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Oil Prices, Inflation, and Fed Policies: Stock Market Risks 2024-06-19 11:20:00+00:00 - Oil prices NYSEARCA: USO are near the low end of a multi-year trading range, aiding the broad market rally in stocks. Oil prices are a fundamental driver of inflation that compounds within the economy, and the inflation outlook is driving the market. Lower oil prices undercut inflation. United States Oil Fund Today USO United States Oil Fund $78.67 +0.88 (+1.13%) 52-Week Range $60.87 ▼ $83.41 Dividend Yield 0.00% Assets Under Management $1.22 billion Add to Watchlist The latest CPI data failed to spur the FOMC into action but aligns with the idea a shift is underway, and the next policy move will be to cut rates. Lower oil prices support that outlook, but there is also risk. In this environment, the economy is under pressure from high interest rates but biding its time; when the first interest rate cut comes, global economic activity will begin to improve, drive oil demand, lift the oil price, and drive inflation. That means the Fed will unlikely cut rates soon; higher for longer is getting longer and longer. Get Occidental Petroleum alerts: Sign Up OPEC+ Ends Voluntary Production Cuts, So What? OPEC+'s decision to end production curbs and increase supply was among the causes of the latest corrections in oil prices. However, the details of the decision belie the bearish implications for oil prices, and the original statement was walked back and hedged in favor of higher, not lower, oil prices. Today, OPEC+ curbs production by 5.86 million barrels per day (bpd), or about 5.7% of global supply. Of that, 3.66 million daily barrels are official cuts, and 2.2 million are voluntary cuts. While the voluntary cuts are slated to end at the end of September, that is three months later than originally planned, and the curb won’t simply vanish. The cartel plans to slowly phase the 2.2 million barrels back into the market over a year, which will have little impact on the supply/demand imbalance. Demand is expected to grow with or without the FOMC cutting rates; it is no coincidence the cartel is timing an end to curbs to coincide with Fed rate cuts; investors should expect OPEC to alter its plans as the outlook for interest rates and inflation change. Coincidentally, OPEC walked back on its initial statement and said it could delay the increase in production if conditions warranted. The Fed's Decision is Tied to Oil Demand: It’s a No-Win Situation The Fed’s decision to cut rates is as tied to the oil price as anything else. There is a clear correction with the rise in oil prices and the pace of inflation that will keep the committee from acting too soon. Cutting rates too soon will reinvigorate oil demand, create a bull market for oil, and lead inflation to new heights. The takeaway is that the FOMC can’t cut rates for fear of sparking a rally in oil. The only way it can control the oil price is to cause a recession with high rates. The committee is walking a razor's edge with rampant inflation on one side and recession on the other. Demand is another factor lulling the market to sleep. The IEA forecasts a sharp slowdown in demand beginning in 2023 that will lead to massive oversupply. That's bearish news. However, their forecast is based on anticipated technological advancements tied to electrification and renewable energy that may or may not happen. The mitigating factor is that demand growth may stall, but it won't disappear. We need oil for more than cars. With a finite oil supply (estimates have the supply at less than 50 years at current usage), there is nowhere for the price to go but up over time. Oil Price Moves Higher: Buffett Ups His Stake in Occidental Petroleum And where is the oil price going now? The oil price is bobbing near its floor now and heading higher on recent data. An improving outlook for summer demand, OPEC’s assurance that it would keep supply tight if needed, and a reduction in the production growth forecast support the market. The price of WTI is heading back to the top of its range, which will likely keep inflation running hot. What are investors to do with this information? Invest in energy companies like Warren Buffet and Berkshire Hathaway NYSE: BRK.A are doing. The energy industry is contracting today due to the deleveraging of oil prices since 2022 but is still making profits. At $80, the oil price is trending above the 3-year, 5-year, and 10-year averages, putting the margin in the high-end range, generating solid cash flow, and allowing oil giants to invest in growth, efficiency, and shareholder value. Mr. Buffett chose Occidental Petroleum NYSE: OXY, which is paying down debt and buying back preferred shares to improve leverage ratios and shareholder equity. The latest news is a series of buys in June, the first in six months, bringing the stake to roughly 30%. Before you consider Occidental Petroleum, you'll want to hear this. MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Occidental Petroleum wasn't on the list. While Occidental Petroleum currently has a "Hold" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here

Alzheimer's Drug Stocks: Investing in Eli Lilly, Biogen, Roche 2024-06-19 11:14:00+00:00 - The Alzheimer's treatment landscape presents a compelling opportunity for investors in healthcare and biotech. Alzheimer's disease is a progressive and debilitating neurodegenerative disorder that poses a significant and growing threat to global health and economic well-being. With an estimated 6.7 million Americans currently living with Alzheimer's and projected costs exceeding $2 trillion over the next decade, the urgency for effective treatments is undeniable. This unmet medical need has created an arena of intense research and development, attracting significant investment capital. Get Eli Lilly and Company alerts: Sign Up The Pressing Need for Alzheimer's Therapies Alzheimer's disease is characterized by a gradual decline in cognitive function, including memory loss, impaired judgment, and difficulty with language. As the disease progresses, individuals lose their ability to perform daily tasks, ultimately leading to complete dependence on caregivers. The profound impact of Alzheimer's extends far beyond the individual patient. Families face the emotional and financial strain of caring for loved ones while healthcare systems grapple with the escalating costs of long-term care. With the global prevalence of Alzheimer's expected to surge to 78 million by 2030, the demand for effective treatments is reaching a critical point. The development of disease-modifying therapies holds immense promise for improving patient outcomes and generating significant value for investors. Eli Lilly and Company: Riding the Wave of Donanemab Eli Lilly and Company NYSE: LLY is currently at the forefront of Alzheimer's treatment development, fueled by the promising results of their Donanemab clinical trials. Donanemab, a monoclonal antibody targeting amyloid plaques, showed a statistically significant slowing of cognitive decline in the Phase 3 TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2 trial. This success, combined with the FDA's recent announcement to convene an advisory committee meeting in June 2024 to discuss Donanemab, has led Eli Lilly’s analyst community to predict a sizzling summer on the stock market for the company. Eli Lilly and Company Today LLY Eli Lilly and Company $891.46 +6.45 (+0.73%) 52-Week Range $434.34 ▼ $894.87 Dividend Yield 0.58% P/E Ratio 131.29 Price Target $787.53 Add to Watchlist Eli Lilly’s financials exhibit a solid picture of financial health. Eli Lilly’s earnings report for the first quarter of 2024 showcased a robust 26% revenue increase, demonstrating their ability to generate substantial cash flow. This financial strength underpins Eli Lilly's commitment to research and development, particularly in Alzheimer's disease. With a market capitalization exceeding $840 billion and a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio hovering around 60, the company trades at an 11% premium, reflecting high investor expectations for future growth driven by Donanemab. However, potential investors should remain mindful of the inherent risks associated with clinical trials and regulatory approvals. While Donanemab holds immense promise, unforeseen complications or delays could significantly impact Eli Lilly’s stock price. Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) Price Chart for Wednesday, June, 19, 2024 Biogen Inc.: Navigating Controversy and Charting a New Course Biogen Inc. NASDAQ: BIIB has walked a troubled path in the Alzheimer's treatment arena. Their initial advance into the market, Aduhelm (aducanumab), garnered accelerated FDA approval in 2021 but faced significant criticism and limited market adoption due to concerns surrounding its efficacy, cost, and potential side effects. Biogen subsequently focused its efforts on Lecanemab, another amyloid-targeting antibody. Biogen Today BIIB Biogen $223.65 -2.81 (-1.24%) 52-Week Range $189.44 ▼ $298.73 P/E Ratio 27.92 Price Target $286.50 Add to Watchlist Lecanemab's recent traditional FDA approval, signaling a stronger clinical profile than its predecessor, has offered Biogen a chance at redemption. Early signs of market momentum are encouraging, with Biogen's earnings report for the first quarter of 2024 revealing a 2.5-fold increase in Lecanemab patients and a nearly threefold jump in global in-market sales. These positive developments have injected renewed confidence into Biogen's stock, which currently boasts a market capitalization of around $33 billion. However, the company's P/E ratio, hovering around 20, remains comparatively lower than Lilly's, suggesting Biogen’s analyst and investor community have a lingering degree of caution stemming from the Aduhelm controversy. Biogen's future success hinges on solidifying Lecanemab's market position and restoring investor trust. Biogen Inc. (BIIB) Price Chart for Wednesday, June, 19, 2024 Roche Holding AG: Shifting Gears from Therapeutics to Diagnostics Roche Holding AG OTCMKTS: RHHBY encountered a major setback in late 2022 when their amyloid-targeting drug, Gantenerumab, failed to meet primary endpoints in the Phase III GRADUATE trials. This disappointing outcome prompted Roche to re-evaluate its Alzheimer's treatment strategy, shifting its focus from therapeutics to diagnostics. Roche recently received FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for their Elecsys pTau217 plasma biomarker blood test, designed to aid in earlier Alzheimer's diagnosis. Roche Today RHHBY Roche $34.98 +0.40 (+1.16%) 52-Week Range $29.20 ▼ $40.15 Dividend Yield 2.43% Price Target $40.00 Add to Watchlist With a market capitalization exceeding $230 billion and a P/E ratio of around 20, Roche remains a financially stable and diversified pharmaceutical sector giant. While the setback with Gantenerumab has dampened investor enthusiasm for their Alzheimer's treatment prospects, their diagnostic pivot presents a new avenue for growth. If successful, the Elecsys pTau217 blood test could be critical in facilitating early intervention and potentially pave the way for more effective treatment strategies. Roche Holding AG (RHHBY) Price Chart for Wednesday, June, 19, 2024 The Complexities of Alzheimer's Drug Development Investing in companies pursuing Alzheimer's treatments requires understanding the risks and challenges. Clinical trials for Alzheimer's drugs are notoriously complex and have a high failure rate. The multifactorial nature of the disease, the difficulty in measuring cognitive decline, and the ethical considerations of enrolling vulnerable patients all contribute to the complexity of these trials. Regulatory approval is also a formidable hurdle. The FDA's standards for demonstrating safety and efficacy are rigorous, and the agency has been exceptionally cautious in evaluating new Alzheimer's drugs, given the history of disappointments and controversies. Even with FDA approval, market adoption and commercial success are not guaranteed. The potential for unforeseen side effects, the high cost of treatment, and the limited access to specialized diagnostic tools can all impede market penetration. Furthermore, the emergence of generic drugs or biosimilars could erode market share for successful treatments in the future. Investors must carefully weigh these risks against the potential rewards when investing in this volatile sector. Financial Considerations and Competitive Dynamics Financial analysis that extends beyond recent quarterly earnings is essential when evaluating investment opportunities in the Alzheimer's treatment market. Investors should consider a company's long-term financial health, including revenue diversification, profitability, debt levels, and research and development expenditures. Analyst estimates and projections for future revenue growth provide valuable insights into the potential market size for successful treatments. Eli Lilly and Company benefits from diversified revenue streams, including leading products in diabetes, oncology, and immunology, providing a stable financial foundation. Their strong profitability, manageable debt levels, and commitment to research and development position them well for future growth, particularly if Donanemab achieves market success. However, they compete with other companies that are developing amyloid-targeting therapies, such as Biogen with Lecanemab. Biogen relies more heavily on its multiple sclerosis franchise, making it more susceptible to setbacks in Alzheimer's drug development. While Lecanemab's recent FDA approval has provided a boost, its long-term success is not guaranteed. The Aduhelm controversy has impacted Biogen's profitability, and the company carries a higher debt load than Eli Lilly. Analyst estimates for Biogen's future revenue growth are more conservative, reflecting its challenges in re-establishing investor confidence and securing Lecanemab's market share. Roche is a diversified pharmaceutical giant, and the company enjoys a broad revenue base across various therapeutic areas, minimizing the impact of any single product. Roche’s financial performance is characterized by high profitability and low debt levels, providing a solid foundation for exploring new opportunities, such as their recent pivot towards Alzheimer's diagnostics. However, this market's revenue potential remains less defined than therapeutics. Roche must also navigate a competitive landscape that includes Lilly, Biogen, and many smaller biotech companies focused on various aspects of Alzheimer's disease. Evaluating Investment Opportunities in Alzheimer’s Treatment Investing in the Alzheimer's treatment market is a calculated gamble. The potential rewards are immense, driven by the vast unmet medical need and the promise of groundbreaking therapies that could transform millions of lives. However, the path to success is filled with obstacles and uncertainties, demanding a cautious and discerning approach from investors. Alzheimer's drug clinical trials are complex and have high failure rates. Regulatory approvals are stringent, and even with FDA clearance, market adoption and commercial success are not guaranteed. The competitive landscape is fierce, with multiple companies vying for market share in a rapidly evolving field. Investors seeking to capitalize on the potential of Alzheimer's treatments must carefully weigh the risks and rewards. A comprehensive due diligence process is essential, encompassing a thorough analysis of each company's financial health, drug development pipeline, and competitive positioning. Understanding the science behind the therapies, the complexities of clinical trials, and the dynamics of regulatory approval is crucial for making informed investment decisions. Setbacks and disappointments are common, and volatility is inherent. However, for those willing to embrace calculated risks, the Alzheimer's treatment market offers a compelling opportunity to contribute to a meaningful cause while potentially reaping significant financial returns. The key lies in balancing optimism with a healthy dose of realism and making investment choices grounded in sound analysis and a long-term perspective. The Future of Alzheimer’s Treatment: Promises and Realities for Investors The search for effective Alzheimer's treatments represents one of the most significant scientific and medical challenges of our time. For investors, this dynamic field offers both immense promise and considerable risk. These three companies are at the forefront of this endeavor, each bringing their own strengths, strategies, and challenges to the table. While the road to success is paved with uncertainties, the potential for groundbreaking discoveries and significant returns for investors makes the Alzheimer's treatment sector a compelling area to watch. Continued research, development, and investment are crucial to advancing the fight against Alzheimer's disease and ultimately transforming the lives of millions affected by this devastating disorder. Before you consider Eli Lilly and Company, you'll want to hear this. MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Eli Lilly and Company wasn't on the list. While Eli Lilly and Company currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issues disaster declaration as Tropical Storm Alberto approaches 2024-06-19 10:44:00+00:00 - The first named storm of the hurricane season is taking aim at Texas and Mexico, threatening the Gulf Coast with severe flooding and high winds. Tropical Storm Alberto formed over the western Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday morning and is expected to reach Mexico's Gulf coast early Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm is large, with tropical-storm-force winds extending 415 miles from its center. A tropical storm warning is in effect for the northeastern coast of Mexico as well as part of Texas coast from the mouth of the Rio Grande up to San Luis Pass. High winds and as much as 10 to 15 inches of rain are expected in Corpus Christi. Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for 51 Texas counties "to ensure Texans and at-risk regions have the resources and personnel needed to respond to this storm,” he said in a statement. With maximum sustained winds near 40 miles per hour, the storm is expected to strengthen slightly as it approaches land, then weaken rapidly once its center moves inland. Alberto was about 305 miles southeast of Brownsville, Texas, traveling about 9 miles per hour, as of around 4 p.m. local time, officials said. The National Hurricane Center said tornadoes were possible Wednesday across parts of Texas. Up to 10 inches of rain is expected across northeast Mexico and South Texas. Some parts of Mexico, including Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas, could see up to 20 inches. The National Weather Service office in Houston said at 4:30 a.m. local time that there had already been reports of coastal flooding as rain moved inland. "The disturbance is very large, with rainfall, coastal flooding and wind impacts likely to occur far from the center along the coasts of Texas and northeastern Mexico," the National Hurricane Center said in an update. The hurricane center also said early Wednesday that life-threatening mudslides were likely in higher areas of northern Mexico, including around the cities of Monterrey and Ciudad Victoria. The Texas A&M Forest Service has mobilized four teams comprised of 100 personnel and 24 vehicles, while the Texas National Guard has three platoons of more than 40 personnel in total, alongside 20 vehicles, including Chinook helicopters. The weather service told people in the affected areas to have five to seven days' supplies of food, water and other necessities. The storm warning came as 71 million people were under some form of heat advisory on Wednesday, as a severe heat wave is set to last through Friday.

The Biden admin has no firm plan to call out domestic disinformation in the 2024 election 2024-06-19 10:30:00+00:00 - The Biden administration has no firm plans to alert the public about deepfakes or other false information during the 2024 election unless it is clearly coming from a foreign actor and poses a sufficiently grave threat, according to current and former officials. Although cyber experts in and outside of government expect an onslaught of disinformation and deepfakes during this year’s election campaign, officials in the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security remain worried that if they weigh in, they will face accusations that they are attempting to tilt the election in favor of President Joe Biden’s re-election. Lawmakers from both parties have urged the Biden administration to take a more assertive stance. “I’m worried that you may be overly concerned with appearing partisan and that that will freeze you in terms of taking the actions that are necessary,” Sen. Angus King, a Maine independent who caucuses with the Democrats, told cybersecurity and intelligence officials at a hearing last month. A person walks toward the entrance of the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Great Lakes Bay Region to vote in Bay City, Mich., on Nov. 3, 2020. Kaytie Boomer / The Bay City Times via AP file Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., asked how the government would react to a deepfake video. “If this happens, who’s in charge of responding to it? Have we thought through the process of what do we do when one of these scenarios occurs?” he asked. “‘We just want you to know that video is not real.’ Who would be in charge of that?” A senior U.S. official familiar with government deliberations said federal law enforcement agencies, particularly the FBI, are reluctant to call out disinformation with a domestic origin. The FBI will investigate possible election law violations, the official said, but does not feel equipped to make public statements about disinformation or deepfakes generated by Americans. “The FBI is not in the truth detection business,” the official said. In interagency meetings about the issue, the official said, it’s clear that the Biden administration does not have a specific plan for how to deal with domestic election disinformation, whether it’s a deepfake impersonating a candidate or a false report about violence or voting locations being closed that could dissuade people from going to the polls. In a statement to NBC News, the FBI acknowledged that even when it investigates possible criminal violations involving false information, the bureau is unlikely to immediately flag what’s false. “The FBI can and does investigate allegations of Americans spreading disinformation that are intended to deny or undermine someone’s ability to vote,” the statement said. “The FBI takes these allegations seriously, and that requires that we follow logical investigative steps to determine if there is a violation of federal law. Those investigative steps cannot be completed ‘in the moment.’” The bureau added that it will “work closely with state and local election officials to share information in real time. But since elections are administered at the state level, the FBI would defer to state-level election officials about their respective plans to address disinformation in the moment.” A senior official at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the federal entity charged with protecting election infrastructure, said state and local election agencies were best placed to inform the public about false information spread by other Americans but would not rule out the possibility that the agency might issue a public warning if necessary. “I won’t say that we wouldn’t speak publicly about something. I would not say that categorically. No, I think it just depends,” the official said. “Is this something that’s specific to one state or jurisdiction? Is this something that’s happening in multiple states? Is this something that’s actually impacting election infrastructure?” the official said. CISA has focused on helping educate the public and train state and local election officials about the tactics employed in disinformation campaigns, the official said. “At CISA, we certainly have not stopped prioritizing this as a threat vector that we take very seriously for this election cycle,” the official said. The late-breaking deepfake Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, a pro-democracy group that has been urging states to criminalize political deepfakes, said that the current federal approach is a recipe for chaos. The biggest fear, he said, is a late-breaking deepfake that reflects poorly on a candidate and could influence the outcome of an election. Right now, government bodies — from county election boards to federal authorities — have no plans to respond to such a development, he said. Then-Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, his grandchildren and Lady Gaga pose for a photo with college students at Schenley Park, in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Nov. 2, 2020. Drew Angerer / Getty Images file “If political operatives have a tool they can use and it’s legal, even if it’s unethical, they are pretty likely to use it,” Weissman said. “We are foolish if we expect anything other than a tsunami of deepfakes.” Disinformation designed to keep people from voting is illegal, but deepfakes mischaracterizing the actions of candidates are not prohibited under federal law and by the laws of 30 states. The Department of Homeland Security has warned election officials across the country that generative artificial intelligence could allow bad actors — either foreign or domestic — to impersonate election officials and spread false information, something that has happened in other countries around the world in recent months. At a recent meeting with tech executives and nonpartisan watchdog groups, a senior federal official in cybersecurity acknowledged that fake videos or audio clips generated by AI posed a potential risk in an election year. But they said that CISA would not try to intervene to warn the public because of the polarized political climate. Intelligence agencies say they are closely tracking false information spread by foreign adversaries, and officials said recently they are prepared if necessary to issue a public statement about certain disinformation if the author of the false information is clearly a foreign actor and if the threat is sufficiently “severe” that it could jeopardize the outcome of the election. But they have not clearly defined what “severe” means. At a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing last month on the disinformation threat, senators said the government needed to come up with a more coherent plan as to how it would handle a potentially damaging “deepfake” during the election campaign. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the committee’s chair, told NBC News that the threat posed by generative AI is “serious and rampant” and that the federal government needed to be ready to respond. “While I continue to push tech companies to do more to curb nefarious AI content of all varieties, I think it’s appropriate for the federal government to have a plan in place to alert the public when a serious threat comes from a foreign adversary,” he said. “In domestic contexts, state and federal law enforcement may be positioned to determine if election-related disinformation constitutes criminal activity, such as voter suppression.” How other countries respond Unlike the U.S. government, Canada has published an explanation of its decision-making protocol for how Ottawa will respond to an incident that could put an election at risk. The government website promises to “communicate clearly, transparently and impartially with Canadians during an election in the event of an incident or a series of incidents that threatened the election’s integrity.” Some other democracies, including Taiwan, France and Sweden, have adopted a more proactive approach to disinformation, flagging false reports or collaborating closely with nonpartisan groups that fact-check and try to educate the public, experts said. Then-President Donald Trump visits his campaign headquarters in Arlington, Va., on Nov. 3, 2020. Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images file Sweden, for example, set up a special government agency in 2022 to combat disinformation — prompted by Russia’s information warfare — and has tried to educate the public about what to look out for and how to recognize attempts to spread falsehoods. France has set up a similar agency, the Vigilance and Protection Service against Foreign Digital Interference, known as Viginum, which regularly issues detailed public reports about Russian-backed propaganda and false reports, describing fake government websites, news sites and social media accounts. The European Union, following the lead of France and other member states, has set up a center for sharing information and research between government agencies and nonprofit civil society groups that track the issue. But those countries are not plagued by the same degree of political division as in the United States, according to David Salvo, a former U.S. diplomat and now managing director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund think tank. “It’s tough, because the best practices tend to be in places where either trust in government is a hell of a lot higher than it is here,” he said. Discord derailed U.S. effort After the 2016 election in which Russia spread disinformation through social media, U.S. government agencies began working with social media companies and researchers to help identify potentially violent or volatile content. But a federal court ruling in 2023 discouraged federal agencies from even communicating with social media platforms about content. The Supreme Court is due to take up the case as soon as this week, and if the lower court ruling is rejected, more regular communication between federal agencies and the tech firms could resume. Early in President Joe Biden’s term, the administration sought to tackle the danger presented by false information circulating on social media, with DHS setting up a disinformation working group led by an expert from a nonpartisan Washington think tank. But Republican lawmakers denounced the Disinformation Governance Board as a threat to free speech with an overly vague role and threatened to cut off funding for it. Under political pressure, DHS shut it down in August 2022 and the expert who ran the board, Nina Jankowicz, said she and her family received numerous death threats during her brief tenure. Even informal cooperation between the federal government and private nonprofit groups is more politically fraught in the U.S. due to the polarized landscape, experts say. Nonpartisan organizations potentially face accusations of partisan bias if they collaborate or share information with a federal or state government agency, and many have faced allegations that they are stifling freedom of speech by merely tracking online disinformation. The threat of lawsuits and intense political attacks from pro-Trump Republicans have led many organizations and universities to pull back from research on disinformation in recent years. Stanford University’s Internet Observatory, which had produced influential research on how false information moved through social media platforms during elections, recently laid off most of its staff after a spate of legal challenges and political criticism. The university on Monday denied it was shutting down the center because of outside political pressure. It does, however, “face funding challenges as its founding grants will soon be exhausted,” the center said in a statement. Given the federal government’s reluctance to speak publicly about disinformation, state and local election officials likely will be in the spotlight during the election, having to make decisions quickly about whether to issue a public warning. Some already have turned to a coalition of nonprofit organizations that have hired technical experts to help detect AI-generated deepfakes and provide accurate information about voting. Two days before New Hampshire’s presidential primary in January, the state attorney general’s office put out a statement warning the public about AI-produced robocalls using fake audio clips that sounded like Biden telling voters not to go to the polls. New Hampshire’s secretary of state then spoke to news outlets to provide accurate information about voting.

White House rejects Netanyahu claim U.S. is withholding weapons from Israel 2024-06-19 10:28:00+00:00 - The United States says it has no idea what the Israeli prime minister is talking about. The Biden administration on Tuesday rejected Benjamin Netanyahu's accusation that Washington had been "withholding weapons and ammunitions" from its close ally over the "past few months." The Israeli leader implied that this was hampering his military's ongoing offensive in Gaza, now focused on the southern city of Rafah. "We genuinely do not know what he is talking about. We just don't,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said as she maintained that only one shipment of heavy bombs had been paused since the war began, while billions of dollars of arms have continued to flow into Israel. The White House denied reports it had canceled a high-level meeting with Israeli officials on Iran after being enraged by Netanyahu's accusation. A White House official told NBC News the details of the meeting had not yet been finalized, "so nothing has been cancelled." U.S. officials said they did not want to “reward” Israel with the meeting and described it as “not locked” in a final schedule and “postponed." The officials said it is still expected to happen, however. The White House official said meetings with Israeli officials were being held throughout the week "on a range of topics." "As we said in the briefing yesterday, we have no idea what the prime minister is talking about, but that’s not a reason for rescheduling a meeting," the official said. Also Wednesday, the United Nations human rights office said that the laws of war were likely being "consistently violated" in the Israeli military's assault on the Palestinian enclave, citing the use of heavy bombs. That new assessment came as some focus was turning north to Israel's border with Lebanon, where both Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah have intensified their exchanges of fire and rhetoric while the U.S. worked to avoid an all-out war. Netanyahu issued his criticism in a video statement posted on X, saying he had discussed the issue of withheld weapons with Antony Blinken during the secretary of state's recent visit to Israel. "I said I deeply appreciated the support the U.S. has given Israel from the beginning of the war," Netanyahu says in the video, speaking directly to the camera in English. "But I also said something else. I said it's inconceivable that, in the past few months, the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions to Israel." Netanyahu didn't expand on exactly what weapons were being withheld, but he said Blinken had assured him the U.S. was working to "remove these bottlenecks." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a state memorial ceremony in Tel Aviv on Tuesday. Shaul Golan / AFP - Getty Images In a news briefing Tuesday, Blinken said he would not discuss what was said during diplomatic conversations with Netanyahu. But he maintained that there had been "no change" in the White House's stance. "Our posture is, again, to make sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself across these many threats," he said, as two top Democrats in Congress allowed the U.S. sale of $15 billion of F-15s to Israel to move ahead following a delay, according to The Associated Press. Blinken noted there had been "one case," which NBC News reported in May, in which the U.S. halted a large shipment of offensive weapons over Israel's plans to launch a military offensive in Rafah. President Joe Biden threatened that the U.S. would halt other shipments of certain arms if Israel moved forward with a full-scale assault in Rafah, but Washington has maintained that Israel has not crossed its red lines despite an intensifying campaign in the city in southern Gaza that was once considered a safe zone. Blinken said the administration continued to review the "one shipment" that was withheld, but he said "everything else is moving as it normally would." Jean-Pierre, in a news briefing, also said that the shipment of heavy bombs was the only one being delayed, and added that the U.S. was having “constructive discussions” with Israel about the transfer. Netanyahu's office declined to comment. An Israeli army tank rolls to take position in an area along Israel's southern border with the Gaza Strip on Tuesday. Jack Guez / AFP - Getty Images The latest clash between the two allies came as Netanyahu faced growing domestic pressure over the fate of the war. Israel has warned it may soon launch a fresh offensive along its northern border with Lebanon amid mounting hostilities with Hezbollah. The U.S. and France have been working on a negotiated settlement and Netanyahu met with U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein earlier this week. But the Israeli military said Tuesday that “operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon” had been “approved and validated.” Hezbollah, meanwhile, published footage that it said was captured by surveillance aircraft of parts of Israel, including the city of Haifa's sea and air ports. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz responded in a post on X, saying that Israel was "getting very close to the moment of decision to change the rules of the game with Hezbollah and Lebanon." "In a full-scale war, Hezbollah will be destroyed and Lebanon will be severely hit," he said. Hostilities continued on Wednesday, with the IDF saying that approximately 15 projectiles had been fired from Lebanon toward the area of Kiryat Shmona in Israel’s north, with no injuries reported. It said Israeli fighter jets also struck a Hezbollah military structure in the area of Tyre, on the Mediterranean coast of southern Lebanon, as well as “terrorist infrastructure” in nearby Khiam.

Researchers Say Social Media Warning Is Too Broad 2024-06-19 09:03:28+00:00 - When the U.S. surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, announced on Monday that he was planning to push for a mental health warning label on social media platforms, he was met with cheers from many parents and teachers, who described a long, lonely struggle to wrench children away from a habit that was hurting them. He got a cooler reaction, however, from some scientists who study the relationship between social media and mental health. In interviews, several researchers said the blanket warning Dr. Murthy has proposed — “social media is associated with significant mental health harms for adolescents” — stretches and oversimplifies the scientific evidence. For many years, researchers have tried to determine whether the amount of time a child spent on social media contributed to poor mental health, and “the results have been really mixed, with probably the consensus being that no, it’s not related,” said Dr. Mitch Prinstein, the chief science officer at the American Psychological Association. What seems to matter more, he said, is what they are doing when they are online — content about self-harm, for example, has been shown to increase self-harming behavior.

In California, Hotels and Rentals Must Reveal Fees Upfront. What Does That Mean for You? 2024-06-19 09:01:58.014000+00:00 - Last May, Samir Bhavnani, a 47-year-old tech executive from San Diego, was planning a trip to Palm Springs, Calif., where he planned to propose to his girlfriend. He found the perfect spot on Vrbo: It offered a “spa in a grotto,” a slide and a swim-up bar and had plenty of five-star reviews. He decided to book two nights, at $595 a night. But somehow, the total came to about $2,300. “And $595 plus $595 doesn’t equal $2,300,” Mr. Bhavnani said. “Taxes, host fees and service fees basically doubled the price. I asked the owner what the fee breakout was, and they said it was $300 for cleaning and $300 for ‘air-conditioning.’ This is Palm Springs. I expect every place to have air-conditioning like they have running water.” Soon, if you’re booking a place to stay in California — whether you live in the state or not — this kind of sticker shock from hidden, or “junk,” fees will be far less likely to spoil your trip. On July 1, a sweeping new state law will ban hidden fees on purchases — including event tickets, hotel rooms and food delivery services — by requiring businesses to include all mandatory fees or last-minute charges in their advertised and displayed price.

In Rare Rebuke, Toyota Chairman’s Investor Support Tumbles 2024-06-19 06:22:59+00:00 - Investor support for Toyota Motor’s longtime leader, Akio Toyoda, sank to its lowest level since he took the helm as shareholders challenged the extent of control he exerts over the company. According to a filing released on Wednesday, 71.9 percent of shareholders supported renominating Mr. Toyoda as chairman of Toyota’s board. That met the threshold required for re-election, but it was the lowest level of support for him since at least 2010, after Mr. Toyoda’s first full year as chief executive. “In the context of corporate Japan, it’s a surprising figure,” Hirotaka Uchida, partner at the consultancy Arthur D. Little, said of Mr. Toyoda’s renomination vote result. Shareholders want to see changes made to Toyota’s governance and the level of influence Mr. Toyoda holds within the company, he said: “That has been made quite obvious.” Traditionally in Japan, board members receive nearly unanimous support from shareholders, and Mr. Toyoda, whose grandfather founded the company, has gotten an average approval of more than 96 percent over the past decade. But that national trend has started to change in recent years, with more investors using their votes to pressure companies to enhance profitability and corporate governance.

Britain Election Winner’s First Problem: Fix a Stagnant Economy 2024-06-19 06:13:59+00:00 - “Our economy has truly turned a corner,” Rishi Sunak, Britain’s prime minister, said last week as he introduced his party’s election manifesto, buoyed by recent data showing that Britain’s economy had exited from a recession more strongly than expected in the beginning of the year and that inflation had slowed substantially. Justifying the optimism, data released on Wednesday showed that consumer prices rose 2 percent in May from a year earlier, touching the Bank of England’s target for the first time since 2021. That was also way down from 11.1 percent in October 2022, when Mr. Sunak started his premiership. Many economists argue that it will take more than a few good economic indicators to change Britain’s economic path after more than a decade of slow economic growth, chronically weak productivity, high taxes and struggling public services, with a notably underfunded and overstretched National Health Service. Polls suggest there is a desire to eject the governing Conservative Party from Downing Street, after 14 years, in next month’s general election. But lawmakers in the opposition Labour Party have already warned that — should they win — they will inherit a hobbled economy with little room for bold changes.

Trump Media share price down 39%: Why the DJT stock keeps falling 2024-06-19 04:28:00+00:00 - Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group – Donald Trump’s namesake social media company – tumbled Tuesday as the stock continued a long slide that began following the former president’s guilty verdict on all 34 felony counts in his criminal hush money trial. Trump Media, which trades under the vanity ticker “DJT,” has tanked 39% since May 30 when a New York jury found Trump guilty of falsifying business records. On Tuesday, Trump Media closed down 10% to $31.31. The sell-off came as Trump Media warned investors that it could not force its majority shareholder to favor Truth Social, the company’s flagship platform, including posting there first. Trump Media is proving to be a risky proposition for investors. Volatility has become the hallmark of the stock. It has swung wildly from a high of $79.38 a share at the close of March 26 to its lowest close of $22.84 on April 16. Its shrinking market cap of $5.5 billion rests almost entirely on the Trump brand and his loyal following, including small-time investors who’ve shown their support for him by propping up the stock. Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump joins community leaders for a roundtable discussion at the 180 Church on June 15 in Detroit, Michigan. Trump joined TikTok in June, amassing millions of followers. A political action committee supporting Trump’s candidacy – the Make America Great Again Inc. – opened a TikTok account in May. “If TMTG disagrees with President Donald J. Trump about the scope of his obligation to use, or first post on, Truth Social, TMTG lacks any meaningful remedy with respect to such disagreement – which could have a material adverse effect on the business and/or operations of TMTG,” the company said in an amended registration statement. Tuesday also marked the deadline for some of Truth Media’s investors to begin selling shares. In a filing with regulators in April, Trump Media said it intended to offer nearly 21.5 million shares of common stock “upon the exercise of warrants.” It must wait for clearance from regulators. Trump's lock-up period ends in late September, so he could begin selling some of his shares then. The developments only add to the uncertainty that has surrounded the Trump Media stock since it began trading in March after the merger with shell company Digital World Acquisition Corp. In competing for ad dollars and eyeballs with big-name social media companies like Facebook, TikTok and YouTube, Trump Media is a distant laggard. It reported a first-quarter net loss of $327.6 million on less than $1 million in revenue. Trump Media officials have blamed stock manipulation by “naked” short sellers for its woes. Short sellers don't actually own the shares, but borrow them and then sell them, betting the stock will fall so they can buy back the shares at a lower price and keep the difference. “Naked” short selling involves betting a stock will fall without borrowing or owning the shares. Such a practice can be illegal. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: DJT stock price plummets: Why Trump Media share prices keep falling

Huge tech ETF set to buy $10 billion in Nvidia shares 2024-06-19 04:14:00+00:00 - By Suzanne McGee and Lisa Pauline Mattackal (Reuters) - One of the world’s largest technology funds is set to ramp up its exposure to Nvidia, which has become the world's most valuable company following a blistering run in its shares. The $72.34 billion Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK), managed by State Street Global Advisors, will buy some $10 billion shares of Nvidia while slashing its exposure to Apple, Matthew Bartolini, head of SPDR Americas research at State Street confirmed. The changes are being made so the fund can bring its holdings inline with pending changes to the S&P Dow Jones Technology Select Sector index, which it tracks. The reshuffle would leave Microsoft and Nvidia sharing the top spot in both the fund and the index, with Apple becoming the runner-up, according to Bartolini. On Tuesday, chipmaker Nvidia became the world’s most valuable company as its market value hit $3.33 trillion, surpassing that of Microsoft. Until now, the technology ETF had 22.5% of its assets invested in Microsoft, 21% in Apple, and only 6% in Nvidia, according to Jay Woods, chief global strategist at Freedom Capital Markets. That caused the fund to underperform its benchmark as Nvidia’s shares rose 173% this year. By the end of trading this Friday, when the index rebalancing takes place based on last Friday's market cap values, Microsoft will retain its dominance within the SPDR ETF's portfolio, with a 21% weighting. Nvidia will have a 21% weighting as well, while Apple will plunge to 4.5%. Nvidia's shares were recently up 3.7% at $135.85 while Apple's were off 1.5% at $213.33. "The fact that Nvidia is up and Apple shares are down today may reflect that a rebalancing" in the ETF already is underway, Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers. Index and portfolio construction rules mean that only two of the three technology giants can be held at a full weight — 21% — in the ETF. Any other large positions can't exceed 4.5%. The rule, set in place in 1998 when the index was launched, caps total exposure to all stocks with a weighting of more than 5% in the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index at 50% of the portfolio. The fact that three technology giants are vying for the top two spots in the ETF's portfolio is "unprecedented," Bartolini noted. (Reporting by Suzanne McGee, additional reporting by Lisa Pauline Mattackal; Editing by Sharon Singleton)

Kim Jong Un and Putin sign mutual defense pact in North Korea 2024-06-19 03:14:00+00:00 - SEOUL, South Korea — Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a new pact Wednesday that includes a pledge of mutual defense if either is attacked. The agreement was sealed at a summit in Pyongyang during a rare visit by Putin to the reclusive nuclear-armed state as both countries face growing confrontations with the West. In a news conference after the summit, Putin said the agreement, which he called “a truly breakthrough document,” reflected the two countries’ shared desire to raise relations to a new level — covering security, trade, investment, and cultural and humanitarian ties. Kim said it was a peaceful agreement that elevated relations to an alliance. The comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, both of which have been isolated by global sanctions, could expand transfers of military technology to Pyongyang in exchange for supplies of munitions that Moscow’s military badly needs for its war in Ukraine. U.S. officials previously told NBC News that such transfers could vastly enhance North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programs and threaten the Asia-Pacific region. Kim, who has been accelerating weapons testing and stoking tensions with U.S. ally South Korea, on Wednesday promised his “full support” for what Russia calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine. A lavish welcome Putin’s visit Wednesday, his first to North Korea in 24 years, comes as the Kremlin’s forces push for breakthroughs in Ukraine’s east and north while Kyiv’s defenses have been bolstered by new commitments from its own allies. He arrived at midday for a welcome ceremony at central Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square, which is named after Kim’s grandfather and North Korea’s founder. Standing before a large crowd of cheering civilians, Putin and Kim greeted officials on a red carpet outside the square’s main building, from which two giant portraits of them stared down. Military bands played the two countries’ national anthems, and children waved balloons and the Russian and North Korean flags.

Nvidia Agrees to Buy Software Startup Shoreline 2024-06-19 03:11:00+00:00 - (Bloomberg) -- Nvidia Corp. has agreed to buy Shoreline.io, a startup for software developers founded by a former Amazon Web Services executive, people familiar with the matter said. Most Read from Bloomberg The deal was struck recently and values Shoreline at about $100 million, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. Representatives for Nvidia and Shoreline declined to comment. Based in Redwood City, California, Shoreline makes software that looks for problems and incidents in computer systems and helps automate processes to fix them. The company was founded in 2019 by Anurag Gupta, who previously spent about eight years at AWS. Nvidia has become the most valuable company in the world by making itself central to the build-out of computer systems needed to create and run artificial intelligence software. It has been gobbling up startups but doesn’t always disclose acquisitions that aren’t material to it as a company with a $3.3 trillion market value. Nvidia has been adding new capabilities including software, networking and pretrained AI models to make it easier for a broader audience to adopt technology. It also wants to diversify revenue away from a heavy reliance on the likes of Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc., which dominate the cloud computing industry and through which Nvidia works with corporations. Shoreline has raised roughly $57 million and is backed by investors including Dawn Capital, Insight Partners and Canvas Ventures, according to data provider PitchBook. (Updates with Shoreline response in third paragraph.) Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek ©2024 Bloomberg L.P.

AMD Is Investigating Claims That Company Data Was Stolen in Hack 2024-06-19 01:52:00+00:00 - (Bloomberg) -- Advanced Micro Devices Inc., the second-largest maker of personal computer processors, is looking into claims that company information was stolen in a hack. Most Read from Bloomberg “We are aware of a cybercriminal organization claiming to be in possession of stolen AMD data,” the chipmaker said in a statement. “We are working closely with law enforcement officials and a third-party hosting partner to investigate the claim and the significance of the data.” The chipmaker made the statement in response to an inquiry following reports that an organization called “Intelbroker” is claiming to have breached AMD’s systems on a site called “BreachForums.” The reports said the data obtained includes future AMD product details, customer databases, financial records and other sensitive information. AMD shares fell 2.4% in New York trading Tuesday, on a day when semiconductor industry shares rallied. Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek ©2024 Bloomberg L.P.

Bill Gates' former assistant is worth $154 billion — and could soon be richer than the Microsoft cofounder 2024-06-19 01:36:00+00:00 - Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates. Rick Maiman/ Getty Bill Gates' former assistant could soon be richer than the Microsoft cofounder. Steve Ballmer's $154 billion fortune ranks him just behind his former boss on Bloomberg's rich list. Ballmer's vast wealth stems from the contract he negotiated when he was hired by Microsoft in 1980. Bill Gates' former assistant has hurtled up the rankings of the world's richest people and could soon overtake Microsoft's legendary cofounder and his old boss in net worth. Steve Ballmer's fortune is estimated to have grown by $24 billion this year, to $154 billion, putting him in seventh place on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He now trails Gates — in sixth place, with $157 billion — by just $3 billion, compared with $17 billion last summer. The index indicates Ballmer is richer than many big-name billionaires, including Oracle's Larry Ellison ($153 billion), Alphabet's Sergey Brin ($148 billion), Warren Buffett ($135 billion), Michael Dell ($120 billion), and Nvidia's Jensen Huang ($115 billion). He joined Microsoft in 1980 as an assistant to the president, though he served as more of a business manager than a PA. Ballmer originally negotiated a $50,000 base salary plus 10% of the profit growth he generated, but when his share of the profits became excessive, he agreed to swap it for a substantial equity stake, according to Forbes. Gates' trusted advisor rose up the ranks to become Microsoft's CEO in 2000. He retired from that role in 2014 with 333 million shares, or a 4% stake, regulatory filings show. Bloomberg assumes he's retained most of those shares, giving him a position valued at more than $150 billion based on Microsoft's stock price. He's likely collected billions of dollars' worth of dividends over the years too. Ballmer stepped down as Microsoft's CEO in 2014. Business Insider/Julie Bort Ballmer's wealth has ballooned over the past year primarily because of the artificial-intelligence boom, which has boosted Microsoft stock. The computing giant's stake in OpenAI has fueled hopes that it can disrupt Alphabet's dominant position in internet search, lifting Microsoft shares by about a third over the past 12 months. It's worth underscoring that Ballmer is an anomaly among the 10 wealthiest people on Bloomberg's rich list. Elon Musk, Bernard Arnault, Jeff Bezos, and the rest owe their wealth to stakes in companies they founded or still run, whereas Ballmer is not Microsoft's founder or current CEO. If he does leapfrog Gates, who has diversified his fortune away from Microsoft stock and donated large sums to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other charities, that would be a truly rare case where an employee winds up richer than his company's founder. Read the original article on Business Insider

Nvidia tops Microsoft as the most valuable public company 2024-06-18 22:20:00+00:00 - Nvidia on Tuesday vaulted past Microsoft to become the most valuable publicly listed company in the world, highlighting its place at the forefront of Big Tech. Nvidia's stock price rose nearly $5, or 3.7%, to $135.77, valuing the AI chip maker at $3.33 trillion, compared with $3.31 trillion for Microsoft and $3.29 trillion for Apple, which boasted the largest market capitalization until being surpassed by Microsoft earlier this year. A year ago, Nvidia's market capitalization had just crossed the $1 trillion threshold. The company's stock, which has shot up more than 174% this year, was trading at more than $1,200 earlier this month until Nvidia completed a 10-for-1 stock split on June 7 in order to make the shares more affordable. The ascent of Microsoft and Apple harken back to previous technologies, but Nvdia's startling rise in recent years has been powered by surging demand for its chips, which are helping to power massive corporate spending on all things AI, and its data center business. Nvidia, which as of 2020 had annual revenue of $11 billion, now takes in more than twice that amount in a single quarter, while its profits have soared. The company's leather-jacketed founder and CEO, Jensen Huang, is feted as a visionary for a new era of innovation driven by generative AI tools like ChatGPT. Nvidia is also a leader in graphics processing hardware, cloud services and other technologies for high-performance computing, while expanding into other emerging sectors such as robotics and autonomous driving. The company's achievement helped drive the S&P 500 to a new record, as investors pile into companies like Nvidia that stand to benefit from the growth of AI. "We were kind of waiting for this moment, actually, for quite some time," Angelo Zino of financial intelligence firm CFRA told AFP. "The semiconductor industry is now the biggest sub-industry in the S&P 500," he added. —The AFP contributed to this report.

What Is The Trump Factor? Justice Dept's Impact On Cannabis Rescheduling, Stocks And Investments - Cresco Labs (OTC:CRLBF), AdvisorShares Trust AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF (ARCA:MSOS) 2024-06-18 21:59:00+00:00 - Loading... Loading... Equity research firm Zuanic & Associates convened a panel in mid-June featuring industry experts to dissect the ongoing cannabis rescheduling efforts in the US. They provided a comprehensive outlook on the rescheduling process, expected to conclude with the publication of the Final Rule in the Federal Register by November 2024. Despite market skepticism reflected in the MSOS ETF's MSOS recent decline to $6.99—a 38% drop from its peak—Pablo Zuanic, Senior equity analyst Pablo Zuanic, sees the current market conditions as a buying opportunity. He noted, "Technical factors and the absence of immediate catalysts might limit short-term gains, but the fundamentals remain strong." The panel included Kelly Fair Partner at Dentons, David Culver SVP of Public Affairs at the US Cannabis Council, and John Sullivan EVP of Public Affairs at Cresco Labs CRLBF. Key Developments And Timeline The experts expressed confidence in the rescheduling process, anticipating the completion of necessary administrative steps before the upcoming election. The DEA's initial hesitance is expected to be overcome by new evidence during the public comment period. Additionally, the DOJ is likely to issue a memorandum to provide a safe harbor from enforcement for financial institutions, despite cannabis remaining federally illegal. "The DOJ's upcoming actions are crucial for clarity and future regulatory frameworks," Zuanic wrote in a report. The Trump Factor The panel also discussed potential political influences, particularly regarding Donald Trump. They speculated on whether Trump might address cannabis rescheduling during the June 27 debate. If Trump wins the 2024 election, a Congressional Review Act (CRA) could be triggered if a member of Congress calls for a “resolution of disapproval.” However, the panelists say it's unlikely that both chambers would agree to reverse the rescheduling rule via a majority vote. They noted that if Trump wanted to reverse the rescheduling, his Attorney General would need to initiate a new rescheduling review process, which could take about two years and would likely face significant legal and scientific challenges. Political Considerations And Future Projections The panel also discussed potential political influences on the rescheduling process, including the impact of the presidential election. They anticipate that any attempts to reverse rescheduling post-election would face significant legal and scientific challenges, rendering them unlikely to succeed. As the deadline for hearing requests approaches on June 20, the cannabis industry is closely watching for the DEA’s decision on whether to grant hearings. The outcome of these hearings, along with the subsequent administrative review and final publication of the rule, are poised to be pivotal moments for the sector. Cannabis rescheduling seems to be right around the corner. Want to understand what this means for the future of the industry? Hear directly for top executives, investors, and policymakers at the 19th Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference, coming to Chicago this Oct. 8-9. Get your tickets now before prices surge by following this link. Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash.

Dollar Tree failed to pull lead-contaminated applesauce for months, FDA says 2024-06-18 21:55:00+00:00 - Applesauce packets recalled due to levels of lead Applesauce packets recalled due to levels of lead 00:37 Applesauce pouches contaminated with heavy amounts of lead remained on Dollar Tree store shelves for nearly two months after being recalled and linked to hundreds of lead poisonings nationwide, according to federal regulators. In the weeks and months that followed the recall of apple cinnamon fruit puree pouches, public health officials across many states continued to report seeing recalled WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree pouches on Dollar Tree store shelves, the Food and Drug Administration stated in a Tuesday update. The discount chain continued selling cinnamon applesauce well after WanaBana USDA recalled all of its Apple Cinnamon Fruit Puree pouches on Oct. 29, 2023, "despite FDA's numerous attempts to bring this serious issue to your attention," the agency stated in a warning letter to the company's CEO, Rick Dreiling. Through Dec. 19, 2023, the recall was ineffective at the retail level due to Dollar Tree's failure to pull the product, the agency stated. Reached for comment, Dollar Tree seemed to dispute the FDA's version of events. "In October 2023, Dollar Tree took immediate action and began executing a recall of WanaBana's Apple Cinnamon Fruit Puree Pouch upon being notified of the issue with the product. We continue to cooperate with FDA on this matter," the company said in an emailed statement. As of March 22, 2024, the CDC had received reports of 519 elevated blood lead level cases — 136 confirmed — from 44 states plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico.

Trump Media shares plunge 17% with newly available DJT shares set to dilute stock value 2024-06-18 21:40:00+00:00 - The stock price of Trump Media plunged by more than 17% in after-hours trading Tuesday after the Truth Social app owner said its registration of additional shares had been declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Trump Media, which trades under the DJT ticker, had seen its share price slump by nearly 10% during the regular trading day. The SEC's declaration authorizes early investors in Trump Media to exercise public warrants they hold in the company, whose majority shareholder is former President Donald Trump. Trump Media in a prospectus filed Tuesday with the SEC said that up to 14,375,000 additional shares would be issuable upon the exercise of those warrants. The company noted there could be "a significant decline in the public trading price" of the stock if warrant holders sold their shares or there was a "perception that these sales could occur." But Trump Media said that existing shareholders who sold at a lower prices after the registration "could still "experience a positive rate of return on the shares ... due to the lower price per share" when they purchased them. The prospectus also said, "If all warrants covered by the Registration Statement are exercised for cash, [Trump Media] may receive up to an aggregate of approximately $247 million in proceeds." "Additionally, $40 million of restricted cash on the Company's balance sheet will become unrestricted as a result of the Registration Statement becoming effective," the prospectus said. "These funds would supplement the more than $200 million in unrestricted cash the Company now retains." Trump Media CEO Devin Nunes, in a statement said, "Today marks another milestone for Truth Social." "With our S-1 declared effective, we're expecting to be well positioned to energetically pursue TV streaming, other enhancements to the platform, and potential mergers and acquisitions," Nunes said. "With approximately 620,000 retail shareholders supporting our vision, the company looks forward to expanding quickly and robustly."

How white supremacists appropriated a Megan Thee Stallion song 2024-06-18 21:30:09+00:00 - With their tortured adoption of words like “woke” and “based,” white conservatives (men, in particular) have shown that they get a kick out of appropriating Black lingo. That trend is in focus again thanks to a video from an event held for Donald Trump over the weekend. On Sunday, the presumptive Republican nominee for president delivered a speech at The People’s Convention, a gathering in Detroit hosted by right-wing activist group Turning Point Action and its founder, conservative agitator Charlie Kirk. Ironically, the appearance came after an event where Trump portrayed himself as a political ally to Black voters. Kirk and his associates are known for spewing racist bile from Kirk’s podcast and their personal social media accounts. And, in fact, a viral video from The People’s Convention shows some of those associates waving a flag and handing out hats with the phrase “White Boy Summer.” The scene had the same absurdist feel as many right-wing events these days (which, for the record, I think is deliberate). But goofy as it may seem, this is not something we should take lightly. This phrase, which the Anti-Defamation League notes has become become popular among white supremacists, first began as a variation of a statement of womanly pride by rapper Megan Thee Stallion. Megan popularized the phrase “Hot Girl Summer” in 2019 to promote women’s independence and bodily autonomy. She faced misogynistic backlash for promoting these things, spurring some men to promote the phrase “Hot Boy Summer” as a cringeworthy competitor. Then, white men — such as Tom Hanks’ son Chet — appropriated the phrase to create “White Boy Summer” as a declaration of their purportedly fleeting summertime freedom. And that’s how we arrive in the present day, where the phrase “White Boy Summer” has become a way for white supremacists to promote what is essentially unhinged white hypermasculinity (and all the oppressive bigotry it represents). And that’s why, as silly as it may seem to discuss, it’s significant that the organizers of an event for the presumptive GOP presidential nominee would tout it. It certainly speaks to the true driving force behind Trump’s campaign: white men. Relatedly, Media Matters just published an excellent report on the The People’s Convention and how Kirk’s Turning Point organizations carefully use popular figures and phrases linked to white nationalism — like “White Boy Summer” — to promote their ideas within the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign. You can check the report out here.