Latest News
See the latest news and get GPT analysis of articles
A.I.-Generated Child Sexual Abuse Material May Overwhelm Tip Line 2024-04-22 13:00:09+00:00 - A new flood of child sexual abuse material created by artificial intelligence is threatening to overwhelm the authorities already held back by antiquated technology and laws, according to a new report released Monday by Stanford University’s Internet Observatory. Over the past year, new A.I. technologies have made it easier for criminals to create explicit images of children. Now, Stanford researchers are cautioning that the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a nonprofit that acts as a central coordinating agency and receives a majority of its funding from the federal government, doesn’t have the resources to fight the rising threat. The organization’s CyberTipline, created in 1998, is the federal clearinghouse for all reports on child sexual abuse material, or CSAM, online and is used by law enforcement to investigate crimes. But many of the tips received are incomplete or riddled with inaccuracies. Its small staff has also struggled to keep up with the volume. “Almost certainly in the years to come, the CyberTipline will be flooded with highly realistic-looking A.I. content, which is going to make it even harder for law enforcement to identify real children who need to be rescued,” said Shelby Grossman, one of the report’s authors.
CarMax: Is There a Silver Lining to the Earnings Car Wreck? 2024-04-22 12:55:00+00:00 - Key Points CarMax shares suffered a 9.2% drop on its fiscal Q4 2024 earnings report, marking its first EPS miss since fiscal Q2 2023. CarMax is suffering from falling used car prices that aren't up-ticking consumer demand as affordability remains a top challenge driven by high interest rates and low consumer confidence. CarMax unit sales rose on the retail front and the CEO is confident they will accelerate market share growth as used car affordability improves with deflation and as vehicle values stabilize. 5 stocks we like better than CarMax CarMax Inc. NYSE: KMX is a nationwide used car dealership focused on providing a haggle-free, streamlined and convenient vehicle buying and selling experience for customers. CarMax built its reputation on its no-haggle listed price policy. Customers pay the sticker price listed on the car as the negotiation process is eliminated, providing a time-saving and stress-free process. The auto/tires/trucks sector company provides repairs, maintenance service plans, financing and a money-back guarantee for its vehicles. Get CarMax alerts: Sign Up CarMax Owns Its Stores and Doesn’t Franchise CarMax has 248 company-owned locations and over 60,000 vehicles searchable online. The average CarMax location is around 59,000 square feet and has 300 to 400 used and reconditioned cars in inventory. The company competes with AutoNation Inc. NYSE: AN, Carvana Inc. NYSE: CVNA and Vroom Inc. NASDAQ: VRM. The Pandemic Reopening Hangover During the pandemic and reopening, car dealerships couldn't keep enough inventory in stock as the supply chain disruption and chip shortage surged the used car business. This sent CarMax shares up to a high of $155.98 in November 2021. However, the hangover effect continues to this day as inventory glut, weak macroeconomic conditions, tightening consumer spending and high-interest rates shudder customer demand. Despite used car prices falling thanks to deflation, it hasn’t up ticked demand for them. Car Wreck Earnings CarMax Today KMX CarMax $67.88 -0.46 (-0.67%) 52-Week Range $59.66 ▼ $88.22 P/E Ratio 22.40 Price Target $77.42 Add to Watchlist Investors panicked out of CarMax shares after the company reported a sales miss and its first earnings shortfall since fiscal Q3 2023. CarMax reported fiscal Q4 2024 EPS of 32 cents, missing consensus estimates by 13 cents. Revenues fell 1.7% YoY to $5.63 billion, missing the $5.76 billion consensus estimates. Retail used unit sales rose 1.3%, and comparable stored, used units rose 0.1% from the year-ago period. Wholesale units fell 4% YoY. The company earned $2,251 gross profit per retail used unit and $1,120 gross profit per wholesale unit, which are both down from the year-ago period. CarMax bought back 685,600 shares for $49.3 million in the quarter at $71.97 per share. Vehicle Stats CarMax sold 287,603 vehicles combined between retail and whole units, which fell 0.9% YoY. Total retail used car sales rose 1.3% YoY to 172,057. Comparable store used unit sales rose 0.1% YoY. Widespread inflationary pressures aggravated ongoing vehicle affordability challenges, which impacted unit sales performance. High interest rates, low consumer confidence and tighter lending standards were the main levers. The average cost of a car fell $600 per unit, which upticked retail volume but still resulted in a 0.7% drop, eroding margins as gross profit fell 4.1% to $586.2 million. CarMax purchased 234,000 vehicles from dealers and customers, down 10.8% from the year-ago period. Purchases from dealers rose 44.8% YoY to 21,000, and purchases from customers fell 14.1% YoY to 213,000 vehicles. The silver lining is that the cost to purchase vehicles also fell, causing used vehicle gross profit to inch up by 0.1% to $2,251 on the retail front. A whole gross profit drop of 9.4% meant an average $67 per unit decline to $1,120. Auto Finance Income CarMax Auto Finance income rose 18.9% YoY, generating $147.3 million, thanks to lower loan loss provisions, tighter lending standards and an average increase in managed receivables. The net interest margin compressed to 5.9%, consistent with Q3. Online Sales and Falling EPPs The company saw a 3.7% drop in other revenues stemming from a $6.2 million fall in extended protection plans (EPP) revenues. Online retail sales made up 14% of retail unit sales, generating $1.7 billion or 30% of net revenues in Q4 2024. Store Openings CarMax opened 4 new locations in the fourth quarter, including 2 in New York and 1 in Los Angeles and Chicago each. This brings the total store count to 245 as of Feb. 29, 2024. It opened its first standalone reconditioning center for the Atlantic market in the quarter. For fiscal 2025, CarMax plans to open 5 new locations, a second stand-alone reconditioning center and a single stand-alone auction facility. Capex spending is projected to be between $500 million to $550 million. Long-Term Targets Pushed Back Its long-term plan is to sell 2 million combined retail and wholesale units annually between fiscal 2026 and fiscal 2030 and 33 billion in annual revenues. The time was extended due to uncertainty in timing the market recovery. This is what tipped CarMax shares to drop 9%. CarMax hopes to achieve more than a 5% market share of age 0 to 10 year used vehicles sooner than expected. Interest rate cuts can be a key driver for consumer demand. Daily Descending Triangle The KMX daily candlestick chart illustrates a descending triangle pattern. The upper descending trendline formed at the $88.22 swing high on March 28, 2024, capping each bounce at a lower high. KMX attempted to break out above the descending trendline heading into fiscal Q4 2024 earnings but gapped down on the results to reenter the triangle. The flat-bottom lower trendline is at $68.34, which is being tested by KMX shares. The daily relative strength index (RSI) has been moving sideways, just below the oversold 30-band. The pullback support levels are at $66.86, $62.90, $59.77 and $54.85. CEO Points Out the Silver Lining CarMax CEO Bill Nash pointed out the company recorded its fifth straight quarter of sequential retail used unit growth and reported growth in total used unit sales and comps. Nash stated, “We delivered strong retail and wholesale GPUs. We increased used saleable inventory units by more than 10% while holding used total inventory units flat year-over-year.” Nash remains confident in their ability to accelerate market share growth as used car affordability improves and vehicle values stabilize. Nash added, “We continue to manage our SG&A actively, and we grew CAF income significantly as we delivered a substantial reduction in the provision for loan losses year-over-year while maintaining stable net interest margins sequentially." CarMax analyst ratings and price targets are at MarketBeat. Before you consider CarMax, 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 CarMax wasn't on the list. While CarMax currently has a "Hold" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here
High-Yielding Verizon’s Stock Price Reversal is Imminent 2024-04-22 12:45:00+00:00 - Key Points Verizon had a mixed quarter, producing better-than-expected earnings and free cash flow. The balance sheet is improving, and so is the dividend health. The high yield is above 6.5% and trades for less than 10X earnings; there is a chance for significant share price appreciation. 5 stocks we like better than Verizon Communications Verizon NYSE: VZ has been on the brink of completing a reversal for months and may do so now that the Q1 results are in. The Q1 results are mixed but include better-than-expected margin, increased free cash flow, and reaffirmed guidance that points to slow, steady growth over the next two years. The takeaway is that Verizon stock offers a deep value, trading at 9X this year’s and 8.5X next year’s earnings while yielding more than 6.5%. Because the results and outlook are solid, the dividend is safe, and the value is deep, Verizon stock could break above critical resistance and begin a sustained uptrend. In that scenario, the price action could gain 50% or more as the telecom rises within a well-established trading range. Get Verizon Communications alerts: Sign Up Verizon Stock Rises On Mixed Results, Reaffirmed Guidance Verizon Communications Today VZ Verizon Communications $38.60 -1.89 (-4.67%) 52-Week Range $30.14 ▼ $43.42 Dividend Yield 6.89% P/E Ratio 13.99 Price Target $44.50 Add to Watchlist Verizon did not report a robust quarter, but no one expected strength. The results are mixed relative to the consensus reported by Marketbeat, with revenue below target and earnings above, but it isn’t growth but cash flow the market is interested in. Free cash flow improved nearly 18% despite a YOY decline in earnings, leading to balance sheet improvement and dividend strength. The top-line $33 billion in revenue is short of the consensus by 70 basis points but up 0.3% compared to last year. The revenue growth is due primarily to higher prices offset by mix and subscriber count. Total wireless grew by 3.3%, led by hyper-growth in the fixed broadband segment, which nearly doubled revenue. Margin and earnings news are mixed but favorable to the investment thesis. Reported and adjusted EPS fell compared to last year and versus top-line growth, but the contraction was less than expected. The adjusted $1.15 is down $0.05, but $0.03 ahead of consensus and internal metrics are more favorable. The adjusted consolidated EBITDA grew by $0.02 billion to $12.1, and free cash flow rose in the high teens. Verizon’s Dividend is Safe for 2024 and 2025 Verizon Communications Dividend Payments Dividend Yield 6.84% Annual Dividend $2.66 Dividend Increase Track Record 19 Years Annualized 3-Year Dividend Growth 1.98% Dividend Payout Ratio 96.38% Next Dividend Payment May. 1 See Full Details The cash flow led to a slight reduction in debt and an improvement in the healthy leverage ratios. Long-term debt is 2.6X adjusted EBITDA, with cash flow expected to remain solid this year, so debt should continue to fall. Long-term debt is down 2.7% YOY, and net long-term debt is 2.8%, leaving the dividend coverage in sufficient shape that investors can expect the 20th consecutive dividend increase later this year. The trend in analysts' sentiment is bullish for the market and should continue now that results are in. Until otherwise indicated, the consensus for the stock is a Moderate Buy with a price target of $44.50. That target is about 10% above the pre-release closing price and a multi-year high when reached. The revisions lead the market, making a move above the consensus possible. Verizon Technical Outlook: Reversal With a Chance the Range Will Persist Verizon is trading within a smaller range inside a much larger, multi-year range. It is indicated higher following the Q1 release and may move up to test or break resistance at the range’s high end. That is near $42.50 and an ultra-long-term moving average. If resistance is broken at this level, it will indicate a reversal; otherwise, this stock could remain range-bound until later in the year. If the market can move higher, the next targets for resistance are $44.00 and $46.00. Returning to $39 or lower is possible if a new high is not set. Before you consider Verizon Communications, 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 Verizon Communications wasn't on the list. While Verizon Communications currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here
3 Value Stocks Buffett Wishes He Could Buy 2024-04-22 12:35:00+00:00 - Key Points Three stocks that would otherwise find their place in a mega value investor's - like Buffett's - portfolio could fall into the hands of retail investors. Trading at significant discounts from their 52-week highs, these names offer the same upside they had at their peak prices. Analysts love them, and markets must see the P/E discounts they give peers. 5 stocks we like better than BYD The retail investor has one undeniable advantage over Wall Street’s professionals. The big guys need to show quarterly returns; otherwise, no performance fees can be collected. This places a severe investment horizon limit on the type of businesses they can buy. Another limitation comes through sizing. Value investors like Warren Buffett cannot buy companies that are below a certain market capitalization, as it would be an insignificant position failing to move the needle for the entire fund. Apart from their smaller market caps, three stocks would fit the value investment criterion today, yet the big funds cannot act upon them. Get BYD alerts: Sign Up Names like Abercrombie & Fitch Co. NYSE: ANF, Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile NYSE: SQM, and even FMC Co. NYSE: FMC could give retail investors their own Buffett moment without the need for billions of dollars in buying power. It’s Time For a Consumer Reset Bank of America Today BAC Bank of America $37.73 +0.76 (+2.06%) 52-Week Range $24.96 ▼ $38.35 Dividend Yield 2.54% P/E Ratio 13.06 Price Target $38.53 Add to Watchlist First quarter 2024 earnings from financial stocks like Bank of America Co. NYSE: BAC show an inflation-choked U.S. consumer concerning credit card delinquency rates and declining FICO scores. However, consumers are shaking these trends off. With U.S. consumer sentiment reaching a 3-year high, it seems that expectations of lower interest rates ahead are causing a bullish psychological effect for the consumer sector. This is where the apparel industry comes into play. With cotton futures falling by as much as 22% in the past month, investors may want to look into apparel’s potential new bull run. Not all stocks are created equal, though; here’s why Abercrombie & Fitch fits. Compared to the retail sector’s P/E valuation of 23.6x, Abercrombie & Fitch stock offers investors a 25% discount through its current 17.7x P/E valuation. More importantly, for those justifying a bargain stock, the company operates under industry-leading gross margin rates of over 60%, unseen by competitors like American Eagle Outfitters Inc. NYSE: AEO, whose financials show a gross margin of only 38.7%. These margins allow management to efficiently invest leftover capital, generating returns on invested capital (ROIC) rates of up to 15% annually, significantly above American Eagle’s 8.3%. Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group boosted Abercrombie's valuation to $155 a share, calling for a 40% upside from today's stock price. As consumer credit deteriorates, as proven by bank earnings, the Fed may look to lower interest rates sooner, helping boost the industry further after its recent breakout. FMC’s Run to Restock the World CF Industries Today CF CF Industries $78.80 -0.67 (-0.84%) 52-Week Range $60.08 ▼ $87.90 Dividend Yield 2.54% P/E Ratio 10.05 Price Target $86.47 Add to Watchlist According to its fourth-quarter 2023 earnings report, FMC’s competitor, CF Industries Holdings Inc. NYSE: CF, states that the agriculture sector could be at a cyclical low. With stock-to-use ratios coming off their bottom in 2022, the world may need to start farming more aggressively, as the end of the winter season affects global supply. This is where FMC’s fertilizers and specialty chemicals come into play. The services PMI shows the agricultural sector pushing its third consecutive month of expansion, increasing the odds of rising quarterly earnings for stocks supporting this expansion (think FMC). Trading at only 46% of its 52-week high, the stock starts to fit the potential bargain profile. Its 5.5x P/E valuation today is 65% below the chemical industry’s average 15.6x multiple. Wall Street analysts, particularly those at the UBS Group, see a higher valuation for the stock. These analysts slapped an $84 share price target on FMC. The stock would need to rally by 45% to prove these predictions right. More than that, the stock is 92% owned by institutions, giving investors a quality stamp. EVs Aren’t EVs Without Sociedad Quimica’s Lithium BYD Today BYDDF BYD $25.73 +0.08 (+0.30%) 52-Week Range $21.80 ▼ $36.27 P/E Ratio 18.51 Add to Watchlist After striking an exclusive deal with BYD Co. OTCMKTS: BYDDF, Sociedad Quimica y Minera is now the primary lithium provider for arguably the world’s leading electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer. Because BYD serves Asia’s fastest-growing middle classes, EV demand in the region could send new orders through the roof, boosting lithium demand as batteries cannot be made without the commodity. This is where Sociedad Quimica y Minera stock becomes a target, trading at only 55% of its 52-week high and having as much upside as ever. Analysts expect the stock to grow its earnings per share (EPS) by as much as 34.7% in the next 12 months. Investors can get exposure to this growth at only 6.4x P/E, a 45% discount to the mining industry’s average 11.7x valuation. With a consensus price target of $66 a share, this stock is set to advance by 46.7% from where it trades today, solidifying the market’s thesis behind the EV wave’s lithium demand. Like cotton, lithium prices declined by 82% from their 2022 peak prices, which could signal a potential cyclical bottoming for lithium. Before you consider BYD, 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 BYD wasn't on the list. While BYD currently has a "Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here
Police arrest pro-Palestinian supporters at encampment on Yale University plaza 2024-04-22 12:28:00+00:00 - Police officers on Monday arrested protesters who had set up an encampment on Yale University’s campus in support of the Palestinian cause, one of a growing number of American universities to see demonstrations surrounding the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Protesters had been on their third night of camping out in an effort to urge Yale to divest from military weapons manufacturers, the Yale Daily News reported. Officers gathered at the protest site at Beinecke Plaza shortly before 7 a.m. Monday and were seen approaching the encampment and “flipping up the entrances to the tents,” the school paper wrote on X. Then officers issued a warning for students and journalists to leave, or they’d be arrested. Minutes later, the school paper wrote on X that police were arresting people. In total, 47 students were issued summonses, Yale said in a statement Monday. Police officers arrested protesters in support of the Palestinian cause for trespassing on Yale University’s campus on Monday. Samad Hakani / Yale Daily News They were transported to a Yale police facility where they were processed, charged with first-degree criminal trespass, a misdemeanor, and released, the New Haven Mayor’s Office said. The arrests The university said protesters were asked to leave and remove their belongings after officials had “notified protesters numerous times” that if they violated the university polices on occupying outdoor spaces, they could face law enforcement and disciplinary action. Some left voluntarily Monday morning. Those arrested will also be referred for Yale disciplinary action “which includes a range of sanctions, such as reprimand, probation, or suspension,” the university said. By 8 a.m., no students were left on the plaza and all protesters remaining on the plaza had been arrested. "The university made the decision to arrest those individuals who would not leave the plaza with the safety and security of the entire Yale community in mind and to allow access to university facilities by all members of our community," Yale said Monday. A statement on the Instagram page for the Yale protest organizers under the handle “Occupy Beinecke” said Monday that police had only given one arrest warning and refused to allow protesters to collect medication and other necessities. “When asked onsite what protesters were doing wrong, police refused to give an answer,” the group said. Organizers also said the summons for criminal trespassing charges was “contrary to all prior communication from administration about potential consequences.” After the arrests, a crowd of over 200 protesters blocked the intersection of Grove Street and College Street on campus as organizers “announced that people arrested are being charged with Class A misdemeanors,” the school paper wrote on X. Forty police officers were reported to be at the scene, blocking students from entering the Schwarzman Center Rotunda. After the arrests, a crowd of over 200 protesters blocked the intersection of Grove Street and College Street on Yale University’s campus on Monday. Samad Hakani / Yale Daily News New Haven police said they had no plans to make "any arrests of non-violent protesters" at that demonstration, which was still ongoing as of 10 a.m. ET. NBC News is out to Yale police for comment. Protests unfolding at universities across the U.S. The tension on campus comes as another Ivy League Institution, Columbia University in New York City, holds classes virtually Monday following a pro-Palestinian encampment and protest that also resulted mass suspensions and arrests. Boston-area universities Tufts, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Emerson also had protest encampments over the weekend, organizers said. Meanwhile at Harvard, the university restricted access to the Harvard Yard — a grassy area enclosed by fences on campus — through Friday afternoon. School paper, “The Harvard Crimson,” reported the decision was “in apparent anticipation of student protests.” A notice posted on Yard gates said “structures, including tents and tables, are not permitted in the Yard without prior permission” and “students violating these policies are subject to disciplinary action.” The University of Southern California in Los Angeles was criticized last week after it canceled the speech of a valedictorian whose social media account had a link to a document expressing support for Palestinians in Gaza. USC said it decided to cancel the speech based on concerns over security and the possibility of disruption. After the arrests, a crowd of over 200 protesters blocked the intersection of Grove Street and College Street on Yale University’s campus on Monday. Samad Hakani / Yale Daily News Protests call for Yale to divest from military weapons manufacturers The encampment protest comes after “months of sustained pressure” on Yale to disclose and divest from investments in military weapons manufacturers, "Occupy Beinecke" said. However, on Wednesday, Yale said its Advisory Committee on Investor Responsibility would not recommend divestment because it concluded that “military weapons manufacturing for authorized sales did not meet the threshold of grave social injury” and because “this manufacturing supports socially necessary uses, such as law enforcement and national security.” On Sunday, Yale University President Peter Salovey and Professor of Psychology Chris Argyris said in a statement they understood the disagreement with the ACIR decision. “The ACIR—a committee of faculty, students, staff, and alumni—arrived at this conclusion after hearing from student presenters and engaging in careful deliberation. This is part of a formal process and relies on the university’s guide to ethical investing that has served Yale well for decades,” the statement said. “There are available pathways to continue this discussion with openness and civility, and I urge those with suggestions to follow them.” The Sunday statement said that the protests in Beinecke Plaza and other parts of campus “have grown significantly over the weekend, and some members of the broader community have joined our students.” While the school “supports free speech and civil discourse,” the encampment protest had violated some university guidelines and policies, which school leaders warned participants about. “Putting up structures, defying the directives of university officials, staying in campus spaces past allowed times, and other acts that violate university policies and guidelines create safety hazards and impede the work of our university,” Salovey and Argyris wrote. While many students participating in protests and counter protests “have done so peacefully,” the school was aware of reports of “egregious behavior, such as intimidation and harassment, pushing those in crowds, removal of the plaza flag, and other harmful acts,” the statement said. Police officers on Monday arrested protesters who had set up an encampment on Yale University’s campus in support of the Palestinian cause. Samad Hakani / Yale Daily News Yale separately told NBC News Sunday that university police were “investigating a report of an assault” that occurred during a protest on Beinecke Plaza, adding it was “providing support to a student who made the report.” The officials stressed: “Yale does not tolerate actions, including remarks, that threaten, harass, or intimidate members of the university’s Jewish, Muslim, and other communities,” and school police are investigating such actions.
There should be no argument in Trump trial's opening statements 2024-04-22 12:11:18+00:00 - This week, with a jury seated and sworn, trial will begin in a Manhattan courtroom in the false records case brought by District Attorney Alvin Bragg against former President Donald Trump. The trial will begin with opening statements, an important part of the trial. But do not expect to hear on Monday any arguments about the strength of the case or the weight of the evidence. Hollywood routinely mangles courtroom scenes. But that was mostly not true for the 1992 comedy “My Cousin Vinny.” Vinny Gambini — an inexperienced Brooklyn lawyer — travels to Alabama to defend his cousin, who has been falsely accused of murder. On the day of opening statements, the prosecutor went first, as it is his burden to prove guilt. He told the jury how the evidence would show that the defendants entered and robbed a convenience store, and then were seen running out of that store a moment after gunshots killed a clerk, driving away in their car. Then Joe Pesci, portraying defense counsel Gambini, gives his opening statement. “Everything that guy just said is b-------. Thank you.” Nine words, and Gambini sat back down. The prosecutor immediately objected: “Counsel’s entire opening statement is argument.” The judge agreed and sustains the objection, ruling that “the entire opening statement, with the exception of ‘thank you,’ will be stricken from the record. The jury will please disregard counselor’s entire opening statement.” The prosecutor and the judge were right. Gambini’s opening statement was argument and — as opening statements go — therefore improper. Attorneys are not permitted to argue their case in their opening statement. Indeed, no evidence has been introduced at this point in the trial. Attorneys are not permitted to argue their cases in their opening statements. Indeed, there is no evidence that has been introduced at this point in the trial — no witnesses, no documents — from which to argue. An opening, rather, is a non-argumentative statement to the jury of what you expect to prove (if you represent the government) or, perhaps, what you claim the government will be unable to prove (if you represent the defendant). Most judges set time limits on these statements (thank goodness). The defense, of course, has no burden to put on any case at all, and so often does not promise particular facts or evidence or witnesses in an opening statement (though it can do so, if it wishes) but rather notes the difficult burden on the prosecution. From the perspective of the prosecutor, an opening is a preview for the jurors of what they will see and hear — promises often framed in terms of what “the evidence will show” and what a witness “will tell you.” Good prosecutors in openings do not overpromise and underdeliver — that can be fatal to their case. And good defense attorneys are only too happy to remind jurors during closing argument — at the end of the trial — of where and how a prosecutor failed to deliver on their promises. In an opening a good prosecutor will also get ahead of any weaknesses in their case. Almost all cases have soft spots, and it is better for a prosecutor to tell the jury about any weaknesses upfront then to have jurors learn about them from a defense attorney. In that way, prosecutors make it clear that they have nothing to hide and that the jury is hearing the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth from the government. Arguments are reserved for closing, after all of the witnesses have testified and all of the evidence has been admitted. You are permitted to argue the strength of your case in closing and the inferences you think the jury should draw from the facts presented during trial. That’s why these trial parts have different and specific names: opening statements and closing arguments. Statement and argument, beginning and end, preview of the evidence and the inferences to be drawn from the evidence. “My Cousin Vinny” also offers an appropriate analogy. When the Trump trial begins in earnest this week, think of the opening statement by the prosecutors as a movie trailer, with the added requirement that everything in the trailer had better be in the movie.
Asia Ex-China And Europe Markets Rise; Gold Falls And Dollar Gains Amid Easing Middle East Conflict Fears - Global Markets Today While US Slept - SmartETFs Asia Pacific Dividend Builder ETF (ARCA:ADIV 2024-04-22 11:48:00+00:00 - Loading... Loading... On Friday, April 19th, the U.S. stock markets closed mixed, influenced by a decrease in Netflix NFLX shares, although American Express AXP provided support to the Dow following their respective earnings announcements. Additionally, market mood was affected by skepticism regarding a forthcoming rate cut by the Federal Reserve. Netflix’s Q1 earnings, revenue, and subscriber count exceeded forecasts, but it warned of a potential Q2 subscriber dip due to seasonality and issued lower-than-expected revenue guidance, though its EPS outlook was higher than anticipated. In economic data, Baker Hughes Inc. reported that the total count of active U.S. oil rigs rose by 5 to 511 this week. Most S&P 500 sectors ended higher, led by gains in financial, utilities, and energy stocks, while information technology and communication services sectors fell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.56% to close at 37,986.40. The S&P 500 slid 0.88%, ending the day at 4,967.23, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.05%, finishing the session at 15,282.01. Asia Markets Today On Monday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index ended the trading day higher by 0.99% at 37,459.50, led by gains in the Mining, Chemical, Petroleum & Plastic and Warehousing sectors. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.08% to finish at 7,649.20, led by gains in the Healthcare, Telecoms Services and IT sectors. India’s Nifty 50 closed higher by 0.86% at 22,336.40, and the Nifty 500 rose 0.93%, closing at 20,574.85. China’s Shanghai Composite slid 0.67% to end the session at 3,044.60, and the Shenzhen CSI 300 fell 0.30%, closing at 3,530.90. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 1.77%, concluding the day at 16,511.69. Eurozone at 06:15 AM ET The European STOXX 50 index was up 0.47%. Germany’s DAX gained 0.66%. France’s CAC increased 0.32%. U.K.’s FTSE 100 traded higher by 1.46%. Commodities at 06:15 AM ET Loading... Loading... Crude Oil WTI was trading lower by 0.67% at $81.67/bbl, and Brent was down 0.63% at $86.75 bbl. Oil prices dropped on Monday, shifting focus to market fundamentals as Israel and Iran downplayed escalation risks after Israel’s limited strike on Iran. Natural Gas was down 0.60% at $1.976. Gold was trading lower by 1.66% at $2,373.75, Silver declined 3.33% to $27.883, while Copper was up 0.61% at $4.5245. US Futures at 06:15 AM ET Dow futures were up 0.48%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.59%, and Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 0.73%. Forex at 06:15 AM ET The U.S. dollar index rose 0.03% to 106.19, the USD/JPY rose 0.07% to 154.74, and the USD/AUD declined 0.38% to 1.5531. Photo by Pavel Bobrovskiy via Shutterstock
Supreme Court conservatives skeptical of challenge to Oregon city's crackdown on homeless 2024-04-22 11:00:00+00:00 - WASHINGTON — Conservative Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical Monday about a challenge to municipal ordinances that punish homeless people for camping on public property when they have nowhere else to go. The court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, is reviewing an appeals court ruling that said several ordinances enacted by the small city of Grants Pass, Oregon, are prohibited under the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment, which bars cruel and unusual punishment. The ordinances bar sleeping or camping on publicly owned property, including sidewalks, streets, bridges and city parks. Punishment, which is the key issue in the case, can include fines of up to several hundred dollars and exclusion orders barring people from public property. Exacerbated by lack of housing and the high cost of rent, homelessness and how to deal with it have become flashpoints in many communities across the country. Justices repeatedly conceded that addressing homelessness is a complicated policy question, but the conservative members of the court expressed doubts that a lawsuit under the Eighth Amendment was the best way to deal with it. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, one of the conservatives, said that before they reach a constitutional issue, the justices "usually think about whether state law, local law already achieves those purposes so that the federal courts aren't micromanaging homeless policy." He and others raised the prospect of homeless people being able instead to mount a defense under state law known as the "necessity defense," in which people can claim they had no choice but to violate the law. A homeless man in Fruitdale Park in Grants Pass, Ore., on March 23. Jenny Kane / AP file Fellow conservative Neil Gorsuch raised similar questions, noting that if courts find cities cannot punish homeless people for sleeping outside, the same logic could apply to other ordinances, such as those prohibiting urinating or defecating in public. "How about if there are no public bathroom facilities? Do people have an Eighth Amendment right to defecate and urinate?" he asked. Chief Justice John Roberts appeared equally resistant to the idea that courts have a role to play in overseeing homeless policy. "Why would you think that these nine people are the best people to judge and weigh those policy judgments?" he asked. Advocates for the homeless argue that the ordinances in effect punish people for existing when they have no other place to go and that the measures do nothing to address the underlying issue of housing shortages. They note that cities already have the power to regulate encampments, something that is not at issue before the Supreme Court. The court's three liberal justices appeared more sympathetic to the plaintiffs. Justice Sonia Sotomayor addressed the prospect of other cities' enacting similar policies that encourage homeless people to seek shelter elsewhere. "Where do we put them if every city, every village, every town lacks compassion?" she asked. "Where are they supposed to sleep?" Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, in wondering whether a homeless person could ever bring a claim under the Eighth Amendment if the court overturned the appeals court ruling, asked what would happen if "the city decided it was going to execute homeless people." It would be a "very extreme scenario," but it would "solve the problems you're talking about," she told the city's lawyer, Theane Evangelis. Justice Elena Kagan also probed the city's arguments, saying that if people can be punished for sleeping then perhaps, under the same theory, cities could also punish people for breathing, because both actions are a "biological necessity." "For a homeless person who has no place to go, sleeping in public is kind of like breathing in public," she added. The ruling issued in 2022 by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals applies to all nine states within its jurisdiction, including California. Several of those states have large populations of homeless people. Among those asking the Supreme Court to overturn the appeals court are local officials in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix and other cities. The Biden administration has mostly backed the challengers, having filed a brief in support of neither side saying laws that bar sleeping on public property are unlawful "if they are applied in a manner that prevents an individual without available shelter from residing in the jurisdiction." The appeals court ruled 2-1 that Grants Pass, which is about 250 miles south of Portland, cannot “enforce its anti-camping ordinances against homeless persons for the mere act of sleeping outside with rudimentary protection from the elements, or for sleeping in their car at night, when there is no other place in the city for them to go.” The decision applies only in situations in which homeless people “are engaging in conduct necessary to protect themselves from the elements when there is no shelter space available,” the court added. The case arose after a group of homeless people challenged the application of the ordinances. They say there is no shelter space, so they have little option but to sleep outside. David Wilson sits outside his tent at Riverside Park in Grants Pass, Ore., on March 21. Jenny Kane / AP file City officials maintain that the ordinances pass legal muster and are aimed at curbing the proliferation of homeless encampments. Officials argue that their policies are aimed at encouraging homeless people to seek housing, although the city itself does not have its own shelter. It directs people to one run by a religious organization that has limited space and imposes various conditions. "Fines and short jail terms for camping on public property are not cruel and unusual punishments," the city's lawyers wrote in court papers.
These are all the jurors in Trump's hush money trial 2024-04-22 10:00:00+00:00 - After a weeklong jury selection process, 12 jurors and six alternates have been seated in Donald Trump's New York hush money trial. The difficulty of selecting a group of impartial jurors in the criminal trial of a former president was on full display. Media reporting on the jurors’ personal details — including one plainly critical segment from Fox News' Jesse Watters — sparked criticism from Judge Juan Merchan, who ordered journalists not to report on many specifics about their backgrounds. Two jurors were excused on Thursday, with one saying they couldn't be fair amid concerns about being identified, and another who was frustrated about how much their personal information had been made public. Despite some snags in the process, a complete jury and its alternates were selected by the end of the week, setting the stage for opening statements in the historic trial on Monday. The jurors' media diets encompass a range of news outlets, including MSNBC, Fox News, the New York Post and The New York Times. Some said they got their news from social media, including TikTok and Facebook.
Mega-cap tech earnings kick off this week. Here's what Wall Street is looking out for. 2024-04-22 05:16:00+00:00 - Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft logos displayed in front of an EU flag. JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images Wall Street is gearing up for the highlight of earnings season this week. Mega-cap names that make up the Magnificent Seven will begin reporting, starting with Tesla. Investors are looking for Elon Musk to soothe fears after a tough stretch, while AI will be front and center more broadly. Investors are gearing up for what's become the main event of earnings season in recent quarters, zeroing in on mega-cap firms as they unveil their first-quarter results. Despite recent dips, investors are hoping major tech giants can keep the momentum rolling, with artificial intelligence in focus as the technology continues to captivate Wall Street. "I think the next few weeks, this is a 'get out the popcorn moment' for tech," Dan Ives, senior equity analyst at Wedbush Securities, told Bloomberg TV last Thursday, adding that this earnings period will be a "flex the muscles moment" for tech companies and a "golden buying opportunity" for investors. Excitement is high as investors look for the next catalyst to help spur fresh gains for stocks amid a dreary stretch and a sell-off sparked by still-hot inflation and geopolitical turmoil in the Middle East. Here's what Wall Street is focusing on as the first crop of mega-cap titans gets ready to report. Tesla — April 23 Elon Musk's car company is causing investors a lot of stress heading into earnings, with a laundry list of woes on the radar, including a dive in vehicle sales in the first quarter, controversy over Musk's $56 billion pay package, and recent layoffs that saw the company axe over 10% of its staff. The stock is down 40% year-to-date, and a slew of banks have downgraded their outlook for the shares as it pivots from a more affordable vehicle model and toward initiatives like robotaxis and full self-driving tech. However, Wedbush's Dan Ives said he still remains bullish but emphasized that Musk must address key issues during the earnings call next week to keep investors from fleeing the stock. That includes explaining China's growth decline, providing clear guidance on growth, margins, and cash flow, confirming the development status of Model 2, and detailed plans for AI. Alphabet — April 23 Bank of America is bullish on the Google parent heading into earnings, saying in a note on Thursday that limited job openings indicate cost management, but analysts foresee 13% upside potential above Wall Street's 11% growth estimates, thanks to robust YouTube performance. Additionally, the bank thinks highly of Google's robust search results, seeing them as the second catalyst for a recovery in AI sentiment after the March lows, especially with the Google I/O developer event still on the horizon. Story continues "AI use does pose long-term competitive risks for Google, but in 2024 Google (and peers) are likely to see AI monetization improvements," the note said. Meta — April 24 Meta recently dropped its latest AI chatbot, Llama 3, flexing its muscles with performance over industry benchmarks with upgraded reasoning skills. JPMorgan analysts led by Doug Anmuth warned that Mark Zuckerberg's company may be headed for a slowdown after the first quarter, driven by tough comparisons and a perceived lack of fresh catalysts compared to 2023. "We believe slower growth is well-anticipated, & likely taken into account in META's undemanding multiple," Anmuth wrote. Even though generative AI still dominates investor chatter, the buzz is shifting towards recognizing its early wins in coding efficiencies and cost savings rather than new revenue streams and product upgrades, the analysts said. "META is an exception, w/ implementation of AI in the ad stack perceived as an important contributor to growth," the note said. Microsoft – April 25 Microsoft is seen by Wall Street as a heavy hitter in AI going into earnings, as the company is gearing up to triple its GPU count in 2024, aiming to stack up 1.8 million AI chips by year-end. Bank of America is upbeat on the tech giant's April 25 earnings release, bumping its earnings estimate by 1%, fueled by strong performance in Azure and Microsoft 365 segments. Meanwhile, the bank kept its $480 price target unchanged, signaling a potential upside of 20% from where the stock was trading late Friday. Despite a hefty 37x projected 2025 free cash flow ratio, the bank believes Microsoft's value will remain steady thanks to the rapid growth of the AI sector, which is expected to reach $944 billion by 2027. Amazon — April 30 "Amazon is our Best Idea, even as it is most owned across our coverage," JPMorgan's analysts wrote in the note. The bank anticipates that Amazon Web Services will be a bright spot for the first quarter. "Easing optimizations, new workload deployment, favorable comps, & very early GenAI monetization should support AWS accel through 2024," Anmuth said. Read the original article on Business Insider
5 reasons why the stock market's multi-week sell-off will end soon, according to a Wall Street bull 2024-04-22 04:11:00+00:00 - Getty Images/Bryan R. Smith The ongoing stock market sell-off is close to ending, according to Fundstrat's Tom Lee. Lee offered five reasons why he expects the multi-week stock decline will soon reverse. "Equities had a strong first quarter 2024, so the fact that stocks are consolidating and even drifting lower is not entirely a surprise," Lee said. The multi-week stock market sell-off that began at the start of the month is nearing its end, according to Fundstrat's Tom Lee. The long-time stock bull told clients in a note on Friday that the near 5% decline in stocks over the past three weeks was a simple de-leveraging event that was likely nearing its end, setting the market up for a rebound in the short-term. "Equities had a strong first quarter 2024, so the fact that stocks are consolidating and even drifting lower is not entirely a surprise. The difference in our take, at this time, is that we do not see a larger decline ahead," Lee said. The decline in stocks has been driven by a one-two risk-off punch related to disappointment around recent inflation trends and growing geopolitical risk in the Middle East. But Lee ultimately expects these risks to disperse, paving the way for stocks to resume their uptrend and hit new record highs before the end of the year. These are the 5 reasons Lee believes the current stock market decline is nearing its end. 1. A subdued VIX Lee took solace in the fact that the VIX, which measures fear on Wall Street, has been rather subdued amid the recent stock market volatility. The VIX has remained below the all-important risk-on/risk-off level of 20 throughout the decline, even when considering Friday's 7% surge in the volatility index. According to Lee, if the VIX falls below 18, it would serve as a bullish sign for renewed upside in stock prices. 2. VIX term inversion The VIX term structure, or the difference between the 4-month and 1-month VIX futures, inverted earlier this week, and then quickly uninverted. The uninversion of the VIX means that "markets see lower probabilities of a major high volatility event in the near term," Lee said. The last time the VIX experienced an inversion and then subsequent uninversion was in March 2023, which marked a local bottom in the stock market and was followed by a massive year-long rally to the upside. 3. Accelerating losses It might sound counter-intuitive, but an acceleration in stock market losses over the past week could be a sign that investors' process of de-leveraging their portfolio is nearing its end. Lee highlighted that the S&P 500 saw a five-day negative rate of change of 3.6%. The S&P 500 has experienced this pace of losses seven times since October 2022, and in five of those seven times, it served as an immediate tradeable low. Story continues 4. The put-to-call ratio is elevated The put-to-call ratio measures options buying activity of bearish puts and bullish calls, and its most recent reading shows an elevated amount of bearish activity, with investors overwhelmingly favoring buying puts instead of calls. The most recent reading of 1.13 in the put-to-call indicator represents an elevated level that in the past has served as a tradable low. Since October 2022, the put-to-call ratio hit 1.13 seven times, and six out of those seven times, it represented a bottom in the stock market. 5. A technical low Lee pointed to recent commentary from Fundstrat technical strategist Mark Newton, who argues that a bottom in the stock market could appear by early next week. Newton's bullish reasoning includes the fact that weakness in technology stocks has not violated uptrends relative to the S&P 500, strength in defensive sectors like consumer staples and REITs has been lacking, and overall market breadth has held up well. Read the original article on Business Insider
Portugal's Galp says field off Namibia could contain 10 billion barrels of oil 2024-04-22 03:43:00+00:00 - By Sergio Goncalves LISBON (Reuters) - Portuguese oil company Galp Energia said on Sunday it had concluded the first phase of exploration in the Mopane field off the coast of Namibia and estimated it could have at least 10 billion barrels of oil. Galp said it conducted testing operations at the Mopane-1X well in January and the Mopane-2X well in March. In both wells, which are 8 kilometres apart, it said "significant light oil columns were discovered in high-quality reservoir sands". The Mopane field is located in the Orange Basin, along the coast of the southern African country, where Shell and France's TotalEnergies have made several oil and gas discoveries. Galp said flows achieved during the tests reached the maximum allowed limit of 14 thousand barrels per day, potentially positioning Mopane as an important commercial discovery. "In the Mopane complex alone, and before drilling additional exploration and appraisal wells, hydrocarbon in-place estimates are 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent, or higher", Galp said. Galp holds an 80% stake in Petroleum Exploration Licence 83 (PEL 83), which covers an area of almost 10,000 square kilometres in the Orange Basin. Namibia could become a new source of revenue for Galp, which currently has strong investments off the coast of Brazil and is also present in a natural gas project in Mozambique's Rovuma basin. Galp has previously indicated it could launch a process to attract other investors to its projects in Namibia, as they could reach a large scale. The OPEC+ oil producers group, having lost Angola and other players in recent years, is eyeing Namibia for possible membership as it sets up what could be Africa’s fourth-largest output by the next decade, an African industry official told Reuters. (Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; editing by Christina Fincher)
1 Unstoppable Stock That Turned $10,000 Into $75,000 in the Last 10 Years: Time to Buy? 2024-04-22 03:05:00+00:00 - In the past decade, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite index have produced total returns, including dividends, of 225% and 323%, respectively. These gains prove that investing in the stock market is a fantastic way of building wealth. Unsurprisingly, some companies have fared much better. Your mind might immediately go to the dominant "Magnificent Seven" stocks, which is understandable. But it might shock you to learn that O'Reilly Automotive (NASDAQ: ORLY), a leading aftermarket auto parts retailer, has seen its shares skyrocket 657% in the past 10 years, turning a $10,000 investment into more than $75,000 today (as of April 17). Should you hop on the bandwagon and buy this winning stock? Creating value for shareholders Investors will find no shortage of reasons why O'Reilly Automotive is such a wonderful company. There's no doubt that these positive attributes have contributed to its stock's performance. For starters, the business continues to benefit from meaningful expansion opportunities. O'Reilly currently has 6,157 stores after opening 186 in 2023. The plan is to open 195 more this year. The industry is extremely fragmented, giving the company plenty of opportunity to lean on its scale and brand to gain market share. There are two other powerful industry trends that will keep propelling O'Reilly. One is the fact that each and every year, the number of cars on the road goes up. Moreover, these vehicles are getting older, which leads to greater demand for O'Reilly's products and services. Speaking of demand dynamics, investors will appreciate how recession-resilient this company is. Consumers need their cars to work no matter what, whether we're in good or bad economic times. This situation drastically adds stability and predictability to the business model. From a financial perspective, O'Reilly has been able to steadily increase its top and bottom lines. In the past 10 years, revenue and diluted earnings per share have risen at compound annual rates of 9% and 20%, respectively. Given the factors I just outlined, there's a good chance this kind of performance can continue for the foreseeable future. Even after investing capital toward opening more stores, O'Reilly generates more cash than it knows what to do with. That's why management aggressively repurchases shares, spending $3.2 billion to buy back the stock in 2023. In the past five years, the outstanding share count has been reduced by a jaw-dropping 26%. This means longtime investors constantly see their ownership stakes rise over time. Story continues What about the valuation? After a business puts up an outstanding 657% return in the past decade, investors are right to wonder if the shares still present a compelling buying opportunity. It's best when a stock is purchased below its intrinsic value, as the potential for outsized forward returns is still present and expectations haven't gotten too frothy. As of this writing, shares of O'Reilly trade at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 28.4. This is about as expensive as the stock has been in the last eight or so years. And it represents a sizable premium to the trailing five- and 10-year average P/E multiples. So you can make a valid argument that shares are overvalued right now. Investors might be persuaded to wait for a much better entry price. That makes sense as a rational way of thinking, but perhaps the best strategy if you're bullish on this business is to dollar-cost average in the stock over several months. This will allow you to buy at multiple entry points. Given the superior quality of O'Reilly, it could be a winner in your portfolio over the next several years. Should you invest $1,000 in O'Reilly Automotive right now? Before you buy stock in O'Reilly Automotive, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and O'Reilly Automotive wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $466,882!* Stock Advisor provides investors with an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including guidance on building a portfolio, regular updates from analysts, and two new stock picks each month. The Stock Advisor service has more than quadrupled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of April 15, 2024 Neil Patel and his clients have no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 1 Unstoppable Stock That Turned $10,000 Into $75,000 in the Last 10 Years: Time to Buy? was originally published by The Motley Fool
Is SoundHound AI the Next Millionaire-Maker Tech Stock? 2024-04-22 03:00:00+00:00 - Artificial intelligence (AI) has many different applications. One budding area in the AI realm that big tech firms are exploring right now is voice-recognition software. "Magnificent Seven" members Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, and Nvidia are all investing heavily in AI-powered speech. Yet despite big tech's pursuit of this technology, a smaller player has made headlines this year. SoundHound AI (NASDAQ: SOUN) specializes in voice-recognition software for the restaurant, automobile, and smart home industries. Earlier this year, shares of SoundHound AI soared following news that Nvidia is an investor with the company. Although the stock has retreated from its peak levels, it's still up over 80% year to date. When you compare that to the 3% return of the Nasdaq Composite, you might be wondering if SoundHound AI can be a million-dollar opportunity. AI-powered voice technology is an enormous market The market for voice-recognition technology could reach $50 billion by 2029, according to Statista. Considering this tech can be integrated into vehicles, smart-home appliances, and various business settings, it's easy to see why so many of the world's largest enterprises are pursuing the technology. Moreover, venture capital investor Chamath Palihapitiya recently posted on X (formerly Twitter) that voice represents the "front door" to the next phase of the AI revolution. Palihapitiya could be onto something here. Over the last year or so, the world has become captivated by the rise of ChatGPT. Its creator, OpenAI, recently announced the company is exploring applications in AI-powered speech. Given the potential size of the market and the number of high-profile companies competing, it's intriguing that such a small-scale player like SoundHound is receiving so much attention. SoundHound AI is in the spotlight but ... Though Nvidia published the 13F filing disclosing its investment in SoundHound in February, it has been an investor with the company since 2017. This was before SoundHound went public, and it was raising funds from venture capital firms and prominent tech giants. In 2023, SoundHound AI grew revenue 47% to $45.9 million. Moreover, the company reduced its operating losses by 51% -- reporting negative adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of $35 million. The growth is attractive, but it doesn't fully explain the triple-digit gains the stock has seen at various points in 2024. Can investing in the company make you a millionaire? For illustrative purposes, I'll assume SoundHound sustains its 2023 growth rate through 2030 to project future sales. By doing so, the company would generate roughly $680 million of revenue by 2030. Story continues The stock also trades at a price-to-sales (P/S) multiple of about 18 as of this writing. Considering there is a lot of competition entering the voice-recognition market, and the company's path to profitability is unproven, I'll trim its long-term P/S multiple in half to 9. These assumptions result in a future market capitalization of $6.1 billion for the stock. This is roughly 5.5 times its current market cap of $1.1 billion, which means you'd have to invest more than $180,000 to get to $1 million. Not only is that a lot of money for any single position, but there are risks for SoundHound that make any significant investment particularly dicey. The table below breaks down consensus analyst estimates for SoundHound's revenue through 2025: Category 2025 Estimate 2024 Estimate 2023 Actual Revenue $102.8 million $69.5 million $45.9 million Data source: Yahoo Finance On the surface, the growth trends in the table above are in line with the assumptions I made above. However, alarm bells went off when I noticed a change in terminology on SoundHound's reported financials. Specifically, management updated how the company accounts for its backlog, which now includes ramped-up deals with clients that aren't guaranteed. The details in company filings further indicate that SoundHound is recognizing sources of non-recurring revenue in any given quarter, but management is classifying these transactions as royalties and subscriptions in its financials. This makes it hard to get a sense of SoundHound AI's true, normalized revenue profile. Therefore, forecasting the company's growth is an even more daunting exercise. Given the risks around hyped-up, small, and unprofitable companies, I think the stock is more of a momentum play. Long-term investors should beware of momentum stocks. Rather, if you're interested in the voice-recognition market and its proliferation across the AI spectrum, investors have no shortage of other opportunities in much more established, proven businesses. Should you invest $1,000 in SoundHound AI right now? Before you buy stock in SoundHound AI, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and SoundHound AI wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $466,882!* Stock Advisor provides investors with an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including guidance on building a portfolio, regular updates from analysts, and two new stock picks each month. The Stock Advisor service has more than quadrupled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of April 15, 2024 Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Adam Spatacco has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Is SoundHound AI the Next Millionaire-Maker Tech Stock? was originally published by The Motley Fool
Bond Traders Look to Record Auction for Sign 5% Yield Is Peak 2024-04-22 03:00:00+00:00 - (Bloomberg) -- With Treasuries on track for their worst month this year, a hefty slate of auctions looms as a major test of whether yields have peaked after reaching the highest levels of 2024. Most Read from Bloomberg Investors are bracing for a tricky week, even beyond the risk of further volatility because of tensions in the Mideast. The market must absorb a combined $183 billion calendar of two-, five- and seven-year note sales — the first two of which will be at record levels — before a crucial inflation reading at the end of the week that will help shape expectations for the Federal Reserve’s path. There’s already a strong indication that investors want to buy after yields surged this month on signs of a resilient economy, which led traders to push out bets on Fed interest-rate cuts to late 2024. The latest leg of the Treasuries selloff briefly pushed the two-year rate above 5% after Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled last week that the central bank is in no hurry to ease policy. Now that 5% level looks like the magic number for bond managers seeking to put to money to work in short maturities. For Jack McIntyre at Brandywine Global Investment Management, the message from Powell reinforces the sense that a bottom may be in for Treasury prices. “A Fed that sticks to their guns and says, ‘We are going to break inflation,’ means there’s a top in yields,” the portfolio manager said. “Yields will spike higher if the Fed backs off too soon and cuts.” ‘Almost There’ The two-year note ended last week at about 4.99%, so Tuesday’s auction has a chance to obtain a coupon of at least 5% on the maturity for the first time since last year. Before then, investors hadn’t seen such levels in more than a decade. “A 5% coupon at the two-year auction is possible, we’re almost there,” said Michael Cudzil, a portfolio manager at Pacific Investment Management Co. “The market has taken out a lot of cuts and it is reasonably priced at this point in time for a decent range of outcomes,” he said. Pimco has been adding more interest-rate exposure, with a preference for the front-end and the five- to seven-year area in Treasuries, he said. Of course, there’s the risk that yields keep climbing across the curve toward the peaks of October, when yields on some maturities eclipsed 5%. Story continues Read more: Vanguard Warns 10-Year Treasury Yields Risk Jump Back to 5% That’s where Friday’s report on the personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation measure, comes in. The data is projected to show the annual rate rose to 2.6% last month, from 2.5% in February, which would suggest progress toward the Fed’s 2% goal has stalled. Traders are on notice after March consumer-price data came in hotter than forecast. Still, there’s ample evidence of demand emerging. Last week’s 20-year auction, which brought yields at the second-highest level on record, was well received. And the latest client survey from JPMorgan Chase & Co. showed investors were net long on Treasuries by the most in several weeks. Investors also have in mind that the return of a 5% two-year coupon last year presented a buying opportunity. The yield subsequently dipped below 4.15% in January as the market bet on rate cuts as early as March. And while traders now expect the Fed to wait until the fourth quarter to cut, the likelihood of at least some easing this year suggests there’s scope for price appreciation in the new two- and five-year benchmarks. “The two-year is attractive around 5%, despite being lower than bill yields and the stronger-than-expected CPI prints, as the Fed’s base case continues to be to cut rates,” said Priya Misra, a portfolio manager at J.P. Morgan Asset Management. Bond investors see another potential source of demand for two-year notes at 5%: money market funds. The pile of cash in these funds tumbled in the last weekly data, dropping below $6 trillion, a move that was likely related to tax payments. But as the two-year rate approaches bill yields that are currently closer to the Fed’s 5.25% to 5.5% range, retail investors may start to see the appeal of locking in these levels until 2026. “The process of shifting from cash to some part of fixed income probably goes in stages and starts with a move into shorter maturities first,” said Brandywine’s McIntyre. What to Watch Economic data: April 22: Chicago Fed national activity index April 23: Philadelphia Fed non-manufacturing index; S&P Global US manufacturing and services PMI; new home sales; Richmond Fed manufacturing index and business conditions April 24: MBA mortgage applications; durable goods orders; capital goods orders April 25: GDP; advance goods trade balance; initial jobless claims; retail, wholesale inventories; pending home sales; Kansas City Fed manufacturing activity April 26: Personal income and spending; PCE deflator; U. of Mich sentiment survey and inflation expectations; Kansas City Fed services activity Fed calendar: No speakers scheduled before April 30-May 1 meeting Auction calendar: April 22: 13-, 26-week bills April 23: 42-day CMB; Two-year notes April 24: 17-week bills; two-year floating-rate notes; five-year notes April 25: 4-, 8-week bills; seven-year notes Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek ©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Bitcoin holds steady after completing fourth-ever halving 2024-04-22 00:12:00+00:00 - Bitcoin on Friday completed its fourth-ever "halving" with prices for the world's largest cryptocurrency remaining relatively stable through the weekend in the aftermath of the event. Bitcoin prices , which recently hit an all-time high of $73,803 in mid-March, were at about $64,036 prior to the halving that occurred after 8 p.m. ET on Friday. Prices fell by 0.47% to $63,747 immediately after the halving, then rose over the weekend to around $65,000 on Sunday. The halving changes the rate at which new bitcoins are created and was included in bitcoin's code at its inception by the cryptocurrency's pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, who capped the overall supply of bitcoin at 21 million tokens. When the halving occurs, the rewards received by cryptocurrency miners for creating new tokens are cut in half, which makes it more expensive for them to put new bitcoins into circulation. UFC STAR RENATO MOICANO LOOKS TO BITCOIN AS DEFENSE AGAINST 'TYRANT STATE,' INFLATION The latest bitcoin halving occurred on Friday, which cuts in half the rewards for bitcoin miners creating new tokens. Halvings happen about every four years, with previous halvings occurring in 2012, 2016 and 2020. Some crypto fans point to price rallies that followed the halvings as a sign that its price will rise following the latest halving – though analysts are skeptical. READ ON THE FOX BUSINESS APP "We do not expect bitcoin price increases post halving as it has already been priced in," JP Morgan analysts wrote this week. They said they anticipate bitcoin's price falling after the halving because it's been "overbought" and venture capital investment in the crypto industry has been "subdued" this year. Bitcoin's rise to an all-time high last month came after the cryptocurrency spent much of 2023 recovering from a dramatic plunge in 2022, when crypto markets were roiled by the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX cryptocurrency exchange. Bitcoin reached a then-record high of $67,802 in November 2021 before sliding to below $17,000 for much of November and December in 2022. SAM BANKMAN-FRIED APPEALS CONVICTION AND SENTENCING Bitcoin prices have rebounded to near all-time highs after plunging in 2022. Financial regulators have long warned that bitcoin is a high-risk asset that has limited real-world uses, although more regulatory bodies have approved bitcoin-linked trading products. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved a number of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in January that expanded investors' access to the cryptocurrency without requiring them to buy tokens through a crypto exchange. BITCOIN ETF BLOWOUT WOWS EVEN BLACKROCK'S LARRY FINK Story continues The SEC approved several spot bitcoin ETFs in January. Spot bitcoin ETFs allow investors to efficiently track the price of the cryptocurrency and invest in the asset by buying ETFs through their brokerage account. Among the bitcoin ETFs that have been approved are those from ARK/21Shares (ticker symbol ARKB), Bitwise (BITB), BlackRock (IBIT), Fidelity (FBTC), Franklin Templeton (EZBC), Grayscale (GBTC), Invesco/Galaxy Digital (BTCO), Valkyrie (BRRR), VanEck (HODL) and WisdomTree (BTCW). Bitcoin prices have been relatively flat in recent weeks since hitting a new record high in March amid elevated geopolitical tensions and expectations that central banks will keep interest rates higher for longer amid persistent inflation . FOX Business' Suzanne O'Halloran and Reuters contributed to this report. Original article source: Bitcoin holds steady after completing fourth-ever halving
Donald Trump Could Still Win Even If He Loses In Supreme Court Over Presidential Immunity Claim 2024-04-21 22:11:00+00:00 - Loading... Loading... Former President Donald Trump could see a strategic victory in his Supreme Court case, even if the court dismisses his claim regarding presidential immunity. The case, set for a high-profile showdown, revolves around whether criminal charges against Trump for attempting to overturn the 2020 election results can be dismissed on the grounds of broad presidential immunity. Despite the possibility of the Supreme Court rejecting Trump's broad immunity argument, the case could still be redirected to U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan for further examination. This redirection could delve into whether some of Trump's actions are shielded from prosecution, introducing further delays and potentially affecting the timing of the trial, initially scheduled for March. Attorney Richard Bernstein, who opposes Trump's immunity claim and filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of former governement officials, told NBC that even a complex factual test for immunity requiring the case to be remanded would align with Trump's preferences by potentially ensnaring the case in procedural delays. Also Read: Courtroom Appearances By These Two Members Of Donald Trump's Family Could Help Him In Hush-Money Trial, Say Experts At the heart of the Washington case, which is distinct from Trump's ongoing criminal trial in New York, is the former president's involvement in submitting false election certificates to Congress — a scheme aiming to annul President Joe Biden's victory. This led to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack by Trump supporters. Special Counsel Jack Smith, leading the prosecution, has asserted that these actions constituted multiple crimes, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and obstruction of an official proceeding. The Supreme Court's engagement with the case thus far hints at a reluctance to issue a broad ruling against Trump. Instead, it might recognize certain presidential acts that warrant immunity, leaving the finer details to trial courts. This nuanced approach suggests that the justices are seeking to articulate a more refined stance on presidential immunity that acknowledges potential protections in some instances. The potential for a remand raises questions about the procedural timeline. Trump's legal team could possibly face a pretrial process examining the protected nature of his official acts. This situation could lead to substantial delays, further complicating the path of the case towards a trial. Now Read: Donald Trump's PAC Doesn't Have Much More Cash Left In Its Tank To Cover His Legal Bills Photo: Shutterstock This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
The GOP's got a growing beef with lab-made meat 2024-04-21 21:17:44+00:00 - By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . You can opt-out at any time. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read preview Move over, electric vehicles and gas stoves: A new product is taking center stage in the culture wars. In recent months, Republican politicians have taken aim at lab-grown meat — also called "cell-cultured" or "cultivated" proteins — seeking to criminalize its production and distribution before the companies creating the products can get to market. And with the industry in its infancy, the GOP lawmakers are trying to strangle it in its crib by manufacturing a philosophical wedge to keep consumers away. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. "They blame agriculture for global warming. I know the legislature is doing a bill to try to protect our meat — You need meat, OK? We're gonna have meat in Florida," Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a February press conference announcing an investment in rural broadband access, where he also vocalized his support of SB1084, a proposed law in Florida to ban cultured meat. Advertisement "We're not going to have fake meat; that doesn't work," DeSantis continued. "So we're gonna make sure to do it right. But there's a whole ideological agenda that's coming after a lot of important parts of our society." Despite DeSantis' insistence that cultured meats are a cultural issue, the manufacturers certainly don't see it that way. "There's nothing about cultivated meat that is a conservative or a liberal thing," said Josh Tetrick, CEO of GOOD Meat — a cultivated meat company with the largest market share of the global industry so far. "It has nothing to do with either party." The world's first lab-grown beef burger, created by a team led by Mark Post, a medical physiologist at Maastricht University in the Netherlands. David Parry/Reuters SB1084 passed both houses of the state legislature and was submitted for review by the governor on March 6. A spokesperson for DeSantis told Business Insider the governor "will review the legislation in its final form once it is delivered to our office" and pointed to his February remarks about the statewide ban on cell-cultured proteins. Advertisement Meanwhile, across the country, part of a bill introduced by Arizona state Rep. David Marshall reads, "Cattle are one of the five foundational pillars that have driven Arizona's economy since territorial days," adding that "this legislation is necessary to protect Arizona's sovereign interests, history, economy, and food heritage." Other red-state politicians are also responding to the threat to their red meat, including Alabama State Sen. Jack Williams and Tennessee State Rep. Bud Hulsey, who have supported or proposed legislation to ban cultivated meat in their states. Representatives for Marshall, Williams, and Hulsey did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider. Related story An FDA official told Business Insider that manufacturers must ensure foods meet all applicable federal requirements from the FDA and USDA before entering the US market. So far, only a handful of lab-grown meats have met these requirements. Advertisement "The FDA continues to support innovation in food technologies, resulting in more choices for consumers in the marketplace while also prioritizing the safety of food produced through both new and traditional methods," the official said, adding the agency "did not have any questions about the safety of the cell-cultivated food produced using the process evaluated by FDA." They're 'using cultivated meat as a cudgel — and it's just silly' While the fledgling business of cultured meats has the potential to reduce the need to slaughter animals for protein, diminish the environmental impact of factory farming, and disrupt the livestock industry as we know it, insiders working on bringing the lab-grown products to market say the innovations are anything but political. Their relative market share to meat industry giants like Cargill and Foster Farms and production capacity also remains far too small to represent any kind of threat to traditional livestock farming, industry insiders told Business Insider. But that hasn't stopped lawmakers from targeting the industry, much to the dismay of those trying to bring their products to market. Advertisement "The past century of US prosperity has been driven by free market policies, and it's disappointing to see legislators move against what has driven the US to be the largest economy on the planet," George Peppou, CEO of Vow, which sells its cultivated meat product in Singapore, told BI. "Let the market decide with their own wallets, not legislators." A dish made with Good Meat's cultivated chicken is displayed at the Eat Just office in Alameda, California. The US Department of Agriculture authorized two California-based companies, Upside Foods and Good Meat, to sell chicken grown from cells in a lab. Justin Sullivan via Getty Images "There's no question there's an attempt to create this right-left division using cultivated meat as a cudgel — and it's just silly," said Tetrick, whose GOOD Meat has sold less than 5,000 pounds of its cultivated chicken protein since it received approval to sell in Singapore in 2020. "We find it pretty hypocritical because, in a lot of these states, there's a beating of the chest about free market capitalism and the American way," he said. "But in the middle of beating their chests, they're saying, 'except when it comes to something that would potentially harm an industry that I rely on for donations.'" According to OpenSecrets, Greener Pastures, a poultry farming company, donated $100,000 to DeSantis in 2022, just one major donation out of the $1,700,118 the governor received from various agricultural businesses that year. Advertisement Alabama Sen. Williams, whose bill, which passed in February, makes it a Class C felony to manufacture, sell, or distribute cultivated meat in his state, accepted $11,000 worth of agribusiness donations in 2022, including $2,500 from the poultry and egg industry, the political donation watchdog found. Representatives for DeSantis and Williams did not say whether their campaign backers from the farming industry influenced their perspectives on banning lab-grown meats. A nugget made from lab-grown chicken meat is seen during a media presentation in Singapore, the first country to allow the sale of meat created without slaughtering any animals. Photo by NICHOLAS YEO/AFP via Getty Images GOOD Meat received USDA approval to sell its product in the United States in June 2023 and is one of just two companies creating cultured meat to receive the green light thus far. Representatives for the other company, Upside Foods, declined to comment for this article. Tetrick told BI the bans are just a stumbling block for companies like his as they grow. "And we think they'll get struck down anyway," he said. Advertisement While it can be frustrating to navigate individual states attempting to negate a federal agency's approval, some in the industry think the attempts to ban their products are a sign they're doing something right. "If you put energy into banning something that doesn't even exist on the market, this is amazing — it means that it's going to be huge," Roman Lauš, founder and CEO of Mewery, a Czech food tech startup working on developing cultured pork that does not yet have approval in the US, told BI. "But I would say it's a political decision, and politicians should basically not interfere with the food safety business; they should let the customers decide what they want to eat," he added. "If the USDA and FDA approve these kinds of foods, I would say this is the highest authority in the whole country, and their word should be followed."
US soldier at Fort Bragg sentenced for running romance scam 2024-04-21 20:51:09+00:00 - A federal judge sentenced a former Army service member to prison for running a romance scam. Romance scams cost Americans $1.3 billion in 2022. The service member impersonated military officials and others to defraud his victims, police say. 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 A US soldier will spend more than three years in federal prison for a romance scam in which police say he impersonated military officials. A federal judge sentenced Sanda G. Frimpong, 33, on Friday and ordered him to pay his victims hundreds of thousands of dollars in restitution, according to the Department of Justice. Before his arrest, Frimpong was an active-duty Army service member stationed at Fort Bragg, the department said. Romance scams are one of the biggest in the United States, costing American victims $1.3 billion in 2022, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Targets of these scams are often older people who are bilked for their life savings, retirement funds, and inheritances. Related stories One of the largest perpetrators of the scams — the Nigeria-based crime group "Yahoo Boys" — is now using AI to create deepfakes for the scams, making them even harder to spot, according to Wired. One quick way to spot a deepfake is to do a reverse image search and check the true source of an image. Advertisement Kate Kleinert, a 69-year-old widow, previously told BI that she lost $39,000 to a romance scam. Kleinart said she had lost most of her savings, her late husband's life insurance, pension, and income from Social Security by the time she realized she was being scammed. One of Frimpong's victims had recently divorced after a 25-year marriage, according to court documents. Using the alias "Tom Tanner," Frimpong tricked the victim into sending him at least $100,000 in cashier's checks, which he wired to other coconspirators, court documents say. Authorities accused Frimpong of impersonating "romantic love interests, diplomats, customs personnel, military personnel, and other fictitious personas" to gain people's trust. Frimpong then promised romance, earning their confidence with the intention of "fraudulently inducing the victims to provide money or property," the Justice Department said. "Romance scammers exploit our most vulnerable citizens, even our seniors and military veterans, sometimes leaving them financially and emotionally devastated," US Attorney Michael Easley said. "The fact that an Army service member was involved in romance scams while serving as a soldier is appalling." Advertisement An attorney for Frimpong did not immediately return a request for comment from Business Insider.
Disney mailed out creepy kids drawings to promote its horror flick 'First Omen.' A Democratic candidate thought anti-abortion extremists were after her. 2024-04-21 20:50:16+00:00 - By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . You can opt-out at any time. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read preview Amanda Taylor gets a lot of mail. The Missouri-based mom has spent the last few years establishing herself as a film blogger and recently turned her hand to politics, meaning her mailbox is full of promotional materials from film studios and leaflets concerning local issues. But when Taylor, who is running for the state's House of Representatives as a Democratic Party candidate picked up her mail in late March and opened an envelope to find nothing but what appeared to be a children's drawing, her mind went into overdrive. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Why? Well, the crudely drawn picture featured four women with their faces scribbled over, standing around the floating body of a little girl who looks out with a disturbing gaze. Taylor's name was also scrawled in spidery, slightly eerie handwriting on the envelope. To anyone else, it would be creepy. To someone running for public office on a pro-choice ticket in a state that outlaws abortion with limited exceptions, it felt very sinister, threatening even. Advertisement One of the drawings Amanda Taylor received in the mail with no identifying details from the sender. Courtesy of Amanda Taylor "Right away, I was thinking, 'Ah, this has something to do with abortion," Taylor told Business Insider. "The day before I had received something from a pro-life organization so I was like, 'Okay, I'm starting to receive all the propaganda stuff.'" Not knowing what to make of the mysterious letter — it came with no return address and featured an out-of-state stamp — Taylor sent it to her campaign advisor, who quickly called the police, fearing the letter was from one of Taylor's constituents, unhappy with her stance on reproductive rights. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, Missouri GOP officials have triggered a near-total ban on abortion procedures — with no exceptions for rape or incest, only some medical emergencies. Taylor is among those campaigning and gathering signatures to bring the issue back on the ballot. Related story "She called me, and she was like, 'Put that into a plastic bag, wash your hands, the police are on the way,'" Taylor said, explaining that her campaign advisor was concerned the paper could have been laced with something poisonous. Advertisement Taylor said it wasn't until a few weeks after she had set herself up a PO to redirect mail away from the family residence, that she discovered the identity of the letter sender. It was Marshall Weinbaum, a senior publicist from Walt Disney Studio's PR department. The letter, it turned out, was just an elaborate publicity stunt to promote "The First Omen," the latest installment in the long-running horror franchise. Weinbaum has been credited with thinking up the marketing stunt. The creepy kids' drawings, it turns out, appear in the new movie, which fills in the back story of 1976's original "Omen" movie, introducing the world to Damien, a terrifying take on the antichrist. Advertisement After sending the first anonymous letter, Weinbaum had the team working on the horror flick send prospective critics another equally disturbing image, this time featuring five little girls looking on as a sixth girl floating in the sky. The follow-up letter the Missouri-based democrat received. This one came with details about the film it was promoting, "The First Omen." Courtesy of Amanda Taylor However, this one, Taylor said, was sent alongside all the standard information you normally would find on a press release, including the film's name, synopsis, and the hashtags the studio would like cinemagoers to use while talking about the film on social media. It all clicked into place and Taylor realized that she and her family were safe. Now, looking back on it, she can almost see the funny side. Advertisement "That was the best promotion I've ever seen," she continued. "But it's also the one that's affected me the most."