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Royce White's resurfaced remark about women being 'too mouthy' shows how MAGA recruits with misogyny 2024-05-28 19:18:39+00:00 - “Look, let’s just be frank. Women have become too mouthy. As the Black man in the room, I’ll say that.” That’s a quote from Minnesota Senate candidate Royce White, the man recently endorsed by the state Republican Party in its primary contest to face off against Sen. Amy Klobuchar in the fall. White made the comments in July on former Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s podcast, before rambling on with a sexist attack on MSNBC's Joy Reid and peddling conspiracy theories about women in the workplace. The comments resurfaced in video clips that were circulating on social media over the weekend. On Sunday, White defended his remarks, suggesting in a social media post that they were meant "humorously." White has claimed his campaign will appeal particularly to Black men; and Bannon, who has endorsed White, has previously made the outlandish claim that Republicans can win 50 percent of Black men and rule for the next century (that claim crashed and burned in 2022). But White is a prime example of Republicans’ hapless attempt to win that demographic by peddling misogyny. It’s a point I made in 2022, when I noted how Republicans were using bigoted Black men — like North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson and failed Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker — under the idea of luring other Black men into the MAGA fold. These bigoted appeals targeting Black communities also turned up in a recent radio ad promoted by a pro-Trump super PAC. That’s why I found it so noteworthy that President Joe Biden’s speech at the historically Black, all-men’s Morehouse College this month focused in part on the importance of rejecting MAGA's toxic version of masculinity. There is a concerted effort underway by conservatives to appeal to the worst character traits in all men — and Royce White is an example of how these efforts are being tailored to reach specific groups.

Another billionaire wants to ride a submarine to the Titanic wreckage 2024-05-28 19:14:51+00:00 - The Titan submersible that was traveling to the depths of the sunken Titanic disappeared nearly a year ago today and was later found to have imploded during its descent, killing five people. Now, another billionaire is reportedly preparing to make that same journey — also in a submersible, though one built by a different company. According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Larry Connor, a real estate and tech billionaire from Ohio, and Patrick Lahey, the founder and CEO of Triton Submarines, are planning to make the same expedition to the Titanic wreckage 3,800 meters below sea level. Neither said when will the voyage take place, but the vessel they intend to travel in is the Triton 4000/2 Abyssal Explorer, valued at $20 million and reportedly built using cutting-edge materials and tech to design. The Titan tragedy exposed the fatal downsides of the unregulated deep-sea tourism industry. After the vessel disappeared last year, a massive amount of resources was deployed to search for those aboard the submersible; many contrasted it with the tepid global response to a mass humanitarian crisis that involved the sinking of a migrant boat just days prior. Of course, Lahey and Connor believe that the Triton 4000/2 Abyssal Explorer will be far more secure than the Titan submersible, which had faced safety concerns for years. “I want to show people worldwide that while the ocean is extremely powerful, it can be wonderful and enjoyable and really kind of life-changing if you go about it the right way,” Connor told the Journal. But who else could enjoy such an experience besides billionaires such as himself? Like space tourism (also a province of the ultra-rich), deep-sea tourism costs an exorbitant amount of money and is thus only available to the most affluent. OceanGate, for example, reportedly charged $250,000 per person for Titanic expeditions before the disaster happened and it ceased operations. Triton Submarines itself was described by the Journal as “one of the leading makers of personal submersibles, serving a deep-pocketed clientele with aspirations of exploring the undersea realm.”

Locals Dig by Hand in Search for Landslide Victims in Papua New Guinea 2024-05-28 19:13:26+00:00 - A landslide struck Papua New Guinea in the middle of the night May 24, burying thousands and destroying six villages. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in .

Trump boasted about rolling back sexual assault rules on college campuses 2024-05-28 19:11:38+00:00 - As he was being pelted with boos during his speech at the Libertarian Party’s national convention on Sunday, Donald Trump rattled off a list of purported political victories he thought the crowd would like to hear. One in particular that stood out was his boast about having weakened sexual assault protections on college campuses. Borrowing from a routine he’s adopted during daily breaks in his New York election interference trial, Trump read an article that praised his administration for weakening the guidelines universities need to follow after receiving an allegation of sexual assault. In 2020, the Trump administration required colleges and universities to institute stricter standards for what qualifies as sexual assault and reformed the adjudication process in ways seen as more favorable for the accused. The changes were widely promoted among conservatives as a means of protecting men wrongly accused of sexual assault, and men’s rights organizations reportedly had a role in drafting the changes. In April, the Biden administration officially reversed the Trump-era rules and instituted more protections for accusers. During Trump’s speech on Sunday, he said: Trump’s Education Department repealed the so-called guidance letter that turned on campus sexual harassment accusations into de facto criminal convictions. You know all about that. Who else would do that for you? Trump restored due process to the 'he said, she said' minefield for your children. I know many, many people, what they’ve gone through with that is they’ve gone through hell in a powerful blow. “Who else would do that for you?” is an apt question. Indeed, it comes as little surprise that Trump, a man who has been recorded admitting to sexual assault and has repeatedly mocked a woman he’s been found liable in court of sexually assaulting, weakened guardrails designed to prevent and punish sexual assault. And those changes appear to have had an impact. As USA TODAY reported: Shortly after Donald Trump took office in 2017, his education secretary, Betsy DeVos, rescinded the Obama-era rules. Within a year, many colleges conducted fewer investigations, found fewer students at fault, and suspended and expelled fewer students as a result, USA TODAY’s analysis found. The drop-off, [Biden admin DOJ official Catherine Lhamon] said, 'suggests that the country heard loud and clear' the Trump administration’s message that it was not 'taking seriously the Congressional charge to ensure our students’ rights would be protected in school.' DeVos then unveiled new regulations in 2020 that made it harder for schools to find accused students at fault. But the data show colleges had not been disciplining men en masse, as critics had claimed. Trump’s boast over the weekend is another indicator that his campaign, and today’s conservative movement, is primarily built around hypermasculine politics and, in particular, the idea of male victimhood.

A big F-16 donation to Ukraine comes with a major condition 2024-05-28 19:07:24+00:00 - Belgium plans to send 30 F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, but it must avoid using them over Russia. Zelenskyy has emphasized Ukraine's need for enhanced air defenses against Russia. The F-16s are part of a $1 billion aid package, with delivery over four years. Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read preview Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . You can opt-out at any time by visiting our Preferences page or by clicking "unsubscribe" at the bottom of the email. Advertisement Belgium has agreed to send 30 US-made F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine as long as they aren't flown within Russian territory. "F-16 jets will be provided to Ukraine as soon as possible. Our aim is to be able to provide first aircraft before the end of this year, 2024," Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo announced Tuesday while hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. "Everything which is covered by this agreement is very clear. It is for utilization by the Ukraine Defense Forces on Ukraine['s] territory." This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in .

Shaking seats and piped-in fog: How 4DX is carving out a niche moviegoing market 2024-05-28 19:05:00+00:00 - In George Miller’s new Mad Max film “Furiosa,” a red paint flare explodes and casts the theater screen in a saturated crimson cloud. Feet away, among the rows of gyroscopic 4DX chairs, plumes of fog roll in, catching the red hue from the screen as if the flare somehow transcended the fourth wall and infiltrated the cinema. The fog parts, Chris Hemsworth as Dementus comes into focus and grins at the audience. This is the 4DX viewing experience. It’s one of many multi-sensory moments programmed for “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” which opened in theaters Friday, in order to immerse audiences in Miller’s latest visit to the vast Wasteland. And it amounts to a key value proposition at a time when cinemas are desperate to lure back moviegoers, particularly those in the younger demographics. “We make movies different,” said Duncan Macdonald, head of worldwide marketing and theatre development for CJ 4DPlex Americas. “We are so different out there, with our motion capabilities and our environmental effects.” In the wake of the pandemic, audiences grew used to shorter theatrical windows and having access to more content at home. At the same time, pandemic-related shutdowns and production stalls from two Hollywood strikes greatly limited the amount of content hitting theaters. As a result, consumers fell out of the habit of going to cinemas. Moviegoers who have returned are seeking premium experiences — higher-quality picture and sound — and are willing to pay more for those tickets. 4DX is one option in the premium large format market alongside the likes of IMAX and Dolby Cinema. CJ 4DPlex also owns the ScreenX format. “Premium movie theatre experiences are key to the health of the industry and with fewer films in the marketplace on average than in past years, the importance and essential nature of a company like 4DX comes into sharp focus,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. 4DX utilizes motion seats, practical effects and sensory elements to immerse viewers in a movie. For Warner Bros.′ “Wonka,” the company piped in the smell of chocolate during screenings. CJ 4DPlex Americas CEO Don Savant says the experience is “complementary” to routine moviegoing experiences, noting that 4DX cinemas attract younger consumers, predominantly in the 10-to-30 age range, who are seeking more experiential viewing. For consumers, the 4DX experience costs an average of $8 more than traditional ticket prices, meaning a ticket can range from $20 to $30 each. But the extra cost doesn’t seem to be detering audiences. Last year, 4DX’s domestic locations tallied $53.4 million in ticket sales. “Notably, the higher price for premium movie tickets is not a barrier to their success but rather seen as representing a solid value proposition for fans in pursuit of the best possible big screen experience,” Dergarabedian said. “This is good news for theater owners who, facing fewer wide release films in the marketplace, can boost revenues on a per-ticket basis while giving their patrons a great experience that will have them returning to the multiplex more often.” And, for major blockbuster titles, 4DX is proving to be even more popular. Ticket sales for Disney’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” topped $83.6 million from 4DX screens, or about 3.6% of the film’s total box office haul. It is currently the highest-grossing film for the screen format, Savant said. “We want to give customers an easy excuse to leave their homes and visit a local Regal theater,” said CEO Eduardo Acuna of Regal Cinemas. “Premium formats like 4DX offer a movie-watching experience that cannot be replicated by any home theater setup. Each premium format serves a different purpose for storytelling, and each increases the enjoyment of watching a movie in a different and immersive way.” Acuna noted that 4DX auditoriums are “a strong box office performer” for Regal. Regal is the largest operator of 4DX screens domestically, with 50 of the 62 locations found in the U.S. and Canada. Globally, there are nearly 750 4DX screens with numerous theatrical partners. The highest volume is in Asia and Europe. Savant said 4DX is adding around 25 to 30 screens per year worldwide, but is looking to push that figure up to 50 to 60 screens a year. The company is seeking to have around 1,200 4DX locations in the next five years. On average, each theater has around 140 seats. Moviegoers who venture away from their couches and into a 4DX theater to see Warner Bros.′ “Furiosa” will feel from their seat the rev of motorcycles racing through the desert, smell gunpowder in the air during epic gun battles and even get hit with a soft spray of water as it’s flicked in the face of a character on the screen. Last year, 4DX programmed more than 100 films for the souped-up viewing experience. Around 40 to 45 of those were major Hollywood titles, Savant said. Others included concert content, musical singalongs, anniversary titles and local language films. Typically, the 4DX programmers, who are based in Seoul, have two to three weeks to craft the motion and special effects, although Savant said they can turn around a film in a week if the need arises. 4DX can program three titles at a time. Both Macdonald and Savant referred to 4DX’s programmers as “artists,” describing the process — from the subwoofers in the seats to the fog machines — as different brushstrokes in a work of art. “Every film is different,” said Macdonald. “So we look at the nuances of the different films that we have and how those are programmed.” In some cases filmmakers will get involved, offering suggestions for when certain effects should be used and how subtle or bombastic they should feel or look. “It’s the most dynamic way to see [a film],” Savant said.

At 36, I'm on track to retire by 45, thanks to 4 small, powerful wealth-building habits: 'I found financial freedom when I took control' 2024-05-28 19:03:00+00:00 - In 2012, fresh out of graduate school, I spiraled from being optimistic about my future to feeling constantly anxious about money. I had recently moved to Washington, D.C., with a $40,000 starting salary, almost $45,000 of student debt and very little savings. I used an interest calculator and learned that if I continued to make only the minimum payments on my student loans over the course of 10 years, I would pay $16,000 in interest on top of my original debt. My heart sank, but I was determined to improve my situation. Within three years, I paid off my debt, and the next year I doubled my income. In 2017, I bought my first home before my 30th birthday. In 2019, inspired by my experience, I started a company called Beworth Finance to help others build wealth and gain confidence about their finances. Today, at 36, I'm on track to retire by 45. Here's how I changed my money mindset and got rid of my financial anxiety for good. I started with small but powerful changes Discovering that interest calculator was a huge turning point for me because it jumpstarted my financial education. I became excited about investing and eventually buying a home, but wanted to tackle my debt and build up savings first. At the time, I made about $2,492 per month after taxes and deductions, and before monthly debt payments. While I couldn't reach all my goals at once, a few small habits helped me slowly and consistently improve my finances. I started saving. At first I set aside about $120 per month. I contributed just enough to my retirement fund to meet my employer match, which was 4% of my salary at the time, so about $133 per month. I made sure to negotiate my salary every year. While I may not have gotten a "yes" or the exact number I pitched every single time, I was often successful, and landed a few 15% to 20% raises over the years. Four years after I took that first job, I doubled my income to $80,000/year. I found ways to earn more outside my 9-to-5. I increased my earnings by working a number of side gigs that included mystery shopping, participating in focus groups and flipping items on Craigslist. I slowly increased my debt payments. Every month I was able, I made additional small payments on my debt. As my income grew, I increased my extra debt payments up to $1,500 until I was debt-free. That process took three years. I used automation to reduce my financial stress Turns out, it wasn't just having debt that made me anxious — it was feeling like I had no control. So as I got more confident with money, I turned to technology to help with the goals I stressed over. I automated my savings contributions, put my loans on autopay and began investing using a robo-advisor that selected and managed my investments for me. Over time, these contributions became an afterthought. Technology helped me reach my goals more quickly thanks to added benefits like higher interest rates for savings and reductions using autopay. Once I was debt-free, I reallocated those funds toward saving for a home by simply updating the same automations I set years prior. That simple system of automation ultimately helped me accomplish one of my biggest goals: homeownership. In July 2017, I bought my first home in Washington, D.C., a 514-square-foot one bedroom, one bathroom apartment, for $345,000, with 10 percent down. I avoided lifestyle creep As my income grew to include a six-figure salary, business revenue and rental income, I've spent more on things I love, like travel, but have kept other expenses low. For example, I lived with roommates for two years even after paying off my debt, in order to save for my first home. Today, I still cook most nights, and I haven't owned a car in 10 years. I still monitor my variable spending so I can continue to invest in the stock market, but do so in a way where my money doesn't feel stretched day-to-day. I invested in my future

"No-buy pledge" catches on with TikTokers. Here's what to know and how to start. 2024-05-28 19:02:00+00:00 - Many Americans overextending credit card limits, especially young people Many Americans overextending credit card limits, especially young people 03:36 The first rule of the "no-buy" trend? Talk about the no-buy trend. What started several years ago as a blogged-about experiment in budgeting and mindful spending has become a popular trend on social media. For the challenge, participants pledge to stop buying non-essential items, whether unneeded shoes, additional beauty products or other impulse buys for a set amount of time, usually 12 months. "Having this lifestyle adjustment, I was anticipating that it would make a huge difference in my ability to pay down my debt," Elysia Berman, a creative director who lives in Brooklyn. Berman decided she needed to drastically change her spending habits after she accumulated a collection of vintage designer clothing and a five-figure credit card debt. Her no-buy pledge included no new clothes, getting makeup and hair products only after she finished the ones she had, and limiting social outings to low- or no-expense activities. For Berman, adopting a more frugal lifestyle is serving one purpose: paying down her credit card debt. "It wasn't like I wanted to challenge myself. I'm really in a position where this is a necessary next step for me," she said. Both sticking to her pledge and making progress toward her financial goal have proven more difficult than Berman expected. Within two weeks of starting her challenge, she couldn't resist buying a new beret. Next came a new pair of boots. Although the challenge has helped her reduce her spending, she isn't accruing savings as much as living within her means. Talking about any personal financial struggles is difficult for most people, but Berman approached hers head-on by discussing her financial struggles with friends and family and then posting about these issues on social media. The latter action resulted in more exposure than she originally expected; she has over 60,000 followers on TikTok, where a video in which she displayed her empty skin and hair products received over 1 million views. Agency over finances While the trend has been growing for some time, the beginning of 2024 provided another opportunity for people to gain back agency over their finances following the "doom spending" of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Courtney Alev, a consumer financial advocate for the personal finance company Credit Karma. "It's just people trying to reclaim what's been a rampant cycle of overspending, to be able to get their financial situation back in order and be able to save money," Alev said. U.S. households are carrying a record amount of credit card debt, according to a February report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The bank said the data indicates financial distress is on the rise, particularly among younger and lower-income Americans. With rising rent and food prices overloading many household budgets, Americans are leaning heavily on credit cards as well as buy now, pay later plans to pay for everyday staples such as groceries, gas and pet-care products. "Better for the planet" But not everyone electing to join the no-buy trend has debt. Amea Wadsworth, who moved back home to San Diego, California, after graduating college, wanted to use her first full-time job as a chance to save, both the environment and money for her future. After returning to live with her mom, she began noticing how many things she had that took up space. Working for a sustainability app also has made her more aware of her personal contribution to the world's mountains of waste. "I'm tracking everything that I'm spending. I'm writing it all down," said Wadsworth, who also writes down the times she wants to buy something but doesn't. She reviews the entries at the end of the month to determine if her purchases were really necessary purchase or a response to a quick craving. Other no-spend participants give themselves some latitude. Wadsworth, for example, is not buying any physical items but does allow herself to occasionally eat out with friends and the cost of visiting her long-distance boyfriend. Sabrina Pare, 31, of Detroit, Michigan, approached cutting back on purchases from an environmental perspective. A sustainable living aficionado with a large social media following, Pare decided to participate in the no-buy year as a way to limit her contribution to the world's waste. She began by decluttering her closet and then looked for environmentally friendly ways to build a minimalist wardrobe, like hosting a clothing swap and avoiding fashion trends. At every step, Pare brings her followers along by filming short videos and sharing tips. "If you're buying less, it's better for the planet. Overconsumption, it's such an issue in our society," she said. Avoiding overspending But just as social media can be used for accountability and support when participating in the no-buy year challenge, it's also one of the reasons many overspend. Berman, for example, stopped following a lot of fashion influencers to reduce the urge to buy things. Learning to avoid impulsive shopping takes rethinking your habits and becoming aware of your triggers, said Carrie Rattle, CEO of Behavioral Cents, a financial coaching company. "(The challenge) does help you try to push back against that need for dopamine. Every time we shop, any of us shop, we get that little dopamine hit," Rattle said. While the challenge is meant to last for one year, people trying it say they are learning new techniques to help them avoid overspending in the future. "My consumer habits have changed so much through this," Berman said. "Just because you see all the waste and you're like, 'Why is this necessary? Why buy a million little things when you can just buy one big thing, and it's even better if it's refillable.'" After she makes a significant dent in the credit card debt, Berman hopes to start saving and investing. Wadsworth plans to focus on spending her money on experiences with her loves ones rather than material things. Pare hopes to pay off her student loans. Wadsworth advises anyone who hears of the no-buy challenge and can't imagine doing one to give it a try, even if it's just for a month. "They say that it sounds so hard and yeah, it sounded hard to me, too. But if it sounds so terrifying to you, it probably means that you need it," she said. Taking the challenge Any time can be the right one for those looking to tackle their credit card debt, declutter their homes or to spend less time shopping. Some challenge participants begin with a no-spend month. "I commend anyone who realizes they're just buying too much because North America is very consumer-focused and there's too much waste," said Carrie Rattle, the CEO of financial coaching company Behavioral Cents. Thinking of taking the no buy pledge? Read on for some tips from experts as well as from people who have taken the pledge. 1. Identify your weakness Whether it's makeup, ordering takeout food or buying unnecessary trinkets in the $1 section at Target, knowing your vulnerabilities will help you make a realistic plan for staying on track. Before starting her no-buy year, Mia Westrap, a Ph.D. student in Southhampton, England, took a close look at what she spent money on during the previous few months. She decided that unnecessary food and beverages were her weakness. 2. Make your own rules San Diego resident Amea Wadsworth, 22, used to love spending hours looking at clothes and quirky knickknacks at Target and Goodwill. But when she moved back home after graduating college, she realized how many things she had accumulated through the years. "When I have those decluttering moments and I look through all my stuff, I was finding things that I bought and spent a lot of money on and then never ended up wearing," Wadsworth said. For her challenge, she chose to not buy new clothing items and prioritized spending on experiences with her loved ones. Wadsworth also started her challenge by doing it month by month. 3. Take a pause Finances are very connected to emotions, and emotions sometimes can make you feel like buying something you don't need. When Wadsworth feels an impulse to get something she saw on social media or at a story, she writes it down instead of immediately purchasing the item. At the end of the month, she reviews the list and decides what, if anything, still is worth buying. "I look back and I see how many things I wrote and I'm like 'I'm glad that I didn't buy that because I really didn't need it,'" Wadsworth said. 4. Unsubscribe and unfollow Between pop-up promotions and influencers swooning over new merchandise, social media can be a trigger for unnecessary shopping, according to Courtney Alev, a consumer financial advocate at Credit Karma. If you think screen time is compounding your overspending habit, Alev recommends taking a break from following accounts that bring on the urge to pull out a credit card. 5. Be gentle with yourself When Westrap began her no-buy year, she felt like the universe was conspiring against her. Her car broke down one month, and the next she received an expensive fine for an overdue parking ticket she was unaware of. Unexpected expenses or weak moments happen to everyone, and it's OK if you don't follow your no-buy year rules exactly as you had planned. The effort matters. "If you fail, you probably need a bit more help. You are not a failure. You have simply failed at one method," Rattle said. "And that's really important because I don't want people to feel dejected." Building a new habit and managing your finances can be difficult. Try to be gentle with yourself in the process.

Planned Ross Stores distribution center in North Carolina to employ 850 2024-05-28 18:20:04+00:00 - RANDLEMAN, N.C. (AP) — Discount retailer Ross Dress For Less will build a southeastern U.S. distribution center in central North Carolina, investing $450 million and creating 850 jobs, officials announced Tuesday. Ross Stores Inc., which operates Ross Dress for Less and another off-price chain, aims to complete its capital investment at the Randolph County site by the end of 2026 and create the jobs from 2027-2031, according to a document provided by the state Commerce Department. Off-price chains, which also include TJ Maxx and Marshalls, buy brand-name clothing and other products directly from manufacturers or other retailers with excess inventory, then sell them in no-frills stores. Ross Stores calls Ross Dress For Less the largest off-price apparel and home fashion chain in the U.S., with over 1,700 locations in 43 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam. The 330-acre (134-hectare) distribution center, to be located about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Greensboro, will provide warehousing, fulfillment and packing operations, Gov. Roy Cooper’s office said in a news release. The minimum average wage for the new jobs will be essentially at the Randolph County average of $45,800 per year. The California-based company was choosing between the site in Randleman and another in Laurens County, South Carolina, according to information provided to a state committee that approves some government incentives. The Economic Investment Committee agreed earlier Tuesday to award Ross up to $7.6 million in cash payments over 12 years if it meets job-creation and investment targets. In all, the company is poised to receive over $52 million in state and local incentives, most of which would originate from Randleman and Randolph County government.

Ryan Salame, part of the ‘inner circle’ at collapsed crypto exchange FTX, sentenced to prison 2024-05-28 18:17:07+00:00 - NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced former FTX executive Ryan Salame to more than seven years in prison, the first of the lieutenants of failed cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried to receive jail time for their roles in the 2022 collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange. Salame, 30, was a high-ranking executive at FTX for most of the exchange’s existence and, up until its collapse, was the co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets. He pleaded guilty last year to illegally making unlawful U.S. campaign contributions and to operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business. The sentence of 7 1/2 years in prison, plus three years of supervised release, was more than the five to seven years prosecutors had asked Judge Lewis A. Kaplan to impose on Salame in their pre-sentencing memo. While Salame was a high-level executive at FTX, he was not a major part of the government’s case against Bankman-Fried at his trial earlier this year and did not testify against him. In a bid for leniency, Salame said during the sentencing hearing that he cooperated and even provided documents that aided prosecutors in their cross examination of Bankman-Fried, as well as in his own prosecution. Along with helping Bankman-Fried hide the holes in FTX’s balance sheet that ultimately led to the exchange’s failure, Salame was used as a conduit for Bankman-Fried to make illegal campaign contributions to help shape U.S. policy on cryptocurrencies. On the surface, Bankman-Fried mostly gave political contributions to Democrats and liberal-leaning causes, while Salame gave contributions to Republicans and right-leaning causes. But ultimately the funds that Salame used for those contributions came from Bankman-Fried. Kaplan said Salame “knew precisely what he was doing … and the whole idea was to hide it from the world. Astonishing!” The judge also chastised Salame for pulling $5 million in cryptocurrencies out of FTX as the exchange was failing. “You tried to withdraw tens of millions more,” Kaplan said. “It was me first. I’m getting in the lifeboat first. To heck with all those customers.” Salame apologized to FTX customers and his family, saying that he and others had good intentions, though he added: “I fully understand that the means I sought to achieve these goals were illegal.” Before he was sentenced, Salame gave brief remarks saying he was “beginning my path to redemption.” “I accept what’s next,” he said. Three other high-level executives at FTX are awaiting sentencing for their roles in the exchange’s collapse: Caroline Ellison, who was CEO of the FTX hedge fund Alameda Research, Gary Wang, the co-founder of FTX, and Nishad Singh, FTX’s head of engineering. All three cooperated with prosecutors and testified at trial against Bankman-Fried in exchange for potentially suspended prison sentences. _____ Associated Press writer Larry Neumeister in New York contributed to this report.

New Jersey and wind farm developer Orsted settle claims for $125M over scrapped offshore projects 2024-05-28 18:15:12+00:00 - ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Danish wind farm developer Orsted will pay New Jersey $125 million to settle claims over the company’s cancellation of two offshore wind farms last year — a little over a third of what the company once was required to pay. The state’s Board of Public Utilities said Tuesday that New Jersey and Orsted have settled claims against each other stemming from the company’s decision last October to scrap two wind farms off the state’s southern coast. The state said the $125 million it will receive will be used to support investments in wind energy facilities, component manufacturing facilities, and other clean energy programs. Before the projects were abandoned, Orsted put up a $100 million guarantee that it would have one of them, Ocean Wind I, built by the end of 2025. It also had been obligated to pay an additional $200 million toward the development of the offshore wind industry in New Jersey. A week after scrapping the projects last fall, Orsted said it was trying to get out of the $300 million worth of guarantees because it was no longer pursuing the projects. Orsted, in a statement to The Associated Press, said it is “pleased” with the settlement, which it said represents the company’s total financial obligation to the state. The agreement, along with other moves announced Tuesday by New Jersey, “underscore New Jersey’s commitment to offshore wind and the industry’s bright future in the Garden State,” it said. “While we advance clean energy projects throughout the region, we look forward to continuing valuable partnerships with New Jersey stakeholders,” the statement read. The company would not say if it plans to propose future projects in New Jersey. But Jeff Tittel, a longtime environmentalist and retired president of the New Jersey Sierra Club, called the settlement with Orsted “a sellout.” “The governor said they would be held responsible for the entire $300 million they owe the state for their failed project,” he said. “They are being let off the hook, paying less than half, with New Jersey losing $175 million. This is a bad deal for New Jersey.” The settlement announcement was one of several that the administration of Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy made Tuesday regarding offshore wind. The state said it is moving up the next solicitation for additional offshore wind projects from the third quarter of 2026 to the second quarter of 2025. New Jersey’s current round of solicitations closes on July 10. The state also said it is pausing plans to coordinate power transmission planning for offshore wind projects with the regional grid operator, PJM Interconnection due to a new rule by federal energy regulators that could affect planning and costs. “Offshore wind development remains a once-in-a-generation opportunity that will result in significant economic and environmental benefits throughout the Garden State,” Murphy said in a statement. “At this pivotal inflection point for the industry both in New Jersey and across the nation, it’s critical that we remain committed to delivering on the promise of thousands of family-sustaining, union jobs and cleaner air for generations to come.” Orsted wrote off $4 billion last fall, due largely to costs associated with the cancellation of its two New Jersey projects. The company cited supply chain issues, inflation and a failure to gain enough government tax credits. There are currently three preliminarily approved offshore wind projects in New Jersey. The state is home to vociferous opposition to offshore wind by numerous groups who say the projects are too costly and are potentially harmful to the marine environment. Protect Our Coast NJ said the move to accelerate offshore wind contracts “reflects the shifting political landscape in Washington and in New Jersey,” calling Murphy’s clean energy goals “arbitrary and unrealistic.” Supporters say they are an important way to move away from the burning of fossil fuel that contributes to climate change. ___ Follow Wayne Parry on X at www.twitter.com/WayneParryAC

Qatar’s ruler looking to invest in energy, ports and high-tech in Cyprus, official says 2024-05-28 18:13:28+00:00 - NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — The emir of Qatar is looking to invest in energy and high-tech in Cyprus — projects seen as having a strong economic potential, a Cypriot official said Tuesday. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who visited the east Mediterranean island nation on Tuesday for the first time, is also interested in investing in Cypriot ports and banking institutions, the official said. Qatar is a strong supporter of a maritime aid corridor that ferries humanitarian aid from the Cypriot port of Larnaca to the besieged Gaza Strip via a U.S. built temporary pier off the Palestinian territory. Al Thani has helped with funding the initiative’s humanitarian aid collection. The temporary pier was damaged by rough seas over the weekend and temporarily suspended operations, officials said. Al Thani and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides held talks and agreed to set up a working group to gauge progress made in forging closer economic and political ties, the Cypriot official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the subject. A Cyprus government statement said the emir expressed his concern over developments in the southern Gaza city of Rafah where an Israeli military offensive is underway. Qatar, along with Egypt and the United States, has been mediating to broker a cease-fire deal that would free about 100 Israeli hostages being held by Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers and in efforts to end the war. Qatar is also partners with ExxonMobil in oil and gas exploration in one of 13 areas, or blocks, inside Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone off the island’s southern coastline.

FTX exec who turned on Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 7.5 years in prison 2024-05-28 18:02:00+00:00 - Ryan Salame, a former top lieutenant of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, has been sentenced to 90 months, or seven and a half years, in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Salame has also been ordered to pay more than $6 million in forfeiture and more than $5 million in restitution. The sentence is a heavier penalty than the five to seven years that prosecutors had suggested, and well beyond the 18 months that Salame’s defense team had requested. In September, Salame pleaded guilty to conspiracy to make unlawful political contributions, defraud the Federal Election Commission, and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business. Judge Lewis Kaplan sentenced Sam Bankman-Fried to 25 years in prison in March. In 2021, Salame transitioned from a high-ranking post at Bankman-Fried’s crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research, to co-CEO of FTX’s Bahamian subsidiary, FTX Digital Markets. Salame spent millions of dollars on real estate and campaign donations during his tenure. One estimate by Bahamian lawyers claims Bankman-Fried and Salame spent $256.3 million to buy and maintain 35 properties across New Providence — real estate that Bahamian regulators wanted to retrieve in FTX’s U.S. bankruptcy protection proceedings. Meanwhile, data from the Federal Election Commission shows that Salame gave more than $24 million to Republican candidates and causes in the 2022 election cycle. Days before FTX filed for bankruptcy in 2022, Salame went to Bahamian authorities to tell them that the Bankman-Fried may have committed fraud by sending customer money from the crypto exchange to his other firm, Alameda Research. According to a criminal filing, Salame disclosed “possible mishandling of clients’ assets” by Bankman-Fried. It was one of the first public acknowledgments of an insider turning on Bankman-Fried, who was found guilty of stealing more than $8 billion worth of customer cash they believed was safely being stored on the exchange. Since then, however, several other insiders, including Alameda’s former CEO and SBF’s ex-girlfriend, Caroline Ellison, FTX co-founder Gary Wang, and FTX’s ex-engineering head Nishad Singh, all gave testimony for the prosecution that ultimately contributed to his guilty verdict in November. Salame did not take the stand during Bankman-Fried’s trial. In a statement, U.S. attorney Damian Williams said Tuesday’s sentence underscored “the substantial consequences for such offenses.” “Salame’s involvement in two serious federal crimes undermined public trust in American elections and the integrity of the financial system,” Williams added. Salame is the first of SBF’s executive team to be sentenced since the exchange filed for bankruptcy in Nov. 2022. — CNBC’s Dan Mangan contributed to this report.

GameStop Will Rocket Higher: The Move Won’t Last 2024-05-28 17:59:00+00:00 - Key Points GameStop sold shares, raised money, and diluted its stock by 15%. The news caused another meme-like rally, and more upsides could come. The risk is that this market already shows resistance to higher prices and there is no fundamental reason to buy. 5 stocks we like better than GameStop Shares of GameStop NYSE: GME are set up to rocket higher again, but the move won’t last because of why it is moving. GameStop announced a share sale that has increased its capital but diluted its value. The sale maxed out the shelf-offering filed only a week before, raising $933 million but diluting its stock by 15%. Get GameStop alerts: Sign Up The Ugly Truth About GameStop’s Capital Raise The purpose for GameStop’s new funds is listed as general corporate purposes or investing, either of which is a possibility and not all that great for investors. The company has improved its cash burn but is still bleeding. It may not return to full-year profitability as forecasted, so it needs to remain well-capitalized to fund operations. The cash injection nearly doubled the year-end balance and could sustain losses for the next decade. The question is how a decade of losses will impact the share price, and the answer is negative. GameStop Today GME GameStop $23.78 +4.78 (+25.16%) 52-Week Range $9.95 ▼ $64.83 P/E Ratio 1,189.59 Price Target $7.00 Add to Watchlist The other purpose, investing, is more interesting. The board approved new policies that allow the company to invest in stocks and for those investments to match CEO Ryan Cohen’s. This opens the door to many opportunities, including capital gain and income, as well as risks. CEO Ryan Cohen made a name for himself as an investor, but his two current holdings, GameStop and Bed Bath & Beyond, have performed poorly since his investment. BBBY shares are down nearly 100%, and GameStop's future is questionable; there’s no guarantee new investments will do any better. While a capital increase is good news for the business, it is still in terrible shape with no signs of improvement, and now there are more shares for investors to contend with. Now, the best traders can expect is another short-covering rally that will likely fail because there is no fundamental reason to own the stock. Technical resistance to higher prices is so significant that GameStop may be unable to sustain a higher price until there is a significant improvement in operations, which is unlikely to come soon. Don’t Buy Into RFK Jr Support for GameStop RFK Jr gamed the GameStop market as surely as the meme traders when he threw in his support. The move is politically driven, meant to attract a meme-following, and has no bearing on operations. The $24,000 investment is only 0.35% of the market cap and intended as a launch pad for promotion - Mr. Kennedy pointed out the funds' source was profit from winning his case against Monsanto. Don’t count on his support moving the needle for GameStop or increasing the stock price. There has been some positive movement regarding analysts' sentiment, but even that will not support the price action. The single analyst with a rating remains Wedbush, which rates the stock as a Strong Sell and raised its target to $7 from $5.60, 75% below the current price action. This situation is unlikely to change and keeps serious investment money out of this peripheral tech market. GameStop Already Shows Signs of Resistance GameStop could pop and even double in price due to another meme-induced rally, but there is a risk. The market already shows resistance at a critical level and may not move higher. In this scenario, the impact of the recapitalization effort is over, and the ceiling is already in place. The critical resistance is near $25, which has capped gains in the past. Assuming the market can move above $25, it could move as high as $65, but that is not expected. The next visible catalyst is the Q1 report, due in early June. The risk is that analysts continue to overestimate, setting the stage for significant underperformance. The analysts lowered their targets following the Q1 guidance update, but not low enough to align with management's forecast. Before you consider GameStop, 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 GameStop wasn't on the list. While GameStop currently has a "Sell" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here

The Daily Beast’s New Bosses Plan Buyouts to Cut Losses 2024-05-28 17:49:27+00:00 - The Daily Beast’s new leaders will do a round of voluntary buyouts intended to cut costs by $1.5 million, in one of their first major moves to try to revitalize the flagging digital tabloid. The new leaders, Joanna Coles and Ben Sherwood, both media veterans, joined the company in April in exchange for an equity stake in the business. Barry Diller’s company, IAC, maintains control of the publication. The Daily Beast’s union told its members in a memo this week that workers would have until June 14 to apply for a buyout, after which the publication would accept applications “in reverse seniority order until they meet their $1.5 million threshold.” Decisions on additional applications beyond that threshold would be up to the company, and there would be “a moratorium” on further layoffs until the end of the year, according to the union’s memo. The cuts are not targeting any particular coverage area.

Momentum Investing: A Guide to Getting Started 2024-05-28 17:00:00+00:00 - Part of Isaac Newton’s second law of motion says a body in motion remains in motion unless acted on by an outside force, and this covenant of physics has plenty of parallels with momentum investing. Momentum investing isn’t about finding stocks about to pop or drop but riding an established wave until the shoreline comes into view. Momentum investors tend to have shorter timelines than buy-and-hold investors and use different tools when analyzing stocks. They also take on more risk than traditional investors, so grasping the techniques and tools needed for success is vital. In this article, you’ll learn the inner workings of momentum investing, the benefits and risks of this strategy and how to get started with your momentum portfolio. Get GameStop alerts: Sign Up What Is Momentum Investing? If bodies in motion stay in motion, do stocks in an uptrend stay in an uptrend? That’s the theory behind momentum investing, which seeks to profit from trends already in motion rather than predicting reversals or changes in direction. Momentum investors use technical indicators to find stocks with solid trend continuance signals and buy shares to ‘ride the wave.’ The direction of the trend isn’t crucial; momentum investors can buy stocks trending up or down depending on market conditions. The essential data comes from the trend's strength, which is where the term momentum comes in. How much momentum is in the trend? Is the wave of buying or selling continuing to grow, or is volume beginning to dry up? Long-term investors may not be concerned with volume and trend data, but momentum investors need technical tools and concepts like support and resistance to time their trades. Momentum trading timelines can be hours, days, weeks or even months. But momentum strategies aren’t meant for investors looking to ‘set-and-forget’ their portfolios. Momentum traders must stay on top of the data and have the agility to exit a position should the charts sway from the thesis. How to Get Started with Momentum Investing Momentum investing isn’t a secret sauce used by pros and institutions. All you need to get started is capital and a trading account. But to successfully trade momentum, you’ll need a comprehensive understanding of a few technical indicators and a well-devised trading plan to keep your emotions from interfering with the process. Set Up Your Trading Account You’ll need a brokerage account to trade stocks, but not all brokers provide the same services. Momentum trading requires utilizing charting tools, indicators and different order types, so select a broker that offers the features you need. What should you look for in a broker? To start, you’ll want a robust trading platform; pick a broker with an intuitive interface, functional mobile app and the ability to buy and sell a wide range of securities. And while most firms today offer commission-free stock trading, there’s still a schedule of fees to compare when selecting a broker. The more suitable your broker, the better experience you’ll have trading stock online. Once you’ve chosen a broker and opened an account, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with the tools of the momentum trade. Moving averages are a crucial component of many momentum indicators since they help smooth out price data over short timeframes to identify trends better. For example, if a stock is trading above its 50- and 200-day moving averages, that’s evidence that the uptrend has room to continue. You’ll want to learn how to use continuation-spotting tools like the Relative Strength Index (RSI) in your research. The RSI uses short-term daily highs and lows of a specific asset price to measure the velocity or strength of a trend. Readings between 30 and 70 on the RSI scale indicate the trend is likely to continue. Other critical technical indicators include the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) and Average Directional Index (ADX). Develop a Trading Plan Momentum investing requires a plan tailored to your specific goals. Your risk tolerance and investing timeline will play a prominent role in deciding which assets you trade and how long you hold them. Before opening any positions, set profit goals and loss limits. If you plan to take profits after a 20% gain beforehand, you’ll be less inclined to make a potentially poor decision by hanging on. Also, consider your ideal entry and exit points before buying shares, as short-term trading strategies require precision for maximum gains. Monitor and Adjust Your Strategy Remember that Mr Market tends to laugh at our carefully laid plans. Momentum trading plans shouldn’t be static, and you must be ready to pivot if the market or economic environment changes. Many market prognosticators called for a recession in 2023; when that didn’t materialize, the investors who quickly pivoted to buying tech stocks were rewarded. Short-term trading strategies require a more watchful eye than long-term ones. Momentum traders constantly review their charts, consume financial news and chat with other traders to confirm or adjust their views. Market conditions can change quickly, and stubborn investors won’t last long using momentum techniques. Risks and Limitations of Momentum Investing Newton’s second law of motion has a crucial caveat: “unless acted upon by an outside force.” Unfortunately for investors, outside forces are plentiful in markets and the economy. Since momentum investors have shorter timelines than long-term investors, risk increases because volatility, trend reversals or geopolitical events don’t happen on a tidy schedule. RSI or MACD won’t be able to tell you about military action in Europe, an oil shortage in the Middle East or changing trends in the U.S. presidential election. And if experts using Stephen King-length novels of data can’t make accurate predictions, how can we expect to have a 100% success rate in trading? Technical analysis is practical, but it doesn’t have a perfect track record of predicting trend continuations or reversals. A careful investor using multiple indicators must be aware of false signals and use proper risk management tools to minimize losses. And while every investment involves some type of risk, momentum trading requires a different level of supervision since volatility can be unpredictable. One of these risk management tools is the stop-loss order, which prevents a position from dropping below a certain level by automatically triggering a sell order. For example, if you buy 100 shares of GameStop Corp. NYSE: GME to ride a wave of upward momentum, you might want to set a stop loss order 10% below your entry price to prevent significant losses in a trend reversal. If the share price continues to move upward, you can also increase your stop-loss order (or use a trailing stop order to automatically increase your exit point). Conclusion Momentum investing is a short-term trading strategy that rides strong trends. Traders using this technique utilize technical indicators like RSI and MACD to measure trend strengths and open positions in stocks with the most robust trend. Momentum trading is a popular strategy for institutional and retail investors but requires a strong stomach for risk and comprehensive knowledge of technical analysis. Grow Your Portfolio with MarketBeat Momentum investing can be a profitable short-term strategy, but it’s not for beginners just getting their feet wet in the markets. Want to learn more about momentum trading? MarketBeat has all the tools you’ll need to develop a plan and track your assets. Click here to learn more about our offerings.

Liquid Death: the viral canned water brand killing it with gen Z 2024-05-28 16:34:00+00:00 - What’s in a name? Well, if you ask the makers of the viral water brand Liquid Death, the answer is about $1.4bn. Anyone with tickets to a festival this summer is likely to be struck by the canned drink with the alarming name that gen Z devotees are carrying around with them. But the trendy beverage is nowhere near as sinister as it seems. In fact, it’s just water in a can. Despite not selling a particularly innovative product, the independently owned Liquid Death, founded in 2017, is valued at more than a billion dollars. Its global sales were worth $263m last year. The company boasted “triple-digit” growth for the third consecutive year, becoming one of the fastest-growing water and iced tea brands in the world. In Britain the brand secured its first supermarket deals with Nisa and the Co-op and is also available in Tesco. But if the product on offer is simply water in a can – sometimes sparkling and flavoured – the like of which has been available for some time on both sides of the Atlantic, why the hype around this drink? The success is all down to clever marketing, experts say. The name itself uses shock value and humour, and, with a barrage of PR stunts – one of which included paying a “witch” to go to the Super Bowl and hex one of the teams from the stands – the company’s growth shows the power of creating a memorable brand. If that brand is so out of step with your competitors that it sometimes gets mistakenly stacked in the beer aisle, instead of with the other waters, all the better. View image in fullscreen The brand’s founder wanted to hydrate young people at parties in a unique way. Photograph: Liquid Death Alex Beckett, director of food and drink at the analyst Mintel, said: “The world has been crying out for a water that refers to back sweat in its advertising, is mistakenly stocked on Tesco’s beer fixtures and takes design cues from Skeletor’s fever dreams. “The consumer appetite for rule-breaker brands is fierce in these bleak times and only heightened in bottled water, where the sector’s potential as a healthy choice is spoiled by sustainable concerns and mediocre brand voices.” Megan Dorian, the founder of Orange PR and Marketing, said: “Its marketing stunts, including its recent campaign to give away a jet, create buzz, and generate significant media coverage, which amplifies its brand presence without the need for traditional advertising spends. “This kind of guerrilla marketing appeals particularly to generation Z [those born after 1995], who value brands that are willing to push boundaries and entertain. Fans of the brand enjoy the ‘What’s next?’ element.” When Liquid Death launched, its “murder your thirst” slogan was called “toxic masculinity run rampant” and seen as a gimmick. It comes in a tall can emblazoned with a skull. Many were sceptical, thinking it was just an attempt to sell expensive water to young people – its Tesco price point is £5.50 for four 500ml still water cans. But, as they say, there is no such thing as bad publicity. Within a couple of months, the brand had 100,000 fans on Facebook. Its founder, a former graphic designer, Mike Cessario, wanted to hydrate young people at parties in a unique way. He said a lot of rival brands were unhealthy. “We wanted to give people permission to participate in this cool rock’n’roll brand without needing to consume something gross,” he has said. Rachel Egan, a marketing expert, said the brand was getting “gen Z marketing spot-on” because it speaks to their concerns, such as the climate crisis. Another of the company’s mottoes is “death to plastic” and it says its aluminium cans are “infinitely recyclable”. “I even saw a flavour called ‘Dead Billionaire’ on their social media,” Egan added. When the water launched, its fans ranged from young people who wanted to party without booze to artists and activists. The brand also collaborated with Tony Hawk selling skateboard decks printed with the legendary skater’s blood to raise money for charity. Dorian said: “The combination of a memorable brand and a commitment to social responsibility makes it a compelling choice for the eco-conscious consumer. Moreover, their commitment to sustainability is not just a marketing tactic but a core part of their brand identity, further solidifying their appeal. She added: “Liquid Death has effectively created a lifestyle brand rather than just a beverage. By integrating into music festivals and extreme sports events, it has fostered a sense of community among its consumers.” But brands that live fast can often die young. Even a sustainable water brand is at risk of burning out. Jane Ostler, from the analysts Kantar, said Liquid Death needed to be careful it did not become a short-lived fad. “A clever attitude may seemingly get you a long way, but as a long-term play [the company] needs to be able to predispose more people to the brand. “At the end of the day, it is just water, so it’s limited in the margin increases it can sustain, and the packaging is something other brands can copy and are soon likely to adopt. Renegade branding is only one part of the equation.”

'You are gangsters': Robert De Niro clashes with pro-Trump protesters 2024-05-28 16:33:00+00:00 - President Joe Biden's campaign held a news conference outside the Manhattan courtroom where Donald Trump is on trial in his hush money case, with actor Robert De Niro and two officers who defended the Capitol from the Jan. 6 mob in 2021 warning about the dangers of re-electing the former president. "The Twin Towers fell just over here, just over there. This part of the city was like a ghost town, but we vowed we would not allow terrorists to change our way of life. ... I love this city. I don't want to destroy it. Donald Trump wants to destroy not only the city but the country, and eventually he can destroy the world," De Niro said. Follow live trial updates here. "I don't mean to scare you. No, no, wait — maybe I do mean to scare you," De Niro continued. "If Trump returns to the White House, you can kiss these freedoms goodbye that we all take for granted. And elections — forget about it. That's over; that's done. If he gets in, I can tell you right now, he will never leave." After the news conference, on the way back to his car, De Niro mixed it up with some pro-Trump protesters, who yelled that he's a "wannabe," "paid sell-out" to the Democratic National Committee, "nobody" and a "little punk" whose "movies suck." "You're not going to intimidate," De Niro replied. "That's what Trump does. ... We are going to fight back. We're trying to be gentlemen in this world, the Democrats. You are gangsters. You are gangsters!" "You're washed up," a protester yelled. "F--- you," De Niro shot back. The Trump campaign also had a news conference mocking the Biden campaign's enlistment of De Niro. Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt went after "elitist out-of-touch Hollywood actors like Robert De Niro who have no idea the real problems that people in this city and across this country are facing." "The best that Biden can do is roll out a washed-up actor," Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller said. On Friday, the Biden campaign released a new ad featuring De Niro — who was nominated this year for an Oscar for the movie "Killers of the Flower Moon" — that will air on television and digital platforms across battleground states. In the scuffle Tuesday, there was at least one De Niro fan in the crowd who yelled out, “I loved you in 'Taxi Driver'!” Katherine Koretski reported from New York and Amanda Terkel from Washington, D.C.

McDonald's might never expand CosMc's. But the spinoff could still pay dividends 2024-05-28 16:18:00+00:00 - Nearly six months since McDonald’s opened its first CosMc’s location, the hours-long drive-thru lines have died down, but the chain is just getting started. The burger giant created the spinoff using one of its lesser-known McDonaldland mascots, CosMc, an alien who loves McDonald’s cheeseburgers. While unveiling CosMc’s at an investor event in December, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said the company set out to create a brand that could sell customizable drinks and coffee popular in the afternoon segment to attract younger consumers. The new brand rollout comes as beverages are increasingly “looked at now as part of that snack area — more affordable, indulgent and perhaps even a healthier treat,” said Katie Belflower, an editor at restaurant research firm Technomic. “It’s a good profit margin for restaurants. With beverages, you can get really creative, without necessarily having the product lines that you would have to invest in with food.” Since opening the initial location in the Chicago suburb of Bolingbrook, McDonald’s has opened three more CosMc’s restaurants, all in Texas. For now, the chain is planning to open 10 locations by the end of this year for a test run, with all but one located in the Lone Star State. In another sign of the new brand’s expansion, it will launch its own mobile app and loyalty program, called CosMc’s Club, on Tuesday. Customers can use the app to place orders that they pick up either inside the restaurant or in the drive-thru lane. And loyalty program members earn 10 points for every dollar they spend; once they rack up 400 points, they can redeem them for $2 rewards. While the long-term fate of CosMc’s is still too soon to tell, the gamble could pay off for McDonald’s even if the spinoff never makes it past the 10-location test phase. The app and loyalty program will give the chain even more consumer insight. “The cost of doing this, to McDonald’s, is a rounding error. Even if they shut them all down six months from now, they still learn some things. Sometimes the learnings can be more valuable than you might imagine they would be,” Mark Kalinowski, restaurant industry analyst and chief executive of Kalinowski Equity Research, told CNBC. CosMc’s buzz dies down At McDonald’s December investor presentation, Kempczinski downplayed the short-term effect of CosMc’s. “Let me emphasize again, we’re talking about 10 stores,” he said at the event. “The big story isn’t about CosMc’s, per se. The big story is what it says about McDonald’s and our potential.” But for many consumers, CosMc’s was the headline. When the first location opened days later in Illinois, eager customers waited for hours in drive-thru lines that dragged around the shopping center for the chance to buy McPops and Churro Frappes. Weeks later, the buzz had started dying. According to Intouch Insight, the average wait time from entering the CosMc’s drive-thru line to reaching the speaker to order was 11 minutes and 13 seconds, based on visits from mystery shoppers in January and February. But the average service time, after ordering, was just four minutes and one second, trailing the industry benchmark by just six seconds. On a Monday afternoon in May, there was no line for this CNBC reporter to reach one of the four drive-thru intercoms to place an order. Investors’ interest has also cooled as other parts of McDonald’s business draw more attention. “Six months ago, there was a lot of curiosity, but now that you’ve seen McDonald’s same-store sales decelerate, that’s where my clients’ focus is,” Kalinowski said. In the first quarter, McDonald’s reported U.S. same-store sales growth of 2.5%, a slowdown as price increases fade and diners pull back their restaurant spending. The CosMc’s experience From the outside, the CosMc’s location in Bolingbrook isn’t much to look at. Four drive-thru lines await customers to place their orders. The building’s indigo exterior features the brand’s name — but no sign of its namesake mascot. In fact, while CosMc plays an outsize role in the brand’s fictional origin story on the CosMc’s website, he’s basically invisible from its branding or restaurant. “He is not as well-known of a character,” Belflower said. “I think that’s almost to their benefit, because people can understand how CosMc’s is different from McDonald’s itself — but it still has a retro font and coloring and things like that, so I think all of that helps tie it into the nostalgia.” CosMc’s absence could also be due to the fact that the chain’s target customer likely wasn’t born yet when McDonald’s advertisements featuring CosMc aired in the ’80′s and ’90’s. “Just in looking at the menu, it looks like it’s designed for half my age and under,” said Kalinowski, whose industry experience spans more than two decades. CosMc’s customers can choose from a vast array of drinks and a smaller snack menu. Sour Cherry Energy Burst, Island Pick-Me-Up Punch and Popping Pear Slush are among the beverages that McDonald’s created specifically for the chain. Drinks, like a Tropical Spiceade, can be customized with “boosts,” like a vitamin C shot or an energy shot, tapioca pearls known as boba or a choice of eight different syrups. The chain also offers coffee drinks — like its Churro Cold Brew Frappe, whose largest size contains nearly five times the amount of caffeine found in an average cup of brewed coffee. CosMc’s is also the latest example of a beverage-focused restaurant that doesn’t just sell coffee. There’s Utahan soda chain Swig, now majority-owned by Larry Miller’s family office. Dutch Bros gets about a quarter of its sales from its Blue Rebel energy drink. And Starbucks’ Refreshers, first introduced a dozen years ago, are the chain’s fastest-growing beverage category in the U.S., with new spicy flavors available this spring. Non-coffee drinks tend to appeal more to consumers looking for a pick-me-up in the afternoon. While they still might want caffeine, a flavored beverage like a Blueberry Ginger Boost from CosMc’s might be more appealing than another coffee. CosMc’s level of customization would be difficult at a traditional McDonald’s because it would slow down its drive-thru lanes too much. For example, Starbucks has credited the shift to cold drinks and pricy customizations, like cold foam, for its sales growth in recent years, but both customers and baristas have griped about complicated orders slowing service too much. One way to speed up CosMc’s service could be using its digital menu boards differently. The CosMc’s menu board plays ads until a car pulls up next to the nearby intercom, leaving customers little time to ponder the menu of more than 70 drinks and food items. The launch of mobile and online ordering will likely also help speed up wait times. Once customers finish ordering, they can pay at the speaker or wait to pay with a cashier at the pick-up window. CosMc’s also has customers wait by the intercom where they ordered until their order is ready to pick up. The menu board relays what pick-up window to drive up to grab the order. Envisioned as a small-format location, CosMc’s doesn’t offer any in-restaurant seating, leaving it up to customers to sit in the 10-spot parking lot or keep driving. The Bolingbrook CosMc’s, a former Boston Market location, is much larger than McDonald’s intends for the rest of the brand’s locations. But with empty real estate, a 45-minute drive from the company’s Chicago headquarters and a traditional McDonald’s right next door, it makes sense why the company chose that location as the first spot for the spinoff. But the location’s history is also a warning for McDonald’s. The company bought Boston Market out of bankruptcy in 2000, intending to use its real estate. But it instead kept running the brand. Seven years later, McDonald’s sold it off, following a broader divestment in other secondary brands like Chipotle Mexican Grill. At the time, McDonald’s sales were struggling, and executives blamed some of its woes on a lack of focus.

Top FTX Executive Sentenced to 7½ Years in Prison 2024-05-28 16:07:43+00:00 - Ryan Salame, a top executive at the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison on Tuesday, making him the first of Sam Bankman-Fried’s circle of advisers at FTX to receive prison time. Mr. Salame, 30, a trusted lieutenant of Mr. Bankman-Fried, the exchange’s founder, pleaded guilty last year to a campaign finance law violation and a charge of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. He is one of four top deputies in the FTX empire who have pleaded guilty to crimes since the company imploded in November 2022. Mr. Salame’s sentence exceeded the five to seven years that prosecutors had recommended. Defense lawyers had asked for 18 months. Wearing a blue suit and socks emblazoned with the Bitcoin logo, Mr. Salame stood facing Judge Lewis A. Kaplan as the sentence was read aloud in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Judge Kaplan called Mr. Salame’s crimes “astonishing.”