The Week in Numbers: $1 trln club, BP's windfall

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From the trillion dollar club to a gas crisis windfall for BP, this is the week in numbers.

$1 trillion

The trillion dollar club for Tesla. It hit the eye watering market valuation after landing its biggest-ever order from rental car company Hertz. The deal reinforces the electric car leader's ambitions to top the auto industry in sales over the next decade. According to Reuters calculations, it's now the most valuable automaker.

Senior Manager of Insights at Edmunds, Ivan Drury:

"They just keep on making more and more money. The valuation is higher and higher. And really, I think the opposite is what we're looking for. Is there going to be a downfall? We see that upward trajectory, but what's going to chip away at these earnings? What's going to kind of bring them back down to Earth? And right now, we're not seeing anything, and that's kind of scary for some, but interesting for others. And I'm sure the investors are pleased to say the least."

5 years

5 years is how long Britain's Heathrow airport expects a full recovery to take. Having lost its crown as Europe's busiest hub to Paris, Heathrow said this week that third quarter passenger numbers recovered to 28% and cargo to 90% of pre-crisis levels. But it still lost $4.68 billion.

$500 million

A 500 million dollar windfall for BP. Its trading team made the money in the third quarter from a gas crisis that's left consumers and industries feeling the squeeze, according to sources speaking with Reuters. Natural gas and power prices soared in Europe and parts of Asia in August as the global economy recovered from the health crisis. BP declined to comment on the Reuters story.

2%

2 percent annualised growth for the U.S. economy in the third quarter. The GDP figure was less than a third of that in the preceding quarter. While the Delta variant put a lid on consumer spending, the big soft spot was the car industry - by a country mile. That was the biggest drag on Detroit's output in four decades. No surprises about the culprit: the worldwide shortage of microchips.

83%

83 percent annual sales growth saw Apple take a bigger bite out of the China market in its fourth quarter. The staggering leap makes it the phone brand of choice for big spenders in the world's second-largest economy, after Huawei's troubles.