Tesla seems to be on quite a roll. Sales are rising, profits are rising and accompanying buzz is off the charts for the luxury-electric-vehicle startup that keeps acquiring momentum even as other EVs and the brands that peddle them are stalling out.

Yet there are some speed bumps in Tesla's way, as indicated by a new evaluation by Barron's that apparently was singly responsible for a hit to Tesla's stock price this week.

As co-founder Elon Musk dimensionalized Tesla's aims, paid off its US-government "green" loan of nearly a half-billion dollars, and released quarterly numbers recently, both investors and the news media—as well as American consumers—warmed to the prospect that there would be enough customers for the $70,000 Tesla Model S to keep the brand's success story going.Continue reading...

eBay is diving deeper into mobile-enabled, real-time shopping with the launch of "shoppable windows," which will bolster the site's partnership with physical retailers while capitalizing on the greater shift to on-the-go shopping. 

The once online auction-only behemoth continues to expand its role as a middleman between consumers and retailers, following earlier pop-up shops and virtual storefronts. Last year saw the introduction of the mobile, same-day delivery shopping service eBay Now (which is relaunching on mobile) as well as partnerships with major retailers such as Macy's on mobile payments, and wooing major retailers like Target.

The first four windows will be open from June 8 through July 7 in New York City, each offering 30 items from the new Kate Spade Saturday collection, which was recently launched by Fifth & Pacific. The screens, which measure 9 feet across and 2 feet high, are placed on the front windows of closed stores, allowing shoppers to touch and order products, which are delivered within an hour via courier. Payment will be accepted by couriers through PayPal Here, eBay’s mobile payment service.Continue reading...

Elon Musk already invented one digital-age business, is well on his way to creating another, and now has his sights set on fathering yet a third: affordable, appealing electric cars.

The co-founder of PayPal, which originated digital currency on a broad scale, and the CEO of SpaceX, which is trying to make space travel mainstream, has run into a recent winning streak with his other company, Tesla Motors. Bouncing high off the low of a tussle with The New York Times over the winter about the charge-holding capabilities of the Tesla Model S, Musk recently has made the company profitable for the first time, sold more than 4,000 Model S units in the first quarter, and paid off a $452 million federal government "green" loan early.

Investors have shown their appreciation by bidding up Tesla stock. Musk is talking about what kind of company might eventually want to acquire Tesla, and he's become a media darling once again.Continue reading...

As the mobile payments market heats up with entries like MasterPass from MasterCard, mobile payment player Square continues to forge new ground.

Last November, Square, the brainchild of Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, scored a coup by getting Starbucks to accept mobile payments in some 7,000 locations. Users of Square Wallet could also browse menu information and store hours, gain access to their transaction history and even explore nearby businesses. Now Square is adding new features to Square Register so it is all the more attractive to quick-service restaurants.

The move by Square is significant. For the most part, the brand's customer base is comprised of individual merchants, including taxi drivers, food truck owners and people who provide personal services. By adding features such as the ability to modify orders and customize kitchen tickets, Square is hoping to further penetrate the food business.Continue reading...

Apple loses throne to Exxon as world's biggest company as its slowdown threatens a $30-billion global supplier web.

Twitter launches music app for iOs devices today.

Burberry sales rise as China growth recovers.

BlackBerry says Alicia Keyes delivers its PowerPoint presentations.

CNN deals with aftermath of erroneous reporting in Boston Marathon investigation.

Carnival plans to spend up to $700 million to upgrade fleet.

Chevrolet says its new Cruze diesel outdoes Volkswagen Jetta diesel in mileage.Continue reading...

Elon Musk is trying to pull off a neat bit of complicated brand re-architecture these days: further elevating his Tesla line of electric vehicles above the general U.S. auto industry while at the same time essentially attempting to mainstream his pricey battery-powered machines with other luxury cars.

It appears that Tesla is shaking off both the deep skepticism of general-market American consumers about EVs and the brand's own recent brawl with the New York Times over the paper's review of Tesla's staple Model S. This week, Musk—the billionaire who got rich from founding PayPal and who also owns SpaceX—made a few moves that seem to bring Tesla closer to achieving both aims.

First, the company announced that it expects to turn its first profit during the first quarter on higher-than-expected sales of Model S. It's a milestone for the company, given the general backdrop for EV sales. Tesla was able to sell at laeset 250 more of the Tesla S (whose most popular version starts at a sticker price of $69,900) than the 4,500 sales it had forecast in February.Continue reading...

eBay's latest initiative, Sell it Forward, adds a touch of philanthropy to its recent push to make the service more brand-centric and expand PayPal’s usage.

Sell it Forward lets users sell their new or lightly-used clothes, shoes, handbags and other wares and share the proceeds with Goodwill. If an item is deemed saleable and sells within two weeks, eBay customers receive 50 percent of the proceeds and the other 50 percent helps fund Goodwill's operations and charitable efforts. (If an item is not sold in 14 days, it becomes a straight donation to Goodwill, and customers receive a tax-deductable donation form.)Continue reading...

Retailers are trying to cope with the challenge of an increasingly mobile consumer who conducts life digitally. This means meeting consumers' expectations on a whole new playing field: the mobile device.

According to Interbrand's just-released Best Retail Brands 2013 report, "retailers are mobilizing to address the larger issues around digital: Where and how does it fit into the organization? How can development teams be reorganized and silos lowered to accommodate a multichannel approach? How will the brand's culture change in response?"

While mobile sales are insignificant now, they are growing rapidly. In-store mobile payments almost quadrupled last year, and PayPal alone processed around $14 billion in mobile payments in 2012, according to Business Insider. That means mobile payments need to be a key part of future retail strategy. Just last week, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a report, "Paper, Plastic... or Mobile?" The FTC cites a KPMG survey that found that 83 percent of executives in retail, financial services, technology and telecommunications believe mobile payments will see widespread consumer adoption by 2015.

Another recent study, by JPMorgan, divides the current state of the mobile commerce market: mobile acceptance (any mobile-based payment solution), mobile wallets (applications that enable consumers to use mobile devices for payment instead of credit or debit cards) and mobile commerce (e-commerce via any mobile device).Continue reading...