Data Yarns
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West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices went negative for the first time ever, trading between $0 and -$40 per barrel lately.
What made that possible?
Suppose, you own a month end contract for WTI crude which means, you bought the right to get actual barrel full of oil delivered to you by the end of contract period. You hoped for an exit at a higher price before the end of contract period. Now, due to the COVID pandemic, demand for crude has slashed and leading to further fall in price. Moreover, you will have to exit the contract unless you are equipped to accept the delivery of physical oil. As a result, crude oil prices went negative which means are you paying the paying the person with the oil to not give you the delivery of physical oil.
Amazon's Top Searches in 2020
In this Data Yarn, we gain an insight into the E-commerce usage pattern in the digital landscape by focusing on the number of keywords that Amazon users use while browsing the website. Rated as the highest visited app in the world, Amazon accounts for more than 12 million products that are sought by approximately 197 million monthly users, which is more than the entire population of Russia.


Commercial Realty Downturn
Pandemic and widespread lockdowns have severely impacted commercial real estate investment across the globe. With 37% decline in the investment volumes, Americas Region is worst hit by the Pandemic.
Percentage decline in the Americas region is the largest in the world.
Global Gaming Market
The Global gaming market is growing at a rapid pace even during the pandemic, as families cut spending. Investments are being poured in to drive innovations on multiple fronts such as Mobile, PC and Console gaming Markets, to serve the 2.7 Billion gamers globally in 2020. This Data Yarn highlights the lifetime sales of home console gaming units of different brands and projected revenue of the industry.


Global Hunger Index
The 2019 Global Hunger Index report, jointly published by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Concern Worldwide, and Welthungerhilfe (WHH), shows that, while the world has made gradual progress in reducing hunger on a global scale since 2000, this progress has been uneven.
Luxury Sector Sales Plummet
This Data Yarn highlights the sharp decline in sales of the luxury retail sector as shoppers slow spending due to the pandemic and social activities remain restricted.


Social Media Growth in 2020
With the advent of the World Wide Web, the geographical spacing at the global level has shrunk and continues to do so. People to people connectivity has opened new vistas of progress through the exchange of ideas. The ever-evolving technology has given platforms to interconnect the world in a seamless manner through various applications, like Facebook, YouTube, etc., where individuals can interact on professional as well as personal levels with practically anyone across the globe. In this Data Yarn we have mapped the popularity of various applications based on the usage pattern, the world over for the year 2020.
US Restaurant Industry Decline
This data Yarn highlights the decline in US restaurant industry, due to the dining room closures and lockdown measures following the pandemic.


Rise in India's External Debt
As India continues to battle with slowing economic growth and flagging consumption, another area of concern is the growing external debt, which may render the economy vulnerable to shocks – like global oil price spikes.
The Crash in Global Fertility
This Data Yarn covers the issue of projected degrowth in global population by 2100.


Pandemic & Poverty
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating economic impact on the economically vulnerable sections of the society. An analysis conducted by researchers at King’s College London and the Australian National University at charity group Oxfam’s suggestion, predicted that an assumed 20 percent drop in income would mean an estimated 547.6 million more people living on less than USD$5.50 a day, the poverty threshold of middle income countries. Researchers used mathematical models to predict how many more people would fall below World Bank poverty lines of USD$1.90, USD$3.20 and USD$5.50 a day assuming scenarios of 5, 10 and 20 percent drop in income. This week’s OSIN covers this research and visualizes predictions related to the impact on global poverty and population, in the event of a 20% drop in income, due to COVID-19.
Apps grow across platforms in 2020
The vast canvas of digital world is driven by a multitude of applications based on usage patterns. Out of the average four hours spent by an individual on mobile, approximately 88% counts towards mobile app usage. The number of mobile app downloads each year has been steadily increasing, which is why companies are not only optimizing their websites for mobile but also coming up with responsive apps. In this Data Yarn, we give an insight into the number of apps that some of the prominent app stores offer its users and how a huge number of apps are released every month in some of these platforms like Google Play and Apple App Store that has created stiff competition.


Smartphone Market Decline
This Data Yarn highlights the marginal, albeit steady decline in the global smartphone shipment trends, with particular reference to a forecasted decline in the year 2020.
Truecaller Records Leaked
In this Data Yarn, we cover a data breach at Truecaller which exposed millions of records of its Indian users. These records were also put up for sale on the dark web, a marketplace for illegal data. We have also visually represented some relevant data related to the size of Truecaller as a company and its user base.


Global Airlines Indstry in Crisis
This Data Yarn crystal gazes into the predicaments of the Global Aviation Industry, based on empirical data.
Airbnb Recovery & IPO
The COVID-19 pandemic had a severe impact on tourism and hospitality industry as consumers were forced to stay home. Airbnb was among the companies hardest hit from the pandemic with cancellation of $1 Billion in bookings, that lead the company to lay off employees and postpone its planned IPO scheduled for March 31, 2020. However, Airbnb received more bookings in March to June of the current year period that it had received in 2019, showing signs of speedy recovery. This Data Yarn highlights the forecasted recovery of Airbnb and the possibility of an IPO in 2020 itself, that can peg its valuations at $30 Billion.


How Cost Effective is the SPACEX Gragon ?
This Data Yarn talks about the Cost effectiveness of the SpaceX Dragon Program, in comparison to the other space programs carried out in the Last Century.