Brent oil prices fell on Wednesday, dropping below $30 a barrel to touch $29.96 for the first time since April 2, 2004.

The lower oil prices are forcing rig operators to reduce their activity in North Dakota. The number oil rigs operational fell to 49 indicating the lowest since August 2009. The number of oil rigs is expected to further drop to 30 this year. There're concerns over possible bankruptcies following the decline in oil drilling North Dakota.

Airbus Group's corporate venture capital fund Airbus Ventures has announced its first investment that was extended to a Phoenix-based Local Motors Inc. Airbus Ventures is keen on startups in the aviation industry that support Airbus business strategy. Local Motors Inc develops open source designs for building cars, helicopters and airplanes.

Majority of e-Commerce startups are running below expectations. Some of them sold for a fraction of their previous valuations. Groupon, One Kings Line and Wish.com were few examples that give insight of what's happening.

BMW reveals its new M2 at the 2016 Detroit Auto Show. The car is priced at $52,695, and a $995 destination charge.

General Electric Co. has been intending to sell its electrical appliance chapter prior to initiation of global economic debacle. The Federal Justice Department has foiled its earlier bid to sell its century old electrical appliance portfolio. Finally, it has reached a consensus to sale the business unit to Chinese electrical equipments maker Haier for more than $4 billion.

Walmart and Macy’s have announced shutting hundreds of stores on Friday and thus lingers the list with other retailing giants like Sears and Target. Surprising growth of ecommerce has reduced growth of the departmental stores and shopping malls. With the announcement of the World’s largest retailer, traditional stores have been started to witness the blink of extinction.

Oil and gas market have been tattering due to existing sharp downtrend in price. Many oil companies have been writing down the value of shale assets over the past 20 months since prices started crashing. BHP Billinton Ltd. has also become dependent on bank debts to maintain soaring expenses and plans to cut dividends for the first time in 25 years. Finally, following the industry trend, BHP has announced for writing down US energy assets worth $7.2 billion.

The news came as a surprise because previously the grocer had faced significant drop in sales and shares. Tesco also reported its lowest-ever sales last year on April. Other grocers also reported better sales than predicted.

Two big names, Wesfarmers and Sainsbury's, are vying for the Home Retail deal, despite warnings sent out by the seller itself regarding low profit expectations. While the deal seems to be in favor of Wesfarmers, Sainsbury's is not out of the picture yet.