2020 and 2021 around 30% and has increased in recent years, but without exceeding 40%, such as In Barcelona or Madrid. A footnote. The idealist study is just that, a study. And as such it must be taken, also taking into account that focusing its analysis on a very concrete profile: its authors have focused on a profile of 2.4 people/home, “a current average … Read more

Spend a moment of real panic with these books that review the grotesque world of 80s horror and horror noire

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We peer into terror in ‘paper maze‘, the fantastic literature podcast that we do at Xataka in collaboration with Minotauro, and we do it with a couple of new features that combine classic and modern. On the one hand, an essay that delves into the disconcerting and insane world of horror paperbacks from the eighties. And on the other, a compilation of stories focused on black horror, the subgenre most concerned with the most terrible and chilling side of racial conflicts. For this he accompanies us Bernard J. Lemanan expert in horror literature with whom we break down these two volumes edited by Minotauro, and which confront the past, present and future of the genre in a unique mix. Paperbacks from Hell is the work of Grady Hendrix, author of novels that we have already talked about here, such as ‘How to sell a haunted house‘. Here he writes a wonderful essay analyzing with detail and a sense of humor the incredible panorama of brutal and exploitative horror literature of the eighties. With a chilling selection of covers and a good edition by Minotauro, which has taken care of the translations of the titles that have been published in Spain, it is an essential volume for anyone who wants to find out more about how the horror genre has gotten to where it is right now. . Jordan Peele, director of films like ‘Let Me Out’, ‘Nope’ and ‘Us’ is responsible for compiling the stories of ‘out there screaming‘, a volume of horror noire perfect for entering very uncomfortable areas of the genre. All the stories in the book have a racial component, and all genres are explored: from pure and simple satire to new meat, including horror of manners. Varied and very combative. How can you subscribe? If you liked this episode of the second season or if you want listen to ‘Paper Labyrinth’ from your favorite podcast applicationyou can subscribe through the main platforms: You can also listen to us and see us on our Youtube channel. In Xataka | Overpopulation taken to the limit, ultra-space thieves and other science fiction milestones by Harry Harrison

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