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Germany's refusal to send 'Taurus' missiles to Ukraine is highly contentious — but won't break the government 2024-03-19 07:14:00+00:00 - Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) receives French President Macron and Polish Prime Minister Tusk with military honors at the Federal Chancellery for a joint meeting. Christoph Soeder | Picture Alliance | Getty Images Debate around military aid to Ukraine is deepening the cracks in Germany's administration — but despite "extremely unusual" public rifts, Chancellor Olaf Scholz is expected to prevail. The question at the heart of a months-long dispute is whether Germany will send Ukraine long-range Taurus missiles, which can independently locate and destroy a target after being released by a carrier. Scholz has firmly rejected Kyiv's request for these missiles — but he looks increasingly isolated in this position. One key concern is that Ukraine may need on-the-ground help from German soldiers to work the Taurus missiles — a red line for Scholz. According to leaked discussions by senior army chiefs reported by German media, there are very few copies of the complex data needed to program Taurus missiles. It means that Germany itself would likely lose access to the material if it handed those over to Ukraine, making it a potentially risky move. Scholz has also said that Taurus weapons are sufficiently far-reaching that they could hit Russia, which the Kremlin could view as Germany becoming involved in the war. The country's armed forces, the Bundeswehr, could not handle holding a defensive line against Russia, Scholz argues. Resistance Not everyone agrees. The opposition Christian Democrats, or CDU for short, has played down the risk that Russia might view it as Germany entering the war, while the Free Democrats (FDP) and Greens — coalition partners to Scholz's Social Democrats, or SPD — say the risks are manageable and worthwhile to avoid Russia winning the conflict. Since last November, the CDU has repeatedly tabled votes on sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine in Germany's parliament and failed. Even so, the debate has highlighted tensions within the ruling coalition. "There's clearly a rift between large parts of the Greens and the Free Democrats in favor of delivering Taurus to Ukraine and Chancellor Scholz and large parts of his Social Democrats vehemently blocking this decision," Frank Sauer, senior research fellow at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich and head of research at the Metis Institute for Strategy and Foresight, told CNBC. It comes as several members of parliament for the FDP voted in favor of a CDU motion following the latest parliamentary debate on Thursday. Annalena Baerbock, Green party foreign secretary, meanwhile, discussed Taurus missiles with U.K. foreign minister David Cameron. She later said she would consider a so-called "Ringtausch," whereby Germany sends Taurus missiles to the U.K. which in turn delivers some of its own long-range Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine. Separately, a high-profile Green party MP joined forces with a prominent CDU politician to pen an op-ed advocating for the delivery of Taurus missiles. Coalition chaos "This level of open disagreement inside a governing coalition is extremely unusual for German politics. The coalition is in disunity because of Scholz' refusal to deliver Taurus," Ulrike Franke, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, told CNBC. An audio recording of army officials discussing Taurus, which was recently leaked by Russia, added fuel to the fire, raising questions about German cyber security. The German-Swedish air-to-ground cruise missile Taurus can be seen in a showroom at the European defense company MBDA. Matthias Balk | Picture Alliance | Getty Images Not only has the debate brought questions around the state and unity of the governing coalition, but it has also highlighted wider issues in German politics, according to Sauer. "Unfortunately the Taurus debate keeps sucking up all the oxygen in the room, repeating itself over and over again. It's quite unproductive and not conducive to the strategic learning curve that's so sorely needed in Germany," he said. Franke echoed this sentiment, saying that the Taurus debate had shown yet again that Germany struggles with military and defense issues. Berlin previously made headlines over a protracted debate to send its Leopard-2 tanks to Ukraine. "Strategic thinking has atrophied over thirty years of geopolitical calm and peace," she added. 'Doomed to succeed'

An activist short-seller is making a name for itself by taking on Carl Ichan, Gautam Adani and others 2024-03-19 07:11:00+00:00 - NEW YORK - Jan. 6, 2023: Nate Anderson works at his desk. Anderson exposes corporate fraud and ponzi schemes through his company Hindenburg Research. The Washington Post | The Washington Post | Getty Images Hindenburg Research has established itself as one of the most powerful voices in public activist short-selling, hammering the share prices of multiple big name companies in recent years with its blockbuster reports. The New York-based activist short-seller, founded by Nate Anderson, has also developed a reputation for its fearlessness, having gone after billionaires like Carl Icahn and Gautam Adani, along with regularly launching big public short bets and serious allegations despite the potential minefield of litigation. Short selling is the practice of borrowing an asset and selling it on in the hope of buying it back at a lower price, thereby pocketing the difference and profiting from the decline of the asset's value. In Hindenburg's case, this is usually the shares of companies it deems to be houses of cards, or in the company's words: "Popping bubbles where we see them." "With a knack for targeting high-profile companies, Hindenburg's capacity to consistently produce high-quality, influential research stands in contrast to the, often ridiculously, demanding landscape for short-sellers," Ivan Cosovic, managing director of data group Breakout Point, told CNBC via email. Hindenburg has been a standout performer among short sellers over the past few years, according to Breakout Point's data, regularly leading or appearing near the top of the firm's annual list of notable achievers. NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 6: Nate Anderson in New York. Anderson exposes corporate fraud and ponzi schemes through his company Hindenburg Research. The Washington Post | The Washington Post | Getty Images Cosovic highlighted the "particularly remarkable" number of high-performing short calls the firm puts out annually. Hindenburg's 10 targets in 2022 experienced an average share price decline of 42%, while its seven targets in 2023 notched an average plunge of 36%, it said. In the first quarter of 2024, Hindenburg boasted two shorts among the top 10 best-performing short calls in the market, as of March 8: U.S. biotech Renovaro and Swiss-listed fintech Temenos. Within the space of three days in mid-February, both companies became targets of Hindenburg's infamous research reports, in which the firm names a short target and sets out its evidence. NEW DELHI, India - Feb. 9, 2023: Members of Indian Youth Congress protesting against the Central government over the Adani issue at Indian Youth Congress Office, Raisina Road, on February 9, 2023 in New Delhi, India. Congress (IYC) staged a protest demanding a probe into the allegations of fraud made against the Adani group in the Hindenburg research report. Hindustan Times | Hindustan Times | Getty Images Both companies denied the allegations in Hindenburg's reports, with Temenos saying in a statement that it "contains factual inaccuracies and analytical errors, together with false and misleading allegations," and that the firm was not contacted for comment in advance. On Friday, shares of Polish fashion retailer LPP plunged by around 30% as a result of Hindenburg's latest attack, as it accused the Gdansk-headquartered company of continuing to make money in Russia despite promising to end operations there following the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. LPP dismissed the allegations as "part of an organised disinformation attack" seeking to reduce its share price. Hindenburg says on its website that "while we use fundamental analysis to aid our investment decision-making, we believe the most impactful research results from uncovering hard-to-find information from atypical sources." These situations include accounting irregularities, bad actors in management or key service provider roles, undisclosed related-party transactions, illegal or unethical business or financial reporting practices, or undisclosed regulatory, product or financial issues. Controversial practice Breakout Point has tracked 74 Hindenburg short bets it has opened since 2017. Of the 65 positions the company has closed out, 53 saw the target's share price decline, thereby yielding gains for Hindenburg. Of the nine short positions currently open, seven of the targets are in the red, two of which have fallen almost to zero. Short-selling is a controversial practice, since it involves making money from the decline of somebody else's asset value. Retail investors have mounted campaigns to squeeze hedge funds with short positions against certain assets by buying them en masse, in order drive up the value and force the short-sellers to buy back the shares at a loss or risk losing more money for their clients. The most famous example of this was the January 2021, when retail traders sent shares of brick and mortar games retailer GameStop soaring with major ramifications for financial markets. watch now Biggest hits One of Hindenburg's biggest recent campaigns centered on a collection of businesses owned by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani. In January 2023, Hindenburg published a report accusing Adani Group companies of "brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud." The allegations caused tens of billions of dollars to be wiped from the various Adani companies' stock values and sparked an investigation from the Securities and Exchange Board of India. Adani Group released a 413-page response denying the allegations and threatening legal action. Gautam Adani's net worth fell by $6 billion overnight, but the conglomerate and his personal fortune have since recovered, with Adani Group's market cap more than doubling from the lows reached on the back of the short attack. watch now

4 things to know from Elon Musk’s interview with Don Lemon 2024-03-19 04:11:41+00:00 - SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Former CNN reporter Don Lemon mixed it up with Tesla CEO Elon Musk in an interview Lemon posted on Musk’s X social network Monday. The interview was supposed to kick off Lemon’s new talk show on X, formerly known as Twitter, at least until Musk canceled the show shortly after the interview was recorded. Over the course of slightly more than an hour, the two men jousted over subjects ranging from the political consequences of immigration and the benefits and harms of content moderation to Musk’s symptoms of depression and his use of ketamine to alleviate them. Here are some of the more notable moments. THE X GAMES: PLAYER VS. PLAYER Musk said he thinks of X as the “player versus player platform,” using a term for video games that pit players against one another, typically in fights to the pixelated death. While he wasn’t particularly clear about what he meant by likening X to a death match, he did bring it up in the context of the occasional late-night posts in which he appears to be spoiling for an argument. The subject arose when Musk described how he relaxes by playing video games and his preference for these PvP contests — what he considers “hardcore” gaming. It’s one way to blow off steam, he said — and agreed, at least to a point, when Lemon suggested that taking on X opponents served the same purpose. Though not always, he said. “I use it to post jokes, sometimes trivia, sometimes things that are of great importance,” Musk said of his X posts. MUSK USES KETAMINE TO TREAT POSSIBLE SYMPTOMS OF DEPRESSION Musk is “almost always” sober when posting on X late at night, he told Lemon. “I don’t drink, I don’t really, y’know....” he said, his voice trailing off. Then Lemon asked about a subject Musk has previously discussed publicly — his use of the drug ketamine, a controlled substance that is also used in medical settings as an anesthetic and for treatment-resistant depression. When Lemon asked, Musk said he has a prescription for ketamine, although he pushed back, calling it “pretty private to ask someone about a medical prescription.” He described “times when I have a sort of a negative chemical state in my brain, like depression, I guess,” and said that ketamine can be helpful for alleviating “a negative frame of mind.” Asked if he thinks he ever abuses the drug, Musk said he doesn’t think so. “If you’ve used too much ketamine, you can’t really get work done,” he said. “I have a lot of work.” MEETING WITH TRUMP Musk said he met with Donald Trump in Florida recently — totally by chance. “I thought I was at breakfast at a friend’s place and Donald Trump came by,” he said. “Let’s just say he did most of the talking.” The conversation didn’t involve anything “groundbreaking or new,” he said. And Trump didn’t ask him for a donation, he added. “President Trump likes to talk, and so he talked,” Musk said. “I don’t recall him saying anything he hasn’t said publicly.” Musk has said he isn’t going to endorse or contribute to any presidential candidate, although he suggested he might reconsider his endorsement later in the political system. He’s not leaning toward anyone, he said, but added that “I’ve been leaning away from Biden. I’ve made no secret about that.” IMMIGRATION AND THE GREAT REPLACEMENT THEORY Musk said he disavows the so-called “ great replacement theory,” a racist belief that, in its most extreme form, falsely contends that Jews are behind a plot to diminish the influence of white people in the U.S. But in his interview with Lemon he did argue, on shaky evidence, that a surge of undocumented immigrants has skewed U.S. elections in favor of Democrats. Lemon pointed out that undocumented immigrants can’t vote and thus can’t really favor either political party. Musk replied that such people are included in the U.S. Census and thus boost the recorded population of U.S. states with large immigrant populations. In some cases that could theoretically increase the number of congresspeople those states can send to the House of Representatives in Washington, although such reapportionment only occurs once a decade.

Spotify paid $9 billion in royalties in 2023. Here’s what fueled the growth 2024-03-19 04:01:46+00:00 - LOS ANGELES (AP) — Spotify paid out $9 billion in streaming royalties last year, the streaming giant said Tuesday in its latest “Loud and Clear” report. Spotify’s fourth annual report, which originally launched in 2021 following criticism over its lack of transparency, noted record accomplishments, including the highest annual payment from any retailer to the music industry. “This is everything we know about how much is being paid out, how many artists are achieving different levels of success,” says Charlie Hellman, the vice president and global head of music product at Spotify. “So, everyone can have access to the information and be sort of up to date with the state of the industry.” According to the data, 1,250 artists generated over $1 million each in recording and publishing royalties in 2023; 11,600 generated over $100,000 and 66,000 generated over $10,000 — numbers that have almost tripled since 2017. More than half of those 66,000 artists came from countries where English is not the primary language, the report says, reflecting an increasingly global music landscape. And “indie” artists — the self-distributed, do-it-yourself acts and those on independent record labels, according to Hellman — accounted for $4.5 billion, half of all royalties paid out by Spotify. “There are millions of people who’ve uploaded a song at least once but that doesn’t really speak to whether they’re an artist, or if they’re doing this more as a hobby,” Hellman says. Spotify zooms in on artists that have “at least put up an album’s worth of music once they seem to have some indication that they’re trying to build a fan base.” He estimates there are “about 225,000 professionally aspiring artists” on the platform. “They have a little bit of a following. They might, you know, have gigs listed on Spotify or things like that,” he says. In December, Spotify announced it was axing 17% of its global workforce, the music streaming service’s third round of layoffs in 2023 as it moved to slash costs while focusing on becoming profitable. The previous month, Spotify announced it would eliminate payments for songs with less than 1,000 annual streams, starting in 2024. “Songs that generate less than a thousand streams in a year would be generating pennies, a few cents in royalties,” Hellman explains. “So what we’re seeing was that there was an increasing amount of uploaders that had $0.03, $0.08, $0.36 sitting there.” For those DIY artists, there’s a minimum threshold to withdraw money from a distributor — $5.35 at DistroKid and $1 at TuneCore, two such distributors — and Hellman argues the withdrawal fees would eclipse the royalties. Spotify — and most other streaming services — pay royalties to the rights holders of the music on its platform, a number which is determined by “streamshare.” That’s calculated by adding up how many times music owned or controlled by a particular rights holder was streamed and dividing by the total number of streams in that market. In short: Larger rights holders have a larger percentage of the market share. And a listener streaming an artist 25% of the time does not mean the act receives 25% of the listener’s subscription fee. “All those pennies sitting in bank accounts all over the place was siphoning money away from artists that were really doing this, as an aspiring professional,” says Hellman of the decision. “And so, those royalties are now being put in the pot so that they can be redirected to artists that are getting more than a thousand streams a year.”

Rules that helped set real estate agent commissions are changing. Here’s what you need to know 2024-03-19 04:01:38+00:00 - The cost of hiring a real estate agent to buy or sell a home may soon change, along with decades-old rules that have helped determine broker commissions. The policy changes could help spur price competition for agents’ services and lower the cost for sellers who now typically cover the commission for the buyer’s agent, as well as that of their own. In turn, more homebuyers could face pressure to pay for their agent’s commission out of pocket. That could be a challenge, especially for buyers already stretching financially to make a down payment and cover other upfront costs involved in buying a home. Still, housing market watchers say it can’t be immediately determined how significantly any changes that potentially shift the cost of hiring an agent to a homebuyer will affect home sales. An adjustment period is likely as buyers, sellers and agents figure out how to navigate what comes next. “I just think it’s too soon to tell,” said Greg Kling, an associate professor at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business who has taught and written about real estate taxation. “We’re going to either see prices are going up for buyers, or the market is going to correct itself.” WHAT’S DRIVING THIS? As part of a settlement announced Friday, the National Association of Realtors agreed to make some policy changes in order to resolve multiple class-action lawsuits brought on behalf of home sellers across the U.S. The trade group agreed to change its rules so that brokers who list a home for sale on any of the databases affiliated with the NAR are no longer allowed to include offers of compensation for a buyer’s agent. This change is meant to address a central assertion in lawsuits brought against the NAR and several major real estate brokerages: that homeowners are being forced to pay artificially inflated agent commissions when they sell their home. The trade group also agreed to require agents, or others working with a homebuyer, to enter into a written agreement with them. That is meant to ensure homebuyers know going in what their agent will charge them for their services. If the court signs off on the settlement, the NAR would implement the rule changes in mid-July. Meanwhile, several real estate brokerage operators, including Anywhere Real Estate and Keller Williams, have reached separate settlement agreements that include provisions for more transparency about agent commissions for homebuyers and sellers. “The residential real estate marketplace will take some time, perhaps several years, to fully process the implications of this settlement,” said Stephen Brobeck, senior fellow at the Consumer Federation of America. “But over time more, agents will feel free to offer different types of compensation and more consumers will comparison shop and negotiate commissions in a more transparent marketplace.” WHAT THIS COULD MEAN FOR HOMEBUYERS The key potential change centers on who foots the bill for real estate agents who represent homebuyers. Currently, an agent or broker representing a home seller typically splits a commission — often around 5% to 6% of the home’s sale price — with the agent working on behalf of the homebuyer. Such an arrangement is known in the industry as “cooperative compensation.” Under the proposed NAR settlement, a broker who represents a seller would no longer be allowed to include a blanket offer of cooperative compensation to a prospective buyer’s agent when they advertise the property on NAR-affiliated Multiple Listings Services, where a majority of U.S. homes are listed for sale. This is meant to remove any incentive from a buyer’s agent to steer their client away from home listings that don’t include a cooperative compensation offer. However, the proposed rule change leaves it open for individual home sellers to negotiate such an arrangement with a buyer’s agent outside of the MLS platforms, essentially creating a loophole for agents to keep things as they are now. Homebuyers could also ask the home seller for a concession that includes money to help cover the buyer’s agent compensation. What happens if a seller doesn’t want to offer to pay the buyer’s agent commission? Homebuyers would be on the hook to shop around for an agent they can afford. They’d also have to sign a contract with an agent before they enlist their services, spelling out how much the agent’s compensation will be. Having to factor in another expense into their homebuying budget could be challenging for homebuyers without a lot of savings or financial flexibility, making it tougher for them to navigate the housing market. Still, many variables are at play when it comes to buying or selling a home, not the least of which is how motivated each party is to close the deal. “If I’m a buyer and I know this seller is not going to reimburse my agent, then I may make a lower offer,” said Kling. “Now, obviously in a hot market, that strategy’s not going to work. But then in a hot market, I would have paid over listing price anyway.” HOW MIGHT THIS AFFECT HOME SELLERS? The biggest change for homeowners looking to sell is they could push back against paying for buyer-agent commissions, which could translate into considerable savings. Consider a seller who agrees to pay a 3% commission for their listing agent — instead of potentially twice that to cover the buyer’s agent, too — and sells their home for February’s national median sale price of $379,100. That homeowner would save roughly $11,373 paying only their agent’s commission. “The settlement will also encourage more sellers to negotiate the compensation of their listing agents,” said Brobeck. Still, sellers may still face some pressure to cover buyer-agent commissions. The NAR built in an exception to its proposed rule change that would allow a buyer’s agent to see offers of cooperative compensation on home listings being advertised by their own brokerage. That workaround could tempt buyer agents to “steer” clients away from any listings that don’t come with an upfront compensation offer, which could prompt sellers to offer more competitive commissions to be split between their agent and the buyer’s, analysts with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods wrote in a research note Monday. “So long as steering incentives still exist, home sellers may be compelled to offer supracompetitive commissions to buyer agents in order to avoid steering,” the analysts wrote. HOW MIGHT THIS CHANGE THE REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY? One concern is that by making it easier for sellers to opt out of making a cooperative compensation offer to buyer agents, some buyers will opt against hiring an agent or only doing so toward the end of the process after they’ve gone through most of the home hunt themselves. That could end up weeding out some “lower-performing brokers,” Kling said. Another scenario is that alternative types of real estate business models will become more popular. This includes using discount brokers that will list a home for a flat fee of $500. “They don’t offer any compensation to the buyer agent because the buyer agent negotiates their own conditions if they want more,” said Mike Downer, a broker associate with Coldwell Banker Realty in Naples, Florida. “That business model has been around for a long time.”

The Bank of Japan ends its negative interest rate policy, opting for its first hike in 17 years 2024-03-19 03:50:40+00:00 - TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate Tuesday for the first time in 17 years, ending a longstanding policy of negative rates meant to boost the economy. The Bank of Japan’s lending rate for overnight borrowing by banks was raised to a range of 0 to 0.1% from minus 0.1% at a policy meeting that confirmed expectations of a shift away from ultra-lax monetary policy. It was the first rate hike since February 2007. The negative interest rate policy, combined with other measures to inject money into the economy and keep borrowing costs low, “have fulfilled their roles,” Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda told reporters. The bank has an inflation target of 2% that it used as a benchmark for whether Japan had finally escaped deflationary tendencies. But it had remained cautious about “normalizing” monetary policy, or ending negative borrowing rates, even after data showed inflation at about that rate in recent months. Ueda said there was “a positive cycle” of a gradual rise of wages and prices, while stressing that monetary policy will remain easy for some time. Although private sector banks and other financial organizations will make their own decisions about rates, he said did not foresee any drastic rises. The central bank will watch for any big moves in rates, which would cause confusion, he added. “We made the decision because we foresaw stable and continuous 2% inflation,” he added. Another factor supporting the shift: Japanese companies have announced relatively robust wage hikes for this year’s round of negotiations with trade unions. Wages and profits at companies were improving, the Bank of Japan said, in releasing its latest decision, referring to “anecdotal” accounts as well as data it had gathered lately. “Japan’s economy has recovered moderately,” it said. Market reaction was muted as the decision had been anticipated after Japanese media reports earlier this week. Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained nearly 0.7% on Tuesday, while the dollar was steady at about 150 yen. Analysts said the bank likely won’t rush to change its overall easy lending framework and will closely monitor prices. Harumi Taguchi, principal economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said she believes inflation could begin falling below 2% and wage increases may not necessarily lead to robust consumer spending if people choose to save, rather than spend. “While the bank’s decisions will contribute to improving the functioning of financial markets, the impact on the real economy is likely to be limited,” according to analysis by S&P Global Market Intelligence. Ueda had repeatedly said the central bank would review its negative rate and other easing measures if the 2 percent inflation target was met and was accompanied by wage increases. The Japanese central bank’s policy is quite different from those of the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank. Both have been moving to lower interest rates after rapidly raising them to clamp down on inflation. The Bank of Japan has kept borrowing costs extremely low for many years to encourage Japanese consumers and businesses to spend and invest to help sustain stronger economic growth. Japan recently became the world’s fourth biggest economy, slipping behind Germany in terms of its nominal gross domestic product, or GDP. The U.S. economy is the largest, followed by China, which overtook Japan over a decade ago. BOJ officials say they want to make sure inflation is based on domestic factors that can sustain higher wages, not external ones. Analysts expect the Bank of Japan to continue to move slowly on further raising interest rates. The ultra-lax monetary policy also included huge injections of money into the economy through purchases of Japanese government bonds and other assets. The bank said the BOJ would continue with those government bond purchases at a rate of about 6 trillion yen ($40.2 billion), and adjust quickly depending on economic trends. But it discontinued or gave timelines for ending purchases of real estate investment trusts and other assets. The ultra-lax monetary policy that Ueda’s predecessor, Haruhiko Kuroda, put in place more than a decade ago was designed to establish what he called a “virtuous cycle” of inflationary expectations that would lead people to spend more both because borrowing costs were low and because they feared prices would rise in the future. That was meant to counter a spell of deflationary trends where people held back on purchases in hopes of lower prices, which led companies to invest less and to cut back on wages. The Bank of Japan said in its assessment of the economy that the current recovery was based partly on a “materialization of pent-up demand” even as global demand has weakened. But it noted that industrial production was stagnant, partly due to cutbacks by automakers. Housing investment was relatively weak and government spending was “more or less flat.” Ueda characterized the situation as “less than perfect.” “Concerning risks to the outlook, there are extremely high uncertainties surrounding Japan’s economic activity and prices,” the Bank of Japan said. ___ Yuri Kageyama is on X: https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

Japan Raises Interest Rates for First Time in 17 Years 2024-03-19 03:48:58+00:00 - Japan’s central bank raised interest rates for the first time since 2007 on Tuesday, pushing them above zero to close a chapter in its aggressive effort to stimulate an economy that has long struggled to grow. In 2016, the Bank of Japan took the unorthodox step of bringing borrowing costs below zero, a bid to kick-start borrowing and lending and spur the country’s stagnating economy. Negative interest rates — which central banks in some European economies have also applied — mean depositors pay to leave their money with a bank and borrowers can take out loans very cheaply, an incentive for them to spend. But Japan’s economy has recently begun to show signs of stronger growth: Inflation, after being low for years, has sped up, cemented by larger-than-usual increases in wages. Both are clues that the economy may be on a course for more sustained growth, allowing the central bank to tighten its interest rate policy years after other major central banks raised rates rapidly in response to a jump in inflation. Even after Tuesday’s move, interest rates in Japan are far lower than those in the world’s other major developed economies. The Bank of Japan’s target policy rate was raised to a range of zero to 0.1 percent from minus 0.1 percent.

From Russia, Elaborate Tales of Fake Journalists 2024-03-19 02:00:11+00:00 - A young man calling himself Mohamed al-Alawi appeared in a YouTube video in August. He described himself as an investigative journalist in Egypt with a big scoop: The mother-in-law of Ukraine’s president had purchased a villa near Angelina Jolie’s in El Gouna, a resort town on the Red Sea. The story, it turned out, was not true. Ukraine denied it, and the owner of the villa refuted it. Also disconnected from reality: Alawi’s claim to being a journalist. Still, his story caromed through social media and news outlets from Egypt to Nigeria and ultimately to Russia — which, according to researchers, is where the story all began. The story seemed to fade, but not for long. Four months later, two new videos appeared on YouTube. They said Mohamed al-Alawi had been beaten to death in Hurghada, a town about 20 miles south of El Gouna. The suspected killers, according to the videos: Ukraine’s secret service agents.

Judge in hush money case denies Trump's bid to prevent Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels from testifying 2024-03-19 00:37:00+00:00 - A New York judge on Monday denied Donald Trump's bid to keep his former lawyer Michael Cohen and adult film star Stormy Daniels from testifying in the former president's criminal trial related to a 2016 hush money payment. State Judge Juan Merchan gave Cohen and Daniels the green light to take the stand but placed some restrictions on Daniels' testimony, specifically that she can’t testify about a lie detector test she took in 2018 indicating she’d been truthful about her comments about Trump. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case alleges that Trump falsified business records to hide money he was paying Cohen to reimburse him for $130,000 Cohen paid Daniels in the closing days of the 2016 presidential campaign. Daniels has claimed she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. Trump has denied that he slept with Daniels, but he has acknowledged repaying Cohen. In a court filing last month, Trump's attorneys argued neither Cohen nor Daniels should be allowed to testify because they're "liars." Cohen admitted having lied under oath during his testimony at Trump’s recent civil fraud trial, but the judge who presided over that case found his testimony “credible” despite his admission. In Monday's filing, Merchan said that he had also placed some limits on another witness who claims she had an affair with Trump — former Playboy model Karen McDougal — and that "exact limitations" would be discussed in court before jury selection. Trump, who has pleaded not guilty, has denied he had a relationship with McDougal, as well. Trump had more success in Merchan's filing with another piece of evidence he argued should be kept out of the trial: the "Access Hollywood" tape. In the 2005 hot mic audio, Trump could be heard saying he can grope women without their consent. The audio surfaced after Trump became the Republican nominee in 2016, and the DA's office has argued that the bad publicity spurred the payout to Daniels. Merchan said that prosecutors can elicit testimony that the tape "contained comments of a sexual nature which Defendant feared could hurt his presidential aspirations" but that "it is not necessary that the tape itself be introduced into evidence or that it be played for the jury." But in another setback for Trump, Merchan didn’t sign off on his request to use a partial "advice of counsel" defense. In a court filing last week, Trump's attorneys said they planned to argue their client didn't think he was doing anything wrong by paying Cohen back in transactions that were listed as legal fees because of his "awareness" that lawyers had been involved in the talks. They said Trump wasn't asserting a formal advice-of-counsel defense, which would entitle prosecutors to more information about his communications with his attorneys. Merchan said Monday he was rejecting that defense, finding that if he didn't, it essentially would have allowed Trump to get the benefits of the "advice of counsel" defense without the obligations that come with it. "The result would undoubtedly be to confuse and mislead the jury. This Court can not endorse such a tactic," Merchan wrote. Trump's attorneys didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Bragg's office declined to comment. It's still not crystal clear when the trial will start. It had been scheduled for March 25, but Merchan on Friday postponed it until at least mid-April after federal prosecutors in Manhattan belatedly turned over more than 100,000 documents relating to Cohen's role in the case. He also scheduled a hearing for next week to discuss that matter and didn't rule out the possibility that the hearing could affect the trial's start date.

Trump's lawyers say it's "a practical impossibility" to secure $464 million bond in time 2024-03-19 00:23:00+00:00 - Lawyers for former President Donald Trump say he's unlikely to secure a bond for the nearly half-billion he and other defendants need to pause a judge's February ruling in a New York civil fraud case. They're asking an appeals court to stay the judgment while Trump challenges it. The judgment, with accrued interest, saddled the defendants with a $464 million tab. In a nearly 5,000-page filing on Monday, Trump's lawyers wrote that "a bond requirement of this enormous magnitude—effectively requiring cash reserves approaching $1 billion....is unprecedented." They called the finding "grossly disproportional" to the offenses Trump and others were found liable for, specifically a decade-long scheme to defraud banks and insurers using overvaluations of properties and Trump's net worth. "Very few bonding companies will consider a bond of anything approaching that magnitude," wrote the lawyers, Alina Habba, Clifford Robert, Christopher Kise and John Sauer. Trump Organization general counsel Alan Garten wrote in the filing that surety companies are unwilling to accept real estate as collateral. Garten said that the company "approached more than 30 surety companies, proposing to pledge as collateral a combination of cash or cash equivalents and unencumbered real estate holdings…[T]he vast majority simply do not have the financial strength to handle a bond of this size. Of those that do, the vast majority are unwilling to accept the risk associated with such a large bond." Trump's filing in the case came one week after he posted a more than $90 million bond in order to appeal another recent legal defeat, a January decision by a federal jury that unanimously concluded he defamed the writer E. Jean Carroll. In that case, he secured a bond through a subsidiary of the insurance giant Chubb. The filing includes an affidavit from an insurance executive who said he has "been in contact with some of the largest insurance carriers in the world in an effort to try and obtain a bond" for Trump in the case. The executive, Gary Giuletti, president of private insurance firm Lockton Companies, wrote that he believes it "is not possible under the circumstances presented" for the defendants to secure a bond. "Simply put, a bond of this size is rarely, if ever, seen," Giuletti wrote. Giuletti testified as an expert witness in Trump's defense during the fraud trial, describing himself as a longtime friend who is a member of "a bunch of his clubs." He is also an insurance broker doing business for the Trump Organization. Judge Arthur Engoron was critical of Giuletti's testimony during the trial, as well as the defense team's decision to use him as a witness. "In its over 20 years on the bench, this Court has never encountered an expert witness who not only was a close personal friend of a party, but also had a personal financial interest in the outcome of the case for which he is being offered as an expert," Engoron wrote in his Feb. 16 ruling. A spokesperson for Attorney General Letitia James declined to comment. James' office has said Trump has until March 25 to put up a bond for the entire judgment in order to prevent her office from collecting the damages while he appeals. James has said the state could seek to seize property from Trump if he does not pay the judgment.

Trump plans to revert to pre-Obamacare health care policies 2024-03-18 23:55:09+00:00 - Former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is zeroing in on one familiar campaign promise: He wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act. In the months since Trump first reignited calls to “terminate” the ACA, he has repeated his public attacks at least seven times. Once again, we are facing a grave threat to American health care and to millions of families’ financial security. Once again, we are facing a grave threat to American health care and to millions of families’ financial security. Some have been quick to dismiss Trump’s recent comments as an empty threat. This is a mistake. During his time in office, Trump successfully undermined the law, leading to a drop in enrollment, and weakened protections for people with pre-existing conditions. He was just one vote short of total ACA repeal in 2017, and now, the Republican Party has only grown more extreme and motivated to fall in line with Trump. Fourteen years after it was signed into law, the ACA is woven into the fabric of our lives. The law is more popular than ever: A record 21.3 million people signed up for ACA coverage for 2024. By passing the Inflation Reduction Act, President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress helped millions of families find a plan at little to no cost. Additionally, the Biden administration made historic investments in education and outreach to make it easier for people to enroll — a stark contrast to Trump, who routinely slashed this funding during his time in office. The ACA also includes a broad range of cost savings and protections that touch nearly every household in the country. For example, the ACA ensures that over 135 million Americans with pre-existing conditions won't be discriminated against by insurance companies, allows children to stay on their parents’ coverage until the age of 26, lowers prescription drug costs for 52 million seniors, and requires that insurance companies cover critical preventive care, such as vaccinations, contraception and cancer screening. Through a deliberate sabotage campaign, the Trump administration weakened protections for people with pre-existing conditions, made it harder to enroll in affordable coverage, and raised health care costs for millions of people. Trump expanded access to short-term and association health plans that can deny coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. As a result, ACA enrollment fell and people were pushed into junk plans that didn’t need to cover essential care, like hospital visits or prescription drugs. Millions of people became uninsured or underinsured, leaving families with staggering bills for uncovered care. In a hypothetical second Trump term, he would only continue this assault on health care. Even if full repeal “fails,” Trump and Republicans will still gut the law and take affordable quality health care away from millions. Under the guise of offering cheaper insurance, Republicans could revisit their efforts to expand junk plans that don’t cover pre-existing conditions. The GOP could also return to its long-time goal of cutting Medicaid through block grants and burdensome paperwork requirements, pushing people off the rolls. Other actions to undermine the ACA include cutting funding for the navigators who help people enroll in coverage, and boosting tax breaks for the wealthy through health savings accounts. Trump could also leverage his influence in the courts. Several lawsuits are underway that could dismantle the ACA’s requirement that insurers cover lifesaving preventive care and rip away Medicare’s power from negotiating lower drug prices. While the Biden administration is fighting tirelessly to protect patients in the courts, Trump could simply decide not to defend the ACA and the Inflation Reduction Act against these legal attacks. The bottom line is that we must take seriously Trump’s promises to repeal and sabotage the ACA. The bottom line is that we must take seriously Trump’s promises to repeal and sabotage the ACA. He wants to reverse a loss that he describes as a “horrible thing that happened to the Republican Party.” This is personal for Trump — he wants to get back at the late Sen. John McCain, his predecessor, President Barack Obama, and other political enemies. And we know MAGA Republicans will follow him until the bitter end. Biden has shown what it means to make health care better. He has lowered prescription drug and insurance costs, helped families enroll in coverage, and taken on big drug companies and other corporate interests. Trump’s plan to further weaken health care will only take us backward, leave millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions without affordable care, and throw the entire health care system into chaos.

Boeing's woes could mean higher airfares for U.S. travelers 2024-03-18 23:10:00+00:00 - Boeing's production woes could lead to higher airfares and fewer flights for travelers to choose from. The aviation giant is experiencing production delays as it grapples with the fallout from a Jan. 5 emergency on an Alaska Airlines flight, including addressing manufacturing and other operational defects. That is delaying aircraft deliveries for carriers including United Airlines and Southwest Air Lines. Boeing data shows that through the end of February, it had a backlog of nearly 4,800 orders for 737 Max aircraft. That included 71 737 Max planes purchased by American Airlines, 100 for Delta Air Lines, 219 for Ryanair, 483 for Southwest and 349 for United. Their expected delivery dates were not specified. The aircraft manufacturer delivered a total of 42 737 Max jets in the first two months of the year. "Disappointing news for consumers" "It's not that airlines will have to cut flights — it's that they won't be able to add as many new flights as they perhaps had hoped to for the summer," Henry Harteveldt, an airline analyst with Atmosphere Research Group, told CBS MoneyWatch. "It's disappointing news for consumers and for airlines. Consumers may not have as many flights, and airlines won't be able to offer as many flights and make more money. It's lose-lose for airlines and travelers." Southwest said it does not publicly discuss airfare prices. United also did not comment on airfares. Even without a delay in jet deliveries, strong consumer demand can drive up the price for tickets. But reduced aircraft production capacity and high fuel costs are expected to put even more upward pressure on the cost of flying. "Airlines are intimating that summer demand looks good, and that to me suggests that airfares would be higher anyway," Harteveldt said. "But obviously, when an airline doesn't have all the aircraft it expects to have and thus can't operate all the flights with all the capacity, there's a chance airfares would be higher than they otherwise would have been." Working in consumers' favor is the fact that budget airlines including Breeze, Spirit and Velo are expanding, he added. "That provides a counterbalance to the fares the larger airlines charge." Airline plans hit turbulence Aircraft production issues have thrown airlines' "business and capacity plans into disarray for most of the second half of the year," said Robert Mann of R.W. Mann & Company, an airline industry consulting firm. Southwest, which only flies 737s, will feel the hit from Boeing's issues most acutely. The airline has indicated it does not expect the 86 Boeing aircraft it had ordered to arrive this year, making it impossible for the airline to add fligths. "It will inevitably mean less capacity in the second half of the year against what the airline had indicated earlier. An abrupt reduction in capacity like that will result in some higher prices," Mann said. He expects consumers to have fewer flights to choose from on domestic and short-haul international routes to places such as Mexico and The Caribbean. Prices for air tickets sold in February were up about 6%, according to the Airline Reporting Corporation. Mann expects costs to rise by as much as 10% in some cases. On an average fare of $573, that's roughly $57 more; for a family of four, that amounts to an extra $230 additional dollars. "It could be significant," he said.

US foundation cancels RBG awards for Musk and Murdoch after backlash 2024-03-18 23:04:00+00:00 - A foundation which stirred controversy by planning to give awards named for the late US supreme court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Elon Musk and Rupert Murdoch said on Monday it had canceled the ceremony. “While we believe each of the honorees is worthy of our respect for their leadership and their notable contributions, the foundation has decided that the planned ceremony in April 2024 will be canceled,” Julie Opperman, chair of the Dwight D Opperman Foundation, said in a statement. Opperman added: “Justice Ginsburg was known for her civility. It is important to note that the last thing we intended was to offend the family and friends of RBG. Our purpose was only to remember her and to honour her leadership.” The move came a day after James Ginsburg, the late justice’s son, called the decision to give Musk and Murdoch RBG awards – originally known as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Woman of Leadership awards – a “desecration” of the memory of his mother. “I don’t want to speak to what our other plans might be if the foundation doesn’t see the wisdom of desisting and ending this desecration of my mother’s memory,” Ginsburg told CNN on Sunday. “But I will say that we will continue to fight this.” The second woman appointed to the supreme court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg spent 27 years as a justice, a hero to American liberals. She died aged 87 in September 2020 and was replaced on the court by Amy Coney Barrett, the third rightwinger installed by Donald Trump. Ginsburg helped establish the award in her name, saying it would honour “women who have strived to make the world a better place for generations that follow their own, women who exemplify human qualities of empathy and humility, and who care about the dignity and well being of all who dwell on planet Earth”. Previous recipients included Barbra Streisand and Queen Elizabeth II. Last week, the Opperman Foundation announced a five-strong list it said was chosen from “a slate of dozens of diverse nominees” but which included just one woman. That was Martha Stewart, 82, the lifestyle entrepreneur (and member of the first RBG award committee) who in 2004 was convicted of fraud and jailed for five months. The men were: Musk, 52, the billionaire owner of SpaceX, Tesla and Twitter/X, through which he has taken increasingly rightwing political stances; Murdoch, 93 and the rightwing media baron owner of Fox News; Michael Milken, 77, a financier jailed on securities charges, pardoned by Trump and now a philanthropist; And Sylvester Stallone, 77, the star of films including the Rocky saga and the violent Rambo franchise. The list prompted protests including a widely publicised letter to the foundation from a former Ginsburg clerk. Jane C Ginsburg, the justice’s daughter and a Columbia University law professor, called it “an affront to the memory of our mother”. James Ginsburg, founder and president of Cedille Records, a classical music label, told CNN he did not have “a clue” how the honorees were decided. He said: “The original purpose of the award was … to recognise an extraordinary woman who has exercised a positive and notable influence on society and served as an exemplary role model in both principles and practice. “And whether you want to discuss the wisdom of opening up that to men or not is one thing, but I think it would be hard pressed to apply that description to people like Elon Musk and Rupert Murdoch. And that’s why the family is so upset … and her clerk family … “I’ve been contacted by people I know and people even that I don’t know about this, saying how upset they are. My sister even got a threatening letter and one of the things we want to do here is set the record straight. The family had nothing to do with this. We were not consulted. We are vehemently against this appropriation of our mother’s name and this insult to her legacy.” On announcing the new list, the Opperman Foundation said it wanted to honour men because Ruth Bader Ginsburg “fought not only for women but for everyone”. On cancelling the awards, the foundation said that though Ginsburg’s “concept of equality for women was very controversial for most of her life”, it did “not intend to enter the fray” and was “not interested in creating controversy [or] debate about whether particular honorees are worthy or not”. Saying it would “reconsider its mission and make a judgment about how or whether to proceed”, the foundation said it would not comment further. James Ginsburg said his mother would have been “appalled” by honours given in her name to “people who pretty much stand against all the things that she stood for in terms of trying to … make the world a better place for people striving for equality and for a more inclusive world where everybody is treated with respect. “… We can discuss the wisdom of each [nominee], but the two that obviously stand out here are Elon Musk and Rupert Murdoch. “When you think of trying to create a more just society, which of course was mom’s ultimate goal, those are probably about the last names that would come to mind.” The two men did not comment.

Sports Illustrated to live on, now with new publisher in tow 2024-03-18 22:57:00+00:00 - Sports Illustrated lays off most of its staff, union says Sports Illustrated will remain in physical form after its parent company on Monday announced a new publisher for the famed sports magazine. Authentic Brands Group (ABG) said that Israel's Minute Media had secured the publishing rights for Sports Illustrated. The magazine will stay under ABG's ownership, but Minute Media will take over responsibility for printing Sports Illustrated, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit and Sports Illustrated Kids. The deal is for 10 years with an option to extend for another 30 years, the New York Times reported. The companies did not disclose financial terms of the deal. Sports Illustrated was launched by Time Inc. owner and publisher Henry Luce in 1954. For decades, the weekly print publication was considered a benchmark for sports journalism, scooping up national magazine awards and influencing several generations of sportswriters. Minute Media plans to build on Sports Illustrated's legacy by enhancing the publication's "visibility, commercial viability and sustainable impact, while ensuring that the SI team is inspired to flourish in this new era of media," founder and CEO Asaf Peled said in a statement. Minute Media launched in 2011 as a small digital publication focused on covering soccer. But the company has since expanded to more than 500 employers, established a presence in New York and London and acquired other sports news outlets. In 2019, Minute Media bought The Players' Tribune, a digital magazine launched by former baseball start Derek Jeter. Minute Media also owns The Big Lead and FanSided. "Minute Media has successfully proven that they are leading the way in a new era of sports storytelling, and we are excited and optimistic about this partnership and the future of Sports Illustrated as the preeminent lens into sport," ABG Executive Vice Chairman Daniel Dienst said in a statement. The Minute Media deal likely comes as a relief for the magazine's employees after the previous publisher, The Arena Group, laid off most of the staff in January. The magazine's unionized staff members said in a statement Monday that they welcome the change to Minute Media. "We have said from the start that our top priorities are to keep Sports Illustrated alive, uphold the legacy of the institution and protect our union jobs," Emma Baccellieri, staff writer for the magazine and vice chair of its union, said in a statement. "We look forward to discussing a future with Minute Media that does that." Long a weekly magazine, Sports Illustrated shifted to a biweekly publishing schedule in 2018 and became a monthly in 2020. The publication was sold by Meredith Corp. to ABG in 2019 for $110 million.

Princess Kate seen out on weekend shopping trip 2024-03-18 22:13:00+00:00 - Following days of rampant speculation online after the royal family shared an altered family photo, Catherine, the Princess of Wales, was reportedly seen shopping over the weekend — an outing that was captured on video. Until now, Kate hadn't been seen publicly since Kensington Palace announced in January that she'd had planned abdominal surgery. She was seen shopping Saturday not far from her home in Windsor, according to The Sun and TMZ, which published images of the outing. Kensington Palace declined to comment, and a phone call to the Royal Farms Windsor Farm Shop seeking confirmation of the royal couple’s outing there wasn't answered late Monday. Questions have been swirling around the princess, one of the British royal family's highest-profile members, since the January statement about her health, which didn't elaborate on the reasons for the procedure and added that she would be "unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter." The noise grew louder this month after a photo of Kate and her three children that had been manipulated was shared on the royal family's social media accounts. Global news organizations issued a "kill notice" for the doctored image. On March 11, the princess appeared to take responsibility for altering the photo. “Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing,” read a message on the official X account of the Prince and Princess of Wales. “I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. I hope everyone celebrating had a very happy Mother’s Day. C.” The publication Monday of the reported weekend shopping trip may quell some of the concern. "It's 100% her," TMZ reported.

Walmart: Here’s Your Chance to Get in Cheaper in 2024 2024-03-18 22:10:00+00:00 - Key Points Walmart is the largest grocer, importer, and employer in the United States, with sales surpassing half a trillion dollars in 2023. Walmart started trading at a 3-for-1 split on February 26, 2024. Walmart announced its acquisition of smart TV manufacturer Vizio to boost its ad business through the SmartCast OS, which has 18 million accounts. 5 stocks we like better than Walmart Walmart Inc. NYSE: WMT is a retail behemoth with more than 10,600 stores worldwide in over 27 countries, accommodating nearly 255 million customers weekly. Walmart is the world's largest employer, with 2.1 million workers worldwide. It's the largest consumer discretionary sector company and the largest employer in the United States, with 1.6 million employees. Walmart is the largest grocery store chain in the United States, followed by Costco Wholesale Co. NASDAQ: COST and Kroger Co. NYSE: KR. It's also the largest importer in the country, enjoying the benefits of a strong dollar. The stock rose to a high in the $180s before a 3-for-1 split occurred on February 26, 2024. Now that shares are a third of where they were trading before February 26, 2024, is now a good time to step into Walmart stock? Get Walmart alerts: Sign Up The Giant Keeps Growing Despite Walmart's unprecedented size, sales keep growing year after year, growing north of half a trillion dollars in 2023. In fiscal Q4 2024, Walmart generated EPS of $1.80 versus $1.64, a 10% beat. Revenues rose 5.7% YoY to $173.4 billion vs $170.85 billion. Consolidated gross margin is expected to rise 39 bps due to improvement at Walmart U.S. Global e-commerce sales rising 23% YoY. U.S. comps without fuel rose 3.9%. Its annual cash dividend was raised 9% to 83 cents per share on a post-stock split basis or $2.49 per share pre-split. Raising the Bar Walmart guided for fiscal Q1 2025 EPS of $1.46 to $1.56 versus $1.60 consensus analyst estimates. Q1 2024 revenues are expected to grow 4% to 5% YoY to $158 billion to $160 billion versus $157.27 billion. Fiscal full-year 2025 EPS is expected to be between $6.70 to $7.12 versus $7.06 consensus estimates. Fiscal full-year 2025 revenues are expected to grow 3% to 4% YoY to $667.6 billion to $674.1 billion versus $666.93 billion. International Growth Walmart noted the higher transaction counts and unit volume drove market share gains in the United States and internationally. Walmart surpassed over $100 billion in international sales in 2023. During the 2023 calendar year holiday season, Walmart had two record-breaking volume days heading into Christmas. Store-fulfilled delivery sales rose 50% YoY. Upper-income households contributed to share gains through delivery as a source. Sam's Club membership warehouses had 3.1% comp sales growth, excluding fuel, with strength in consumables, health categories and food. Check out the sector heatmap on MarketBeat. Consumers Remain Resilient Despite economic uncertainty, Walmart continues to see resiliency with its customers, who are finding value in apparel and hardlines. Prices are lower YoY with food items including apples, eggs and deli snacks but higher in asparagus and blackberries. Its private label penetration, like Target Co. NYSE: TGT, is up strong in many countries. Walmart plans to remodel 928 stores and clubs worldwide over the next year, including 650 locations in the United States. Walmart CEO Doug McMillon commented, "Our team delivered a great quarter, finishing off a strong year. We crossed $100 billion in eCommerce sales and drove share gains as our customer experience metrics improved, even during our highest volume days leading up to the holidays. We're proud of the team and excited about building on our momentum as we work to bring prices down for our customers and members." VIZIO Acquisition Announced In an unexpected move, Walmart announced its acquisition of smart TV manufacturer VIZIO Holding Co. NYSE: VZIO. Walmart will acquire its proprietary SmartCast operating system (O/S) and 18 million active accounts. Walmart will pay $11.50 per share in cash or $2.3 billion in an all-cash deal. This move further collapsed streaming OS and smart TV maker Roku Inc. NASDAQ: ROKU. Walmart's massive distribution channel can breathe new life into Vizio sales and help boost Walmart's high-margin ad business through its SmartCast OS, which enables users to stream ad-support TV content. Walmart's ad business grew 33%, including 22% from Walmart Connect in fiscal Q4 2024. Walmart analyst ratings and price targets are at MarketBeat. Walmart peers and competitor stocks can be found with the MarketBeat stock screener. Daily Rising Wedge The daily candlestick chart for WMT illustrates the rising wedge pattern. This pattern is typically a reversal pattern as the channel of higher highs and higher lows gets tighter until shares trigger a strong pullback. The daily relative strength index (RSI) is starting to fall back under the overbought 70 band. Pullback support levels are at $58.00, $56.25, $53.29 and $50.52. Before you consider Walmart, 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 Walmart wasn't on the list. While Walmart currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here

Tentative deal reached to avoid shutdown as negotiators resolve homeland security bill 2024-03-18 21:59:00+00:00 - WASHINGTON — Congressional leaders struck a deal Monday evening on funding the Department of Homeland Security, two sources familiar with the talks said, paving the way for lawmakers to begin processing the remaining spending bills and avert a government shutdown next weekend. Details of the deal, which another source characterized as an agreement in principle, were not immediately available. Funding is set to expire Saturday morning for the departments of State, Defense, Homeland Security, Labor and Health and Human Services and a host of other agencies. The other five funding bills were effectively settled by the end of last week, with only the Homeland Security bill presenting deep divisions Republicans and Democrats were unable to settle. Heading into the weekend, negotiators were poised to release a package that includes the five other funding bills and would fund DHS separately on an extended stopgap basis, largely continuing the status quo, before reviving attempts to negotiate a full-year funding bill for the department through the end of September. Separately, a source familiar with negotiations said the White House and other Democrats wanted more border security and enforcement money, while another source said Republicans wanted to reprioritize DHS funds toward the agency’s core mission, without elaborating. The pivot back to those negotiations slowed the release of text for all six bills. And it will still be difficult for Congress to move the spending bills because the Appropriations committees haven’t yet released the legislative text of the bills. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has indicted he’ll give lawmakers 72 hours to read the text before a vote. The Senate will then require unanimous consent from all members to vote by 11:59 p.m. ET Friday to avoid a partial government shutdown the following day. The deal is being negotiated by Johnson, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the White House and top appropriators in both chambers. Congress, which broke up the process into two, passed the first tranche of bills this month. The political salience of immigration, particularly among conservatives, presents a land mine for Johnson. On Monday afternoon, two leaders of the hard-right Freedom Caucus, Reps. Bob Good, R-Va., and Chip Roy, R-Texas, issued a letter from 41 Republicans demanding that any DHS funding bill include “the core elements of H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act,” or President Joe Biden’s immigration policies won’t change, they said. “Therefore, we ask you to join us in rejecting the appropriations package (or anything similar) slated to be before the House that will directly fund these disastrous policies, and choose instead to stand against this assault on the American people,” they wrote. The hard-right members are widely expected to vote against the package, and their votes aren’t necessary to create the bipartisan coalition necessary to pass the bill. But those members can create political headaches for Johnson if they’re sufficiently angry about it. While the two parties have clashed over the appropriate venue for border policy changes — the funding bill or a separate package — the White House has also sought additional funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other operational needs. Republicans rejected additional funding for ICE in a bipartisan border deal agreed to by senators and the White House, demanding additional policy changes. But they, too, have demands in the funding bill. The White House has also sought increased flexibility to aid border operations, sources with knowledge of the discussion said. It’s unclear how many of Biden’s requests will make it into the bill. It’s highly unusual for Congress to continue haggling over government funding nearly half a year into the fiscal year. Funding for fiscal year 2025 is due by the end of September.

Supreme Court denies former Trump aide Peter Navarro's final bid to stay out of prison 2024-03-18 21:41:00+00:00 - WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a bid by former Donald Trump adviser Peter Navarro to avoid reporting to prison to serve a four-month sentence for defying a congressional subpoena. Chief Justice John Roberts issued the brief order. Navarro had asked the Supreme Court to intervene ahead of his arrival Tuesday at a federal Bureau of Prisons facility in Miami. He was sentenced to four months of incarceration in January following his conviction last year for defying the House Jan. 6 committee’s subpoena. Roberts wrote Monday that a lower court had found Navarro had forfeited any request to remain on bail pending his appeal under a law called the Bail Reform Act. Navarro's arguments were related to his claim of executive privilege, with his lawyers saying it was “the first time in our nation’s history” that “a senior presidential advisor has been convicted of contempt of Congress after asserting executive privilege over a congressional subpoena.” Roberts noted the court of appeals said Navarro was "still obligated to appear before Congress and answer questions seeking information outside the scope of the asserted privilege." "I see no basis to disagree with the determination that Navarro forfeited those arguments," Roberts added. A federal appeals court rejected his stay request last week, saying Navarro had "not shown that his appeal presents substantial questions of law or fact likely to result in reversal, a new trial, a sentence that does not include a term of imprisonment or a reduced sentence of imprisonment that is less than the amount of time already served plus the expected duration of the appeal process." Navarro is an election denier who was closely involved in efforts to overturn Trump's 2020 loss to Joe Biden. “You are not a victim,” U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta told Navarro at his sentencing in January. “You are not the object of a political prosecution — you aren’t. You have received every process you are due.”

Lara Trump aims to add another election denier to the Republican National Committee 2024-03-18 21:31:42+00:00 - The news keeps getting better and better for the Democrats following Donald Trump’s takeover of the Republican National Committee. On Thursday, RNC co-chair Lara Trump announced she hopes to hire Scott Presler, a conservative activist who has shared QAnon messages on social media, organized "anti-Sharia law" protests and appeared outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, to lead the party’s so-called “legal ballot harvesting” initiative — essentially a get-out-the-vote effort aimed at getting Republicans to vote early in person and make sure they return their mail ballots. (The bizarre turn of phrase here comes because Republicans have long argued that "ballot harvesting" is — or at least, should be — illegal, but now that they are playing catch-up to Democrats on early voting, they need to finesse the fact that they want to do it too.) Why is this good for Democrats? Because it's a sign that the RNC is increasingly staffing up with a team of B-level (or worse) staffers who are more focused on spouting conspiracy theories and getting internet clout than actually doing the grueling, substantive work of winning an election. USA Today explained Presler's M.O. early last year, when he visited Pennsylvania in anticipation of elections in the state last fall. The outlet reported: MAGA Republicans in Pennsylvania often refer to the debunked conspiracy film “2000 Mules” to bolster their assertions that the 2020 election outcome was fraudulent. Playing off former President Donald Trump’s claims about widespread cheating, the movie asserts that nefarious political operatives, or “mules,” illegally collected ballots and stuffed drop boxes to help President Joe Biden capture victory. But this month, GOP activist Scott Presler told Pennsylvania Republicans they must start embracing legal ballot collection and mail-in voting, the very systems that three years of election denial have convinced them to distrust. “My argument is that each of us can become a mule,” Presler said at a voter training session in Delaware County, one of several he led in the commonwealth in February. “I don’t want 2,000 mules. I want 2 million mules.” Presler, a former chairman of the “Gays for Trump” organization, is one of the most vocal proponents for mail-in voting in the conservative movement. He was one of the most prominent critics of ousted RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel (who also backed mail-in voting), and members of the ultraconservative group Turning Point USA have suggested his get-out-the-vote efforts should be a model for the Republican Party as a whole. Presler, for example, frequently touts his strategy for winning over Black voters (which appears to be, simply, pitting them against immigrants) despite having little success to show for it. And that underscores what's likely to be a major problem if he's put in charge of the RNC's voter outreach: his track record. Presler is known more for political stunts than substantive election victories. He’s made a habit of visiting various states to assist with highly public campaigns that, in many cases, don’t end up going in Republicans’ favor. Ahead of a crucial election in February that could have flipped Pennsylvania’s state house to Republicans, he visited and attempted to mobilize voters for a candidate who ultimately went on to lose. Philly GOPers were pretty demoralized after that loss. And in a similarly high-stakes campaign last year, Presler threw his support behind failed Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Daniel Kelly. He’s also a staunch backer of Arizona gubernatorial election-loser Kari Lake. Presler being given a high-profile position in the RNC would be the latest sign that Turning Point USA and its affiliates are in total control of the Trump-branded Republican Party. And while that may serve each of them quite well personally, evidence suggests it’s bound to hurt the GOP’s electoral chances come November.

Aaron Rodgers’ rant about immigrants in the military is a problem for the NFL 2024-03-18 21:20:01+00:00 - New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers is unlikely to be named as the running mate for conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s 2024 presidential campaign, according to a report from Mediaite over the weekend. But it came as no surprise to me when Kennedy confirmed that Rodgers was on his list of potential veeps — both men have become celebrities in the conservative movement for rappelling into the depths of far-right rabbit holes and spouting the harebrained claims they find down there. And like with Kennedy, Rodgers’ conspiracy theories evidently can be steeped in outright bigotry. That was made abundantly clear after some of Rodgers’ past remarks recently surfaced. Although he spent time last week responding (in lawyerly fashion) to allegations that he has privately shared false conspiracy theories about the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, he apparently doesn’t feel a similar desire to address the anti-immigrant bigotry and election denialism he espoused during a recent interview with fellow conspiracy theorist Eddie Bravo. As first reported by the sports website Awful Announcing, Rodgers spread lies about Covid-19 during the Feb. 23 podcast — and then promoted a claim, without evidence, that immigrants who speak Spanish or Chinese are looking to join the U.S. military and then potentially turn on the country. Rodgers said he heard the claim from conspiracy theorist Bret Weinstein on an episode of Joe Rogan’s podcast: How ’bout when he’s [Weinstein] talking about the two different migration groups, right? You have the Spanish-speaking group and you have the Chinese group. And he’s talking about the scariest thing, which I’ve actually thought about for years. I said, no American-lovin’ soldier is going to turn on their people, right? But who would turn on their people? He went on to say that Congress was opening the door to this kind of betrayal: And he [Weinstein] mentioned on the podcast: What happens if they offer citizenship for military service? That’s a f---in’ scary thought. And what bill was just brought into the Congress, I believe yesterday or the day before? That exact type of bill, offering citizenship for immigrants for joining the military. Rodgers was referring to a recently proposed bipartisan bill known as the Courage to Serve Act, which would expedite a process that already exists for immigrants to obtain citizenship if they serve in the military. Rodgers apparently has no clue that immigrants without citizenship have long served in the U.S. military, to our nation’s benefit. But let’s not overcomplicate things here: His focus on people who speak Spanish and Chinese is obviously bigoted and xenophobic. It certainly aligns with the racist right-wing belief that immigrants are being allowed to “invade” the country to either harm Americans or alter their way of life. And it also fits a trend I’ve written about recently: rich celebrities using their platforms to fuel anti-immigrant vitriol in the United States. It’s all very Charles Lindberghian. And I do wonder how the U.S. military — a prominent NFL partner — feels about one of the league’s most recognizable faces promoting the idea that some service members who speak foreign languages might actually be sleeper cells waiting to turn against the country. Rodgers’ bigotry wasn’t confined to immigrants, though. He also suggested that election chicanery in “a bunch of the swing states” cost Donald Trump the 2020 presidential election, a nod to Trump’s ongoing lie that cities with large Black populations fraudulently stole the election from him: It should make people go, ‘Hmm, something’s going on here.’ They stop the — they call the race, the counting at 3 in the morning, and you wake up the next day and it’s totally flipped. On Fox News last week, Kennedy said that Rodgers was in the running to be his VP pick because he’s “battle-tested.” It seems the battles against truth and reality are his biggest.