Business intelligence

Business intelligence

Warren Buffett has made what may be his final major acquisition, with Berkshire Hathaway purchasing the petrochemical division of Occidental Petroleum. Buffett already owns a large portion of Occidental - between 27% and 35% of its common stock - as well as a significant amount of preferred shares from an earlier deal. This new transaction provides Occidental with about $10 billion, which will help the company reduce its debt and improve its balance sheet.

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground.

By analyzing cash flow generation, capital allocation strategies, and management quality, I can identify companies with durable competitive advantages and the financial discipline to maintain and grow their dividends through economic cycles. Early in my career, I realized that dividend investing is not merely an income strategy, but also a comprehensive framework for building wealth through companies that consistently return capital to shareholders while maintaining financial stability.

Snowflake, together with partners, is introducing the open-source initiative 'Open Semantic Interchange' (OSI). The initiative aims to create a standard for semantic metadata in AI and BI applications. The problem is ubiquitous in the modern data world. Every tool interprets business statistics differently, leading to confusion and undermining trust in AI-driven insights. As AI transforms the way companies use data, this challenge is only growing.

Predictive analytics transforms how we think about learning measurement by shifting focus from reactive reporting to proactive decision-making. Instead of waiting months or years to determine whether a program succeeded, predictive models can forecast outcomes based on historical patterns, participant characteristics, and program design elements. Consider the difference between these two scenarios: Traditional Approach: Launch a leadership development program, wait 12 months, then discover that only 40% of participants demonstrated measurable behavior change and business impact fell short of expectations.

Metrics creation is a crucial yet often overlooked component of effective data analytics. It transforms raw data signals into actionable insights, allowing organizations to track performance and identify trends.