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A 91-year-old former hedge fund manager says weighing probabilities can prolong your life. Here's how he does it. 2024-04-11 20:10:59+00:00 - Edward Thorp, a 91-year-old former hedge fund manager, has some tips for a long life. "Minimize the chance of really bad outcomes of one sort or another," Thorp told Bloomberg. He also advocates habits that maximize the good outcome: regular exercise and a healthy diet. 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 Take it from a 91-year-old mathematician: Living a long, healthy life is like a game of probability. You want to "minimize the chance of really bad outcomes of one sort or another," Edward Thorp, a mathematics professor, hedge fund manager, and blackjack player, told Bloomberg. That means trying to lower the likelihood of things that could kill you, like heart disease or other "main killers," he said. So his advice is to schedule regular checkups and vaccinations and manage overall risks. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in .
Arizona’s retrograde abortion law could be a hidden gift to Biden 2024-04-11 20:03:53+00:00 - Arizona’s Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that a near-total ban on abortions tied to a Civil War-era law in the state is enforceable. Under that 1864 law, anyone who performs an abortion or helps a woman obtain one can be charged with a felony. The one exception to the prohibition is if an abortion is needed to save a woman’s life. It’s a horrifying ruling, and all the more striking because Arizona is a purple state, not a bastion of deep social conservatism. The retrograde law dates back to before Arizona had even achieved statehood, and its reactivation was made possible by the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. On Wednesday, Arizona’s Republican leadership blocked an attempt by Democratic state legislators to repeal the law. The draconian ruling may also generate an opportunity for reproductive rights activists to decisively win abortion rights in the state. But the draconian ruling may also generate an opportunity for reproductive rights activists to decisively win abortion rights in the state. And in the process, it could help tip the 2024 presidential election in a major way. Abortion rights groups in Arizona said last week — before the ruling — that they had surpassed the number of signatures required to put a constitutional amendment to enshrine abortion rights on the ballot in November. The court’s ruling makes that forthcoming vote look like a lifeline to pro-choice Arizonans. “I think this changes everything,” said Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat. “I think it supercharges the ballot initiative and it supercharges the elections of all pro-choice candidates.” Mayes has said that she will not prosecute abortion cases in the state. Abortion rights ballot measures have driven strong turnout in recent contests in red and purple states. In Kansas in 2022, two years after the state voted for Donald Trump by nearly 15 percentage points, voters overwhelmingly rejected a ballot referendum removing the right to abortion from the state constitution. And in 2023, Ohio pro-abortion rights groups prevailed over Republican hijinks, as voters decisively backed adding the right to access abortion care to the state’s constitution. Having Arizonans who favor abortion rights fired up bodes well for Biden’s odds in the battleground state, which he narrowly won in 2020 and is considered up for grabs this year. High, organized turnout for abortion rights is likely to spill over into higher turnout for Democrats, who are messaging aggressively on the issue. Trump and his allies are obviously already nervous about this possibility. The former president told reporters that Arizona’s ruling went too far, a position that seems to contradict his stance that abortion rights should be understood as something that states determine for themselves. It also flies in the face of his previous expressions of pride at appointing the Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe, which triggered this 1864 law becoming enforceable again. It would seem to suggest that Trump doesn’t hold a principled position on abortion — shocking, I know — and that instead he wants to pretend he is a moderate on the issue. This awkward contortion to maintain general election viability without alienating the religious right would be difficult for even the most disciplined candidate to maintain, let alone someone like Trump, and it’s difficult to know whose trust he’ll maintain and whose he’ll lose. Arizona Republican Senate candidate and Trump devotee Kari Lake also said she opposed the ruling. It was an expedient flip-flop for her, considering she declared the 1864 Arizona abortion law a “great law” back in 2022. Trump has reason to be worried about a similar dynamic in other states too. Abortion rights are also on the ballot in Florida and Nevada, among other places. Trump has turned Florida into a red state, and it’s a state he should normally feel confident about. But a six-week ban on abortions takes effect in the Sunshine State in May, and in November Floridians will be able to vote on a ballot measure that will enshrine abortion access until fetal viability in the state constitution. That’s part of why Biden’s campaign thinks that it’s worth pouring resources into flipping the state. Even if Trump’s odds there remain strong, there’s a decent chance he’ll be forced to pour money into playing defense in a state he would’ve otherwise considered safe. Arizona’s Supreme Court just handed down a barbaric ruling. But it has also helped clarify the stakes of the election, and in the long run it might help turbocharge efforts to protect abortion rights for women in the state and across the nation.
Driver of electric Ford SUV was using automated system before fatal Texas crash, investigators say 2024-04-11 19:56:52+00:00 - DETROIT (AP) — The driver of a Ford electric SUV involved in a February fatal crash in Texas was using the company’s partially automated driving system before the wreck, federal investigators said Thursday. Data from the 2022 Mustang Mach E SUV showed that Ford’s “Blue Cruise” driver-assist system was in use ahead of the Feb. 24 crash, according to a preliminary report released Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board. The crash is one of two recent fatal wrecks involving Ford Mustang Mach Es that are under investigation by the NTSB and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which often send teams to probe incidents involving automated technology. The NTSB can only make recommendations, but NHTSA has the authority to take action including seeking recalls for safety issues. In both cases, the Mach Es hit vehicles stopped on freeways at night, and neither the driver nor the system were able to prevent the collisions. Ford says on its website that its driving systems do not replace human drivers, who have to be ready to take control at any time. A company spokeswoman wouldn’t comment on the NTSB report Thursday, deferring to a previous statement saying that Ford is cooperating in the investigations. The Texas crash occurred on Interstate 10 in San Antonio. The NTSB report says the Mach E struck the rear of a 1999 Honda CR-V that was stopped in the middle of three lanes around 9:50 p.m. The 56-year-old driver of the CR-V was killed. Another driver who was able to avoid the CR-V told investigators that neither its tail nor hazard lights were working at the time. The agency said it intends to issue safety recommendations to prevent similar crashes. It has said it opened the probe due to continued interest in advanced driver assistance systems and how vehicle operators interact with the new technology. The other crash involving a Mach E killed two people around 3:20 a.m. March 3 in the northbound lanes of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania State Police said Thursday that a Mach E was in the left lane when it struck a stationary Hyundai Elantra that earlier had collided with a Toyota Prius. The Mach E hit the Hyundai, pushing it into the rear of the Prius. During the crash, the driver of the Prius, who was outside of his vehicle, also was struck and thrown into the southbound lanes, the release said. A police spokeswoman said a person from the Hyundai also was on the roadway and was hit. Both victims, males ages 21 and 20, were pronounced dead at the scene. A police news release on the crash says a criminal investigation is under way and a charge of homicide by motor vehicle while driving under the influence is possible against the 23-year-old woman driving the Mach E. Ford’s Blue Cruise system allows drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel while it handles steering, braking and acceleration on highways. The company says the system isn’t fully autonomous and it monitors drivers to make sure they pay attention to the road. It operates on 97% of controlled access highways in the U.S. and Canada, Ford says. There are no fully autonomous vehicles for sale to the public in the U.S. Both NHTSA and the NTSB have investigated multiple previous crashes involving partially automated driving systems, most involving Tesla’s Autopilot. In past investigations, the NTSB has examined how the system functioned.
What a new development in Georgia tells us about Fani Willis’ Trump case 2024-04-11 19:42:46+00:00 - We got news, of sorts, in the election interference case in Georgia. It’s not exactly about the case being prosecuted by Fani Willis. But it carries a lesson for the case, as the Fulton County district attorney’s potential disqualification still looms. The news is that there’s finally a prosecutor assigned to investigate Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, whom Willis was barred from investigating before she brought her indictment against Donald Trump and others. It took nearly two years for a new prosecutor to be assigned to the Jones matter, which involves the “fake elector” scheme in Georgia in 2020. After all that time, instead of giving the case to a different DA’s office, the head of the state prosecutor panel that makes such reassignments will handle it himself. (In a statement Thursday, Jones said: “I’m happy to see this process move forward and look forward to the opportunity to get this charade behind me.”) So what does this mean for Willis’ case against Trump and the 14 other remaining defendants in the racketeering case, all of whom have pleaded not guilty? Recall that, while the case is technically moving forward (albeit still without a trial date), there’s a pending defense appeal trying to have Willis and her office removed from the case. Judge Scott McAfee said that she could stay on it, and we’re waiting for the state appeals court to decide whether it’s taking up the defense’s pretrial appeal of McAfee’s ruling. But the Jones situation highlights just how complicated it can be to get another office or prosecutor to handle a high-profile matter. And with Jones, that just involves one person. Imagine the difficulty in getting a new prosecutor or office to take on the complex case of a former president and presumptive presidential nominee, along with other high-profile figures. The substantial delay in even deciding who will decide what happens with Jones is a reminder that, if the defense is able to get Willis disqualified, that puts the entire case in doubt. 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.
What to know about Elon Musk’s ‘free speech’ feud with a Brazilian judge 2024-04-11 19:26:10+00:00 - SAO PAULO (AP) — Headline-grabbing billionaire Elon Musk is clashing with a Supreme Court justice in Brazil over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation on X, the social media platform Musk bought when it was Twitter. Since his takeover, Musk has upended many of Twitter’s policies, gutted its staff and transformed what people see on the site. As its owner and perhaps most influential user, he’s also used it to try to sway political discourse around the world. His latest entanglement is inside the nation of 203 million people that has the largest population and economy in South America. The South Africa-born CEO of Tesla and SpaceX bought Twitter in 2022 and declares himself a “free speech absolutist.” To his critics, it’s absolutism with a political slant. He reinstated previously banned accounts such as the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and former U.S. President Donald Trump, as well as accounts belonging to neo-Nazis and white supremacists. Advertisers who halted spending on X in response to antisemitic and other hateful material were engaging in “blackmail,” Musk has alleged. In the United States, free speech is a constitutional right that’s much more permissive than in many countries, including Brazil, where Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes this month ordered an investigation into Musk over the dissemination of defamatory fake news and another probe over possible obstruction, incitement and criminal organization. WHAT ACCOUNTS HAS BRAZIL BLOCKED? In Brazil, judges can order any site to remove content. Some decisions are sealed from the public. Neither Brazilian courts nor X have disclosed the list of accounts that have been ordered to stop publishing, but prominent supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro and far-right activists no longer appear on the platform. Some belong to a network known as “digital militias.” They were targeted by a five-year investigation overseen by de Moraes, initially for allegedly spreading defamatory fake news and threats against Supreme Court justices, and then after Bolsonaro’s 2022 loss for inciting demonstrations across the country that were pushing to overturn President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s election. WHO IS JUSTICE DE MORAES? De Moraes is unmistakeable, with his bald head, athletic build and sweeping black robe. In his escalating attacks on the judge, Musk called him “Brazil’s Darth Vader.” Whether investigating former President Jair Bolsonaro, banishing his far-right allies from social media, or ordering the arrest of supporters who stormed government buildings on Jan. 8, 2023, Moraes has aggressively pursued those he views as undermining Brazil’s young democracy. Days after a mob stormed Brazil’s capital, de Moraes ordered Facebook, Twitter, Telegram, TikTok and Instagram to block the accounts of individuals accused of inciting or supporting attacks on Brazilian democratic order. FILE - President of the Superior Electoral Court, Judge Alexandre de Moraes, speaks during the inauguration of the Center for Combating Disinformation and Defense of Democracy in Brasilia, Brazil, March 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres, File) HOW DID FREE SPEECH BECOME A CAUSE FOR BRAZIL’S FAR RIGHT? Brazil’s political right has long characterized de Moraes as muzzling free speech and engaging in political persecution. Lawmakers from Bolsonaro’s circle have been imprisoned and his supporters’ homes raided. Bolsonaro himself became a target of the digital militias investigation in 2021. That was partly because he was casting unfounded doubt on Brazil’s electronic voting system. That year, he also told a massive rally that he would no longer comply with de Moraes’ decisions, pushing Brazil to the brink of institutional crisis. WHAT’S MUSK’S ROLE? Far-right X users have been trying to involve Musk in Brazilian politics for years, said Bruna Santos, lawyer and campaign manager at nonprofit Digital Action. “They often tag him, asking him to take a stand on Moraes,” she said. On Saturday, he did, republishing a post from X’s Global Government Affairs, tagging de Moraes and writing: “Why are you doing this @alexandre?” Musk posted Saturday that reinstating the accounts — most of which apparently are blocked only in Brazil — will “probably” lead the social media platform to dry up revenue in Brazil and force the company to shutter its local office. In his decision to investigate Musk, de Moraes accused him of waging a public “disinformation campaign” about the top court’s actions. IS MUSK A ‘FREE SPEECH ABSOLUTIST’? While Musk has railed against what he perceives as the censorship of certain viewpoints by Twitter’s previous administration, he’s also tried to silence critics he doesn’t agree with, including journalists and nonprofits reporting on his companies. Musk had accused the journalists in late 2022 of sharing private information about his whereabouts that he described as “basically assassination coordinates.” He provided no evidence for that claim, though earlier Musk decided to permanently ban an account that automatically tracked the flights of his private jet using publicly available data. Last month, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit by X against the non-profit Center for Countering Digital Hate, which has documented the increase in hate speech on the site since it was acquired by the Tesla owner. X had argued the center’s researchers violated the site’s terms of service by improperly compiling public tweets, and that its subsequent reports on the rise of hate speech cost X millions of dollars when advertisers fled. But U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer dismissed the suit, writing in his order that it was “unabashedly and vociferously about one thing,” punishing the nonprofit for its speech. HOW BIG IS X IN BRAZIL? Brazil is a key market for X and other platforms. About 40 million Brazilians, or about 18% of the population, access X at least once per month, according to the market research group eMarketer. Twitter closed offices and laid off employees in Brazil in 2022 after Musk bought the company. It is not clear how many employees X has in Brazil. X’s legal representatives in Brazil, law firm Pinheiro Neto, declined to comment. X did not respond to a message for comment. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? That depends on Musk and X’s actions. If they reinstate the accounts in Brazil, the company will face fines — at least. While fines have generally not phased Musk, experts say they could increase and X could even face suspension. “The fines could escalate, eventually leading to the platform’s suspension. But this is always the last measure, as it harms other users in Brazil,” said Filipe Medon, a data privacy lawyer and professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation. Regarding Musk — a foreign citizen with a company based in the U.S. — any measures from Brazilian authorities would demand legal cooperation with U.S. authorities. ___ Ortutay reported from San Francisco, California. ___ This story has been corrected to reflect that free speech is a constitutional right in Brazil.
The danger in saying yes to Pascal Soriot’s pay rise at AstraZeneca 2024-04-11 19:13:00+00:00 - Is Pascal Soriot, the chief executive of AstraZeneca, “massively underpaid”, as the chief investment officer of Florida-based GQG Partners, one of the company’s big shareholders, argued this week? Well, of course he’s not. Soriot has been paid £120m over the past decade, which is a helluva sum even for someone who has been brilliantly successful in leading what is now – but wasn’t when he arrived – the UK’s second-largest listed company. The history-turning moment in 2014, when AZ and Soriot managed to see off a bid from Pfizer’s grim number-crunchers, has probably been worth many multiples of £120m to the UK economy. But such a sum for a single employee in an organisation of 90,000 still looks absurd: Soriot doesn’t do all the work himself. Yet, equally, one has to concede that AZ does not operate in a vacuum. The point made by Sheri McCoy, the company’s remuneration chief overseeing the proposal to whack up Soriot’s annual maximum pay to £18.7m, has force: if your top operatives are being offered greater fistfuls of dollars by US rivals, which is what she means by “increasing external talent market pressures”, they may walk. The problem probably isn’t Soriot himself. He will have had many offers over the years but is still in post. Rather, it’s the top scientists – McCoy cited heads of research and development – many of whom will be working in the megabucks US, as two-fifths of AZ’s senior leadership does. There is, in rem-speak, a “compression” issue. If the boss’s rewards act as a cap on what others can be paid, you can run out of “headroom”, to use yet more jargon. One could always invite the boss not to be the highest paid employee, but there’s no chance of that happening in practice. Of course, AZ could be making it all up about compression – since heads of oncology, and so on, aren’t on the main board, their pay isn’t disclosed – but it’s probably not. It’s not a secret that US executive pay is wild, and becoming wilder by European standards. On that basis, one cannot be surprised that AZ shareholders backed the new, more lavish pay policy by a 64% majority on Thursday. It was a big rebellion, more than a third voted against, but the company got its way. But here’s the danger in what looks to be a wider attempt by UK plc to play the US card and dare shareholders to say no: in some cases, they’ll be talking self-serving nonsense. The clearer cases for flexibility and case-by-case judgment are the Brilos, the “British in listing only” firms, as Rupert Soames, the chair of the medical devices group Smith & Nephew (FTSE 100 but heavily US-tilted), has called them. For practical purposes AZ probably falls in that camp too – big pharma is very US focused. But that still leaves a lot of firms that paddle in US waters, but not to a meaningful degree. One suspects executives at those firms will be eyeing up AstraZeneca’s vote and trying to make a case that they should also be considered exceptions to UK pay norms. If the fund managers have left the door ajar, why not give it a push? That is when the answer should be no. 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 Then there are those firms who already take their owners for fools. Centrica, owner of British Gas, market cap £7bn v AstraZeneca’s £166bn, somehow thinks £8.2m for its chief executive, Chris O’Shea, was an acceptable outcome last year, even though the bonus element was plainly inflated by the dumb luck of higher wholesale energy prices. O’Shea himself keeps telling us his rewards are “impossible to justify” and are set by the remuneration committee. That sounds like an invitation to vote against the reappointment of Centrica’s entire committee. Take it – a line has to be drawn somewhere.
NPR in Turmoil After It Is Accused of Liberal Bias 2024-04-11 19:11:12+00:00 - NPR is facing both internal tumult and a fusillade of attacks by prominent conservatives this week after a senior editor publicly claimed the broadcaster had allowed liberal bias to affect its coverage, risking its trust with audiences. Uri Berliner, a senior business editor who has worked at NPR for 25 years, wrote in an essay published Tuesday by The Free Press, a popular Substack publication, that “people at every level of NPR have comfortably coalesced around the progressive worldview.” Mr. Berliner, a Peabody Award-winning journalist, castigated NPR for what he said was a litany of journalistic missteps around coverage of several major news events, including the origins of Covid-19 and the war in Gaza. He also said the internal culture at NPR had placed race and identity as “paramount in nearly every aspect of the workplace.” Mr. Berliner’s essay has ignited a firestorm of criticism of NPR on social media, especially among conservatives who have long accused the network of political bias in its reporting. Former President Donald J. Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to argue that NPR’s government funding should be rescinded, an argument he has made in the past.
The show goes on for Paramount with ‘Gladiator II,’ a new Damien Chazelle movie and more 2024-04-11 19:02:27+00:00 - LAS VEGAS (AP) — With reports and rumors swirling about possible mergers and bids to acquire Paramount, the film studio put its best foot forward for theater owners at CinemaCon on Thursday. The historic studio announced a new film with Oscar-winning “La La Land” director Damien Chazelle, a “G.I. Joe/Transformers” crossover and that Glen Powell will star in Edgar Wight’s “Running Man” reboot. Paramount CEO and President Brian Robbins also teased some more that are in development, including a Bee Gees film from Ridley Scott, a new comedy from Trey Parker and Matt Stone, a “Star Trek” origin story, a new “Scary Movie” and an R-rated live action “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin” as well as an animated “Mutant Mayhem” sequel. They also brought out stars like Chris Hemsworth and Lupita Nyong’o to talk about their upcoming films, with video messages from Scott, Denzel Washington and Paul Mescal, who helped introduce new footage from “Gladiator II.” Washington promised, “Emotion, action and spectacle unlike anything else you’re going to see in theaters this year.” Paramount had a positive start to 2024 with successful releases like “Mean Girls” and “Bob Marley: One Love,” and some major films to come this year including “A Quiet Place: Day One” (June 28), the animated “Transformers One” (Sept. 13), a “Smile” sequel (Oct. 18) and the “Gladiator” sequel (Nov. 22). They will also re-release Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar” in September for its 10th anniversary, and, in 2025, “Mission: Impossible 8.” But hovering over it all are the reports of the company’s sale. The private-equity firm Apollo Global reportedly offered $11 billion to acquire the studio, which has filmed entertainment, television and streaming components like Paramount+. There have also been reports of a possible merger with Skydance, David Ellison’s media company that has helped produce such Paramount releases as “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning.” Without directly addressing them, Paramount leaned into the chatter with Robbins joking that the studio’s distribution head Chris Aronson has started a Kickstarter to throw his hat into the ring. While the tone at CinemaCon, a weeklong gathering of theater owners, exhibitors and all the various companies involved in movie theater operations and experiences, is usually overwhelmingly positive, Aronson took a more sober approach. After entering the presentation in a Roman chariot holding a shield emblazoned with the Paramount logo, he noted that the industry has lost a fair amount of frequent moviegoers and must work to get them back with capital improvements to theaters and other innovations. The domestic box office has improved year after year since the pandemic, but is still about $2 billion shy of where the business was pre-pandemic. “Our industry is at a turning point,” Aronson said. “It’s quite clear that moviegoers still love going to the movies, but we as an industry must do better.”
On eve of Japanese prime minister’s visit to North Carolina, Fujifilm announces more jobs there 2024-04-11 18:50:14+00:00 - RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Hours before the Japanese prime minister’s arrival in North Carolina, a subsidiary of Japan’s Fujifilm Corp. announced Thursday plans to expand further a massive biopharmaceutical manufacturing plant in the state, even as the initial phase is not yet complete, promising another 680 jobs. Gov. Roy Cooper joined a company executive and local government leaders in unveiling an additional $1.2 billion investment in Holly Springs, where Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies is building what’s being billed as one of the largest cell culture facilities of its kind in North America. The new jobs are on top of the 725 announced by the subsidiary when the initial $2 billion investment was announced in March 2021. The first phase of the plant is expected to open next year, with the expansion coming online early in 2028, Lars Petersen, the subsidiary’s president and CEO, told reporters. The batch of jobs announced Thursday will be created starting in 2027 and pay an average minimum wage of nearly $110,000, according to state officials. Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, a contract manufacturer of drugs and vaccines for other pharmaceutical companies, already has a campus in nearby Research Triangle Park, where it employs hundreds of people. Cooper said the expansion is the result of the state’s commitment to become the nation’s leader in life sciences, which he says statewide includes over 800 companies employing over 75,000 skilled workers. “It’s pretty clear that North Carolina has become an advanced manufacturing powerhouse,” Cooper said at the announcement in downtown Raleigh, less than 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast of Holly Springs. The news conference celebrated another capital injection by a Japanese corporate giant into North Carolina as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida prepared to arrive in the state late Thursday. Kishida’s schedule on Friday includes visiting the Greensboro headquarters of Honda Aircraft Co. and where Toyota Motor Corp. is building its first North American electric and hybrid battery plant in Randolph County. Kishida’s U.S. visit already has included addressing a joint session of Congress and attending a White House state dinner. “This is a state where our ties with Japan are growing, and we want to celebrate the economic, academic and cultural ties,” said Cooper, who will also host a luncheon for the prime minister on Friday at the governor’s mansion. Fujifilm considered making what became Thursday’s investment in Singapore, as well as near its existing facilities in Denmark and in Ventura County, California, according to a state Commerce Department document. State officials said the company could receive potentially more than $72 million in state and local incentives. A state committee earlier Thursday agreed to award nearly $15 million of those incentives through cash payments over 12 years if the company meets job retention and investment thresholds. The company also received an incentive package in 2021. The new investment in Holly Springs, which will include additional bioreactors, will meet the growing demand for biological medicines, benefitting oncology, immunology and pandemic preparedness, Petersen said. Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies worked with Novavax to produce a COVID-19 vaccine.
Arizona Democrats can't afford to repeat their 2022 failures 2024-04-11 18:42:01+00:00 - President Joe Biden had a succinct message to Arizona voters who, in a few weeks, will be forced to live under a near-total abortion ban enacted in 1864: “Elect me, I’m from the 21st century.” It sounds simple, but Democrats would do well to drive that point home with voters if they truly hope to capitalize on the public fury after the state Supreme Court recently upheld this draconian law, which only allows for lifesaving exceptions. It’s a boon for Democrats’ voter mobilization efforts that liberal activists got a measure on the ballot that could enshrine the right to abortion in the state’s Constitution. But local Democrats and others watching around the country shouldn't assume that the measure, by itself, will lead to surefire victories in the fall. The 2022 elections, which came mere months after Roe v. Wade was overturned, offer a warning about what can happen when Democrats do a poor job of messaging to voters about the policies that are at stake up and down the ballot. In 2022, Democrats won key statewide races for governor, attorney general and secretary of state — but conservative and ultraconservative candidates won other key races. Tom Horne, essentially an architect of the GOP’s anti-diversity crusade in schools, won his race for Arizona Public Schools superintendent. Republican Kimberly Yee won her race for Arizona treasurer, although she branded herself as a more traditional conservative. And in Maricopa County, where most of Arizona lives, Rachel Mitchell, the conservative lawyer who helped Republicans confirm Brett Kavanaugh as Supreme Court justice, won her race to become county attorney. Protesters after Arizona's Supreme Court revived a law dating to 1864 that bans abortion in virtually all instances, in Tucson, on Tuesday. Rebecca Noble / Reuters During her campaign, Mitchell vowed not to punish women who seek abortions in defiance of Arizona’s draconian abortion laws — but she left open the possibility that doctors or others who help women obtain abortions could be prosecuted. She issued a similar statement this week after the court ruling. Notably, her opponent in 2022 lost despite making abortion access a key campaign issue. (Mitchell, by the way, is running for re-election this fall.) The lesson here? Even in the immediate aftermath of the Supreme Court gutting Roe v. Wade, there was some unpredictable ticket-splitting by Arizona voters that helped Democrats in some ways but also soured the party’s otherwise victorious night. And if the party isn't careful this time around, with presidential implications in play, the taste could be even more bitter. By many accounts, Democrats seem to be taking a more proactive approach to campaigning and organizing in Arizona than four, or even two, years ago. They’ve brought on veteran staffers and they’re prepping a seven-figure ad blitz focused on abortion that will air in the coming weeks. Biden has made visits to the state to tout economic investments, and his campaign is making a point to deploy people such as Vice President Kamala Harris and first lady Jill Biden to make speeches and hold meetings to keep voters engaged. Heading into November, I’d much rather be in Democrats’ position than Republicans’ where Arizona is concerned. But in light of the results in 2022 — and considering the added variable of Donald Trump on the ballot — they should be operating with a healthy level of paranoia. That means taking no voter for granted and shoring up their messaging to voters about what exactly is at stake if Republicans win.
Taylor Swift’s Music Returns to TikTok Ahead of New Album 2024-04-11 18:35:30.209000+00:00 - When Universal Music Group, the world’s biggest music company, went to war with TikTok earlier this year over licensing terms, songs by hundreds of its artists were removed from the platform, and have remained absent. But on Thursday, music by one very special Universal artist returned: Taylor Swift. A number of songs by Swift — whose new album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” comes out next week — have reappeared in TikTok’s official music library, where they are available for the service’s millions of users to place in the background of their own videos. Those videos have become one of the music industry’s most important promotional vehicles, with the potential to mint new hits or breathe new life into old tunes — even as many artists and labels complain about low royalties from the service. The available songs from Swift appear to be from the period since she signed with Universal in 2018, including hits like “Lover,” “Anti-Hero,” “Cruel Summer” and “Cardigan.” Also available are her “Taylor’s version” rerecordings of older hits like “Style,” “Love Story” and “Shake It Off,” which were originally released by her first label, Big Machine. After Big Machine was sold in 2019 without her participation, Swift announced plans to rerecord her first six studio albums, and has already released four of those. Each went straight to No. 1. It was not immediately clear how Swift’s songs made it back to TikTok while Universal’s ban remains in place. When the company announced its plans to remove music earlier this year, it said its licensing contract with TikTok expired Jan. 31. By the early hours of Feb. 1, Universal’s music began to disappear from TikTok, and millions of videos that used the label’s music went silent.
Central banks must resist pressure for early rate cuts, says IMF head 2024-04-11 18:13:00+00:00 - The world’s leading central banks must resist calls from politicians for early interest rate cuts amid concerns over stubbornly high inflation on both sides of the Atlantic, the head of the International Monetary Fund has urged. Kristalina Georgieva said high inflation across advanced economies was “not fully defeated” and could require a longer wait before reducing borrowing costs. The IMF managing director alluded to the political pressure that central bank chiefs were likely to face in a pivotal election year, ahead of voters going to the polls in the US, UK and EU. “On this final stretch, it is doubly important that central banks uphold their independence … Where necessary, policymakers must resist calls for early interest rate cuts,” she said. “Premature easing could see new inflation surprises that may even necessitate a further bout of monetary tightening.” Speaking before the IMF’s spring meetings in Washington next week, she highlighted a fall in advanced economy headline inflation to 2.3%, from 9.5% 18 months earlier. This trend was expected to continue, Georgieva said, creating the conditions for major central banks to begin cutting rates in the second half of this year. View image in fullscreen Megan Greene joined the MPC in July. Photograph: Associated Press However, she also cautioned that delaying too long could “pour cold water on economic activity” as she warned the global economy faced a decade of weak growth. Georgieva said the world was in danger of “a sluggish and disappointing” decade for economic growth without urgent action from policymakers, which she labelled the “tepid twenties”. Her comments come after a leading Bank of England policymaker warned that any cut to UK interest rates should be “a way off” amid inflationary pressures that would keep the cost of borrowing higher than financial markets expect. Megan Greene, a member of the Bank’s nine-strong monetary policy committee (MPC), which sets interest rates, said financial markets were betting “in the wrong direction” when they judged how quickly the central bank would make its first rate cut. A bigger-than-expected increase in US inflation in March to 3.5% surprised markets on Wednesday, pushing back expectations for the first Federal Reserve rate cut to September. Greene said the markets expected the Fed and the Bank of England to reduce interest rates in tandem, even though the dynamics of the two economies were very different. Financial markets are betting that the first reduction in UK interest rates from the current level of 5.25% will be in August or September and that there will be at least one further cut this year. The consumer prices index measure of inflation has fallen steeply in recent months, to 3.4%, raising the prospect that it could drop below the Bank’s target of 2% as early as May. Many independent economists believe inflationary pressures have reduced significantly, and recent jobs data shows that the labour market has weakened, easing the pressure on employers to increase wages and the prices charged to customers. 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 On Thursday, the European Central Bank signalled it could decide to cut interest rates as soon as this summer, after a sharp fall in inflation across the 20 member states of the eurozone. While the bank kept its key rates on hold, its president, Christine Lagarde, said a few policymakers had been ready to cut interest rates, but agreed to support the majority who wanted to wait until their next meeting in June when they had seen more data. Lagarde’s comments were a strong hint that the ECB might bring down rates that month before expected autumn cuts by the Bank of England and Federal Reserve. By contrast Greene, an American economist who joined the MPC in July, suggested that the Bank of England would be persuaded to keep rates higher for longer than expected in the UK, where the underlying causes of inflation remain persistent. She wrote in the Financial Times: “Momentum in the markets has been towards pricing in later rate cuts by the Fed as economic growth remains robust. In my view, rate cuts in the UK should still be a way off as well.” US inflation fell sharply last year in response to falling energy prices, before rising again in recent months as the economy improved. The next policy decision by the MPC is due on 9 May.
Prosecutors Say Ohtani’s Interpreter Stole $16 Million From Star 2024-04-11 17:47:28+00:00 - Federal prosecutors said on Thursday that Shohei Ohtani had been the victim of a “fraud on a massive scale,” releasing a detailed complaint that claimed Ippei Mizuhara, the baseball star’s former interpreter, exploited his access and the fact that Ohtani did not speak English to steal $16 million from him to feed his gambling addiction. The account provided by the authorities largely confirms what Ohtani told the public in late March, shortly after reports first surfaced that $4.5 million had been transferred from Ohtani’s account to Mizuhara. At that time, Ohtani explained how he believed Mizuhara had stolen money from him and that he did not bet on sports himself. And authorities acknowledged that the speed at which the investigation proceeded — the allegations against Mizuhara surfaced only three weeks ago — was partly because of the desire to avoid having American sports tarred by the implication of a possible gambling scandal involving one of its biggest stars. “I want to emphasize this point,” said E. Martin Estrada, the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California. “Mr. Ohtani is considered a victim in this case.”
Dish Soap to Help Build Planes? Boeing Signs Off on Supplier’s Method. 2024-04-11 17:39:10+00:00 - A recent Federal Aviation Administration audit of the production of the Boeing 737 Max raised a peculiar question. Was it really appropriate for one of the plane maker’s key suppliers to be using Dawn dish soap and a hotel key card as part of its manufacturing process? The answer, it turns out, may be yes. The F.A.A. conducted the audit after a panel known as a door plug blew off a 737 Max 9 during an Alaska Airlines flight in January. The New York Times reported last month that the agency’s examination had identified dozens of problems at Boeing and the supplier, Spirit AeroSystems, which makes the fuselage of the 737 Max. Boeing and Spirit have both come under intense scrutiny after the episode involving the Alaska plane, which appears to have left Boeing’s factory in Renton, Wash., missing four bolts used to secure the door plug in place. Spirit has had its own share of quality problems in recent years and has been bruised by financial losses, and Boeing said last month that it was in talks to acquire the company, which it spun out in 2005. But in the aftermath of the Alaska episode, Spirit says one thing has been misunderstood: its use of the dish soap and the hotel key card.
Meta tests new auto-blur tool and other features on Instagram designed to fight sextortion 2024-04-11 17:39:00+00:00 - Family of teen who died by suicide warns of dangers of financial sextortion Meta is trying out new tools on its Instagram platform to combat the sexual extortion of teens, including a feature that will automatically blur photos containing nudity in direct messages. The social media company announced in a blog post Thursday that new features, including the auto-blur technology, are part of a campaign to fight sexual scams and make it tougher for criminals to contact teens. "This feature is designed not only to protect people from seeing unwanted nudity in their DMs, but also to protect them from scammers who may send nude images to trick people into sending their own images in return," the company said. Meta also owns Facebook and WhatsApp but the nudity-blur feature won't be added to those platforms. Sexual extortion, or sextortion, happens when one person coerces another person into sending explicit photos of themselves, and then threatens to make those images public unless the victim pays money or engages in sexual favors. One recent case involves two Nigerian brothers who pleaded guilty Wednesday to sexually extorting teen boys across the country, including one 17-year-old in Michigan who took his own life. In another case, a 28-year-old former Virginia sheriff's posed as a teen online in order to obtain nude pics from a 15-year-old girl in California whom he sexually extorted and kidnapped at gunpoint, after driving across country, killing her mother and grandparents and setting their home on fire. Sextortion has become such a major issue that the FBI in January warned parents to monitor their children's online activity amid a rising number of cases. The nudity protection feature will be turned on by default globally for teens under 18. Adult users will get a notification encouraging them to activate it. A series of warnings will appear on Instagram accounts, urging users to be careful about sending explicit photos and chatting with someone you don't know. Meta Platforms In addition to the automatic blurring of images, a warning will appear giving users the option of whether or not they want to view the image. They'll also have the option to block the sender and report the chat. For users sending direct messages with nudity, a message will appear on screen reminding them to be cautious when sending "sensitive photos." They'll also be informed that they can unsend the photos if they change their mind, but that there's a chance others may have already seen them. To stop scammers and sexual predators from connecting with young people, the company says it is also expanding current restrictions, including not showing the "message" button on a teen's profile to potential sextortion accounts, even if the two accounts are connected. Children's advocates applauded Meta's move on Thursday, saying the features introduced appear encouraging. "We are hopeful these new measures will increase reporting by minors and curb the circulation of online child exploitation," John Shehan, the senior vice president at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, said in Meta's blog post.
UK startup lifts lid on plan to turn human waste into jet fuel 2024-04-11 17:30:00+00:00 - Aircraft could one day take off on fuel made from human waste under plans revealed by Wizz Air and the British sustainable aviation company Firefly to build a commercial refinery in Essex. Firefly, based in Bristol, said it had developed a process to convert treated sewage into sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF. The low-cost airline Wizz said it was investing by placing an order – potentially worth hundreds of millions of pounds – for up to 525,000 tonnes of Firefly’s waste-based fuel over the next 15 years. Firefly has now signed agreements with industrial partners for a pilot refinery in Harwich that would take “biosolids” from Anglian Water and turn it into aircraft fuel. Airlines will have to ensure that a minimum proportion of fuel burned is certified sustainable in the coming decade, with the EU mandating at least 20% SAF by 2035, and the UK expected soon to announce a mandatory 10% by 2030. There are various ways of making SAF but most are much more expensive than normal kerosene jet fuel, with a limited supply of waste feedstocks such as used cooking oil. Firefly’s chief operations officer, Paul Hilditch, said converted sewage should be cheaper and more abundant, providing up to 5% of airlines’ fuel needs in the UK. The process uses biosolids, the water industry term for the final product in the treatment process. “It’s crumbly – like compost or wet chocolate cake,” he said. “There’s millions of tonnes of the stuff. And it has no intrinsic value.” The company has produced small test quantities of SAF that he said were “chemically indistinguishable” from jet fuel, with a residue that can be used as a soil enhancer. The fuel is still in a regulatory testing process, and Firefly is still to secure the investment it needs to build a full-scale factory. However, its chief executive, James Hygate, said it was confident it could be delivering commercial supplies of SAF by 2028-29. He said the first facility in Harwich would serve London airports and there was potential for two more in the UK. “We’re turning sewage into jet fuel and I can’t think of many things that are cooler than that,” he commented. Wizz Air’s corporate and ESG officer, Yvonne Moynihan, said: “Alongside fleet renewal and operational efficiency, SAF plays a crucial role in reducing carbon emissions from aviation.” She said Wizz’s investment in Firefly was a “perfect pair-up for a low-cost airline” and the carrier aspired to use 10% SAF across its entire operation by 2030, although it would need “a significant ramp-up of production and deployment”. The UK government has said it expects five commercial plants to produce SAF in the UK to be under construction by 2025. However, campaigners have said even using human waste for aviation was not truly sustainable. 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 Matt Finch, of the thinktank Transport & Environment UK, said sewage could also be used to make biomethane and there was direct competition for its use: “What’s the best use of this biomass hasn’t been clarified … It’s another conundrum.” About 87% of UK water companies’ biosolids are currently spread on farmland. Cait Hewitt, of the Aviation Environment Foundation, said: “It’s not to be sniffed at, given that this is truly unavoidable waste, but not great either given it’s already in use as fertiliser.” She said any test for the carbon credentials of alternative fuels should ask: “Has the producer done something to draw down additional CO 2 from the atmosphere? Otherwise it’s nothing near a net zero solution.” Hilditch said the use of biosolids for muckspreading on farms was of low value, and the residue from the sewage-to-fuel process would still be available to improve soil. Many other countries simply incinerated human waste, meaning that converting it to jet fuel could also have other benefits in terms of efficient disposal, he added. “It’s not just the UK of course. Anywhere in the world where there are people, there’s poo.”
Global Stockpile of Cholera Vaccine Is Gone as Outbreaks Spread 2024-04-11 17:15:16.545000+00:00 - Doses of cholera vaccine are being given to patients as fast as they are produced and the global stockpile has run completely dry, as deadly outbreaks of the disease continue to spread. This does not shock anyone in the field of emergency epidemic response because the vaccine stockpile has been precariously low for years. The surprise — the good news, which is in itself surprising since ‘cholera’ and ‘good news’ are rarely used together — is that three new vaccine makers are setting up production lines and joining the effort to replenish the stockpile. And a fourth company, the only one that currently makes the vaccine, which is given orally, has been working at a pace that experts describe as “heroic” to expand its production.
Carmax Returns to the Bargain Basement: Buy the Dip? 2024-04-11 16:19:00+00:00 - Key Points CarMax struggled in Q4 and revised its long-term target, sending shares down into the buying zone. The market is range-bound after falling 50% from its highs and is unlikely to set new lows. The share price may wallow now, but the long-term outlook includes a leveraged recovery due to increased store count and market share gains. 5 stocks we like better than CarMax CarMax, Inc. NYSE: KMX shares are down a solid 10% following a weak Q4 earrings report and a revision in the long-term guidance. The company didn't lower its sales targets. Still, it extended the time frame to reach it, citing uncertain conditions, the impact of higher prices and interest rates, and shaky consumer confidence. However, the stock price is also down more than 50% from its latest all-time high, trading near the 2020 bottom, suggesting the weakness was already priced into the market. Because CarMax faces significant headwinds, 2024 may be challenging for the business. Because the company is investing in new stores, growing market share, and a lower interest rate environment is ahead, the long-term outlook is robust. Get CarMax alerts: Sign Up CarMax shares may wallow now but are at rock bottom and unlikely to fall significantly further, presenting an attractive time to build a position. The company is gaining leverage in the market and setting itself up for accelerated revenue and profit growth when economic conditions improve, so its share prices should increase over time. The catalyst for higher share prices may come later this year or early in 2025 when the FOMC makes the first interest rate cut in years. CarMax Will Pivot Back to Growth this Year CarMax struggled in Q4, but consumer and wholesale markets are normalizing, and growth is expected to return this fiscal year. The company reported $5.63 billion in net revenue for a decline of 1.7%, with retail units up and wholesale units down. Retail units are up 1.3% YOY, with comp-store growth at 0.15. Retail revenue fell -0.7% on a decline in average selling price. Wholesale unit sales fell by 4%, with total revenue down 5.5%. Margin news is mixed but favorable to the long-term outlook. The company's margin contracted compared to last year, but the contraction's depth is amplified by one-offs in the previous year and weakness in wholesales. The GAAP earnings of 32 cents are down 12 cents from last year and missed consensus by 13 cents, but sufficient to maintain a healthy business outlook. Balance sheet highlights include an increase in cash and total assets, a reduction in debt, and an 8% increase in equity. CarMax didn't give specific guidance for F2025 but announced plans to open five new retail locations and two facilities to support additional growth. The timeline for long-term targets was pushed back, but it still includes two billion in annual unit sales and $33 billion in yearly revenue, nearly 25% growth from current levels. The Analysts See Upside for CarMax Analysts' activity in CarMax is supportive, but the trend may change now that the results are in. The 12 analysts tracked by Marketbeat have the stock rated a Hold and see it advancing 15% at the consensus now that prices are down. The consensus of $81 is noteworthy because it is near critical resistance at the top of a trading range. If the analysts begin trimming their targets, CarMax stock will remain rangebound until a shift in business quality is seen in the revenue and earnings. Also of note, Oppenheimer set the freshest target days before the release. It is a new high of $105, which is 55% above the current action. Institutions remain heavily invested in CarMax and command roughly 99% of the shares. Institutional activity reported by Marketbeat has been net bullish for the last 12 months. Institutional buying spiked in Q1 when the price action returned to lower levels and may do so again. The price action is sketchy and suggests a downtrend is still in effect. However, the market is also above critical support that has been in place for 18 months, so it is unlikely it will move outside of its trading range. In this scenario, investors might expect to see the price action retest the range's low end near $60 before rebounding to move sideways within the range. 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
Dividend Aristocrat Fastenal Goes on Sale: Buy It While It’s Down 2024-04-11 16:07:00+00:00 - Key Points Fastenal had a challenging quarter, but its diversified model produced growth and solid cash flow. Dividends are safe and growing, a special dividend is possible, and analysts support the market. The stock price may fall more now, but a bottom will be reached soon, and longer-term gains are coming. 5 stocks we like better than Fastenal Dividend Aristocrat Fastenal NASDAQ: FAST fell about 5% after its Q1 release and may fall further. Not because the business is flagging but because the valuation has run up to unsustainable levels. This stock rose nearly 100% over the last two years, recently peaking at an all-time high, and correction is due. Much of the gains for this construction stock were made this year, about 3600bps, since January when the stock was included in the Dividend Aristocrats index, another factor in today's decline. Because of indexing, inclusion in the Dividend Aristocrat index is responsible for this year's price run-up. Dividend Artistocrats are desirable stocks for the bulk of market participants and a heavily invested market segment. Its inclusion sparked billions in mandatory buying by ETFs, mutual funds and individual investment plans. Get Fastenal alerts: Sign Up Why Dividend Aristocrats? Dividend Aristocrats are mature blue-chip quality stocks with lesser growth outlooks and stable cash flow. The cash flow allows them to pay dividends and raise the distribution annually, and all have increased for at least 25 years. Dividend Aristocrats offer stable income, inflation-fighting distribution increases and some insulation from market volatility. Dividend Aristocrats are buy-and-hold stocks, which tend to trade with a lower beta than most, a fact that reduces near-term portfolio volatility and amplifies long-term gains. Diversification Sustains Growth for Fastenal Fastenal had a challenging quarter, with weaknesses in some areas offset by strengths in others. The takeaway is that the diversified operational quality produced 1.9% top-line growth and a marginal increase in earnings, helping sustain balance sheet health and dividend safety. The $1.89 billion in revenue is short of the Marketbeat consensus but by a slim margin, and there is a pivot to accelerated results expected by year end. Fasteners were the weak link product-wise, with a decline of 4.4% offset by an 8.3% gain in Safety and a 3.9% increase in Other. Regarding the end markets, Manufacturing grew by 2.6%, offset by a 6.6% decline in non-residential construction and a 2.5% decline in Reseller. Other grew by 7.7%. In terms of business size, National Account sales grew by 6.5% and non-national fell by 4.5%. Margin news is also tepid, with gross margin contracting and increasing SG&A expenses. The result, however, was less bad than feared and left the GAAP earrings at 52 cents or flat compared to last year. Ultimately, 52 cents is sufficient to sustain the outlook for this year's earnings, which are enough to sustain a healthy balance sheet, invest in business and pay dividends. Balance sheet highlights include a cash build, assets are up, debt is flat and equity grew by 2.5%. Based on these metrics, the outlook for the year, and the precedent set last year, Fastenal can be expected to make a semi-aggressive distribution increase at the end of the year, and it may also issue another special dividend. Analysts Support the Fastenal Market, Higher Prices are Indicated The five Fastenal analysts tracked by Marketbeat have it pegged at Hold but have been raising the price target. The consensus target of $68 lags the markets, suggesting the downturn will return the stock price to a "fair" value, but it doesn't fully reflect the most recent activity. The most recent revision was from Stifel Nicolaus, which upped the target to $85 ahead of the report, setting the new high target for the stock. The Q2 release may not spur the analysts to make new revisions, but neither does it suggest sentiment will falter. The technical action suggests the market will return to the consensus level or lower. The market is down 5% and shows signs of buying, but not enough to sustain support at current levels. If that doesn't change by the end of the session, the odds are high that FAST will move down toward the $68 level, where it will present a higher yield and better value, and solid support is expected. Before you consider Fastenal, 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 Fastenal wasn't on the list. While Fastenal currently has a "Hold" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here
UK has real concerns about AI risks, says competition regulator 2024-04-11 15:58:00+00:00 - Just six major technology companies are at the heart of the AI sector through an “interconnected web” of more than 90 investments and partnerships links, the UK’s competition regulator has warned, sparking increased concern about the anti-competitive nature of the technology. Sarah Cardell, the chief executive of the Competition and Markets Authority, said AI foundation models – general-purpose AI systems such as OpenAI’s GPT-4 and Google’s Gemini, on which consumer and business products are frequently built – were a potential “paradigm shift” for society. Speaking in Washington, she added that the immense concentration of power they represented would give a small number of companies “the ability and incentives to shape these markets in their own interests”. “When we started this work, we were curious. Now, with a deeper understanding and having watched developments very closely, we have real concerns,” Cardell said. “The essential challenge we face is how to harness this immensely exciting technology for the benefit of all, while safeguarding against potential exploitation of market power and unintended consequences. We’re committed to applying the principles we have developed, and to using all legal powers at our disposal, now and in the future, to ensure that this transformational and structurally critical technology delivers on its promise.” The six identified by the CMA are Google, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, Apple and Nvidia, the leading supplier of chips for training and using AI. Their involvement in more than 90 partnerships and investments, the CMA said, could limit diversity and choice in the market. The “winner takes all” dynamics of digital markets led to the dominance of a few powerful platforms, Cardell said, and she was “determined to apply the lessons of history” to prevent the same thing from happening again. Highlighting three “interlinked” risks, Cardell said that competition in the AI sector could be harmed by companies that control critical inputs, from data to chips, restricting access to shield themselves from competition; companies using their market power to distort choice in AI services; and partnerships between key players exacerbating concentrations of market power. The CMA first announced its plans to investigate the market in AI foundation models in May 2023. The initial review, published in September, found that people should not expect the technology to have a positive outcome in the world at large. 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 “We can’t take a positive future for granted,” Cardell said at the time. “There remains a real risk that the use of AI develops in a way that undermines consumer trust or is dominated by a few players who exert market power that prevents the full benefits being felt across the economy.” The news came as AI regulators around the world prepare for a mini-summit in Korea, to build on the AI safety summit held in the UK in November 2023 and prepare for the full second session in Paris, expected later this year.