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Can a new batch of tech earnings rescue the market? Here are the factors at play 2024-04-25 19:55:00+00:00 - Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. (We're no longer recording the audio, so we can get this new written feature to members as quickly as possible.) Off the lows : U.S. stocks were wobbly Thursday but traded well off their worst levels of the session. The market was already headed toward a down session due to disappointing reactions to earnings, which haven't been entirely bad. There have been plenty of earnings beats in the past 24 hours, but the lack of raises to the full-year outlooks hasn't met the high bars set by bullish investors. On top of earnings-driven declines led by Club name Meta Platforms , it was concerns about stagflation that roiled Wall Street after the first quarter GDP report showed tepid economic growth and continued price pressure. Stagflation is when economic growth stagnates, but inflation remains high. The bond market hasn't been kind to the stock bulls, with the 10-year Treasury yield hitting its highest level in more than five months. However, the auction of $44 billion of 7-year notes Thursday afternoon mostly came and went without fireworks. Pockets of green : In days when the market is down significantly in early trading, it's always interesting to see which groups of stocks bounce first. Unbothered by the move-up in bond yields, it was utilities at the front of the pack for most of the day. We understand the tilt toward defensive if the market is concerned about sluggish economic growth – but energy, materials, and industrials were also higher. Tech started the day weak but a rally in semiconductor stocks, including Club names Nvidia and Broadcom , helped bring the sector into positive territory. It helps that Meta is writing huge checks to both companies to support its artificial intelligence initiatives. Opportunity in Meta? It was one of the largest drags in the market after providing soft second-quarter revenue guidance . However, the stock was trading off its worst levels of Thursday's session. " We sold some at $490 in March . You know what we want to do now? Buy it back. Because Mark Zuckerberg has earned our trust and we aren't going to give up on him just because he sees an opportunity that the rest of us don't, to monetize Gen AI," Jim Cramer said late Thursday. Club earnings : Microsoft and Alphabet report after the bell. The bar should be a little easier due to Thursday's market pullback. One thing to always remember about Microsoft is that it provides revenue guidance right before the conference call Q & A, so you can't make a full judgement on the stock before listening to CFO Amy Hood. Obviously, the large weightings these two behemoths have in the S & P 500 make them key reports for market sentiment. What they have to say about AI-related capital expenditures will also impact the market. That's how both Nvidia and Broadcom could rally big on a down day after hearing from Meta Platforms. Busy Friday : The next inflation test comes in the morning when the personal consumption expenditures price index for March is released. Core PCE, which excludes food and energy prices, is the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation. Friday also brings earnings from Exxon Mobil , Chevron , Abbvie , Colgate-Palmolive , and HCA Holdings . (See here for a full list of the stocks in Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED. Every weekday, the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer releases the Homestretch — an actionable afternoon update, just in time for the last hour of trading on Wall Street. (We're no longer recording the audio, so we can get this new written feature to members as quickly as possible.)
Venice becomes first city in the world to charge day trippers a tourist fee to enter 2024-04-25 19:54:00+00:00 - On Thursday, Venice, Italy became the first city in the world to charge day tourists a fee just to visit its historic canals and other attractions on peak days. The measure is designed to counter over-tourism and mitigate the deleterious impact large crowds can have on some of the city's fragile sites, while also persuading some tourists to visit during less busy times of the year. The roughly $5.37 fee only applies on 29 days that are deemed to be the busiest between April 25, a holiday in Italy, and July 14, in a trial phase of the reservation-and-fee system. A tourist displays a QR code used to enter the Venice, Italy on the first day of a pilot program charging visitors a 5 Euro entry fee. Getty Images Most people entering the city must register and obtain a QR code, or a ticket for visitors without smartphones, but some tourists are exempt from paying the fee. For instance, visitors who spend the night in a hotel or Airbnb-style accommodation are not subject to the nominal tourist fee. Likewise, residents, people born in Venice, people visiting relatives who are residents, workers, students and visitors under the age of 14 do not have to pay either. There is no cap on the number of tourists who may reserve a visit on a given day. In a public video, Luigi Brugnaro, the mayor of Venice, called the new system an "experiment" to protect the city. "We do it with great humility," he said. In a social media post, he added that the rollout was "going well" and "the atmosphere is relaxed." Simone Venturini, the tourism councilor of Venice, added, "The whole world would like to visit Venice, and this is an honor for us. But not everyone in the world is able to do so on the exact same day." However, some residents protested the new policy on Thursday, according to media reports. Some were seen clashing with riot police, while others tried to break through a blockade, CNBC reported. The fragile lagoon city has a population of roughly 50,000, a sliver of what it was a couple of generations ago. On its busiest days, it can draw nearly as many tourists as it has residents. A United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage property, the city features masterpieces from Giorgione, Titian, Tintoretto and others.
Ring home security customers will get refunds over security-lapse claims 2024-04-25 19:53:00+00:00 - The Biden administration is sending out $5.6 million in refund payments to certain Ring home security system customers after the company settled a federal complaint accusing it of security lapses. In a statement this week, the Federal Trade Commission said it would be sending out 117,044 payments via PayPal to affected customers as compensation for claims that Ring allowed employees and contractors to access consumers’ private videos. The agency accused Ring in 2023 of failing to implement proper security protections, enabling hackers to take control of consumer accounts, cameras and videos. In a statement sent to The Associated Press, Ring, which was purchased by Amazon in 2018, said that bad actors took emails and passwords that were “stolen from other companies to unlawfully log into Ring accounts of certain customers." It said it promptly addressed the situation by notifying any customer “exposed in a third-party, non-Ring incident” and taking action to protect impacted accounts. Many of the violations alleged by the FTC predate Amazon's acquisition. Ring did not immediately address the FTC’s allegations of employees and contractors unlawfully accessing footage, The Associated Press said. Amazon has previously said it disagreed with the FTC’s claims but that it was eager to “put these matters behind us.” The FTC said customers who have not already been contacted about a refund or who have questions about their payments should contact the refund administrator, Rust Consulting, Inc., at 1-833-637-4884, or visit the FTC website to view frequently asked questions about the refund process.
Minneapolis smokers to pay some of the highest cigarette prices in US with a $15 per-pack minimum 2024-04-25 19:51:24+00:00 - MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Smokers in Minneapolis will pay some of the highest cigarette prices in the country after the City Council voted unanimously Thursday to impose a minimum retail price of $15 per pack to promote public health. The ordinance not only sets a floor price. It prevents smokers and retailers from getting around it by prohibiting price discounts and coupons, which several tobacco companies circulate online to lure customers and reinforce brand loyalty. The minimum price also applies to four-packs of cigars. Distribution of free samples is prohibited. Consumer prices are expected to run even higher after taxes are figured in. While retailers will get to keep the extra money paid by smokers, the higher prices are expected to snuff out at least some of their sales. E-cigarettes, which have grown in popularity, were left out because their prices vary too widely. The minimum price will be effective as soon as Mayor Jacob Frey signs the measure, which he’s expected to do within the next few days. Evalyn Carbrey, a senior public health specialist with the city, said at a committee hearing last week that staff research indicates that Minneapolis’ minimum will be the highest in the country. Staff determined that cigarettes typically had been selling in Minneapolis for $11 to $13.50 a pack. The change puts Minneapolis ahead of New York City, which set its minimum at $13 in 2018. “I’m excited that this council is taking this public health crisis seriously because that’s what it is,” said the author of the ordinance, Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw. Council President Andrea Jenkins said the price of cigarettes was one reason why she quit smoking eight years ago, and that she hopes the new minimum will encourage more people to stop or never start. “If you travel around the country, New York City — you can’t buy your pack of cigarettes for under $18. Chicago, $17. Some places, Los Angeles, I think they’re up to 20 bucks,” Jenkins said. Penalties will range from a $500 fine for a first violation to license suspensions and revocations for repeat offenders. “If it helps even one person stop using tobacco, one person use less tobacco, or one person stopped from starting tobacco use, that’s worth it to me,” Council Member Linea Palmisano said. “I know it’s easy for me to sit up here and say that, as a nonsmoker, but it’s the truth. The only way we’re going to break our dependence on tobacco is if we make some really hard changes.”
After Supreme Court hearing, don't bank on a Trump Jan. 6 trial before the election 2024-04-25 19:50:11+00:00 - Even before Thursday’s immunity hearing, the Supreme Court had already given Donald Trump a win of sorts. The court had decided to hear the appeal when it didn’t have to and then scheduled the hearing on the very last argument day of the term. So a question heading into the argument was whether there’d be any indication of the justices coalescing around a unanimous theory that might lend itself to a speedy ruling, such that a pre-election trial might be possible. But after the lengthy hearing, it’s difficult to see the justices coming together quickly — to say nothing of what, precisely, that resolution would look like. Part of the problem stemmed from the fact that some justices (mainly Democratic appointees) sounded more concerned about the possibility of presidents committing crimes with impunity, while other justices (mainly Republican appointees) sounded more concerned about presidents being held accountable for committing crimes. Justice Elena Kagan, for example, asked Trump lawyer John Sauer if a president would have immunity for staging a coup with the military. Amazingly, Sauer said it would depend on the circumstances. The former president’s lawyer said it could fall within the realm of “official acts,” which Trump argues are off-limits for prosecutors. The specific issue that the Supreme Court decided to review back in February is: whether a former president enjoys immunity from criminal prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office, and if so, to what extent. It was Justice Sonia Sotomayor who raised the infamous hypothetical from the appeals court argument of a president ordering the murder of a political opponent. Sauer said that one could be off-limits, too. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson asked why presidents are special, given that many people have hard jobs but are still bound by the law. She worried about presidents turning their tenures into crime sprees if they know ahead of time that they’ll be immune from prosecution. On the other side of the ledger, we had the likes of Justice Samuel Alito — not normally a champion of criminal defendants’ rights — who sounded deeply concerned that a president could face accountability for their actions after they leave office. He worried that making a “mistake” could subject them to criminal prosecution, just like everybody else. The Justice Department’s lawyer, Michael Dreeben, responded with the simple observation that "making a mistake is not what lands you in a criminal prosecution." Justice Brett Kavanaugh also raised broad concerns about protecting presidential power, while Justice Neil Gorsuch said that he wasn’t as concerned with Trump’s case as he was with future cases. That concern is in line with the way that the justices theoretically view all their cases: Supposedly, they’re ruling on principles, not parties. But the fact that the court chose Trump’s case to announce whatever immunity principle is already functionally a win for the former president. Indeed, the federal election interference case in which he launched his pretrial immunity appeal was supposed to start trial in early March but has been on hold pending the immunity ruling. It could have even reached a verdict by now, but instead his New York state criminal trial was first to get underway. Even if the forthcoming ruling doesn't help Trump avoid prosecution in theory (because at least some of the allegations against him don’t stem from such official acts), it could still help him in practice. There could be further litigation required in the trial court and/or the appeals court over how the Supreme Court’s forthcoming ruling applies to his case. But even if no further litigation is required, every day that goes by between now and the ruling coming down is another win for Trump. If he wins the November election, the indictment that alleges his illegal attempt to overthrow his 2020 election loss is as good as gone. He has pleaded not guilty. As to the timing of the ruling — it being the final argument of the term — the justices now have to decide a stack of already-argued cases (plus whatever emergency litigation may come up). There are many important appeals left to decide on abortion, guns and much more. Any separate opinions from justices could lengthen the drafting process, as could the time it would take to harmonize any disagreement into a unanimous opinion. The justices typically issue the last of the term’s rulings by late June. If they prioritize deciding Trump’s case in the same way that they prioritized the scheduling of his argument, then we may not have the immunity ruling for another couple of months. Whatever opinion comes down at that point might not matter for Trump’s case — if he wins the election. Subscribe to the Deadline: Legal Newsletter for weekly updates on the top legal stories, including news from the Supreme Court, the Donald Trump cases and more.
CDC describes first known cases of HIV transmitted via cosmetic injections 2024-04-25 19:48:00+00:00 - Three women were likely infected with HIV while receiving so-called vampire facials at a New Mexico spa, marking the first known HIV cases transmitted via cosmetic injections, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report Thursday. The first HIV case linked to the VIP Spa in Albuquerque was discovered in 2018 and prompted the New Mexico Department of Health to offer free testing to anyone who got injections at the facility. The department said at the time that the spa was shut down after its investigators "identified practices that could potentially spread blood-borne infections." The most recent case was a former client of the spa who tested positive for HIV last year, according to the health department —which led it to reopen the prior investigation. Now, the CDC report provides new detail about the affected clients and the spa's practices. The first case was a middle-aged woman who tested positive for HIV in 2018, the CDC said. She had no history of injectable drug use, recent blood transfusions or recent sexual contact with someone with HIV — but she did report getting a vampire facial. The second two were also middle-aged women who had gotten vampire facials in 2018. One was diagnosed with the earliest stage of HIV in 2019, and the other in 2023, when she was hospitalized with severe symptoms. The CDC said the spa did not have appropriate licenses to operate and was not using proper safety measures. A joint investigation by the CDC and New Mexico Department of Health found a rack of unlabeled tubes of blood on a kitchen counter at the spa, as well as in the kitchen refrigerator, next to food and injectables like lidocaine. The investigators also discovered unwrapped syringes in drawers, on counters and discarded in trash cans. The spa’s owner pleaded guilty in 2022 to five felony counts of practicing medicine without a license, the health department said last year. NBC affiliate KOB of Albuquerque reported in 2022 that the owner was sentenced to 3 ½ years in prison. CDC and health department investigators ultimately determined that 59 spa clients may have been exposed to HIV. Of those, 20 had received vampire facials, a procedure also known as platelet-rich plasma microneedling. It involves drawing someone’s blood, separating out the plasma, then injecting the plasma into the face using tiny needles. The rest of the clients had gotten other injection services like botox, the CDC report said. People get vampire facials to plump up sagging skin and reduce the appearance of acne scars or wrinkles, but according to the American Academy of Dermatology, there’s little evidence to support those claims. The AAD says the facials appear to be safe as long as blood is handled properly. In addition to the three spa clients who contracted HIV, the CDC identified a woman who got multiple vampire facials there in 2018 and had tested positive for HIV two years earlier. However, the investigators said the original source of the HIV contamination at the spa remains unknown. HIV is transmitted via contact with bodily fluids from an infected person, including blood and semen, which is why it is most often contracted through sex or the sharing of needles. HIV attacks the immune system, and if left untreated, it can lead to AIDS. People with AIDS have a severely damaged immune system, making them susceptible to various infections and serious illnesses. The CDC said in its report that spa facilities offering cosmetic injections should require proper infection control practices to prevent the transmission of HIV and other blood-borne pathogens. The risks of cosmetic injections have also gained attention recently because of an ongoing CDC investigation into counterfeit and mishandled Botox injections. The agency has identified 22 women who experienced bad reactions from the injections, including slurred speech, trouble breathing and blurry vision. Eleven hospitalizations had been reported as of last week. Six patients were treated with botulism antitoxin because of concerns that the toxin in the injection could have spread beyond the site where it was administered.
Trump won the Pennsylvania primary. But Nikki Haley vote sent a message. 2024-04-25 19:43:05+00:00 - The GOP is, of course, still Donald Trump’s party. His coronation is set for this July in Milwaukee, and Republican grandees continue to bend the knee, saying they will support him even if he is convicted of felonies by a jury of his peers. But the images out of New York, coupled with the latest state primary results, ought to spread disquiet in the party ranks. In Pennsylvania this week, former U.N. ambassador and one-time presidential candidate Nikki Haley got nearly 157,000 votes in the GOP primary, despite having dropped out of the race over a month ago. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden continued to roll, winning 93% of the Democratic vote. In Pennsylvania this week, former U.N. ambassador and one-time presidential candidate Nikki Haley got nearly 157,000 votes in the GOP primary. Emboldened by the result, Biden’s campaign announced a new ad push Thursday targeting Haley voters in the state. “For months, Donald Trump told Nikki Haley voters that he didn’t want their support, and they heard him loud and clear — that’s why more than 157,000 of them voted against him in an uncontested primary. Our campaign has been clear from the beginning that we welcome anyone who knows that four more years of Trump would destroy our freedoms and devastate our country,” campaign communications director Michael Tyler said in an email blast. Of course, the usual caveats are in order: Primaries do not reflect November’s electorate and do not always predict how voters will behave in the general election. But there are important clues here. Because Pennsylvania is a “closed” primary, you can’t blame the results on Democrats or independents making mischief. These are registered Republicans who are refusing (so far) to endorse their party’s presumptive nominee. That Haley got over 16 percent of the Pennsylvania GOP vote also continues a pattern that we’ve seen throughout the primary: A sizeable number of Republican voters simply do not want to vote for Donald Trump. Back in March, when she officially ended her campaign, Haley said: “It is now up the Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him. And I hope he does that.” So far, though, there are few indications that Trump is making much of an effort to win back Haley’s supporters. “They’re going to all vote for me again, everybody, ” he told NBC News back in January. “I’m not sure we need too many.” Some of the loudest voices in the MAGAverse seem to have a similarly dismissive attitude toward this voting bloc. “Screw Nikki Haley — we don’t need her endorsement,” Stephen Bannon sneered on his podcast. “They’re all going to vote for Biden anyway.” But are they? Since Haley dropped out on March 5, here are the percentages of Republicans who have voted against Trump in closed primaries and caucuses (this includes votes for Haley, Ron DeSantis and others): Many of these non-Trump voters may drift back to Trump. Others will eventually vote Biden; some will vote for a third- or fourth-party candidate; others will simply sit out the race. But exit polls suggest neither Trump nor Biden can afford to write them off completely. An NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll taken before the Iowa Caucus found that fully 43% of Haley supporters in Iowa said they would vote for Biden if Trump is the GOP nominee, while only 23% said they would vote for Trump. In North Carolina, where Haley got 23 percent of the vote, one poll found that the vast majority of her voters would not commit to supporting Trump in the fall. Sixty-three percent of Haley’s supporters said that Trump would not be fit for office if he was convicted of a felony. It was roughly the same story in Ohio, where an exit poll found that nearly half of Haley’s voters said they would vote for Biden in November. In a tight election, losing even one in 10 GOP voters could cost Trump the election. Which brings us back to the swing state of Pennsylvania, where the results were particularly revealing. Haley did especially well (and Trump especially poorly) among Republican voters in suburban counties. She got around a fourth of the vote in Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties, which surround Philadelphia. As the Cook Report with Amy Walter noted, Haley also did well “in the more swingy counties” of Cumberland (23%), Erie (20%), as well as Berks and Lancaster. Biden can’t afford to lose any more ground in rural counties, Erin Covey and Walter noted. But the primary suggests “Trump’s base in the Keystone State is not rock solid.” Meanwhile, as his lawyers argue before the Supreme Court that he ought to have absolute immunity, Trump is stuck in a Manhattan courtroom. Neither storyline seems likely to lure back swing voters. Indeed, a new Quinnipiac poll, which found Trump tied with Biden, also found that 60 percent of voters think the charges of falsifying business records are either very serious or somewhat serious. Five percent of Trump’s supporters say that a conviction would make them less likely to vote for the former president. But, former White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer argues, “The political damage to Trump is not what is said in the courtroom; it’s how he looks.” Trump is basing his campaign on his “power and strength,” but the first few days of the New York trial made him “look weak, tired, and scared.” “More than any testimony or even a conviction,” Pfeiffer wrote, “the image of the former president sitting silently and sadly at the defense table, stripped of the pomp and circumstance upon which he has relied, could be his final undoing.” We’ll find out soon enough.
Twilio cofounder Jeff Lawson appears to have just bought The Onion 2024-04-25 19:38:41+00:00 - Satirical news website The Onion was sold to a company called Global Tetrahedron. Global Tetrahedron is also the name of a fictional evil megacorporation in a long-running Onion gag. But it's a real company, and Twilio founder Jeff Lawson appears to be behind it. NEW LOOK 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. Advertisement Jeff Lawson, the cofounder of cloud computing company Twilio, appears to have purchased the satirical news website The Onion from G/O Media. A trust linked to Lawson is behind a San Francisco-based company called Global Tetrahedron, which shares the name of a fictional evil megacorporation in a long-running Onion gag, business records show. G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller confirmed the sale of The Onion to Global Tetrahedron in an email Thursday to staff, first reported by New York Times journalist Katie Robertson. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in .
2 founders of a crypto mixer charged with laundering funds from the dark web 2024-04-25 19:36:21+00:00 - The cofounders of crypto mixer Samourai Wallet were charged with money laundering. The service anonymized hundreds of millions of dollars for dark web criminals, prosecutors said. Samourai's cofounders invited the laundering, prosecutors allege. NEW LOOK 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. Advertisement The cofounders of a cryptocurrency mixing service called Samourai Wallet — which rendered crypto transactions anonymous — have been arrested and charged with money laundering, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday. Prosecutors for the Southern District of New York claimed the crypto mixer made $2 billion worth of transactions untraceable, and that its founders — Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill — knew criminals were using the service to launder funds. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in .
Middle East escalation could trigger oil price shock that fuels inflation, World Bank warns 2024-04-25 19:36:00+00:00 - A general view of Isfahan Refinery, one of the largest refineries in Iran and is considered as the first refinery in the country in terms of diversity of petroleum products in Isfahan, Iran on November 08, 2023. The outbreak of a major conflict in the Middle East could trigger an energy shock that pushes oil prices above $100 a barrel, fuels inflation and results in higher interest rates for longer, the World Bank warned Thursday. Tensions in the Middle East reached a boiling point earlier this month as Israel and OPEC member Iran appeared on the brink of war, raising fears that crude oil supplies could be disrupted as a consequence. The governments in Jerusalem and Tehran appear to have decided against escalation after exchanging direct strikes on each other's territory for the first time. Oil prices have pulled back nearly 4% from recent highs as investors have discounted the probability of a wider war in the region. The World Bank, however, cautioned that the situation remains uncertain. "The world is at a vulnerable moment: A major energy shock could undermine much of the progress in reducing inflation over the past two years," said World Bank Chief Economist Indermit Gill.
Trump's lawyer says presidents could get away with crimes if they aren't discovered until after they leave office 2024-04-25 19:32:15+00:00 - Trump's lawyers say a president can get away with crimes if Congress doesn't find out about it while they're in office. If a president leaves before Congress can impeach and convict, they're home free, Trump's lawyers say. The Constitution's framers "assumed the risk of under-enforcement," his lawyer told the Supreme Court. NEW LOOK 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. Advertisement As the saying goes: It's not the crime; it's the cover-up. If former President Donald Trump gets his way, a good cover-up will be enough. In arguments before the US Supreme Court Thursday, Trump's lawyer, John Sauer, said a former president can escape criminal culpability so long as they keep their conduct secret from Congress and don't get impeached. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in .
Open seating no more? Southwest CEO says airline is weighing cabin changes 2024-04-25 19:09:00+00:00 - Southwest Airlines is considering changes to its single-class, open-seating cabins to drive up revenue, CEO Bob Jordan told CNBC on Thursday, a shift that could be among the largest in the airline’s history. “We’re looking into new initiatives, things like the way we seat and board our aircraft,” Jordan said in an interview after the carrier’s disappointing first-quarter report. Southwest’s all-Boeing 737 fleet has a single economy class cabin and no seating assignments, though it does offer earlier boarding for a fee so customers can snag their preferred seats. The airline has focused on keeping its product simple and user-friendly for years, aiming to keep its own costs and complexity to a minimum. Meanwhile, rivals including Delta and United have touted high revenue growth for premium seating such as business class and strong upsell rates. Analysts have repeatedly asked Southwest about opportunities for premium seating or additional fees. (The airline doesn’t charge travelers for their first two checked bags.) Most U.S. airlines charge travelers to choose many of its seats in advance, even those that don’t come with extra legroom. Eight U.S. carriers — Alaska, Allegiant, American, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue, Spirit and United — together brought in $4.2 billion from seating fees in their domestic networks in 2022, according to Jay Sorensen, an airline ancillary revenue expert at IdeaWorksCompany. Jordan said no decisions have been made on what kind of changes Southwest will ultimately make, but he said studies have yielded “interesting” results. “Customer preferences do change over time,” Jordan said. While details were scarce during Southwest’s earnings call, when asked whether Southwest would consider a separated cabin on its planes, Ryan Green, the carrier’s chief commercial officer said: “Curtains and things like that are a bit far afield from what Southwest Airlines is.” Green added that the carrier is not considering charging for checked bags because “people choose Southwest Airlines because we don’t have bag fees.” — CNBC’s Phil LeBeau contributed to this report.
Amazon Ring customers getting $5.6 million in refunds, FTC says 2024-04-25 18:52:00+00:00 - Amazon's Ring to stop allowing police to request camera footage from users' Amazon's Ring to stop allowing police to request camera footage from users' 00:49 The Federal Trade Commission is sending more than $5.6 million in refunds to people who purchased Amazon's Ring camera during a time when the devices were potentially being used to violate their privacy. Payments are coming to 117,044 consumers who had certain types of Ring devices, the result of a settlement of allegations Amazon let employees and contractors access people's videos, the FTC said in a statement earlier this week. Recipients will receive a PayPal payment of $150.00 or $47.70, the agency told CBS MoneyWatch. The refund amount depended on several factors, including the type of Ring device owned and when the consumer had the account. People should redeem their PayPal payment within 30 days, the FTC said. The refunds come nearly a year after the regulator and Amazon settled claims the company failed to protect customer security, leading in some cases to hackers threatening or sexually propositioning Ring owners. In a statement to CBS News at the time, Amazon said its Ring division "promptly addressed these issues on its own years ago, well before the FTC began its inquiry." "While we disagree with the FTC's allegations and deny violating the law, this settlement resolves this matter so we can focus on innovating on behalf of our customers," the e-commerce company said. Some of the allegations outlined by the lawsuit occurred prior to Amazon's acquisition of Ring in 2018. For instance, an alleged incident with an employee who viewed videos belonging to 81 women occurred in 2017.
Native American tribes want US appeals court to weigh in on $10B SunZia energy transmission project 2024-04-25 18:49:10+00:00 - Native American tribes and environmentalists want a U.S. appeals court to weigh in on their request to halt construction along part of a $10 billion transmission line that will carry wind-generated electricity from New Mexico to customers as far away as California. The disputed stretch of the SunZia Transmission line is in southern Arizona’s San Pedro Valley. The tribes and others argue that the U.S. Interior Department and Bureau of Land Management failed to recognize the cultural significance of the area before approving the route of the massive project in 2015. SunZia is among the projects that supporters say will bolster President Joe Biden’s agenda for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The planned 550-mile (885-kilometer) conduit would carry more than 3,500 megawatts of wind power to 3 million people. A U.S. district judge rejected earlier efforts to stall the work while the merits of the case play out in court, but the tribes and other plaintiffs opted Wednesday to ask the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to intervene. The Tohono O’odham Nation has vowed to pursue all legal avenues for protecting land that it considers sacred. Tribal Chairman Verlon Jose said in a recent statement that he wants to hold the federal government accountable for violating historic preservation laws that are designed specifically to protect such lands. He called it too important of an issue, saying: “The United States’ renewable energy policy that includes destroying sacred and undeveloped landscapes is fundamentally wrong and must stop.” The Tohono O’odham — along with the San Carlos Apache Tribe, the Center for Biological Diversity and Archeology Southwest — sued in January, seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the clearing of roads and pads so more work could be done to identify culturally significant sites within a 50-mile (80.5-kilometer) stretch of the valley. Attorneys for the plaintiffs have alleged in court documents and in arguments made during a March hearing that the federal government was stringing the tribes along, promising to meet requirements of the National Historic Preservation Act after already making a final decision on the route. The motion filed Wednesday argues that the federal government has legal and distinct obligations under the National Historic Preservation Act and the National Environmental Policy Act and that the Bureau of Land Management’s interpretation of how its obligations apply to the SunZia project should be reviewed by the appeals court. California-based developer Pattern Energy has argued that stopping work would be catastrophic, with any delay compromising the company’s ability to get electricity to customers as promised in 2026. In denying the earlier motion for an injunction, U.S. Judge Jennifer Zipps had ruled that the plaintiffs were years too late in bringing their claims and that the Bureau of Land Management had fulfilled its obligations to identify historic sites and prepare an inventory of cultural resources. Still, she also acknowledged the significance of the San Pedro Valley for the tribes after hearing testimony from experts.
The FTC’s non-compete ban exposes one of the biggest myths about American jobs 2024-04-25 18:45:18+00:00 - The Federal Trade Commission earlier this week voted to ban noncompete contracts for most workers in the United States. These contracts, research shows, depress wages, stifle entrepreneurial innovation and trap people in jobs they’d prefer to exit. Taken all together, says FTC head Lina Khan, they are “robbing people of their economic liberty.” Who would want to be against economic freedom, not to mention raises for America’s workers? The answer is both Republican FTC commissioners and business interests. And in so doing, they proved that President Joe Biden’s FTC is calling out both the GOP and the business lobby on one of their biggest lies to workers: that they are defenders of economic liberty. Since many workers can’t get by minus a salary, a noncompete leaves them effectively trapped in a job — which is almost certainly the point. Noncompetes are contracts workers sign as a condition of employment that prevent them for working for competitors — often, but not always, within a certain geographic range — for a set period of time, sometimes up to several years, after leaving a workplace. Employers claim they need these contracts to protect everything from trade secrets to investments in training their workers. Since many workers can’t get by minus a salary, a noncompete leaves them effectively trapped in a job — which is almost certainly the point. They are, not surprisingly, widely loathed. An Ipsos poll taken last year found two-thirds of employed Americans want them banned. These contracts were once relatively rare, used mostly for high-ranking executives and others who might possess corporate secrets they could pass on to business rivals. But over the past several decades, as American workers lost power, noncompete usage soared. It’s thought that about 18% of employees are currently working with such a contract while, at some point, 4 in 10 of us have been subject to them. Their usage runs the gamut of the workforce, from doctors and veterinarians to fast food workers and baristas. Jimmy John’s famously subjected its sandwich makers to them, until media attention and the resulting public criticism that followed made it stop. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce — which claims its mission is to “advance human progress through an economic, political and social system based on individual freedom” — was among the first to file a lawsuit to put a stop to the noncompete ban. The FTC’s actions, the Chamber said in a statement, are “a blatant power grab that will undermine American businesses’ ability to remain competitive.” Please. The only blatant power grabs here were from America’s employers, who have used noncompetes for decades to avoid paying workers what they are worth. America’s businesses and their political enablers are just screaming mad they won’t be able to get away with it any longer. It’s hard not to suspect that the squawking employers have a bottom-line concern. The FTC’s ban exempts high-ranking executives who have a policymaking role. Businesses have other ways to ban former employees from sharing proprietary trade secrets and intellectual property, after all. But it’s well known that the best way for a worker to boost their wages is to go out and get another job. The FTC estimates that doing away with noncompetes will add $400 billion to $488 billion to workers’ wages over the next decade. That’s hardly chump change. Any time government agencies even think about issuing a new regulation, politicians and lobbyists leap in screaming about threats to economic freedom. That’s only the start of the economic costs. The use of noncompetes also stifles economic innovation. Last year, a poll released by the Small Business Majority found 46% of entrepreneurs claimed such contracts prevented them from starting or expanding their businesses. And business historians say the reason Silicon Valley developed around Stanford University and not East Coast rival MIT is because California’s strict ban on noncompetes in almost all circumstances — which has been in place since the late 19th century — gave workers the freedom to easily move from one company to another or just start up a venture of their own. The result is that the state currently ranks as the world’s fifth largest economy. Those opposing the end of noncompete clauses claim to be acting in all our interests. The FTC is exceeding its legal authority, they say, and the matter should be left to the states and Congress. This is all disingenuous. First, the FTC has the right to weigh in on matters of unfair competition, the definition of which these contracts would seem to meet. The states, no matter what political party is in charge, can be fair-weather friends to workers — last year, New York’s Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed a proposed ban on noncompetes after Wall Street power brokers made their opposition clear. And waiting on Congress is, of course, simply an excuse for inaction. But there’s a larger issue here. We are a nation that claims to value liberty above all else. Any time government agencies even think about issuing a new regulation, politicians and lobbyists leap in screaming about threats to economic freedom. But the existence of noncompetes not only gives the lie to that myth, but it also highlights the not infrequent hypocrisy of business interests wrapping themselves in that mantle. There’s nothing — and I mean nothing — freeing about a practice that effectively keeps millions of Americans trapped in their jobs.
BHP move to buy Anglo American threatens to hasten City exodus 2024-04-25 18:39:00+00:00 - The Australian mining company BHP has set out plans for a £31bn takeover of rival Anglo-American in a deal that threatens to hasten the exodus of Britain’s largest firms from the City of London. The proposed takeover of London-listed Anglo would rank as one of the biggest deals in the global mining industry in the last decade and comes as miners race to corner the market for copper, which is in high demand within the clean energy sector. However, within hours of the proposal emerging the deal had attracted criticism from some of Anglo American’s biggest investors including the South Africa’s government, throwing up a potential obstacle to the BHP plans. The South African mining minister, Gwede Mantashe, told the Financial Times he was against the takeover plan because of the country’s previous experience with BHP was “not positive”, although he stressed this was not an official government position. The state-owned Public Investment Corporation (PIC) is Anglo American’s biggest shareholder and a significant number of the company’s mines are located in the country. Shareholders in London dismissed the BHP offer as too low. Legal & General Investment Management, one of its largest investors, described the approach as “highly opportunistic” and “unattractive” because it undervalued the long-term prospects for Anglo American. BHP moved its primary listing from the UK to Australia in 2022, and the takeover of Anglo American, should it proceed, would mean the London Stock Exchange losing one of its 25 largest companies. In another blow for the City, Unilever indicated on Thursday it was considering an Amsterdam listing for the demerger of its €17bn (£14.6bn) ice-cream business, which includes the Cornetto, Ben & Jerry’s and Magnum brands. Hein Schumacher, the chief executive of the consumer goods group, said he was “talking to many different stakeholders in the process” and had held talks with the Dutch economic affairs minister. However, he did not confirm whether he met the equivalent UK minister, raising fears that London could miss out. There has been much handwringing in the City and Whitehall over an exodus of listed firms. Those leaving include the travel group Tui, which will shift its listing to Germany, and the Dublin-based betting firm Flutter, which is asking shareholders to consider moving its shares to the US. Shell has stoked speculation it could switch to New York, while oil rival BP has been named as a potential takeover target. Amid the growing concerns about the City’s future as a leading capital market, shareholders in London Stock Exchange Group met on Thursday to vote through a controversial renumeration plan that doubled the maximum pay levels of its chief executive, David Schwimmer, to more than £13m a year. The resolution passed, with nearly 89% voting in favour of the new pay policy. Schwimmer tried to appear upbeat, telling shareholders the pipeline of floats was “encouraging” and that a pending shake-up of listings rules, which include simplifying some requirements for companies, would be helpful. “We are very pleased with the direction of travel for the London market,” he said. However, Susannah Streeter, the head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the BHP offer “will send a fresh chill through the City of London”. Streeter said: “There are concerns that if the deal goes through it could be the tip of the iceberg and more giants could leave the exchange.” Anglo American has seen its market value plummet in recent years, making the miner a “sitting duck” for a takeover bid from larger rivals, according to Dan Coatsworth, an investment analyst at AJ Bell. skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Business Today Free daily newsletter Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning Enter your email address Sign up Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion BHP, which has a market value of AUS$229bn (£119bn) told investors the deal would increase its “exposure to future-facing commodities through Anglo American’s world-class copper assets”, which includemines in Peru and Chile. “This is all about copper,” said Ben Cleary, a portfolio manager at Tribeca Investment Partners, which holds shares in BHP and Anglo. Copper is considered a crucial raw material in the low-carbon energy transition because it is essential in manufacturing components for renewable energy projects and electric vehicles. Demand has climbed in recent years, and is expected to rise by 20% globally by 2035. “I think it’s a good deal for BHP,” said Cleary of the proposed takeover. “Anglo is obviously very much in play now and there’s probably room for others to interlope. This is going to set the whole sector on fire.” BHP’s bid values each Anglo share at £25.08 to give the owner of the world’s biggest diamond company, De Beers, a valuation of almost £31bn. Anglo’s share price closed more than 16% up on Thursday at £25.60. Under UK takeover rules, BHP has until 22 May to make a firm offer. Anglo American said its board was reviewing the proposal but there could be no certainty that a firm offer would be made, or on the terms that it might be made.
Tesla driver in Seattle-area crash that killed motorcyclist told police he was using Autopilot 2024-04-25 18:32:00+00:00 - SEATTLE — A Tesla that may have been operating on the company’s Autopilot driving system hit and killed a motorcyclist near Seattle, raising questions about whether a recent recall went far enough to ensure Tesla drivers using Autopilot pay attention to the road. After the crash Friday in a suburban area about 15 miles (24 kilometers) northeast of the city, the driver of a 2022 Tesla Model S told a Washington State Patrol trooper that he was using Autopilot and looked at his cellphone while the Tesla was moving. “The next thing he knew there was a bang and the vehicle lurched forward as it accelerated and collided with the motorcycle in front of him,” the trooper wrote in a probable-cause document. The 56-year-old driver was arrested for investigation of vehicular homicide “based on the admitted inattention to driving, while on Autopilot mode, and the distraction of the cell phone while moving forward, putting trust in the machine to drive for him,” the affidavit said. The Tesla driver told the trooper that he was driving home from having lunch when the crash occurred at about 3:45 p.m. The motorcyclist, Jeffrey Nissen, 28, of Stanwood, Washington, was under the car and pronounced dead at the scene, authorities reported. Authorities said they have not yet independently verified whether Autopilot was in use at the time of the crash. “We have not gotten that far yet. It’s very early stages of the investigation,” Washington State Patrol Capt. Deion Glover said Wednesday. The death comes about four months after U.S. auto safety regulators pressured Tesla into recalling more than 2 million vehicles to fix a defective system that’s supposed to make sure drivers pay attention when using Autopilot. A message was left Wednesday seeking comment from Tesla, which collects online data from its vehicles. Under the December recall, part of a two-year investigation into Teslas on Autopilot hitting emergency vehicles parked on roadways, Tesla reluctantly agreed to update Autopilot software to increase warnings and alerts to drivers. Autopilot can keep a car centered in its lane and a distance from vehicles in front of it, but Tesla says on its website that the cars can’t drive themselves, despite the name. The company’s monitoring system sends alerts to drivers if it fails to detect torque from hands on the steering wheel, a system that experts have described as inadequate. They say the systems should have infrared cameras that make sure drivers have their eyes on the road. It’s not known whether the Tesla involved in the Washington motorcyclist’s death got the software update specified in the recall, but documents filed by Tesla with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration say most newer Teslas have software that would automatically include the update. Kelly Funkhouser, associate director of vehicle technology for Consumer Reports, said it’s her understanding that the software update automatically went to most Teslas. Many Teslas have cameras in the cabin that can watch drivers using Autopilot, but Funkhouser said Consumer Reports found in testing that the cameras can be covered up by drivers without consequences. The government should be investigating the crash to see if the recall fixes are doing what they were intended to do, said Philip Koopman, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University who studies vehicle-automation safety. If Autopilot was in use, “NHTSA should be looking at this as a data point as to whether Tesla has effectively removed unreasonable risk from the use of Autopilot,” Koopman said. “The problem is this affects other road users, which is why regulatory intervention is appropriate.” A message was left seeking comment from NHTSA. Since 2016, the agency has sent investigators to at least 35 crashes in which Teslas suspected of operating on a partially automated driving system hit parked emergency vehicles, motorcyclists or tractor trailers that crossed in the vehicles’ paths, causing a total of 17 deaths. The agency also is investigating crashes involving automated driving systems from other automakers. Most recently it sent teams to two fatal crashes involving Ford Mustang Mach-E electric vehicles.
Michael Cuscuna, Who Unearthed Hidden Jazz Gems, Dies at 75 2024-04-25 18:31:30+00:00 - Michael Cuscuna, who brought an artist’s level of devotion and a scientist’s attention to detail to the work of exhuming and producing archival jazz recordings — work that vastly expanded access to the buried treasures of American music’s past — died on Saturday at his home in Stamford, Conn. He was 75. The singer and songwriter Billy Vera, a friend of more than 60 years, said the cause was complications of esophageal cancer. Mr. Cuscuna may have been the most prolific archival record producer in history. Starting in an era when midcentury jazz experienced a resurgence of interest, his name showed up in the fine print on over 2,600 albums, most of them reissues, many of which included his painstaking liner notes. The Mosaic label, which he founded with the music-business veteran Charlie Lourie 41 years ago, has become the gold standard of archival jazz releases. Its first issue was an exhaustive boxed set of old material that Mr. Cuscuna had found in the vaults of the famed Blue Note label.
TikTok could soon be sold. Here's how much it's worth and who could buy it. 2024-04-25 18:22:00+00:00 - Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi discusses what’s next for TikTok Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi discusses what’s next for TikTok 05:37 TikTok could be under new ownership at this time next year, after President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed a bill that gives the social media company about 12 months to either divest from its Chinese owner or face a U.S. ban. TikTok is vowing to fight the new law in the courts, with CEO Shou Chou saying in a video posted to the service yesterday that "the facts and the Constitution are on our side." He added that TikTok expects "to prevail again," referring to Montana's efforts to ban the app, which was blocked by a federal judge. That being said, TikTok is likely to attract attention from numerous suitors, given that the social media service is used by 6 in 10 Americans under the age of 30. Its algorithm offers up constantly scrolling videos pegged to users' personal interests and habits, creating an addictive stream that keeps them glued to the app. That could prove extremely valuable to a number of suitors, as long as TikTok is sold with its "golden jewel algorithm," Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives told CBS MoneyWatch. With the algorithm, he said, "We estimate TikTok is worth $100 billion." But TikTok's owner could strip out that proprietary piece of technology in a sale, making it much less valuable to potential buyers, Ives added. Here's what to know. Who owns TikTok now? TikTok, with more than 170 million American users, is a subsidiary of Chinese technology firm ByteDance, which is why U.S. lawmakers describe the company as "Chinese-owned." But ByteDance's structure is complicated, with the Associated Press reporting that it is based in Beijing but registered in the Cayman Islands. TikTok, for its part, argues its alleged ownership by a Chinese company is a myth. In a 2023 posting on its website, the video platform says that ByteDance is 60% owned by global institutional investors, including Susquehanna International Group, Carlyle Group and General Atlantic. Another 20% is owned by ByteDance employees, while the remaining 20% is owned by its founder, Chinese entrepreneur Zhang Yiming, the company says. How much is TikTok worth in 2024? TikTok is likely worth $100 billion, according to Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives. But that valuation is based on TikTok's algorithm, the logic written into the software that decides which videos to serve up to its users in a constant stream. Without the algorithm, the company could be sold for much less, Ives said. "We believe China and ByteDance will never sell this with the golden jewel algorithm. Without the algorithm we believe TikTok is worth $30 billion to $40 billion," he told CBS MoneyWatch. Who could buy TikTok? Likely suitors would be Microsoft, Oracle and Walmart, Ives said. But other companies and investors are likely to express interest, he added. "Private equity will swarm after this deal as well with [former Treasury Secretary Steven] Mnuchin and others," Ives said. Mnuchin told CNBC last month that he was working on a coalition of investors to acquire TikTok, anticipating that the divest-or-ban bill would become law. "It's a great business and I'm going to put together a group to buy TikTok," Mnuchin told CNBC. How likely is it that TikTok will be sold? It's hard to say, but Ives said he believes there's a 75% chance TikTok will have new ownership by early 2025. At the same time, TikTok has previously succeeded in blocking a ban through legal action, with a federal judge ruling late last year that Montana's attempt to ban the service "oversteps state power and infringes on the Constitutional rights of users and businesses."
Net neutrality restored as FCC votes to regulate internet providers 2024-04-25 18:14:19+00:00 - SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The FCC on Thursday restored “net neutrality” rules that prevent broadband internet providers such as Comcast and AT&T from favoring some sites and apps over others. The move effectively reinstates a net neutrality order the commission first issued in 2015 during the Obama administration; under then-President Donald Trump, the FCC subsequently repealed those rules in 2017. Net neutrality is the principle that providers of internet service should treat all traffic equally. The rules, for instance, ban practices that throttle or block certain sites or apps, or that offer higher speeds to customers willing to pay extra. “In our post-pandemic world, we know that broadband is a necessity, not a luxury,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement ahead of the vote. The telecommunications industry opposed the reintroduction of the rules, as it has before, declaring it an example of unnecessary government interference in business decisions. The measure passed on a 3-2 vote split by party lines, with Democratic commissioners in favor and Republicans opposed.